He went from butt of the jokes to talk of the toon with one sensational swing of his right boot.
And now Barrie McKay has finally ended the wait for his first Hearts goal at the 30th time of asking, he hopes the goals will flow just like the wisecracks which preceded Saturday’s screamer.
The winger knew it was time to get the finger out when even Beni Baningime - who had never scored in his entire career - broke his duck before him last week.
Thankfully that elusive strike finally arrived for McKay to secure three points against Livingston which moved the Jambos 14 points clear in third place.
And it’s fair to say it was worth every day of the seven-month wait.
Tynecastle held its breath as McKay swivelled to connect with a Nathaniel Atkinson cross from the right in the 58th minute.
His volley was sweet and flew past Max Stryjek for a goal of the season contender after Baningime had followed up last week’s tap-in with another to pile even more pressure on his mate.
And McKay said: “It’s about time! The chances I’ve missed during the season were probably easier than that one.
“You miss chances but at least I’m in the position to get those chances. I’m still influencing the game with assists and creating chances so I put it to the back of my mind.
“I knew it would come eventually.
“It was a running joke when sitting midfielders were scoring before me. I’m close with Beni so I had it all week and then on Saturday when he scored again.
“That was him on two and I was on zero so I had to bring one back.
“I just tried to make a good connection with it, really. If you try to hit those ones too hard, it will blaze over or hit off a defender.
“It was just about making good contact and thankfully it went in - I was waiting for it to hit the back of the net so I could celebrate.
“I’ve always said I want to get more goals and hopefully now I’ve got one I can go on a little run.”
McKay reckons the wonderstrike is right up there with any of his previous 38 professional goals - including the Hampden howitzer for Rangers against Celtic in the 2016 Scottish Cup semi final.
He said: “It’s up there. When they fly in the back of the net they are the ones everybody talks about.
“I think the semi-final one is probably better because I can have a joke with Craigy [Gordon] about it.
“But it’s a joy to play in this team. Right from the back we are solid and that gives you the freedom to go and attack.
“I can float about and it suits me better to be like that rather than restricted to the one position. I can move about, get on the ball and create chances.”
Hearts need just eight more points to secure third spot after a comfortable win against the strangely subdued Lions.
Baningime got the ball rolling in the third minute when he followed-up last week’s career first with another goal. And again it was from no more than two yards.
McKay began a move which led to Ellis Simms’ low cross being knocked back into the danger area by Nathaniel Atkinson for Baningime to net.
The former Everton midfielder lapped it up in the Gorgie sunshine. But his joy was short lived as he hobbled off on the half hour mark with a knee injury after landing awkwardly in a challenge with Ayo Obileye.
Robbie Neilson faces an anxious wait to discover the extent of the damage with Baningime already having spent time on the sidelines with a knee injury earlier in the campaign.
His loss never disrupted the Jambos’ flow though.
Boyce and Simms were linking well up top and with Aaron McEneff and McKay taking turns to join the attack the rotations were causing the Lions’ serious problems.
Stryjek pulled off a good save to deny Simms and Craig Halkett bulged the wide netting from a corner.
Livingston finally registered a shot on target in the 53rd minute when Alan Forrest was played in by James Penrice but Craig Gordon was equal to his bending shot.
But McKay doubled the home side’s lead shortly after when he produced his showstopping strike to leave Stryjek helpless.
The Jambos were having a party in the stands to the tune of ‘Hibs are falling apart again’ after news filtered through that their rivals were trailing at Aberdeen.
And although sub Andrew Shinnie and then Obileye went close for Livi late on, Hearts held out for a 2-0 win which stretches their lead over their city rivals to 16 points with Dundee United now moving into fourth.
Ross County are up next for the Jambos before that double header with Hibs in the league and cup. And McKay said: “We just want to finish the season as strongly as we can with as many wins as we can. That will be the focus.
“The Ross County game is first so we go into that with full focus. The derby games always take care of themselves and they will be ones we are looking forward to.”
