Pavon talks up tactical nous of his opponent

IAIN COLLIN

BORDEAUX manager Michel Pavon yesterday paid tribute to Craig Levein in the aftermath of Hearts’ stirring 1-0 victory on French soil earlier this month, admitting that the Tynecastle head coach had deployed "very good tactics" to secure the win.

Belying his inexperience on the European stage, Levein pulled off a masterstroke when he flooded the midfield in an unusual 3-6-1 line-up that silenced the French on the pitch and drew uncomplimentary remarks from some of the home players at full-time.

With tonight’s return leg between the sides poised on a knife-edge and Hearts knowing a 0-0 draw would suffice, a similar piece of tactical wizardry could be enough to send either side into the third round of the UEFA Cup.

The guessing games will continue up until kick-off, but Pavon, who has lost only once - against Hearts - since taking charge at the French club at the beginning of the month, insisted that he doesn’t expect Hearts to be seriously weakened by the loss of skipper Steven Pressley through injury.

"I have had Hearts watched three times," he said through an interpreter. "But that doesn’t make a difference because the line-up was completely different when they came to Bordeaux. I could go and watch them one day and then the team could be completely different.

"Mark de Vries is obviously strong and physical, but there are lots of good players and I don’t really know what the line-up is going to be. One player isn’t a team and whoever comes in in Steven Pressley’s place will probably do well. It isn’t about just one player, it’s about the team. Hearts had ten other good players on the pitch in the first game, so it will be a difficult game."

Taken from the Scotsman