Hibs 1 Newcastle 3 /Toon too strong
● Skipper defends manager Levein in face of fans’ angry protests but acknowledges below-par start
Hibernian have been dealt a huge blow days ahead of the new Premiership season with the news that winger Martin Boyle needs another knee operation and will be out “for the foreseeable future”.
The 26-year-old was sent for a scan having been forced off during the Betfred Cup tie against Elgin City on Friday having taken a knock to his left knee – which was operated on in January. The initial injury happened in Australia’s final Asian Cup warm-up match, ruling Boyle out of the competition and the rest of the season.
The news emerged as Hibs prepared for last night’s 3-1
Christophe Berra has shrugged off criticism of Hearts’ early-season form and insists they can only be judged fairly when their Premiership campaign gets underway.
Despite topping their Betfred Cup group, the Gorgie side failed to impress and finished it off with last Saturday’s penalty shoot-out loss at East Fife which cost them a seeded place in the last-16 draw.
Manager Craig Levein has attracted flak from a familiar source, BT Sport pundit and former Hearts midfielder Michael Stewart claiming the club will “always underachieve” and “never play attractive football” under the current coaching regime.
But Hearts captain Berra, preparing for Sunday’s opening league game against Aberdeen at Pittodrie, is unmoved and believes Levein will not be diverted from the style of play he has implemented.
“People are allowed their opinions,” said Berra. “Michael has been in the game a long time and watches a lot of games. When you are in that line of work, you are paid to give your opinion.
“But 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 ups and downs 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 a manager. He has the club’s best interests at heart. Clearly he divides opinion but you get that at virtually every club.
“I’m sure it is the same at Hibs and at Celtic and elsewhere. We have come in for a bit of stick over the past four or five months.
“Part of it is due as we have been inconsistent. There is no hiding from that as a team and a club. [But] ultimately we will get judged on how we start the league and how we do throughout the season.
“There will be a lot of people watching and a lot of people will be giving their opinion. Everyone is due an opinion but not everyone’s opinion counts.”
Berra feels Hearts possibly made a rod for their own backs last season when they lost only one of their first 11 league games and were the early pacesetters at the top of the Premiership table. They ultimately had to settle for a disappointing sixth-place finish and even their run to the Scottish Cup final, in which they lost narrowly to Celtic at Hampden, was not enough to dispel the air of negativity which surrounded Levein and his squad.
“Results dictate the atmosphere and the vibe amongst the players and the fans,” added the 34-year-old.
“We should have put the Betfred Cup games to bed this season but we missed too many chances. The results put a bit of a downer on pre-season but we did manage to get through the group.
“There can sometimes be a doom-and-gloom mindset with Scottish people. It can be 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 you need to be positive. We are still looking forward to the league starting and that is ultimately where we will be judged.
“I’m a bit more experienced so I don’t read the papers or listen to the sports news as much. I know that if I work hard and do my job during the week, then matchdays will take care of themselves.
“Maybe other people within the club might pay more attention [to the negativity outside]. That is part of football. Every club has to deal with that at some point. Expectations soared after our great start last season and maybe that didn’t
“As a footballer, andevenmoreasa manager, you need to be thick-skinned. You need to stick to your principles and get on with it. It’s always ups and downs and it has been like that at Hearts for a while”
CHRISTOPHE BERRA
help us in the end. I was reading comments from Jurgen Klopp about Liverpool having not had a great pre-season. People were questioning him but he was trying to make the point it was early doors and not all their players had come back. I’ve been in teams before when we have won every game in pre-season and then lost the first two or three league games. Other times we have been very inconsistent during the summer and then start the season on fire.
“If you win football matches, it covers a lot of things. If you win games, no one really cares about how you play. We have been trying to win games by showing our identity. Hopefully when the league gets going and we do get a settled team that is when we can be judged.”