Why the judge isn't even on the bench

IT IS one of many questions that have left Hearts supporters scouring for a definitive answer since the start of the season: Why exactly is Julien Brellier not in the team?

Terracing choruses offered in support of the talented Frenchman are having little effect on the hierarchy at Tynecastle. The "Ju-li-en Brellier" chant, which is now given an airing at almost every Hearts match, is, of course, conducted to the same tune as the "Vla-di-mir Romanov" one. That situation might not sit too comfortably with the club's majority shareholder who, for a variety of reasons, appears to have deemed Brellier persona non grata.

On Wednesday night at Easter Road, the midfielder left the stadium almost instantly after being omitted from Hearts' 16-man squad for the CIS Cup tie with Hibs. "He wasn't in the squad and since he wasn't feeling so good due to the flu, he spoke with the manager and asked for permission to leave," said Brellier's agent, Maurizio de Giorgis.

There was little confrontation prior to his departure from the dressing room, but even a flu-free Julien Brellier with more bounce than Zebedee would have trouble finding favour with club management at present. In his absence, Hearts laboured in midfield against Hibs where Paul Hartley badly missed the support and influence offered by Brellier.

The 24-year-old underpinned a huge portion of last season's success, his commanding displays as a holding midfielder helping Hearts in to the Champions League qualifying rounds and aiding them in their ultimately successful tilt at the Scottish Cup. This season, Brellier, ironically known to fans as 'The Judge', toils at times to make the substitutes' bench, and even then a touchline seat has been his limit of late.

By November 10 last year, Hearts had played 16 matches of the 2005/06 campaign in all competitions. Brellier had started 13 of them. This term the club's fixture list has been far more congested because of their participation in both the Champions League and UEFA Cup, yet in 21 games Brellier has started only seven times.

The player and his agent believe the continual omission relates to his refusal to sign a contract extension beyond the end of this season. Brellier agreed in the summer to remain in Edinburgh and exercise the one-year option on his contract that would tie him to Hearts until June 2007. A further extension was refused on the grounds that the salary offered was "insulting", according to De Giorgis.

"Victimised is a big word, but Julien is definitely not being treated in a nice way," said the Italian, who has acted on Brellier's behalf since his days with Inter Milan. "He is not being treated politely or with the respect he deserves after what he proved with the team last season.

"He always feels he is able to do a job for Hearts. He has already proved that he can play for the team. Unfortunately, the situation isn't working out the way we hoped it would."

Although not quite as severe as the banishing suffered by last season's contract insubordinate, Andy Webster, Brellier's absence from the side is beginning to grate with supporters and players alike. His treatment does, in many ways, mirror that of Webster, who was left out of the team towards the end of last season and denied a place in the cup-winning squad for refusing to accept Romanov's contract offer. He eventually invoked a FIFA ruling to facilitate his exit from Tynecastle.

The Brellier situation also carries a similarity to the brief ostracising of the club's teenage winger, Andy Driver, pictured below, from the squad earlier this season. The young Englishman stalled on a proposed five-year contract from Hearts in August, when Manchester United were rumoured to have shown an interest in him, and found himself omitted from matchday squads. Yet, the day after agreeing to take the lid off his biro, he was back involved, scoring his first goal for the club as a substitute against Inverness.

The Brellier camp crave a similarly satisfying outcome to the current stand-off, and maintain that they are not asking for outlandish wages within any new contract. The feeling at De Giorgis' home on the Italian Riviera, however, is that these wishes are unlikely to be granted by an owner who took a dislike to the midfielder almost from the day he arrived at Tynecastle at the behest of former manager George Burley.

He said: "Let's hope the owner calls me and we find a solution. I hope we can solve this for the benefit of Hearts because I know my player well. I saw him play a few times for Hearts and have always thought he was a good addition to the team. He is a hard-working player who plays with the heart. I still think he can be a good player for Hearts.

"I hope Mr Romanov will call. I think he is a businessman and a reasonable person in that sense. He knows how to conduct his business. I'm not going to be the one to tell him what to do, but it must be possible for him to call me. I don't think it's a situation he would want to continue."

It has been galling for Brellier to watch players such as Marius Zaliukas and Saulius Mikoliunas win a place in the Hearts midfield ahead of him, despite both Lithuanians often delivering sub-standard performances. Which prompts the question: Are supporters being short changed by paying money to watch a team that could not always be considered Hearts' strongest?

Romanov and Eduard Malofeev, Hearts' acting head coach in the absence of Valdas Ivanauskas, believe that within Zaliukas lies great potential. Hence him being chosen over Brellier for the holding midfield position. Supporters, though, remain unconvinced.

"People are disappointed that Brellier is not part of the plans," said Martin Laidlaw, chairman of the Hearts Supporters' Trust. "The Trust sponsor Brellier so it's frustrating that things have developed this way because we would much prefer him to be part of the set-up. We are disappointed that he isn't playing.

"If Julien and his agent don't feel the terms of the contract offered are acceptable then that's their decision. Players come and go but the club stays, and we are the folk who dish out the money. The Hearts supporters have been absolutely brilliant in sticking by the club, despite everything that has gone on.

"What the club have said to us is that Zaliukas is a young player who they believe has serious potential. Supporters have different views but we aren't football coaches. Mr Romanov and Mr Malofeev do rate the lad, but whether he is better than anybody else wasn't clarified."

What is beyond debate is that each and every Hearts manager has held Brellier in the highest regard. Burley played him whenever possible, Graham Rix argued with Romanov that Brellier merited inclusion and Ivanauskas viewed him as an integral part of the team for this season. "He is an important player and we will need him next season," said the Lithuanian during the summer.

So, with the recommendations of those three in mind, why exactly is Julien Brellier not in the Hearts team?

Taken from the Scotsman