TRAITOR in my own TOWN
New Hearts star Malaury copped abuse as Monaco fan in Nice – so he knows all about heat he’ll face in capital clash
Malaury Martin had to live with the tag of a traitor in his hometown for pursuing his dream across the divide.
He understands rivalry. So nothing the Edinburgh derby throws at him this afternoon will faze him more than wearing his Monaco tracksuit in the main stand of Nice’s Stade du Ray.
The Hearts and former France Under-21 midfielder grew up worshipping the talents of David Trezeguet, Sonny Anderson and Thierry Henry in a star-studded Jean Tigana-bossed side just 20 miles up La Grande Corniche in Monte Carlo.
So when he had the chance to leave his hometown club’s youth set-up to join them at 12, he knew he could live with his decision – even if his mates couldn’t.
He said: “I promise you, it’s a big derby. It’s just like here. Last week they were playing each other for the top of the league.
“People talk about this game for the month before it happens. They’re passionate.
“Monaco are obviously smaller in size but the Nice fans are crazy and for them the derby is the most important game of the season.
“I was born in Nice, my friends and family are all Nice fans, most of my friends were born there, some played for the club as well. So I’m a little bit of a traitor to them. When I was a kid I also played for Nice so I’m a big traitor!
“But I enjoy it because Monaco were always the dream for me – I realised my dream, which was important.
“At that time, Nice weren’t the team they are now. They were a smaller club, in the Second Division, with no really famous players, but now they are so much stronger and their economy is far better.
“Whereas Monaco were right there for me with Trezeguet, Barthez, Henry, John Collins as well, in the Champions League, winning titles… that was my dream. So my team was always Monaco.
“It was a problem for me when we played sometimes. One time when we were playing Nice, I was given a lot of abuse.
“I was in the squad but the coach decided to put me in the stand instead of in the team.
“It was a small stadium back then and I was right in the middle of it, wearing my Monaco jacket! But it was okay, because we won.”
Martin’s hotel staff have already made him well aware that the sentiment in Scotland is no different.
It will all be okay – as long as you win.
But the philosophical Frenchman has his eyes on a bigger prize than simply one city scalp.
He said: “I understand this game because the first day I was here they told me ‘Win the derby’.
“In my hotel, we have Hibs fans and Hearts fans working.
“Everyone wants to win but as a player it’s just a step along the way because the objective is to get to the final. It doesn’t matter who we have to beat to get there.
“Of course now it’s Hibs and for
Monaco were always my dream. But I was born in Nice, my friends and family are all Nice fans, so I was I’m a little bit of a traitor to them
the city this is huge, with them being in the Championship but for the players we just focus on what we have to do.”
Martin’s pedigree as a kid through France’s international youth set-up is impressive, playing for the Under-17s through to Under-21.
But it was in a match against his former team-mates when he caught the eye of Ian Cathro.
Playing for Norwegians Lillestrom against Newcastle at La Manga in a friendly clash 12 months ago, the playmaker’s tempo impressed the Hearts head
coach in the Magpies dugout. Now, though, it’s Martin’s turn to be impressed by what the 30-year-old has to offer.
He said: “I enjoyed that game, playing against Moussa Sissoko and Yoan Gouffran. We had played together in the national teams.
“But you are at another club, you prepare your season and for Lillestrom it was a good friendly because some of the young players hadn’t played against big stars like that.
“The coach here is top, though – the training has been top. Everything is programmed the way that it should be. This is like Monaco, like Middlesbrough, like a top club.
“When you get on the pitch, everything is okay.
“The coach has clear ideas. He knows where he wants to go and we have to make it.”
Much has been made of Hearts’ mass recruitment in January, nine players arriving with Martin’s three years the exception in a sea of short-term deals.
However the 28-year-old insists the quality of the quantity means that the influx is not an issue – and reckons it’s not a patch on the upheavel he once saw in France.
He said: “For me, it’s not really that strange to have all these new players. I don’t like to talk all the time about the past but one season in Monaco there were four coaches and 25 new players.
“Some speak Portuguese, some are South American, some Croatian, here it is a little the same and it’s not a problem. It’s an international club.
“It’s good. Different cultures, different experiences come together, you have to adapt to the culture in the country which is really important.
“The mix can make something really good. You don’t focus on being new. If I look around me I don’t know if the player next to me is new, is here one year, is here for six months. I don’t look at that.
“He’s a team-mate. What he’s good at is more important, what his qualities are. That’s what we have to think about and get to know really soon.”