FREE THE TYNIE 10
Cowie: Stacks more Jambos kids are ready to follow Ant and Harry
DON COWIE insists wonderkids Harry Cochrane and Anthony McDonald are just the tip of the iceberg in a golden generation at Tynecastle.
The veteran midfielder firmly believes the current crop will be comparable with the batch that saw Jamie Walker, Callum Paterson and Sam Nicholson emerge and reckons 10 youngsters could break into the first team.
Cochrane, 16, scored his first goal for the club in Sunday’s startling 4-0 win against Celtic while another player born in 2001, McDonald, also featured just days after claiming two assists on his debut against Dundee.
Jambos star Cowie said: “I keep getting told those boys hadn’t been born when I made my debut – well, that makes me feel great.”
That isn’t quite true. Cochrane was all of 11 days old when Cowie made his bow in May 2001 as Ross County battered Raith 4-0 in the old First Division. Nevertheless, his progress is astonishing.
Cowie said: “When I was 16 I wasn’t even contemplating first-team football.
“They are and it’s because of their ability. Everything else will happen in due course but they have a great attitude and are a breath of fresh air.
“They take the advice that’s given and it was great to see the rewards there for them on Sunday. They drive the senior players on because, if we don’t step up, they will take our place! That’s the reality of it.”
Players such as Jamie Brandon, Lewis Moore, Rory Currie and Daniel Baur have also been involved this term as Craig Levein gives youth a chance.
Cowie said: “It isn’t just Harry and Ant. There are half a dozen – maybe 10 – who are champing at the bit to get involved.
“We’ve said how exciting a time it is and when you aren’t winning people might say, ‘It’s not exciting.’
“But when the results start to turn and these young players are involved then it is exciting.
“A lot of the boys are training with us now on a daily basis and we see their quality first-hand so we are confident they are ready if the manager picks them. “The club is in a great place. I know that’s easy to say after three wins in a week but it is true. We’ve had that spell with Walker, Nicholson and Paterson coming through. I’m sure the club are just as excited about the current group.” In ending Celtic’s remarkable domestic unbeaten run at 69, Hearts underlined their own progress as the fruits of Levein’s labour become apparent. The Jambos are now just three points behind city rivals Hibs, largely lauded this term, ahead of next week’s meeting of the sides. Cowie was in no mood to underplay the level of achievement in their vanquishing the Invincibles. And he said: “Just the magnitude of Sunday, with the record being broken – I have never played in a game like that where a team has stopped a run of such greatness.
“You have to applaud them and what they have achieved, the consistency.
“We rode our luck at times, they had a few chances and if they had got one early in the second half it could have been a different game.
“But we got the goal and that was massive. It was a momentous day and it has given the whole club a lift.”
Following that momentous victory over the Hoops – the high point of a sixgame unbeaten run – Cowie knows they face a very different challenge at the home of St Johnstone on Saturday.
Hearts have not won at McDiarmid Park in the top flight since back in November 2010.
And former Scotland midfielder Cowie said: “We’ve got St Johnstone now and it’s a different game, all of a sudden people will be expecting us to win.
“If we don’t go and get a result this weekend then what happened against Celtic will count for nothing.
“We need to really build on it. That’s probably the one thing we haven’t managed to do this season – have any real consistency.”
Cowie was speaking as the Jambos made their annual visit to the Edinburgh Sick Children’s Hospital.
The Tynecastle club donated 11 DVD players for use on the wards while Jambos stars also personally purchased gifts for the youngsters.
Cowie added: “We enjoy coming here and if it means putting a wee smile on the kids faces for five or 10 minutes then that’s great.
“We are asked to do things in the community at different times and everybody is willing to do it.
“It’s great to have that relationship – the harmony between the two – and it can help off the field as well as on it.”