latest news
RIORDAN EYES GOAL TRAIL
Derek Riordan - back at Hibs.
Derek Riordan is on a mission to top the Hibernian goalscoring charts this season.
The striker, who returned to the club on Monday after two miserable years at Celtic, has vowed to repay manager Mixu Paatelainen's faith in him by recapturing the form that made him a hero at Easter Road.
Riordan will wear a shirt sporting the number 01, as Colin Nish has already commandeered his favourite number 10 jersey.
But the 25-year-old is determined to prove himself the club's real number 10 by outscoring his fellow forward this season.
"Whatever club I'm at, I'm always wanting to finish top goalscorer," Riordan said.
"I cannot wait to start playing games again. I just want to go out there and score goals.
"I feel like a young boy again."
Riordan has revealed how he feels robbed of the last two years of his career after being frozen out of the first-team picture at Parkhead.
He said: "I'm 25-years old now. It feels like I've lost a couple of years but I'm raring to go."
Riordan claimed being snubbed time and again by Hoops boss Gordon Strachan left him feeling depressed.
"I think everybody gets frustrated if they're not playing football," he said.
"It depresses you to be honest but you've just got to get on with it."
Riordan's frustration finally got the better of him in April when he publicly criticised Strachan's treatment of him. He never played for the first team again.
Yesterday, however, he refused to be drawn on precisely how his relationship with his former manager had deteriorated.
And asked whether his experience meant he regretted leaving Hibs in the first place, Riordan was philosophical.
"Everybody makes choices in their lives, and it either happens or it doesn't happen," he said.
His goalscoring exploits during his previous five-year spell means Riordan will be welcomed back to Easter Road with open arms, despite the nature of his June 2006 Celtic switch.
With less than a year of his Hibs deal remaining, the striker rejected new contract offers, ultimately forcing the club to sell him for a bargain £170,000.
Manager Mixu Paatelainen, who took charge in January and who briefly featured in the same side as Riordan as a player, summed up the feeling at the club.
"I'm over the moon because he's a goalscorer and every coach and manager likes goalscorers in their team and he certainly is one," the Finn said.
"He has not scored goals in the past couple of seasons because he hasn't played.
"But previously, when he was here, he was fantastic for the club and he's a fans' favourite because of that.
"He's a Hibs supporter - he's very, very hungry to show everybody he's got that talent and to get back scoring goals."
Riordan's unveiling overshadowed that of Hibs' other deadline-day signing, Dunfermline defender Souleymane Bamba.
The 23-year-old Ivory Coast international had been set for a move to Watford but the deal collapsed and Paatelainen pounced.
"I spoke to the manager and he said he wanted me to come here. It was an easy decision because it is a big club," Bamba said.
"The manager is very ambitious - he wants to play in Europe next season."
