Teenage trio are staying grounded at Tynecastle
SOME old-school methods are being deployed to ensure Hearts’ new teenage prodigies are not at risk of developing egos to match their burgeoning talent.
Fresh from a man-of-the-match debut — if a 16-year-old can be described as such — in Tuesday night’s win over Dundee, Anthony McDonald was swiftly back cleaning boots at the club’s Riccarton training base.
The same goes for Harry Cochrane, a month younger than McDonald, who came off the bench in the 2-0 success for his seventh senior appearance.
A relative veteran at 19, Lewis Moore completed the trio of teenagers involved in Craig Levein’s midweek midfield. Their combined age of 51 still comes in at two years younger than their manager.
Levein’s bravery in promoting from the academy should be applauded, but don’t think the Tynecastle tyros are immediately granted all first-team privileges. The Under-20 dressing-room remains a primary domain. Respecting their elders is also key. At least for the most part.
‘It depends who you are talking to,’ smiled Cochrane. ‘I’m not going to go up and slag Aaron Hughes any time soon!
‘It is important that we are still involved with the 20s, because that is our age and we are still developing.
‘We’re actually still cleaning boots. I’m on Foxy’s (Liam Fox) and Arnaud Djoum, and Anthony does David (Milinkovic). That’s all good for your discipline.
‘Hopefully, I’ll get a wee Christmas bonus for that — although I doubt I’ll get much off Foxy!
‘Hearts keep us grounded and disciplined and make sure there is no chance we’ll get too cocky or anything like that.’
None of this would matter if they couldn’t hold their own on the pitch against players twice their age. As it is, McDonald followed Cochrane’s example by showing no nerves during his first-team introduction. Stepping in to replace the injured Jamie Walker, the Scotland youth international created the opening goal against Dundee for Esmael Goncalves. ‘I was absolutely buzzing for Anthony, to see him playing for the Hearts first-team,’ said Cochrane. ‘He really is a great player, he’s just so tidy on the ball. You just can’t tackle him in training, you cannot get the ball off him. It’s brilliant to see him show that on the big stage. ‘It’s exciting when you come through at the same time and Anthony will be delighted — he’s been waiting for this moment for a while. ‘He could definitely come in for Jamie Walker in the long-term. I think he’s got the ability and he has that confidence you need. If he keeps performing like he did against Dundee then he will fly. ‘He’s not cocky, but he’s got selfbelief — and a wee bit of patter in the dressing room.’ Cochrane is grateful for the faith shown in him by Levein and hopes his education can continue when Celtic visit Tynecastle on Sunday. ‘It’s amazing to be a part of things,’ he added. ‘It’s what you dream of — that opportunity to play in the first team and show what you can do. ‘The manager is willing to do that. It has definitely come a lot sooner that I thought. I didn’t imagine I’d be playing for Hearts at 16, but I’m determined to take my chance. ‘The toughest part has been the physicality. It is tough to compete with some of the bigger boys in this league. You are facing huge guys and you think: “‘Woah!” ‘Did you see the size of (Sofien) Moussa on Tuesday night? I was thinking: “He’s about double the size of me.” ‘Thankfully, I didn’t get in many battles with him. But you just need to take the hit, be brave and bounce back. Hopefully you will get a free-kick or whatever. ‘We have Celtic next and I’d be delighted to be involved in that. I’ve been watching Scott Brown since I was a young boy so that would be something special. It would be a tough game and a real challenge, but that’s what you want as a young player. If I get the chance, that would be brilliant.’