Brellier the man to hold raging Hearts
BARRY ANDERSON

"ANGRY Hearts now need cool heads" screamed one headline from yesterday's national newspapers, suggesting a lack of respect for officialdom in and around Tynecastle. Well, if that is indeed the case, no-one could answer the request for a proposed harmony restorer better than Julien Brellier.

As commotion raged almost incessantly around him on the field against Celtic on New Year's Day, the modish Frenchman remained the epitome of composure by stifling much of Celtic's attacking threat from his deep-lying midfield role whilst demonstrating his ability to play almost in camouflage to the untrained eye.

Brellier's piece de resistance is his intellectual command of the holding role between midfield and defence. Supporters uninitiated as to his worth are easily able to overlook his presence on the field during a game, but one of the shrewdest signings made by George Burley during his short tenure in Edinburgh is proving a lasting and vital legacy.

His calming influence may not quite have had the desired affect on his colleagues against Celtic - four Hearts players were yellow carded in addition to the dismissal of Takis Fyssas - but Brellier's consummate performance, although easy to overlook due to his unspectacular on-field manner, is worth dwelling on. As Celtic constructed their four-man midfield around the central pairing of a sitter and a runner, so did Hearts, with Brellier's relentless pursuit of the attack-minded Stan Petrov around the Tynecastle pitch rendering the Bulgarian about as effective as Stan Ogden, prior to his injury-enforced withdrawal in the 50th minute. If Vladimir Romanov is still doubtful of Brellier's value to the team, the 23-year-old is using everything in his locker as a tool of persuasion.

Paul Hartley's incisions into Celtic's defensive territory were the perfect complement for Brellier's more protective nature and Hearts were able to master the string-pulling of an encounter which looked theirs for the taking at half-time. Discarding a 2-0 lead was a far from frivolous act on the part of the players, the capitulation abetted by the kind of irrational officiating which prompted much of the unrest during and after the 90 minutes.

Brellier's composure was always evident, though, which was a necessity whilst players from both sides were "losing the plot" as they may say in Glasgow's east end. "I felt very disappointed to play so well in the first half and then for our performance to be so different after half-time," said the Frenchman. "It was difficult to imagine that it could be that way. It's not the first time a team has been winning 2-0 at half-time and lost the match in the second half, so we must keep our heads up and concentrate on the coming matches."

That would seem the proper, mature attitude to adopt whilst others dwell on the bitterness lingering from New Year's Day. The tasks lying in wait are onerous for Hearts, however. The Scottish Cup hosting of Kilmarnock this Saturday is followed by trips to East End Park and Rugby Park before an Edinburgh derby at Tynecastle to conclude the month.

"If you can score two goals against Celtic and cause so much trouble like we did in the first half, then it encourages other teams for playing against Celtic. We must be positive about our own performances for the rest of the season and see where it gets us.

"Now it is difficult because it was so important for us to win on New Year's Day. Celtic can lose, which we know, and if we can replicate our first-half performance then we will at least stay close to them in the league."

Brellier wouldn't be drawn on whether the seven-point gap between the SPL's first and second can be overhauled. Without wishing to emphasise any petulance, he did concede to a cantankerous frustration at the late turning of the Celtic match which has been difficult to disperse in the early days of the new year.

A number of his team-mates, including goalkeeper Craig Gordon and captain Steven Pressley, have already been publicly critical of the decision to instantly red-card Fyssas by referee Iain Brines, which permitted Celtic to lay siege upon the hosts' goal and force two late goals for a scarcely deserved 3-2 triumph.

"The first half was fantastic for us, albeit the comeback was great from Celtic's point of view. For me, it should have been the same for Balde in the first half," continued Brellier, recalling the sliding tackle by Celtic's Guinean centre-back which felled Deividas Cesnauskis, denying the Lithuanian a goalscoring opportunity, which was met with only a yellow card. "Had the sides remained 11 against 11 then it would have been a very different game. I think the red card was a mistake.

"It happened at such an important moment for us because we were being pressed back and finding it a little difficult to hold on to our lead after losing the first goal. With 11 players you are still a complete team and therefore can defend and cope better.

"The red card forced us to concentrate only on defending, which is always awkward when you are leading 2-1. I found myself arriving late for challenges and not able to put in tackles in time because of the amount of ground I was having to cover."

Head coach Graham Rix introduced left-back Lee Wallace for Cesnauskis immediately after Fyssas had walked and ordered his side to retreat into a 4-4-1 formation with Calum Elliot moving wide to the right of midfield and Edgaras Jankauskas remaining alone in attack.

The policy only invited Celtic on top of the home defence, which eventually buckled, to Brellier's anguish. "We were playing very well and, for Celtic, midfield was a problem area throughout the whole game. I think we are strong in that department and hopefully we will become stronger."

The suggested arrival of Darren Potter from Liverpool may grant Brellier his wish, especially if he is deployed wide on the right as predicted. As for the centre, Brellier will unquestionably remain the principal conductor with a calming authority.

Taken from the Scotsman