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| <-Page | <-Team | Sat 04 Nov 2006 Celtic 2 Hearts 1 | Team-> | Page-> |
| <-Srce | <-Type | Herald ------ Post Match Comments | Type-> | Srce-> |
| Eduard Malofeev | <-auth | MARK WILSON | auth-> | Craig Thomson |
| 62 | of 073 | Andrius Velicka 72 Jiri Jarosik 86 ;Gordon og 94 | L SPL | A |
Hearts are left playing catch-up with ZaliukasMARK WILSON An element of intrigue is compulsory for Hearts. It was provided at Celtic Park by the decision to leave Marius Zaliukas on the field as the Tynecastle club capitulated to concede three immensely significant points in the title race. The Lithuanian struggled to play an effective part as a holding midfielder after suffering a knee injury, but remained in the game despite Hearts still having one substitution available. Zaliukas came to the sidelines for treatment and twice seemed set to be replaced by Julien Brellier, only for the Frenchman to return to the bench. Eduard Malofeev, interim coach of the Tynecastle club, had instead taken the unusual step of replacing Bruno Aguiar, who was excellent in midfield, with Takis Fyssas, a left-back. He later said that he was disappointed in the effect of his first two substitutions and did not want to risk a third by withdrawing Zaliukas. That, though, was surely preferable to effectively being a man down, as Celtic staged a spectacular late fightback. Brellier is, of course, known to be one of the players least favoured by Vladimir Romanov, the Tynecastle owner, and there was inevitable speculation that his exclusion from entering the game had a political motive. Paul Hartley, who excelled in front of Zaliukas, would not be drawn on the theory of further interference from above. He did, though, admit Parkhead was the last venue where a team could afford any passengers. "I think Marius got a bad knock on his knee," said the Scotland midfielder. "He seemed to carry on and it's not my decision who is substituted. But if you are carrying an injury, especially here, then the right thing is maybe to take the player off. "To be fair, I wasn't even looking because I was trying to do my own job. But you need 11 fit players on the park. "You need everyone working on the pitch because Celtic were always going to make a push in the last 10 minutes." Brellier rejected a contract offer earlier this season and the 24-year-old, who last started a match on September 17, said last week he may leave the club. "I don't know the situation between Julien and the owner when it comes to the contract talks," said Hartley. "Obviously, you want your best players out there. Julien was one of our best players last season in that holding midfield role. But it's not me who picks the team." Hartley, though, praised Malofeev for the intelligent way Hearts were set out at Parkhead and insisted there was no major difficulty with communication between head coach and players. The Belarussian provided an amusing sideshow throughout the 90 minutes as he flapped arms and attempted to pass instructions to a bemused-looking John McGlynn, the first-team coach, via an interpreter. "His [Malofeev's] training has been really good all week and he has got his point across," said Hartley. "He's working through an interpreter but I don't think it has been a problem. He spoke to us before the game and laid out his instructions. "Tactically, we were fantastic. It was the best we have played for a long time. We just never got that second goal you need. Overall, I'm very pleased with the performance but hugely disappointed with the result." The midfielder refused to pin any blame on Craig Gordon for his injury-time own goal that won the game for Celtic and pledged to continue what now seems a forlorn chase. Wednesday's CIS Insurance Cup quarter-final with Hibs is the more immediate target to repeat what was, for 85 minutes, a fine display. "It's a big gap," said Hartley. "We won't give up [on the title] but it's going to be extremely difficult. We'll have to go on a magnificent run to have any chance. "If we had won this one, then it was back down to seven points. That's the disappointing thing. We have to chase Celtic until it becomes impossible. They have been the most consistent team when others have been slipping up. "We have another big game on Wednesday night, a derby game and cup quarter final, and we want to win some silverware. It's very important for the club."  Taken from the Herald |
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