Naismith not willing to be skipper of a sinking ship

WHEN Steven Naismith agreed to pledge his future to Hearts by signing a four-year deal back in August, a grim relegation battle was not part of the grand vision sold to him by the Tynecastle club.

Now that he has taken over from Christophe Berra as skipper of a side sitting rock bottom of the Premiership, the Scotland forward has no intention of going down in history as the captain of a sinking ship. Yet, after tonight’s daunting trip to Celtic Park, Hearts will only have 12 more league games in which to save their top flight status. With that in mind, the 33-year-old has been getting the message across to his teammates that every point is precious while locked in a fight for survival against rivals boasting plenty of experience of beating the drop. ‘I didn’t come here to be fighting a relegation battle,’ nodded Naismith (pictured). ‘It’s about personal pride and that would hurt more than anything else. I’ll be doing everything I can to try and push us up the table. ‘Back in September and October, you could have said we were just having a bad start to the season and that we also had a few injuries. But the games are rattling by now. They are coming thick and fast — and there is a reality that we need to understand. ‘We are in a relegation fight. We need to pick up points. It’s about results. ‘We want to get away from the bottom as quick as we can. We need to get to a point where teams think they can’t slip up against us. ‘Then we can go into games against the bottom teams knowing we are in control. ‘You see Hamilton and St Mirren players throwing bodies on the line and doing last-ditch defending. That comes from them regularly being in this situation before. We have to make sure, going into every game, that we try and get as many points as we can.

‘We need to try and dominate and not hide from the ball. That starts against Celtic.

‘We had a good result against Rangers at home recently but we have to take our chances when they come along.’

In January 2016, Naismith moved to Norwich City from Everton for £8.5million but could not prevent the Canaries being relegated from the English Premier League four months later. He has no desire to go through that ordeal again.

‘I hope I never experience it again in my life,’ he sighed.

‘It was not a nice feeling at all. You can’t just say: “We have a better team on paper” because it doesn’t work like that.

‘We have a group of games coming up before the split and if we can get in a better position, we can start building instead of scrapping.

‘But we will fight! It’s not as if people are shying away from it. Since the turn of the year, there have been more boys putting in better performances and looking to try and cement their place in the team.’

After Norwich were relegated, Naismith was deemed surplus to requirements by new manager Daniel Farke and went on loan to Hearts before making the move permanent. Berra, now on loan at Dundee, suffered a similar fate, being told his Tynecastle career was over after Daniel Stendel replaced the sacked Craig Levein. But Naismith insists a longstanding relationship between himself and Berra meant the handover of the captaincy was not a fraught affair. ‘In our youth days, we played against each other and we played for Scotland together, so we have a good relationship,’ said Naismith. ‘There wasn’t an awkward conversation with me saying: “I’m going to be the captain now.” ‘Once Christophe was moving on, somebody was going to have to be captain and he was the first to understand that. It is football. It moves on. I was in a similar situation at Norwich, when a new manager came in and didn’t want me. ‘I wouldn’t say my role has changed as captain. I’m the same as I was. I delegate things a bit more. Certainly, I delegate collecting the fines. ‘Before I was captain, younger forwards would come up to me and ask my advice, just as younger defenders would ask Christophe his advice.’