Boss hammered me on a Daly basis but it made me a better player
Souttar hails Jon for toughening him up
JOHN SOUTTAR looked up to Jon Daly when the pair were at Dundee United – but there’s not much choice when you’re lying in a heap on the turf.
The Hearts defender got dumped on his bahookie plenty of times at Tannadice when he was forced to square up to his now interim coach in training matches that felt more like running the gauntlet.
But he reckons the school of hard knocks toughened him up and commanded respect. So he’s convinced Daly can give the Jambos the boot up the backside the club needs.
The caretaker head coach is one of the men in the running for the permanent job along with Steven Pressley, Steve McClaren and a host of others.
But Souttar reckons Hearts are in safe hands – even if some of the shins might be in danger.
He said: “Jon was a great captain. He was very good with the boys and the younger lads. He was a big presence.
“For me growing up, he was a great example. He was just a good leader.
“I took a few bashes from him though! We used to play young versus old on a Friday and I’d be directly up against him. It was a lesson getting bumped and bashed around.
“Did I kick him back? He was club captain at the time so it wasn’t the best idea to try it!
“We had a lot of good young players back then with Stuart Armstrong, Andy Robertson, David Goodwillie, Johnny Russell and the like. We had a decent team. We had the legs!
“But he was a good player and he’s a good coach. He’s as good as anyone. I know there’s a lot of good managers being mentioned but he has a wealth of experience.
“If we could win our next two games it’d stand him in good stead no matter what happens.”
Daly has impressed in dealing with the stress since being handed the reins and his brutal slap down of Brendan Rodgers after defeat to Celtic last week didn’t go unnoticed in the dressing room.
The stand-in gaffer stood up for them. Now they want to pay him back with three points at Kilmarnock today.
Souttar said: “Everyone respects him. Even as the Under-20s manager he was a big presence about the place.
“He was my captain at my first club. I played with him so I know the leadership qualities he has. He was always there for me and the boys.
“I didn’t read all of what happened last week but I got the gist of it.
“It has been good so far. All the boys are treating him like they would any manager – with a lot of respect. Training has been good and everyone has enjoyed working with him. We just need to make sure we get a positive result for him.”
Souttar is looking forward but was disappointment in the failed Ian Cathro experiment, with the departed head coach a mentor when he was a kid at Tannadice.
He said: “Everyone was disappointed to see Ian go. Everyone’s a bit down that it didn’t work out. It’s tough when you’ve bad results but Jon has come in and picked everyone up.”