USUALLY WHEN THERE are several interruptions during the course of an interview, it’s understandable to get a little bit frustrated.
Not this time.
Not when the person responsible is four years old and only wants to know when he can get his Mammy her Christmas present.
Jack Horgan has his hand clasped deep within father Daryl’s protective palm as they arrive to a quiet corner of Edinburgh to meet with The42.
It’s the Hibernian and Republic of Ireland winger’s day off, and he has ventured into the city centre to beat the last of the Christmas rush.
Horgan’s partner, Donna, has their three-and-a-half month old daughter for company at their home on the outskirts of the Scottish capital, so it’s up to father and son to deliver the goods.
“What will we get,” Jack asks.
“I don’t know yet,” Daryl replies. “It’ll be a surprise.”
“Yeah, a surprise. Can I get a surprise?”
“If you’re good,” Daryl says, as he orders Jack a ham and cheese toastie and lets him watch some cartoons for a distraction.
Horgan won’t be sending updates of his day on Twitter. There will be no pictures sculpted for Instagram or selfies on Snapchat. He is not interested in vacuous likes, shares or retweets.
I just don’t like social media in any way, there are obviously some good parts but I don’t see the positives, just the negative,” the 27-year-old explains.
“Social media plays such a big part in younger lads’ lives now. Win, lose or draw and within five minutes there are boys scrolling on the phone in our dressing room. When you play football, the last thing you need is people building you up to be a superstar or knocking down as some kind of disgrace.
“Everything has to be amazing or horrendous. Nothing can ever just be OK. You’re either crap or brilliant. I don’t like that. There’s no balance. It’s all about extremes. That’s not right.”
Horgan speaks with clarity, purpose and authority, so it’s no surprise at all that the chaos of Brexit has left him beleaguered.
“It’s a circus. Immigration is the big thing that has been used and flung at people. It has sent things over the edge. People were swayed by it and all these buzzwords that don’t mean anything that get thrown at you constantly.
“That’s the power those messages can have with people when all these political buzzwords are continually thrown at you. They can divide people.”
Horgan is the lone Irishman in a Hibs dressing room that houses teammates from Scotland, England, Wales, Israel, Albania, Hungary, Lithuania, Sweden, Poland, Philippines and New Zealand.
“They are all good guys, normal people working to have the best career possible. It’s good to have these different cultures and ways of thinking about the game and in life in general.
“They’re all different people but easy to chat to and get on with. You need that, imagine being stuck in a box with the same faces and same ideas about everything?”
Jack isn’t happy. The cheese from his toastie is too stringy so he begins to pull it apart. The crisps on the side aren’t appealing either.
“I don’t like this, Dad.”
“Is it too hot?
“I just don’t like it”
“Ok, well then just have some of the crisps instead and we can get something else after, how about that?”
“Kale crisps?”
“Curly kale. Have you ever heard the likes of it?
Jack nibbles on some of the cheese and onion crisps.
“They’re all different crisps.”
“They’re all the same
“They’re not.
“They’re the same.”
“This one is different”
“Let me have a taste… No, the exact same.”
“OK, I’ll eat the crusts instead.”
“Good boy, you eat the crusts.”
Horgan’s focus switches back. “It’s a different world when you have kids, isn’t it?”
“Dad! Finished! Look!
“Good boy, well done.”
“Can I watch something.”
“OK.”
“I can do it now. I know how to put it on, can I put this on?”
“OK, you put that on.”
Jack, as good as gold, is now occupied by cartoons. He was born in Dundalk when Horgan and Donna began their family. The winger may have been in the PFA Ireland team of the year each season from 2013-’15, but it was his performances in the Lilywhites’ historic Europa League campaign in 2016 which led to him moving across the water.
Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Preston North End were all interested to various degrees. Villa’s was never firm while Rafael Benitez, in charge at St James’ Park at the time, was honest and said he was required purely as a squad player, with not even a place on the bench a guarantee.
I appreciated that they were up front about it,” Horgan admits “I was going to be way down the pecking order and there was no way I was going to leave just to sit in the stand so I could say I was a Newcastle player. I had no interest in that.”
Preston were most keen and, after a flying visit to Manchester where he met Simon Grayson in a hotel by the airport, a move was agreed for January 2017.
After half a season settling in, Grayson then departed for Sunderland on the first day of pre-season in the summer. New boss Alex Neil allowed him move to Hibs, where Neil Lennon was in charge.
There was further disruption in the middle of last season when he then replaced Brendan Rodgers at Celtic while Paul Heckingbottom, Lennon’s successor at Easter Road, was sacked at the beginning of last month.
Horgan is now fighting to force his way into Jack Ross’ plans – specifically the diamond formation – ahead of Hibs’ clash with Celtic at Parkhead today.
“You’ve been there before, haven’t you, wee man?”
“He has started getting into football a bit more now and understands about it,” Horgan continues, before turning back to Jack.
“Who do you like to be when you play in the garden?”
“Hibs.”
“And who else?”
“Liverpool and Galway. And Ireland.”
“And Dundalk. You have to say Dundalk or your Mammy won’t be happy!”
There has been upheaval and distraction for Horgan both on and off the pitch since leaving Dundalk but none of that is used as an excuse.
His six Ireland caps have all come under former boss Martin O’Neill, and the hope that he could have used that Preston transfer as a catalyst for something even bigger – buoyed further by the confidence of his Europa League performances – hasn’t quite materialised.
“One of the biggest issues is that I’m too hard on myself in my career. I still don’t deal with it very well. I beat myself up constantly. I have no idea why,” Horgan reveals.
“I think I just expect perfection but it’s nigh on impossible to do it. It’s something I’ve been trying to work on. I’m not good at letting things go, I dwell on results and performances. It’s one of the things that’s affected me most throughout my career.
“I see younger lads beat themselves up over nothing and I can ell them to stop it, to calm down and relax. Then I do it to myself two seconds later, I’ll overhit a cross and in my head I’m screaming at myself, ‘fucking idiot, fucking idiot’. I know that I’ve just been able to tell a young lad not to worry but I can’t do it myself.
I’ve spoken to someone about it and it is something I need to work on. It’s self-inflicted stuff. It’s not me thinking about what other people expect, it’s what I expect of myself and the crazy thing is it’s actually got worse the older I’ve got.
“I will go to bed and stare at the wall thinking of the two crosses I over-hit. It’s mental and it shouldn’t be like that. Unfortunately it is what it is at the moment but I’m working on it.”
“Daddy! Daddy! What’s wrong here? Why is it like that?
“The screen is cracked. What are you watching?”
“Look dad, spider! Yucky! The spider has a fly in his mouth. Can I have some chocolate, Daddy?”
“If you’re good, later on.”
“OK, Daddy.”
Speak to any of his former Dundalk team-mates and they will all wax lyrical about the intensity which Horgan worked on the training ground. His ability to not be distracted by outside matters or influenced by material gain is steadfast.
At Preston, for example, he opted to purchase a Ford Kuga as it made more sense than some of the more high spec options.
“I’m just not a car person, some are really into them so I wouldn’t blame them if they wanted to get a nice car. I’m not the type, having a big Mercedes isn’t going to make me play, better, is it?
I never wanted for anything when I was growing up but I do remember a time when I was going mad at my mother to get me a Ralph Lauren polo for the teenage disco. I was mad for this white thing with the collar up but sure it’s only a plain t-shirt isn’t it? It’s immaterial stuff.
Fulfilment for Horgan comes in the form of a happy and healthy family – but there is still a professional ambition gnawing away.
“I will never give up on Ireland until someone comes and says: ‘Daryl, stop, there is no chance of you ever playing for Ireland again’.”
Stephen Kenny, his Dundalk mentor, will ascend to the senior Ireland position from the U21s next year. Horgan was in touch with him recently discussing the progress made with that group but that is as far as the relationship goes.
“He creates a demanding environment for players. You have to work hard. He is an idealist but that doesn’t mean he will want 11 footballers out there just passing it for the sake of it and with no spine. He’s not stupid.
“This is his dream job with Ireland. He knows how to win and he will want to be successful so I don’t think for a second that Stephen Kenny will come back and pick me for Ireland just because I played well for him a few years ago.
“Do I feel can get to that level again? Yes, but I’m not in the squad so I need to do more. I need to be doing better and doing more in games. I have to hold my hands up. I have to be doing better to get in the picture because I’m not in it at the moment.
“That’s the way football is,” Horgan continues. “It’s not personal when a manager doesn’t pick you. Mick McCarthy is picking players and making decisions that are the best for Ireland.
“I see it as black and white. I will always work hard but I need to score more, I need more assists. That’s what gets you in the frame. That’s the end game for a winger, affecting the game and making a difference. That’s the job.
“If someone else is doing that and I’m not then I have no complaints, so that’s what I will keep working to change. I have to play well, I have to do well.”
Horgan’s focus is clear, with football at least.
He turns to Jack who has stayed in his seat for the guts of 90 minutes without a care in the world.
“You’ve been the best boy. Will we go and get Mammy her present now?”
“Yeah.”
“What will we get?”
“A monster truck and a surprise.”
“Maybe just the surprise, wee man.”
