Capital showdown is likely to be twice as Nice for Malaury
MALAURY MARTIN’S preparatory work for an Edinburgh derby bow began not long after the ink had dried on his threeand-a-half-year Hearts contract. Martin reveals it was a rule hammered home on day one at Riccarton that any clash with Hibs was a win-at-allcosts affair while, back at the hospitable surroundings of his new Edinburgh hotel, Hibernian fans among staff suggested it might be best if they didn’t indulge in conversation this week.
The Frenchman is in no way responding with a Gallic shrug. However, he has been comfortable taking the rising temperature of the Edinburgh derby throughout the countdown to today’s kick-off.
For Martin was introduced to the particulars of local football rivalry when, on the day a young man’s dream came true to sign terms with Monaco as a teenager, he could instantly be branded a traitor to his home town. The Derby de la Cote D’Azur conjures up a more glamorous image than the rivalry in Auld Reekie but the enmity that Martin was born into on the French Riviera could be just as vicious.
‘Monaco and Nice are 20 minutes apart, I was born in Nice and played for Monaco,’ he explained. ‘And 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 that game for the month before it happens. They are passionate. Monaco is smaller but the Nice fans are crazy. For them, the derby is the most important game of the season.
‘My friends and family are all Nice fans. Most of my friends were born there, some of them have played for the club. So I’m a little bit of the traitor to them. When I was a kid I also played for Nice — so I’m a big traitor to them.
‘But I enjoyed it because Monaco was always the dream for me — and I realised my dream. At that time, Nice weren’t the team they are now. They were a smaller club, in the Second Division, without really famous players whereas Monaco were there for me.
‘David Trezeguet, Fabien Barthez, Thierry Henry and John Collins had played for them, they were experienced in the Champions League, at winning titles. I went back to Nice with Monaco once and there wasn’t much nice speaking to me.
‘I was in the group but the coach decided to put me in stand and, at that time, it was a small stadium and I was in the middle of all that. It wasn’t so bad because we won and I was laughing a little bit into my jacket.
‘So I understand all the importance here. On my first day they told me: You must win the derby. In my hotel, there are some Hibs fans, some Hearts fans and it started two weeks ago. I know one guy and we don’t speak this week because he’s Hibs.
‘For the city this is going to be huge. But as players we just focus on what we can do — our job. And this is only one step for Hearts because the objective is to make the Final.’
The 28-year-old has been thrust into the madness of Scotland’s capital contest thanks to a pleasing impression left on Ian Cathro in a friendly last February. To plug a fixture gap, Newcastle United took on a young Lillestrom team in La Manga.
The former French youth team captain, up against former colleagues Yoan Gouffran and Moussa Sissoko, drew the attention the United backroom staff coach and the resultant laptop notes were a compelling case for making Martin one of Cathro’s first Hearts signings.
The admiration has quickly become mutual since the midfielder arrived in Edinburgh.
‘The coach is top, the training has been top,’ he enthused. ‘Everything is programmed the way it should be. This is like Monaco, like Middlesbrough, like a top club. When you arrive to the pitch, everything is okay. The idea of the coach is clear, he knows where he wants to go and we have to make it there.
‘The Tynecastle atmosphere has been amazing. When the team plays well and give what they have to give the fans are happy and it’s really nice. The game against Rangers was really special. It’s a really wonderful, historic city.
‘Yes, we have a lot of new players coming in at the same time. But for me this is not really strange. It was the case one season in Monaco there were four coaches and 25 new players.
‘Some spoke Portuguese, some were South American, some Croatian. Here it is a little the same and it’s not a problem.
‘It’s good. Different cultures, different experiences come together and you all have to adapt to the culture here in the country. The mix can make something really good.
‘I am part of this and if I look around me I don’t know if the player next to me is new, is one year, is here for six months.
‘I don’t look at that. What his qualities are is more important. That’s what we have to think about and get to know about really soon.’
Martin’s introduction to the quality of officiating in his new country was less captivating than his other discoveries. In last week’s win at Motherwell, Louis Moult was tripped up by his own team-mate Lionel Ainsworth, only for Martin to cop the caution — a yellow card that the rulebook says cannot be rescinded.
‘It was a surprise but it’s not a big deal,’ said Martin. ‘Everyone makes mistakes and moves on. I’m not focusing on it. During the game, the referee told me was thinking he had made a mistake, which was at least nice of him to apologise.
‘And from my point of view I don’t like to make fights between referees and players. I don’t see the point. They do a great job, they try their best, so that’s it.’