Burley to relish taking on big boys

HAVING his tones broadcast across the airwaves each morning as one of Talksport's breakfast show presenters allows Alan Brazil to inject the British nation with a fervour for sport on a daily basis.

Football, horse-racing, golf, cricket, rugby, tennis. Brazil transports an aura of personal attachment to them all. Any listener will testify that he could probably have his audience engrossed in an under-9s tiddlywinks tournament if entrusted with the task of raising its interest.

But ask him to speak about one of the true mainstays of the Ipswich team which he led from the front over 20 years ago, namely George Burley, and never could Brazil be heard engaging in a more passionate vein.

It was in the Portman Road dressing-room under Bobby Robson that Burley, over a period of 13 years, evolved from puny kid to a man of the football world.

Brazil was alongside him whilst the Suffolk club indulged themselves in the illustriousness of FA Cup and UEFA Cup triumphs in 1978 and 1981 respectively, and he remains an avid admirer of his colleague's achievements since.

Managerially, Burley has a reputation plated with gold. It will be sternly tested over the course of his two-year contract with Hearts, club owner Vladimir Romanov's issuing of a memo to topple not just Rangers but Celtic as well having been well documented.

Burley and Brazil also played in the same Scotland side on several occasions, so both already carry preconceptions of what glorious failure involves, however remaining within the game has allowed Burley an elongated period of moderate success, first in charge at Portman Road and then across in the Midlands with Derby.

Fascinating Brazil now are the imminent confrontations with four men who are as well acquainted with himself as they are the Hearts manager. "George will certainly take up the challenge from across Edinburgh, with Tony Mowbray and Mark Venus both having the Ipswich connection too," said Brazil. "Then, he will look forward to the big ones against two of his Scotland team-mates, McLeish and Strachan.

"It's going to be bloody hard. I hear he has a little bit of money available, which is always something because I didn't think he would have gone there with nothing to spend. But George will also coach well. He will be out on the training field with his players because he is a tracksuit manager."

Brazil's answer when questioned on the appeal to Burley of attempting to outdo friends gives a hint of the added spice that will be contained in the upper echelons of this season's SPL. "Oh, crikey yeah," says the commentator. "He will be doing his utmost to take points off Celtic and Rangers.

"George knows McLeish and Strachan well, and Mowbray and Venus worked under him at Ipswich. Aberdeen are on the up as well, so it's going to be interesting. I will be an avid viewer when Hearts are on TV to see how George is getting on. I think Mowbray and Venus have made a big impression so I'll be looking for George to do the same."

As Phil Anderton and the rest of the Hearts directors purr over their coup that was landing Burley as manager in the first place, and then at the portion of reputable players he has thus far attracted, like Edgaras Jankauskas and Rudi Skacel, others in his former boroughs down south have expressed their surprise at the Scot's defection back home. He left Derby somewhat abruptly after leading them into the English Championship play-offs. Allegations have been made regarding his personal life and a supposed souring of relations with his immediate superior at Pride Park, Murdo MacKay. They know not what to make of it in the Midlands, nor in his favoured retreat of Suffolk.

"I was surprised he left Derby, right. I mean, really surprised," continued Brazil, himself still an inhabitant of East Anglia. "The Derby fans adored him. The season before they were on the brink of relegation and he saved them, and then all of a sudden they're in the play-offs.

"George leaving was a major shock to me and I still haven't spoken to him about what happened there. Maybe that's just really made him sick with all the accusations flying his way. He's possibly thought, 'I'll get out of here and go somewhere else,' and I know from his time at Ayr he always enjoyed being at home so maybe he has been a little home sick."

Brazil, below, is certainly sure Hearts moved in the correct direction by bringing in his former team-mate. Despite a distinctly foreign element about Burley's initial signing targets in Gorgie, those largely unknown youths who frequent the club's Riccarton training academy each day can also anticipate promotion and the opportunity to develop their careers in the coming months. Burley's most acclaimed nurturing currently resides in Newcastle. Kieron Dyer, with 26 caps for England, is the natural successor to David Beckham on the right of his country's midfield. And he owes it all to one man after Burley handed him his Ipswich debut three days before his 18th birthday in December 1996.

Three years later, and £6.5million took him to St James' Park, although Burley would, of course, wish to distance himself from the aggressive instincts possessed by Dyer which last season saw Lee Bowyer left with a ripped jersey and a sore ear into the bargain. Controversy is not Burley's bag.

Brazil added: "George is a happy-go-lucky guy. He isn't too serious but he loves his football. He can say his bit in the dressing-room.

"If things weren't going well at Ipswich he would always have something to say about why it wasn't going well in the Bobby Robson days. I think he understands the value of bringing kids through, like he was brought through at Ipswich. That is important to him. As a person, he looks after himself. He got a bad injury when he did his cruciate ligament as a player at Ipswich and I think he thought to himself, 'My career could be over here'. He changed a bit after that and was so intent on getting himself back to full fitness, and remember in those days cruciate ligaments finished you.

"He is very dependable and very Scottish. We used to have some right rivalry at Ipswich with myself, John Wark and George against the English lads. George was very proud of where he was from and is a solid guy. He will know what is required in Edinburgh.

I keep hearing about the Hibs youngsters, so maybe George will bring the best out of the Hearts youngsters."

Taken from the Scotsman