NOW HEARTS WILL KNOW OUR HURT AT ANDY'S RED CARD

HEARTS are hurting badly after being dumped out of the Champions League in controversial circumstances by AEK Athens.

Now they know how we felt after we played them at East End Park on the first day of the season.

Ihad genuine sympathy for Julien Brellier and Neil McCann when they were given their marching orders in the Olympic Stadium as AEK sealed their 5-1 aggregate win with a 3-0 victory.

But I felt just as much for Andy Tod when he was sent off towards the end of our 2-1 defeat against the Jambos in a game which also saw another four of our players booked.

There's no doubt the referee and his assistants should have dealt with Brellier's jewellery issue before the game and not waited until midway through the first half. His dismissal shortly afterwards realistically ended Hearts' hopes of pulling back a 2-1 first-leg defeat but they played really well before the Greeks made their two-man advantage tell near the end.

It would have been interesting to see Paul Hartley or Jamie Mole score with their chances before they were reduced to 10 men because there was a nervousness about AEK at that stage and Hearts looked capable of exploiting it.

However, I still fancy them to have another tilt at the big time in 12 months because they definitely have the strength and quality to finish first or second in the SPL this season.

There is no better place to play club football than in the Champions League, which is the pinnacle for any player. I turned out twice for Rangers at that level and although it was a decade ago I still remember my games against Ajax at Ibrox and in Auxerre as if they were yesterday.

Scott Wilson made his debut against the Dutch in that 1-0 defeat and I recall going out for the warm-up with the words of Ian Durrant ringing in our ears, "Don't worry boys - there will only be 20 million watching this".

I played at wing-back against Marc Overmars in a star-studded Ajax side that also included players such as Patrick Kluivert, Philip Cocu and Frank de Boer.

At one point I found it hard to suppress a smile as I bombed down the right wing, only to look back and see a world-class star in Overmars giving chase.

The ex-Arsenal winger was even taken off that night and Derek McInnes moved faster than ever before to sprint towards the tunnel and swap shirts, denying me the ultimate souvenir.

In fact, I kept my kit from that game because I was too embarrassed to approach players such as de Boer and ask for a swap as I reasoned they would want little to do with a No.28 shirt with a no-name like Shields on the back.

These nights will always live with Scott and me and we admit, now we're older and wiser, we took it all for granted and didn't realise at the time how lucky we were.

Mind you, one thing has always been a constant for me in recent years and that's having big Toddy following along in my slipstream.

I've taken to my bike in the last couple of weeks as I bid to return from my knee injury and I'm on course for amid-September return.

I've got to take my hat off to specialist Gordon Mackay, whose professionalism and encouragement has been a huge boost. It's comforting to be in the care of the very best in the business.

I'd never tell him to get on his bike but the same doesn't apply to my big pal from the Pars defence.

I took Toddy on a 24-mile round trip from Dunfermline to Alloa yesterday and pedal power is certainly not his forte, despite his claims to the contrary.

It's Andy's testimonial year and a gala dinner takes place at Keavil House Hotel in Crossford on Saturday week.

I just hope he eventually finishes his bike ride in time to make his own big night.

Taken from the Daily Record