Hearts captain Christophe Berra has insisted it is too early to judge the Tynecastle side despite a testing start to the campaign in which they just scraped out of their Betfred Cup group.
Former Hearts player turned pundit Michael Stewart, who has had a number of public spats with Craig Levein in recent seasons, lacerated the Tynecastle manager and warned that so long as he is in charge then the team will never play attractive football.
Hearts were booed off the pitch at the weekend after they were defeated on penalties by East Fife at the weekend with Darren Young’s side taking top spot in the group, a qualification berth that meant Hearts progressed but without being seeded.
“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. As a footballer, and even more as a manager, you need to be thick-skinned.
“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.”
Stewart pointed to warning signs at hearts from October onwards last year but Berra has maintained a stout defence of his manager.
”You need to stick to your principles and get on with it,” he said. “It’s always up 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. 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.
“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 campaign starting and that is ultimately where we will be judged.
“I was reading comments from Jurgen Klopp earlier in the week about Liverpool have not had a great pre-season. People were questioning him but he was truing to make the point it was still 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.”
The only way to stem the flow of criticism is by winning games, something that Berra believes is widely recognised by everyone at Hearts. The Tynecastle side open their league campaign at Pittodrie on Sunday afternoon with any run of poor results in the opening stages inevitably inviting further criticism.
“If you win it covers a lot of things,” said Berra. “If you win games no one really cares. We have been trying to win games by showing our identity. Hopefully when the league gets going and we do get a settled team – there have been a lot of changes – that is when we can be judged.”
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