Bold heads on young shoulders
ST J’STONE v HEARTS Attitude of Jambo babes like James boys at Accies
MARVYN WILSON watched teenager Harry Cochrane come of age against Celtic and cast his mind back to his days as a mentor at Hamilton.
The former Accies skipper has tipped the 16-year-old Jambos sensation to follow in the footsteps of the two Jameses – McCarthy and McArthur – after witnessing the same traits which ensure age is just a number.
It was during the mid-2000s that the Accies duo emerged with McCarthy making his debut at 15 and playing more than 100 matches before his 19th birthday alongside his midfield sidekick whose first-team career was launched two years earlier.
The comparison with Cochrane and his 16-year-old team-mate Anthony McDonald isn’t lost on Wilson. He said: “Some boys are just naturally ready to play at first-team level. They possess a special ability and temperament and you can’t hold them back.
“They are being taken out of their comfort zone but when it came to the two Jameses at Hamilton they had old heads on young bodies. “You just knew they wanted it so badly. The two of them would graft in training and on a Saturday and be the first in and last out JOHN SOUTTAR will help Hearts kids Harry Cochrane and Anthony McDonald handle being hailed the next big thing. Souttar, who broke through at Dundee United, said: “It’s important they don’t get put on a pedestal too much. They’re still breaking through so we’ve got to allow that to happen.” during the week. These boys don’t come around often but when they do they stand out a mile.
“People talk about ability and talent which was obvious at that time but the biggest factor is the attitude. They had a different mentality to the rest of the kids.
“Are Harry Cochrane and Anthony McDonald in a similar vein? We will find that out.
“I hadn’t even heard of Cochrane until he scored at the weekend but you can see he’s a class act and been schooled at Hearts in the right way and McDonald also looks a bit special.”
The sight of Cochrane and McDonald lining up in a Jambos first team despite having the builds of a jockey’s whip isn’t a worry for Wilson.
He added: “It’s a bit like Sir Alex Ferguson’s babes at Manchester United when they were blooded into the first team. They were fearless. McCarthy and McArthur were both like that.
“We had no doubts about them as they had been going shoulder to shoulder with us on the training field. They were both dishing it out so we knew they could handle themselves. It was the exuberance of youth and two very special kids.
“We had Tony Stevenson at Accies alongside that pair and he was the better player. He just lacked that edge which makes all the difference when backing up that talent.”