The fans generated a great atmosphere, and hopefully they can do it again.”The only time Ibrahim Tall had set foot in the place was when he went with his Hearts compatriot J?me Brellier to see their beloved France beaten by Scotland last January in rugby’s Six Nations’ Championship. The talismanic Paul Hartley is also out with a groin injury.For Steven Pressley, it is vital that Hearts do not suffer the same upset that befell Celtic this time last year, when they went into a second qualifying round tie against the unknown Artmedia Bratislava and went out of the Champions’ League after losing 5-4 on aggregate. “We have to guard against complacency,” said the Hearts captain. “Celtic’s experience last year shows that whoever you get, it will be a real test. This is our first chance to experience the Champions’ League and we don’t want to mess it up.”Pressley is one of the few survivors from Hearts’ fine run in the Uefa Cup in 2003-04, and for that reason he felt that the dry run at Murrayfield last week was a useful exercise.
“There are not too many of us left from the squad two season ago, so it was beneficial,” he said “Those Uefa Cup games were good nights at Murrayfield. We are both small clubs, and it is refreshing to see those teams qualify.”Hearts, though, have problems. Two of their top players from last term, Andy Webster and Rudi Skacel, have been reported by the club to Fifa after refusing to go on a pre-season tour to Austria after bitter contract disputes. They defeated the Spanish side, who are also in the Champions’ League, 2-0, and Osasuna’s goalkeeper, Ricardo, believes the Edinburgh club can reach the holy grail of the group stage.”They are a good passing side and I think they would do well in the Champions’ League,” said the former Manchester United keeper “Hearts are like Osasuna in the Spanish league. It is for that reason that Hearts have brought Murrayfield off the bench again for a European campaign.Their own Tynecastle may be the most atmospheric ground in the business, but its 17,000 seats can no longer cope with the demand from Hearts fans domestically, never mind on the big stage.
Every SPL game was a sellout last season and that meant that relocating to Murrayfield – just around the corner – was a risk worth taking, to maximise on revenue and satisfy supporter interest.Just to get in the swing of things for Siroki, Hearts played Osasuna in a friendly last Wednesday. But the real prize for Valdas Ivanauskas’s side had already been won: qualifying for the Champions’ League by finishing second in the Scottish Premier League.This hurdle, and then, they hope, a far bigger one in the third qualifying round next month, stand between Hearts and a potential £10 million payout if they reach the lucrative group stage. He had another measured at 8.41m when registering a “legal” 8m in Salamanca a fortnight ago.On each occasion, his foot crept on to the plasticine on the take-off board, but with Tomlinson’s British record standing at 8.27m, and 8.28m being the best winning jump in the past four European Championships, it gives a measure of Rutherford’s potential.His former coach, Tom McNab, has even ventured to suggest in public that Rutherford’s natural limit lies beyond 9m – a long jump landmark that Bob Beamon did not quite reach with his quantum leap at the Mexico Olympics in 1968. More than 20,000 Heart of Midlothian fans are expected for the club’s Champions’ League second qualifying round, first leg, against Siroki Brijeg. If the Bosnians lack the cachet of Schalke 04, whom Hearts enter-tained at Murrayfield two years ago in the Uefa Cup, then it has not diluted the fervour of the Edinburgh public.
More than 250,000 turned out in May to watch Hearts parade the Scottish Cup around the city after the dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Gretna.
At this time of year, Murrayfield’s famous turf usually endures nothing more than the footprints of one man and his lawn mower. On Wednesday night, the spiritual home of Scottish rugby will find its summer break shattered – on and off the pitch
The stadium is being hijacked by the round ball. Bradford, quickly out of the blocks, had the game wrapped up inside half-an-hour thanks to tries from Karl Pryce (two), Jamie Langley and Lesley Vainikolo.They added others in the second half through Langley, Ian Henderson and Shontayne Hape, with Paul Deacon kicking seven goals from eight attempts, to keep alive their outside hopes of a top-three finish “This was a step in the right direction,” McNamara said.. “They wanted to prove that they could get themselves back up after last week’s performance.”Unfortunately for the Wildcats, the players could not make amends for their 26-20 defeat at Huddersfield, and the interval chat was simply about restoring pride as they faced a 24-4 deficit.Tries either side of half-time by the former Bradford centre Ryan Atkins hinted at a comeback, and stand-off Jamie Rooney also touched down twice in quick succession, but it was all too little, too late.
Ferres selected the team but left the senior players to call the shots. Skipper Monty Betham, club captain Jason Demetriou and New Zealand international David Solomona between them delivered the half-time pep talk.”The players wanted that responsibility,” he said. I certainly wish them all the best and hope that they play their way out of it.”
Wakefield’s chief executive, Steve Ferres, said the result heightened the need to appoint a successor to Tony Smith and confirmed that the Salford assistant James Lowes was among the candidates, with an announcement due this week. “I’ve been in this situation before with Huddersfield and it can be difficult with regard to players’ futures.
