Exclusive: Hibs cult hero on Russian lessons, Big Eck’s accent, armed guards and crazy fans on Euro adventure.
German has returned to Edinburgh for the Rott-Weiss Essen friendly. If Alex McLeish had spoken Russian, Mathias Jack might have understood every second word or so.
Even with Big Eck’s delivery slowed and his vowels flattened, the German trialist struggled to keep up with the conversation. Which makes it all the more surprising and wonderful that Jack developed such a good rapport with his manager, his teammates, and, most importantly, the Hibs fans over his four years at Easter Road. Every time he put himself into fight wearing the green-and-white jersey, he was speaking the fan’s language.
Growing up behind the iron curtain in the old DDR, taking his first football steps in a league competition skewed by the influence of a notorious secret police chief personally tilting the playing field, Jack still finds himself wondering about the distance travelled – geographically, politically and personally – in the years since the Berlin Wall fell.
And his stay in Edinburgh will always be memorable.
As he wandered down memory lane as a guest of Hibs ahead of Wednesday night’s European throwback classic against another of his former clubs, Rott-Weiss Essen, Jack recalled some lasting experiences – the madness of playing AEK in Athens just a week after 9/11, not to mention limping his way through celebrations following a special Edinburgh derby victory. Begin with his arrival in the summer of 1999.
Defender rose to Bundesliga before joining Hibs
“Yeah, obviously coming here, I had English in school,” said the man known as ‘Matty’ to punters, adding that he also had Russian in school for six years because growing up in East Germany… I’m not mentioning any terrible names, but they forced me learn Russian in school.
Which I hope I won’t need for the rest of my life. “I only had four years of English, like normal school English: ‘Hello, how are you doing, blah, blah, blah…'” However, if you do not live in a place where English is spoken on a daily basis, you may lose a lot of information.
“When I first arrived in Hibs, Alex McLeish picked me up from the airport…” I could not comprehend a single word in the automobile. And then he thought, ‘Yeah, the guy’s not replying.’ So he spoke a little slower and more clearly.
“We flew to Denmark, played two preseason games, and then he told me, ‘Matthias, we want to sign you.'” My goal was to learn the language quickly so that I could be a part of the dressing room and not feel excluded. “And even though I was 28 when I joined Hibs, you felt a little bit insecure, a little bit ashamed, you open your mouth, and then probably your teammates laughing at what you’re saying.
But it wasn’t the case.”After two months, I was secure enough to go beyond the usual words, guy on, left, right, and so on, and have a real, proper discussion. But it took three months before I felt comfortable enough to open my mouth.”
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