Enjoy it Tam - but look out for the
bricks!
Sauzee has no worries about
revisiting his Athens hell
(Stuart Crowther)
THE LAST TIME FRANCK SAUZEE went
calling on the Nikos Goumas stadium in Athens, the result was AEK 1
Marseille 1, but of more importance was the fact that the Greek side were
banned from competing the following year because of the behaviour of their
fans!
Hibs expect lessons
learned from that experience 12 years ago will stand the club in good
stead this week, as Hibernian take 1,500 of their own supporters to the
Greek capital. All the signs are good, in that the Hibs fans
themselves know the part they have to play in enhancing the reputation of
their club, while on the field Sauzee will be seeking a similar result on
his second visit to AEK's home if not a similar welcome from the AEK fans!
"I was 22 or 23 at the time and I remember stones
and bottles were thrown at our bus,"
Sauzee reflected on that 1989 visit to the Nikos Goumas.
"We won the first leg in Marseille 2-0 and managed a 1-1
draw in Athens.
Franck Sauzee - Athens was hell (sns)
"It was the worst welcome I have ever
received, and there were not too many policemen around either. But
in competitions like that the pressure is always put on the away team.
We stayed at a hotel in the centre of the city, and during the night fans
stood at the front of the hotel, sounding off klaxons."
The Easter Road fans will be hoping to make
plenty of noise of their own so at least on the park Alex McLeish's side
will know they are not alone. Sauzee however has no real worries
about the game in spite of his memories of Athens, and he singled out Hibs
youngster Tam McManus as a player who should enjoy the encounter with AEK.
He said: "When you are a striker like Tam you can
play against someone with lots of experience, someone who shouts a lot,
maybe gives an elbow or kick.
"If Tam progresses in the game he will
play against experienced defenders so games like AEK can only be good for
him." While Hibs go into the
game as underdogs with no great expectations, even from their own support,
or progressing in the tournament, Alex McLeish remains convinced that his
side can spring a surprise or two on an Athens side who have competed in
Europe on a regular basis almost since serving out that ban after the
Marseille game. Assistant boss Andy Watson has watched AEK three
times in the last 10 days, and while he has seen enough to know that AEK
will pose Hibs numerous problems, he has also convinced everyone at Easter
Road that the Greek side are beatable - but Hibs will need to maintain
their concentration throughout the game in Athens.
McLeish will have no
great fears either over the antics of the home support, as he pointed out
he regularly experienced the same thing in Glasgow!
"We used to get the fire alarms set off in Glasgow every
time we were there in my Aberdeen days. We would be standing outside
our hotel at five or six in the morning before Rangers and Celtic games."
And that never stopped McLeish and his Aberdeen team-mates leaving Glasgow
as winners, which is perhaps a little more than Hibs fans might expect
from their trip to Athens, but who knows?
Hibs.net will be with
the Hibee army all the way in Athens. Look out for our reports from
the Greek capital with pictures from the moment we arrive on Wednesday
afternoon - if you can't make it there, we are the next best thing!
As well as the Editor and Asst Editor Stuart Crowther and John
Campbell, on the flight to Greece will be our own pundit Pat
Stanton.
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