Garry O'Connor

[CraigHibee]

shame to read about this in the evening news

http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.co...heft-1-4303995

it said a member of staff recognised him from cctv, hopefully a case of mistaken identity or a simple misunderstanding

[21.05.2016]

What a very sad fall from grace he is. He once had it all, money and a very promising career ahead of him but sadly he ruined it with so much nonsense off the park. Sadly for O'Conner it was perhaps too much, too young and he listened to the wrong people and had too many hangers on. Not tryna take away any of the blame from O'Conner because he still made bad choices but I think a lot of people took advantage of a young, silly laddie with lots of money. I bet a lot of these people have nothing to do with him now that the money and the glamour days are over.

[Big L]

Hibs got a lot of money on his transfer, they also kept his cut, apparently £300,000. He didn't want to go to Russia but the fee was bgger and he was persuaded. Got RP written all over it, should give him a bung!

[CraigHibee]

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What a very sad fall from grace he is. He once had it all, money and a very promising career ahead of him but sadly he ruined it with so much nonsense off the park. Sadly for O'Conner it was perhaps too much, too young and he listened to the wrong people and had too many hangers on. Not tryna take away any of the blame from O'Conner because he still made bad choices but I think a lot of people took advantage of a young, silly laddie with lots of money. I bet a lot of these people have nothing to do with him now that the money and the glamour days are over.

yeah its a total shame, you're right about the hangers on, once someone has nothing major to offer these folk fall away to leech onto some else, his interview before the cup final he admitted he had made mistakes and mentioned his "associates" and that he had ditched them. i do feel sorry for Garry with the folk that took advantage of him back then

[MWHIBBIES]

Bloody idiot. Even after making mistakes we gave him a 2nd chance and he repaid us by getting fat and not bothering his arse after the first few months.

[Iain G]

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Bloody idiot. Even after making mistakes we gave him a 2nd chance and he repaid us by getting fat and not bothering his arse after the first few months.

He is only 33, is there any real reason he shouldn't still be playing football at a good level?

When he was fit he was more devastating than his mate Riordan, both of them have wasted very promising careers, is pretty sad really.

[Salt N Sauzee]

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Bloody idiot. Even after making mistakes we gave him a 2nd chance and he repaid us by getting fat and not bothering his arse after the first few months.

What are you on about? He scored 16 goals in that 2nd spell with us and played a big part in keeping us in the league.

[JDHibs]

He was in with the wrong people before we sold him.

Was probably wrong to push him towards Russia but he agreed as it helped us pay for the academy at the time due the inflated price we got for him.

Hate seeing things like this with footballers, laddie had it all and wasted most of it on stupid cars and drugs. Buying new Ferrari's every 6 months and losing thousands!

Thought he was getting his life back on track with Selkirk as apparently he got into decent shape and was doing well teaching the younger lads.

P.s the guy scored 16 times in his second spell and im pretty sure most of them were before the turn of the year, so hardly didnt give a toss the first few months. Maybe the last few months.

[KeithTheHibby]

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He is only 33, is there any real reason he shouldn't still be playing football at a good level?

When he was fit he was more devastating than his mate Riordan, both of them have wasted very promising careers, is pretty sad really.

Yep, the guy is a complete idiot.

The most recent press reports confirm that he hasn't changed despite what he says.

[MWHIBBIES]

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What are you on about? He scored 16 goals in that 2nd spell with us and played a big part in keeping us in the league.

We wouldn't have been close to relegation had he been fit all season. Run ins with the police, diving and being at least a stone overweight are what I remember from his 2nd spell.

[hibbysam]

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We wouldn't have been close to relegation had he been fit all season. Run ins with the police, diving and being at least a stone overweight are what I remember from his 2nd spell.

Good for you, I remember his numerous goals in which he helped bring LG on massively, including a quite wonderful display against Aberdeen in the semi final. How many goals do you expect one to score in a season? Garry never scored more than 20 league goals I don't think, so 16 was quite a decent return and one that made sure we stayed up.

[scoopyboy]

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Hibs got a lot of money on his transfer, they also kept his cut, apparently £300,000. He didn't want to go to Russia but the fee was bgger and he was persuaded. Got RP written all over it, should give him a bung!

Garry was happy to go to Russia.

Hibs never kept his cut, he gave it to Hibs.

[Billychaotic182]

He was only just on the radio saying how he is a changed man

[MWHIBBIES]

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Good for you, I remember his numerous goals in which he helped bring LG on massively, including a quite wonderful display against Aberdeen in the semi final. How many goals do you expect one to score in a season? Garry never scored more than 20 league goals I don't think, so 16 was quite a decent return and one that made sure we stayed up.

I expect maximum effort and fitness as a minimum, he wasn't close to that.

[hibee]

If true then just another stupid thing to add to a long list of things he's done. There can't be many places he can walk into in Edinburgh without being recognised so can't imagine why he thought he could get away with stealing from a large busy shop.

I know he's brought on most of his troubles himself but I still can't help feel a bit sorry for him.

[Big L]

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Garry was happy to go to Russia.

Hibs never kept his cut, he gave it to Hibs.

He's quoted as saying their were better options, and I don't think he woke up one morning and thought " I think I will give Hibs £ 300k" I bet he wished he'd stuck it in a pension, would be set for life, bad advice if you ask me!

[jacomo]

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If true then just another stupid thing to add to a long list of things he's done. There can't be many places he can walk into in Edinburgh without being recognised so can't imagine why he thought he could get away with stealing from a large busy shop.

I know he's brought on most of his troubles himself but I still can't help feel a bit sorry for him.

Agree.

He's made plenty of bad decisions but I didn't not think he's a bad guy.

[Dashing Bob S]

A decent man obviously fallen on hard times of either the economic of psychological variety. He must have been desperate to (allegedly) do this, as are many people at this time of year. We all have weaknesses and foibles, most of us are fortunate enough to outgrow them before they wreck our lives.

Not going to sit in judgement on him, but simply wish him well.

[DaveF]

Sure I read that he had just signed a new 3 year contract last week with Selkirk so don't imagine this will go down well.

[Pretty Boy]

Whatever his faults he is a human being who is obviously struggling. Whether that struggle is as simple as having had too little intelligence and too much money or something deeper I don't know.

It's easy to judge, and I'm sure plenty of his problems are of his own making, but you never know what's around the corner for yourself or your own family. On his day he was a great player for Hibs and he's at least admitted in the past that he made his own mistakes.

I wish him well and hope he gets the help he needs and sorts himself out once and for all.

[snooky]

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Whatever his faults he is a human being who is obviously struggling. Whether that struggle is as simple as having had too little intelligence and too much money or something deeper I don't know.

It's easy to judge, and I'm sure plenty of his problems are of his own making, but you never know what's around the corner for yourself or your own family. On his day he was a great player for Hibs and he's at least admitted in the past that he made his own mistakes.

I wish him well and hope he gets the help he needs and sorts himself out once and for all.

It may be he lacks a moral compass. (That's not meant to be an accusation, btw.)
He won't be the first or last person to go through life with a lack of understanding of what is right & what is wrong.

[northstandhibby]

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It may be he lacks a moral compass. (That's not meant to be an accusation, btw.)
He won't be the first or last person to go through life with a lack of understanding of what is right & what is wrong.

Yep. Agree with you.

There are plenty of wrong uns in all types of authority positions getting away with all sorts of which we will never hear about as they cover up for each other.

Not defending Gazza if he has done it but hes not the sharpest tool in the box and hope they go easy on him if found guilty of anything.

Watched you score some crackers Gazza especially the 1-0 win against the Yams so hope you get the help you need.

[hibbysam]

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I expect maximum effort and fitness as a minimum, he wasn't close to that.

I expect good quality footballers, which Garry was. To say he was a non trier is an insult to the boy. His fitness did not stop him putting in top performances and IIRC he did/was on the verge of getting called up to the Scotland squad.

You said we would have been comfortable had he been a stone lighter, now I have no idea how you know players weights and BMI's and how this in turn would have won Hibs more games but I'm interested to find out...

[SRHibs]

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He was only just on the radio saying how he is a changed man

Same thing in the pre-cup final interview, while simultaneously having pupils like saucers. Clearly still has a huge coke problem.

[G B Young]

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He's quoted as saying their were better options, and I don't think he woke up one morning and thought " I think I will give Hibs £ 300k" I bet he wished he'd stuck it in a pension, would be set for life, bad advice if you ask me!

But hardly Hibs' fault surely? I recall thinking it was a big-hearted gesture from O'Connor at the time. The move was a great one for him and where one must assume he was badly advised or handled was once he got to Russia, where I recall his partner struggled to settle. That could probably have been handled better by either his new club or his agent.

Where I felt Hibs might have done better was to try and hold on to him until the end of the season, given that we were going strong in the Scottish Cup at the time, having won 5-1 at Falkirk and with a semi-final v Hearts looming for which Hibs already knew Riordan, Brown and Killen would be missing. We ended up fielding a shadow team that day.

[calumhibee1]

Have absolutely no interest in defending him anymore. The guys a waster.

[oldbutdim]

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He's quoted as saying their were better options, and I don't think he woke up one morning and thought " I think I will give Hibs £ 300k" I bet he wished he'd stuck it in a pension, would be set for life, bad advice if you ask me!

I'm afraid Garry has always been quite prone to imaginative interpretations of reality......... the number of times he claimed Rantic were on the point of signing him being a favourite one. As I recall it, both he and his agent (was it not Medals?) were desperate to get their hands on the mega dough being offered by the Russians. There was talk of six figure sums being paid in 'derby bonus' wins - and several so-called derby games per season!
My recollection is that Garry was one of Rodder's 'favourite sons' and he acceded to the move because it was a 'life changing offer' for the lad.

Garry was extremely grateful at Hibs allowing him to move, (Cup Final looming?) and responded by handing over a decent wedge.



Maybe my memory is faulty of course..................

[EdinMike]

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Have absolutely no interest in defending him anymore. The guys a waster.

Snap. Worked in George Street a few years and he was always wide eyed and off his face whenever I saw him. Lost all respect I had for him then.

[scoopyboy]

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He's quoted as saying their were better options, and I don't think he woke up one morning and thought " I think I will give Hibs £ 300k" I bet he wished he'd stuck it in a pension, would be set for life, bad advice if you ask me!

You could never really believe a word Garry would tell you.

Some of things he would tell you that seemed plausible turned out to be a pile of crap and other times he would claim something outrageous and it was right.

One Saturday afternoon I was taking the laddie for a walk in his pram across Pinkie and Hibs were just about to start a training session there, Garry saw me and came running over and said "Scoop, you're no gonna believe this but the manager is starting Konte in front of Deek at Tynecastle tomorrow". I didn't believe a word of it but low and behold he was right.

A lovely big guy who has sadly lost his way, too gullible when he was younger and I can't help but feel for him.

[blackpoolhibs]

There are only so many times you can defend some folk, he scored some great goals for us, and made us a very good amount of money when he left.

I'm fed up listening to him tell me he's a changed man, how many times is it now after his recent interview?

And he had the cheek to say he should be asked to go into some clubs, and tell the young players about all the pitfalls they might fall into, especially as it seems he's still making these kind of mistakes.