Cammy Devlin is a Heart of Midlothian fan with an Aussie accent.
The way he plays, the way he speaks about the club, his attitude and outlook resonate and relate to those in the stands.
Three years ago he pitched up in Gorgie aware of who Hearts were but not quite aware of the intricacies, the demands, the possibilities that come with being one of those privileged few who gets to pull on the maroon every week. Three years of building a close affinity with the club and city.
That three years is set to become five after signing his latest contract extension which runs until 2026. Speaking to Hearts Standard in May, he said he hoped it would happen and happen quickly. Discussions took place over the summer before being parked when the action got underway. But there was "no doubt" in his mind about putting pen to paper.
"It's a place that I think everyone knows that I'm very comfortable at now," the 26-year-old said. "I feel quite at home here at Hearts and just excited to extend and want to just kick on now.
"You want to just be the best player you can. I'll work as hard as I possibly can to and that will take me to wherever in football. I'm in a very fortunate position to be sitting here today."
Devlin can't speak highly enough of the way the club and crowd have made him feel welcome, both around Tynecastle Park on game day or stopping to speak to him or ask for pictures when around the city. It was something he never expected "in a million years" and something that is "super special".
He has met his girlfriend since living in Edinburgh, giving him a family feel that is slightly closer than his parents on the other side of the world.
Devlin is like any footballer, keen to improve and see his career take him wherever it takes him. But at the same time, there is never been a great rush to move and it is easy to see him become a reference point in the squad. Someone who provides continuity and someone others can look to to understand what Hearts are about.
"I don't want to be someone who at the first opportunity that comes, jumps and runs, that I feel like some people would," he said. "I feel like I owe the club and the people of Hearts that respect.
"I feel like it's such a special club and special place to be. I'm really happy."
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After all, he is desperate to follow in the footsteps of Ryan McGowan. Experiencing a special afternoon at Hampden Park and bringing silverware back to The Capital. Back to Gorgie.
"The one thing I've made so clear that I want to do in the next few years and beyond is win a cup," he said. "I just feel like that would be the best thing.
"I've heard speaking to Ryan McGowan and boys that have done that and people that are within the club that have been here for when Hearts have done that say it's the best thing in the world.
"To just come back to Tynie and bring a cup around the city would be so special. It's something that one day when you leave Hearts and I'm back in Australia when I'm older you can be quite proud of your time there.
"I'll always be proud of my time here no matter what happens, but if you can give back to the people who have supported me as an individual and us as a team every single week, I feel like that would be the cherry on top. That is definitely one of my goals."
The short-term goal is to simply get back to winning ways.
Hearts travel to Celtic Park this afternoon. There is no tougher place to go to get the first success of the season.
Devlin admitted it is "such a tough" place to go. But is aware it is up to the players to "stand up and be counted" and take responsibility to turn the season around.
"It's hard at the moment because we're not producing results," he said. "I said after the Rangers game where we drew 0-0 that it's one of the best squads, if not the best squad that I've been with since I've been here.
"It's so frustrating because out on the training pitch, we're working so hard and we know what we want and what we need from each other. We had a bad start to the season last year and we came back and turned that around with a great turn of form and that's what we need to do now, if not better because there's no hiding from the fact that we haven't started well.
"But if you dwell on the past and dive into all the negativity then you're only going to fall into that trap. So I feel like you've got to be the bigger people.
"We're at a massive football club, you're expected to be in football games and that's the kind of pride you have to have when you're wearing a Hearts jersey. It's something we don't take lightly because we're all in a privileged position where we rock up to Tynie every week and we've got 20,000 supporters that are there no matter what. Against Dundee United, we hadn't won a game yet and it was sold out.
"We have an amazing support but we haven't been good enough on a Saturday or a Sunday, whenever it is. It's about us as players taking full responsibility of that and turning that around."
One of the responsibilities of the management team and players is to be better at breaking down defences that sit deep and compact. It was an issue last season and has perhaps become an even bigger one this campaign.
Devlin provided an on-field insight as to not only what the problem is but crucially a solution.
🤔 Do Hearts replicate the set up used for last season's 2-0 win at Celtic Park@craigcairns001 ✍
— Hearts Standard (@HeartsStandard_) September 13, 2024
🔗 https://t.co/jylHEnLr9q pic.twitter.com/YhbF3XDjGx
"I feel like a massive [area], and this is a part of my game that’s developing, is movement," he explained. "And when you’re playing these teams... Dundee United, they had a really good game plan which obviously worked for them to kind of sit back and get us on the counter.
"It’s so hard to break down when you’re static and I feel like that might have been a thing that’s kind of killed us in the start of the season.
"When you get the ball as a No.6 and you look up and there’s boys moving and rotating and people making forward runs and wanting the ball, it’s a different prospect. That’s something that we’ve spoken about and you can feel on the pitch that needs to be better.
"That’s something that might be a bit different [against Celtic] in terms of we’re going to sometimes be sitting back and having to be patient in defence and with the ball, but we want to be super brave when we get it.
"I feel like the reason we’ve had success against Celtic, in the last season we won a couple of games, was when we got the ball, we were actually quite brave. Watching the games back, we’ve watched clips from it last year, you can see the success that gives you when you do it. It’s obviously super hard at times because of their press and how aggressive they are. The way they’re set up, that’s super important.
"But I feel like a massive thing we need to work on as players and get in our minds. Clearly when we’re going out there is movement off the ball."
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