Rudi must stay is cry of Hearts fans

THE Wheatfield Stand female dangling her red, white and blue Czech banner in front of Setanta's trackside cameraman on Sunday managed to convey the message perfectly: "Rudi, please stay."

Those words, scrolled across the flag in question, may have gone unnoticed by Mr Skacel as he exerted himself on the Hearts left, helping to effect as comprehensive a destruction as Celtic have suffered for over five years in the domestic environment. However, they were particularly apt in relation to the collective feelings of the Hearts support.

To a man, those who frequent Tynecastle are craving a successful conclusion to the contract discussions of their on-loan midfielder, more of which are being held this week with a view to cementing him as a permanent employee of the club at the end of his season-long loan from Marseille.

Indeed, a BBC report that emerged in the aftermath of the Celtic match had everyone of a maroon persuasion engaging in premature delirium, for it stated that Skacel had formally committed himself to Hearts. Not quite the case, and the player is at present still deliberating over his future. Tomorrow, though, he will be entrusted with Hearts' Champions League fate against Aberdeen, interim head coach Valdas Ivanauskas remaining confident that the Czech's contractual non-compliance thus far will not impinge upon his mindset in the same way it is claimed Andy Webster has been affected.

Webster may be persona non grata with majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov but Hearts supporters are guaranteed to reserve a place in their hearts for Skacel regardless of whether he sticks or twists this summer. His performances, particularly in the first half of the season, have simply been too memorable to erase.

Even more so if he is able to conjure his first goal since January against Jimmy Calderwood's side tomorrow night, for there is a rather significant reward to be gained from adding Aberdeen's scalp to that of Celtic's.

"Our fans deserved that victory on Sunday, and it was extremely important for us because we are now very close to the Champions League," said Skacel with notable enthusiasm. "I hope we can take second place for our supporters now. It's crucial to win the next game because you never know what's going to happen in the last game. Going to play Rangers in front of a full stadium is awkward and it will be a hostile atmosphere if we are playing for a Champions League place. It's effectively a one-off game and that will make it more difficult and unpredictable, so it is better to take it against Aberdeen and avoid the tension. We have a big chance to do that. We are at home, Aberdeen aren't going to make it easy but I hope we can take this chance.

"For our supporters it would be perfect, they could celebrate second place at Tynecastle and then go to Ibrox for a party."

On the evidence of his very public relationship with the Hearts fans, there would only be one man willing to act as the Master of Ceremonies at Ibrox. Skacel is idolised in Gorgie, he knows it and is genuinely appreciative of the adulation bestowed upon him since he arrived in the Capital last July. He can count European luminaries such as current employers Marseille, as well as Panathinaikos and Slavia Prague, amongst his former clubs, but nowhere has he been adored so passionately than at Tynecastle. Even his formative years at the lower-league Czech clubs Hradec Kralove and FK Trutnov gave no hint as to his ability to charm supporters.

On Sunday, Skacel believes Hearts returned the compliment to their loyal disciples.

"I think it was a fantastic game to watch for both sets of fans because the standard of football played was amazing.

"It was a big game for Hearts and I was delighted we took the three points. We deserved it because we have been dreadfully unlucky three times against Celtic this season. We have played our part in some excellent matches with Celtic this season and the games have been tough. I think our best performance came in the 1-1 draw because we were a goal behind that day.

"When we lost 3-2 at New Year after being 2-0 ahead, I think that sort of thing can only happen two or three times in your life because we definitely deserved more that day. We got more on Sunday and that is for the supporters."

Allegations of spitting were made at Skacel by Celtic captain Neil Lennon during and after the match, however in believing he has no case to answer Skacel is focused only on Wednesday, commenting: "It will be another game, but every game is important to me at the moment."

That much is true for a player who harbours serious intentions of securing a place in Karel Bruckner's Czech Republic World Cup squad.

"They are all big matches when you are aiming as high as the Champions League. The season is 38 games long and now we are reaching the stage where we find out what our season will mean. We must take this final step."

Joining Skacel as one of the outstanding players afield on Sunday was full-back Robbie Neilson, whose competent defensive displays often go unnoted. Indeed, were Hearts not bound by such a demanding end-of-season schedule, he would surely have been part of the Scotland contingent heading east for the Kirin Cup.

But modesty is a prime portion of Neilson's make-up, and as such he prefers to extol the qualities of others. "Paul Hartley has produced some important goals in big matches for us and that's the mark of a good player," said the defender.

"He did it again against Celtic. It's okay doing it against the lower-league teams but he's been stepping up when we've really needed him. He practices his free-kicks at training, so I think that's the key for him.

"People might be interested in him in the summer but they could be interested in a lot of our players. Mr Romanov is paying good money to these boys to keep them, though." Neilson did agree to talk momentarily from a personal point of view on the intrigue provided by unprecedented involvement for the club in the Champions League qualifiers. For someone who played his way through the Hearts youth system and emerged in the first-team -during the financially restricted tenures of Jim Jefferies and Craig Levein, the influence of Romanov is quite something to comprehend.

"The Champions League would be fantastic," said Neilson. "I don't really want to look too far ahead because we'd have a few qualifiers to go through first. But it's nice even thinking about it. It's been a while since we've beaten Celtic but I think the Aberdeen result will be an even bigger one if we can get there."

Taken from the Scotsman