Positive thinking
Berra brushes off Gorgie critics and insists best is yet to come from Hearts
CHRISTOPHE Berra has taken a swipe at the ‘doom and gloom’ mindset in Scottish football — and claims Hearts can handle the heat after an unconvincing start to the season.
Boss Craig Levein has come under scrutiny from fans despite the team topping their Betfred Cup group.
They failed to impress after salvaging a come-from-behind victory at home to Stenhousemuir and losing on penalties to East Fife last Saturday.
Hearts open their Premiership campaign with a trip to Aberdeen on Sunday and captain Berra insists he will not let negativity affect him and his team-mates.
‘The results dictate the atmosphere and the vibe amongst the players and the fans,’ said the 34-year-old. ‘We should have put the Betfred Cup games to bed but we missed too many chances.
‘The results put a bit of a downer on pre-season but we did get through the group. There can sometimes be a doom and gloom mindset with Scottish people. It can be hard and difficult to deal with.
‘Football is a game-to-game thing and if we had won 3-0 at the weekend everything would have been fine. But we didn’t do that, although we are not the only team who have struggled in the group games and got a bit of stick.
‘You need to take that on the chin and be positive. We are still looking forward to the league campaign starting and that is ultimately where we will be judged.’
Levein remains a divisive figure among Hearts fans — and has been heavily criticised by ex-Tynecastle midfielder and now pundit Michael Stewart.
He labelled Levein uninspiring after the East Fife match and believes the team is ‘never going to get an attractive style of football’ under the manager.
But Berra stressed: ‘People are allowed their opinions. Michael has been in the game a long time and watches a lot of games. In that line of work you’re paid to give your opinion.
‘As a footballer, and even more as a manager, you need to be thick-skinned. You need to stick to your principles and get on with it.
‘It’s always up and down and it has been like that at Hearts for a while.
‘There is no doubting what the manager has done for this club as a player and manager. He has the club’s best interests at heart.
‘Clearly he divides opinion but you get that at virtually every club. We have come in for a bit of stick over the past four or five months. Part of it’s due as we’ve been inconsistent.’
Hearts got off to a flier at the start of last season and topped the Premiership table for the first three months. But they suffered a slump and eventually finished sixth, albeit reaching the Scottish Cup final.
Ahead of their Pittodrie trip, Berra hopes they can rediscover a winning habit.
‘I was reading comments from Jurgen Klopp earlier in the week about Liverpool not having a great pre-season,’ added Berra. ‘People were questioning him but he said it was still early doors and not all their players had come back.
‘I’ve been in teams where we’ve won every game in pre-season but lost the first two or three league games. Other times we’ve been very inconsistent during the summer and then start the season on fire.
‘There will be a lot of people watching and giving their opinion. Everyone is due an opinion but not everyone’s counts.’
Meanwhile, Steven Naismith starred in a bounce game for Hearts as the striker prepares to complete his long-awaited switch to the club.
The 32-year-old turned out as a trialist as St Mirren were mauled 7-1 in a friendly on Monday.
Naismith played for more than an hour and emerged unscathed from the outing at Riccarton, which saw Hearts triumph with goals from Euan Henderson, Olly Lee, Lewis Moore, Rory Currie, Alex Petkov and an Aidan Keena brace.
The ex-Rangers and Everton forward, who last played on February 27, is expected to sign a permanent contract in the next 48 hours — but Sunday’s Premiership curtain-raiser could come too soon as he recovers from the knee surgery which ended his campaign prematurely last season.