Cowie happy for Berra to take the lead
Returning Tynecastle star backed to be huge influence in Gorgie this term
DON COWIE enjoyed the sensation of captaining, if not carrying, Hearts last season but concedes he is thrilled to be making room for another leader. The return of Christophe Berra to the club will see the club captaincy pass to the 32-year-old and Cowie, who took the armband on a game-by-game basis last term, is encouraged to see head coach Ian Cathro introduce another big personality to the dressing room.
The benefits of Berra’s return are obvious. Not only is he a current serving international player but he retains a tight connection to Hearts that is rooted in his development at the club’s youth academy.
After several years operating in the top two tiers of English football with Wolves and then a spell at Championship Ipswich, Berra will raise the standard at Tynecastle.
Last year Robbie Neilson made Perry Kitchen his skipper, a move that seemed odd at the time and even odder by the time the head coach’s successor had relegated the American to the fringes.
A frantic January transfer window saw nine players introduced to the squad. Aaron Hughes had a wealth of experience but wasn’t always fit. Alexandros Tziolis also brought pedigree but the Greek midfielder’s performances on a short-term deal gave the impression he was marking time until his next move. As the season drifted, it fell to Cowie to take the lead. ‘The manager said it himself, there were times when I was a bit alone,’ he reflected. ‘It was tough and circumstances didn’t help. Aaron, another experienced player, came in but was injured quite a bit, while Callum Paterson was also out long-term and he’s played a lot of football for this club. ‘Getting Christophe in is a big signing for us. He is still playing for Scotland and it’s a statement. He has played at Hearts before, he is from Edinburgh and he wants to come to us. Sometimes you need to use that to your advantage. ‘He could be massive for us. I’m not putting all the pressure on to him but even just for me, knowing he is coming in the door is a huge help.’
Berra was in the thick of things as Scotland drew with England last weekend but declined the offer of a proper holiday to join his team-mates for the first day of pre-season training on Friday.
It’s that sort of commitment which will be needed to win over a crowd that became disillusioned over the course of a trying season.
‘When you are losing games it is difficult mentally and Tynecastle can be a daunting place to play,’ admitted Cowie. ‘It’s about how you react to that. I’m at a stage in my career where I was able to adopt a mindset that told me: “Look, I’m enjoying my football and if I make a mistake it happens”.
‘I just wanted to go out there and play. But you need to go through spells in your career to get to that point.
‘I’ve had that and know how to react but some of the others are new to it. You can sink or swim because it is intimidating. We have lacked the leaders, guys who can deal with the pressure when things aren’t going well.’
The same applies equally to the club’s callow management team of Cathro and assistant Austin MacPhee.
A 30-year-old Dundonian, Cathro underwent a continental coaching education in Portugal and Spain but his ideas have thus far not translated well in the Scottish capital.
Cowie pleads patience. ‘Results weren’t good but I was encouraged by what I was seeing on a daily basis,’ he continued. ‘I had that hunger to play because I liked the ideas. We just weren’t able to execute them. Maybe we didn’t have the quality to process the details of what we were being given.
‘We had great wins against Rangers and things like that but there was too much of the other side.
‘We didn’t really have a spell where we were drawing and then winning — it was a consistent run of negative results. That’s where St Johnstone and Aberdeen showed that consistency.
‘The staff now have a period of time to really look at the players we need to bring in to execute the game plan.’
At 34, Cowie believes he played some of the best football of his career last term, a development in keeping with his history as a late bloomer. Following spells with Ross County and hometown club Inverness Caley Thistle, he moved to England at the age of 26.
He worked under Brendan Rodgers at Watford, then played for Cardiff City in the Premier League before moving to Wigan Athletic, where injury blighted his two-and-a-half-year spell.
He joined Hearts in early 2016 and has enjoyed being back in Scotland.
‘I still have a year left on my contract and I want to carry on,’ he added. ‘The manager has said he wants me to be part of it, which is encouraging.
‘The last six months of the season were hard and obviously I didn’t enjoy the results but I really enjoyed what he was trying to do.
‘If I’m honest, it was probably my best year of football in four or five years. In that sense, it has given me back my hunger and a feeling that I can keep going.’
Getting Christophe is a statement signing for us