I need JJ’s fire in my belly and Paulo’s ice in my veins

The ice-cool head of Paulo Sergio.

Gary Locke observed both Hearts bosses handle the derby pressure from close quarters.

And he plans to use bits of both during his first game against Hibs as Gorgie gaffer.

The 37-year-old may have been a dyed-in-the-wool Jambo.

But he knows he has to take a step back from all that when it comes to the Capital crunch.

His head must rule Hearts when they meet Pat Fenlon’s side at Tynecastle this lunchtime.

Locke learned his trade under Jefferies and Billy Brown at Kilmarnock and then Hearts.

He worked as first-team coach under Sergio when he replaced Jefferies in the Jambos hot-seat.

And Locke, who still considers Jefferies as the main man, said: “The gaffer is a bit like myself, he is a Hearts man and was always well up for these games.

“Paulo was a bit more cool in his approach but he wanted to win just as much, believe me.

“It’s not that Paulo wasn’t passionate about these games.

“He had been involved with Sporting Lisbon against Benfica in Portugal so he was prepared.

“But he was cool, he never got flustered much.

“He was very, very calm going into these games and that is something you learn from.

“I would say I have picked up things from every manager I have worked with. With Paulo it was his attention to detail with stuff both on and off the pitch.

“He would keep a record of everything. He was a brilliant organiser and introduced me to a totally different way of training, which opened my eyes.

“I certainly learned a lot from his more continental approach.

“I had a wee taste of it when I came to the club as a kid when Joe Jordan was manager.

“He had different ideas probably because he had played in Italy.

“Then I worked with Sandy Clark who I knew really well and then the gaffer came in.

“I worked under Nicky Law down at Bradford and Paulo, who was different from them all.

“So I think it has been a good learning curve for me.

“You just try to implement the bits you think were good and don’t do the stuff you didn’t think was that great.”

Locke made his derby debut for Hearts as an 18-year-old and admits he got too fired up.

He admits it took time for him to realise the side that keeps a cool head is usually the one that wins these games. He said: “As a player I learned that early in my career.

“I used to get myself really worked up for the games and inevitably I had a nightmare.

“But the older you get the more experience you gain.

“I came to realise I was never going to win the game by myself so I tried to calm down a bit.

“And from then on I tended to play a lot better. That didn’t just apply to me. We had guys like Scott Crabbe and Gary Mackay in that team.

“Even John Robertson, when he decided he supported Hearts!

“We were all desperate to win because we were supporters.

“Hibs were the same because they had boys in their team who were brought up the same way.

“Even the foreign lads when I played here like Gilles Rousset, Stefano Salvatori, Stephane Adam, and Thomas Flogel all knew what the derby meant.

“But I found that if you try to keep cool, calm and collected then you usually do better.”

Locke still calls Jefferies “gaffer” even though he has now gone on to be a boss in his own right. And he revealed his players are now finally calling him the same.

He admits he was happy enough to called “Lockey” when he was placed in interim charge.

But Locke now feels he has to put distance between himself and his players in his new role. He said: “It doesn’t matter that the gaffer is now at Dunfermline and I’m manager here.

“I still hold him in high regard and call him that on the phone!

“It’s the same when Ally McCoist or Stuart McCall talk about Walter Smith, as he was such a big part of their lives.

“So hearing people call me it has taken a bit of getting used to because I’ve been known as Lockey throughout my career.

“But when you are in charge you have to start the way you mean to go on.

“While I was interim I didn’t feel the need to be called that as anything could have happened.

“But everyone knows I’m in charge here now.

“I have tried to instil everything I thought was important during my career — the time-keeping, the discipline — and the players have been fantastic.

“As a coach here it was a bit different because you could get in amongst the boys. But now it’s different.

“As the manager you can’t be as close to players.

“But I still feel at the same time you need a good relationship with them and I feel that so far I have managed that and our results have picked up.

“Hibs is a big game for us and its pleasing as well that although it’s a bottom six game there’s still loads at stake.

“It’s a good one for the players having come off the back of a full house and a very good performance last weekend.”