Sauzee was
the players choice
From Boardroom to the fans - there
was only one option - STUART CROWTHER
FROM THE HIBERNIAN
BOARDROOM to the humblest of Hibs fans, there was only ever one choice
to take over from Alex McLeish - and that was confirmed today by David
Zitelli, when he revealed Sauzee was the choice from the Easter Road
dressing room as well.
Zitelli
has been the closest of friends with Sauzee for around 13 years, since
they played together for France in an Under-21 international side that
included the likes of Laurent Blanc and Eric Cantona. The Hibs
striker recently turned midfielder will be hoping that their friendship is
not in any way affected by the sudden promotion of Sauzee, but he
certainly knows that there will be no favours shown from the new Hibs
boss. "If I play well
Franck will give me a chance, If I don't then I will be sub, that is like
it was with Alex and how it will be with Franck. I am quite happy to
play in midfield because I get more touches of the ball and I can be more
involved in the play," Zitelli
said following Hibs undeserved defeat at East End Park on Saturday.
Sauzee
might however choose to put his old pal back into the front-line for the
visit to Perth this weekend, as having already lost the services of Craig
Brewster through long-term injury the new boss now has to pick a side
minus Paco Luna. The Spaniard faces an automatic one-match ban for
his ordering off on Saturday, and that is sure to be more with 12 penalty
points taking him over the threshold and therefore liable to a further
two-match ban. Sauzee might however also choose a promotion to the
starting line-up for kid-goals Gary O'Connor, the youngster being provided
an opportunity to impress the boss this evening when Hibs face Hearts in
the East of Scotland Shield match at Easter Road.
Paco Luna us ushered from the pitch at Dunfermline (sns)
The
appointment of Sauzee as manager, coming so rapidly after the former
skipper's return to Edinburgh last week, caught many by surprise - but not
the players it seemed, who according to Sauzee only saw one possibility as
successor to McLeish. Zitelli said: "Franck
was the clear first choice of all the players. Everybody knows him,
him mentality and his qualities. I am though disappointed that
Franck is not going to play again, because he is a fantastic player - but
I think he took the best decision because he had been injured for a long
time."
It was
not the start manager Sauzee would have wished for, the luck it seems
still having deserted Hibernian as they created most of the chances even
when playing with ten men for over an hour. While it would be easy
for the Hibees to point to one of the most inept refereeing performances
of the season, it has to be said that ineptitude was exercised in the
direction of both Hibs and Dunfermline, with the Pars pointing to a
first-half penalty claim that somewhat unjustly provided a booking for
diving with referee McDonald running in a dramatic fashion all of 30 yards
to deliver the card. It was a seasonal Pantomime performance by the
official, three other decisions of notable farce coming with a booking for
Fenwick, again for diving when he clearly did nothing of the sort, halting
play to deliver a yellow card to a Dunfermline player while Hibs were
breaking clear down the right wing, and of course the ordering off for
Luna.
While
television pictures will in no way damn nor clear the Spaniard, who
probably did indeed deserve to see red, the tackle alone from Scott
Thomson surely merited a card of some description from the referee in
particular as it was delivered after the whistle had gone for a Hibs
free-kick. That was a point acknowledged by team-mate Zitelli who
said: "I think Paco did
something bad, but there were two players involved and I was surprised he
got sent off. The referee has to look at the two players, not just
one."
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