Sauzee's harder edge
begins to appear
Hibs boss is no longer one of the
boys - STUART CROWTHER
IT
WAS ALWAYS GOING TO BE A HARD LESSON but
it is one that Franck Sauzee had to learn quickly. The popular man
in the dressing room had overnight become the boss, and it is always the
case that under these circumstances the transition from being one of the
boys towards developing a harder edge is a painful one. After 45
minutes of Tynecastle torment on Saturday, Franck Sauzee perhaps did not
raise the dressing room roof, but his natural charm was laced with enough
menace to make it perfectly clear that the time for simply talking a good
game was over.
On the
face of it Hibs had nothing to lose by then at Tynecastle, they had
already lost everything. Well perhaps not quite, there remained
the respect and hopes of the Hibs fans gathered behind the goal had
far from been lost as the fans, who had been joined by the suspended Hibs
players Luna, McManus, Fenwick and Laursen choosing to join the Hibs
support rather than sit in the main stand. There was also the recent
enigma that was Hibs uncanny ability to turn first half mediocrity into
something resembling competitive football in the second, and with the
constant prompting from skipper John O'Neil, uncompromising work-rate from
Gary Smith and Ian Murray, and the hyper-commitment from Grant Brebner, it
was clear from the restart that Hibs were not about to lay down and accept
the pre-match predictions of a hammering. These predications came
largely from confident Hearts
fans of course, but it has to be said that many Hibs fans were predicting
an end to Hibs recent domination over their city rivals.
Gary O'Connor - surely claimed a starting slot in the New Year? (sns)
Brebner
spoke of his manager with a smile that only lightly concealed his obvious
respect for the Hibs boss. Certainly if one player has come out of
his shell more than most since the departure of Alex McLeish, it is the
Hibs-daft Brebner. "The
boss is beginning to show a meaner streak,"
the midfielder said after rubbing down some of the painful muscles he had
stretched to the very limits during a frantic 90 minutes. Brebner
continued: "I think it has just
come out of him. Seriously though he is great because he can sit you
down and make the game as simple as it really is. Under his breath,
he might have been saying something in French, but it came out to us in
broken English and we got the message alright! So we finally did
show what we could do against Hearts and if we could perhaps get ahead
against Dundee
United on Wednesday then that might help us more."
Sauzee
now has a very different set of problems for New Year clash against the
Tayside club, who themselves had done very little since beating Hibs 3-1
at Tannadice the last time the sides met in the SPL. Hibs have of
course beaten them since at Easter Road in the CIS Cup Quarter-Final, but
had United been visiting a few weeks ago they might have felt a great deal
more confident. Hibs suspended trio of Paco Luna, Tom McManus and
Ulrik Laursen are all now available again (Fenwick remaining suspended),
and that is the headache facing Sauzee as for the most part the men he
brought in to replace these stars performed admirably in the cauldron of
an Edinburgh Derby. 18-year-old Gary O'Connor in particular will be
looking to hold his starting place, although Ecuador international Eduardo
Hurtado looks certain to make way for Luna. A worry for Sauzee will
be the injury sustained by Alen Orman, one that saw the Bosnian standing forlornly
for almost five minutes as play raged on and he could hardly move.
Laursen's return however would fill that gap in the Hibs defence, but Hibs
fans will be hoping that Orman's injury does not prove to be long term.
Derek Riordan - a bright future for the Hibs youngster (sns)
Another
plus point for Sauzee was the brief but meteoric appearances of the two
Derek's. Youngster Riordan and the not so young Townsley both played
their part in that dramatic closing phase, Riordan almost catching Hearts
'keeper McKenzie out with a long-range effort while a deft touch in the
area by Townsley fed the ball perfectly into the patch of John O'Neil for
Hibs dramatic last-gasp equaliser. That goal could prove priceless
not so much for the draw it gained Hibs against their greatest rivals, but
for the physiological effect it could have on the entire club. Hibs
have had a monstrously difficult December, made much more so by the
ill-timed and ill-thought defection of Alex McLeish; that now is history
and the path through January 2002 is paved with opportunity, there is
every reason for the Hibees to look forward with renewed confidence to the
New Year.
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