Punch drunk Levein given bloody nose
Taunts backlash as Leith men leave rivals reeling
LEITH can be a dangerous place when you go spoiling for a fight on a Friday night.
The port town might be a long way from its grimy old Trainspotting image.
But you still need to watch what you say around these parts, especially if you’re an outsider after dark.
And Craig Levein was left with a bloody nose to start his weekend after shooting his mouth off.
It wasn’t even chucking-out time in the pubs on Leith Walk as Levein and his Hearts players staggered back across the city with their tails between their legs.
Waking up on a Saturday morning with a headache is nothing unusual after a Friday night out in the capital.
In Levein’s case, alcohol wasn’t involved – but his pain is certainly self-inflicted. The Jambos boss admitted he deliberately tried to wind up Hibs and Neil Lennon in the hope their capital rivals would erupt like a volcano on this powder-keg clash.
But his claim a 1-0 win for Hearts at Tynecastle in January’s Scottish Cup tie would restore “natural order” blew up in his face.
And the home fans taunted the Hearts boss mercilessly before unfurling a huge “Natural Order?” banner in Easter Road’s Famous Five stand in the dying seconds.
The eruption came from the Hibs fans and the only smoke from flares tossed onto the pitch that caused Bobby Madden to delay the kick-off as the atmosphere crackled for the first Friday night Edinburgh derby.
When Levein decided to return to the dugout from the calm of his director of football office it was for nights like this. Even if the result wasn’t what he was looking for.
He was more animated than usual down on that touchline with Lennon as fiery as ever in the opposite technical area as he remonstrated with the officials over some bruising challenges.
The war of words between the two gaffers that has rumbled on since the start of the year continued right up until Lennon’s pre-match interview when the Irishman said: “Craig has got a great derby record but no trophies to show for it, so well done.”
Levein was speaking from a position of strength back in January after Don Cowie settled a scrappy Scottish Cup clash in Gorgie.
The former Scotland gaffer’s dominant derby record can’t be disputed with Levein still having lost just eight times to Hibs in 54 games as player and manager following this defeat.
But a lot had changed since their last meeting two months ago with Lennon’s side having moved nine points ahead of the men in maroon, eliminated from the Scottish Cup last week, and still with a game in hand even before this.
The visitors were also without key men David Milinkovic, Demi Mitchell, Arnaud Djoum, Jamie Brandon and Cowie.
Christophe Berra also took a painkilling injection and centraldefensive partner John Souttar soldiered on with a hamstring injury. That was all bad enough for Hearts and the last thing they needed was starlet Harry Cochrane limping off early on to add to their injury woes.
It was no real surprise given some of the meaty challenges with players bouncing off each other like Friday night drunks. Madden kept his cards in his pocket in the first half before reaching for a yellow early in the second – no surprise it was for a visiting player with Michael Smith’s name taken.
Theatregoers in the capital started their weekend with a trip to the Edinburgh Playhouse to see the iconic musical Blood Brothers.
But just a couple of miles down the road it was blood and snotters as the city’s two rivals took centre stage. We should know better by now than to expect Hibs and Hearts to put on a show.
The fireworks in the build-up to these games have been more exciting but try telling that to the Hibs fans who celebrated long into the night thanks to second-half goals from Scott Allan and Jamie Maclaren.
New Scotland boss Alex McLeish was back at his old stomping ground and Allan couldn’t have picked a better time to impress in front of the national team manager with the opener.
Big Eck names his first squad on Monday for the friendly double-header against Costa Rica at Hampden followed by Hungary in Budapest.
John McGinn and Dylan McGeouch are two others attracting attention and didn’t do their chances any harm.
And Berra, despite the visitors conceding that first and seeing Maclaren rattle the bar before his goal, defended stoutly alongside Souttar.
That could be a central-defensive pairing for the future, in front of Hearts keeper Jon McLaughlin who is expected to be named.
Maclaren has also pulled on the dark blue of Scotland at Under-19 level and McLeish might be cursing the fact he has since switched to Australia. But at least he has a chance of going to the World Cup with the Socceroos.
He spoke before the game of being eager to impress in front of the Sky TV cameras after earning an international recall for next month’s games against Norway and Colombia – and this could be Maclaren’s springboard to Russia.