BATTLING WITH HIBS DOESN'T FRIGHTEN ME.. I WAS PELTED FOR SIX HOURS WITH BOTTLES AND BRICKS BY RAGING HATE MOB IN ITALY

JULIEN BRELLIER knew football in Italy was taking its toll when fans spent six hours pelting his team bus with bottles.

Venice conjures up romantic images of the Rialto Bridge, St Mark's Cathedral and gondola trips down the Grand Canal.

But Brellier recalls 25-minute trips by boat across choppy seas to play games in front of the most volatile fans he has ever seen in football.

He will be in the thick of the action in the centre of midfield at Tynecastle this afternoon as Hearts and Hibs chase the advantage in their attempts to make the Champions League next season.

Brellier, 24, will throw himself into tackles against Kevin Thomson and Scott Brown content in the knowledge that no matter how meaty the action on the park in the SPL, it rarely spills over off it.

It's the thing he loves most about the game in Scotland and which he came to loathe about life on loan from Inter Milan in Italy's Serie B.

Brellier joined the Italian cracks at the age of18 from the youth academy at Montpellier and was farmed out for spells in the lower leagues with sides such as Venezia and Salernitana.

In total, he spent 18 months in Venice and six months in Salerno, south of Naples, but he crammed a lifetime of experience into those two years.

Brellier said: "One of the things I enjoy most about Scottish football is that I can bring my family to watch me play for Hearts.

"It's not dangerous here but in Italy families do not attend the matches and watch on television instead because it can be just too frightening.

"Even in Venice, which most people know for its culture and theatres, the fans can be dangerous. There may only be 2000 of them but they have their moments.

"It is bizarre playing for Venezia anyway because the stadium is on an island and the players travel there in a boat.

"I've seen a few players go down with sea sickness before matches but the fans are well guarded by police.

"However, away from home they can be very volatile and I'll never forget my first season at the club when we were fighting relegation from Serie B.

"Thankfully, we stayed up on the last day of the season but two weeks earlier we had played a really bad team from near Rome, Ternana, and they defeated us 5-1.

"Our fans were so unhappy with us they waited at every toll on the motorway home and threw beer bottles and stones at the bus.

"The journey lasted six hours but every stop we made they would be waiting to throw bottles and stones.

"It was the same at Salernitana where the fans used to stone the bus regularly and there were occasions when we lost and were locked in the stadium for our own safety until 1 am.

"There's a lot of pressure on players in Italy - fans wait for you at training and shout bad words if the team has suffered a defeat and I've even seen team-mates walk to their cars and be pelted with eggs by unhappy supporters.

"It is possible to lose a game of football against a better side even if you have given 100 per cent.

"However, fans in Italy don't think like me and I'm glad the supporters in Scotland share my point of view.

"The atmosphere at games here is fantastic but afterwards there is rarely a problem. I've played in two derbies this season and they have been fantastic matches to be involved in.

"They are passionate but there is respect between players on the park and supporters off it."

Brellier left his home in Grenoble to take a soccer scholarship at Montpellier when he was only 14 and was lured to Milan after he impressed playing for the French Under-16 side.

He worked under Marcello Lippi at Inter and players such as Clarence Seedorf and Christian Vieri but, understandably, first-team places were few and far between.

Brellier jumped at the challenge of Hearts when George Burley offered him a contract in the summer and he has proved his worth since.

Eric Cantona once described Didier Deschamps as the "water carrier" of the French national side, a remark given as the ultimate compliment, and Brellier performs the same role at Hearts.

The fans love his defensive midfield discipline but Vladimir Romanov remains to be convinced, once infamously asking Burley to write a memo detailing why Brellier should be in the side.

Surely even Romanov has been won over by now but, whatever the thoughts of the man who pays the wages, Brellier remains unconcerned.

He said: "I don't need such comments to motivate me. I read Mr Romanov's remarks in the paper and for one minute I was worried about them.

"It wasn't a nice thing to read but within 60 seconds it was no longer a problem for me as I concentrate only on football when I'm out there on the park, not what Mr Romanov might be thinking.

"The fans at Hearts know their football and I think they appreciate the fact I always give them 100 per cent.

"I'm really delighted whenever I hear them sing my name, home or away."

Brellier's mum, Fabienne, was upset when her youngest boy left home 10 years ago for Montpellier but his dad, Serge, was a keen amateur player who encouraged his talent.

He had brother Gregory, then 17, for company at the academy but his older sibling didn't make the grade and returned home within a year.

Brellier has been away from home for a decade but admits he would like to extend his stay in Scotland beyond the two years he is committed to at Hearts.

He said: "Edinburgh is a beautiful city and I like the people here very much. I'd like to stay here longer and win something for our fans."

Taken from the Daily Record