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Hearts’ Forgotten Man To Return

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Hearts’ forgotten man Bruno Aguiar is in line for a first-team return before the end of the season, according to the club’s official website.

Aguiar has had a serious ankle injury that has kept him out of action for more than a year. However he’s recently taken part in some reserve matches and Stevie Frail is hoping that he’ll be fit enough to play at least some part in the club’s remaining matches, especially considering the fact that Hearts have nothing to play for.

Frail said:

‘If Bruno gets game time it will be more for a psychological thing for him.

‘Not having so much resting on these games it might be good to give him some game time to help get him over a couple of hurdles and make sure he’s firing on all cylinders come pre season.’

As has been the case with many what I would refer to as ‘neat and tidy’ midfielders at Hearts over the years, Aguiar is a player who at one stage appeared to be very popular with the Tynecastle crowd.

I tend to find that the fans are easily impressed with players who look accomplished in possession of the ball, regardless of how much (or little) their play actually affects a match. I would point to Thomas Flogel and more recently, Ruben Palazuelos as examples of such players.

Aguiar is another who for me falls into this category – he very rarely appeared to have a poor game, but it was equally rare that he’d be a stand-out in terms of what he was able to produce as far as tangible results were concerned.

Having said that, in comparison to what Hearts have had in their midfield for the majority of this season, I’d actually be quite happy at the prospect of Aguiar coming back in. Previously I had my doubts over his worth to the team largely because it tended to either be him or Julien Brellier who would play in the centre, and for me the Frenchman won that particular contest every time for the right to partner Paul Hartley.

But these days Hearts have no-one capable of dominating the midfield. Eggert Jonsson, Larry Kingston and Palazuelos have all tried this and failed, and although I did say that Aguiar has generally been a player who was similar to these guys in terms of his patchiness, I can at least recall matches where he’s been outstanding in this position in the past. For example a 2-1 Tynecastle win over Celtic when Roman Bednar scored twice still lingers in the memory – the guy was fantastic that day and ran the game in a similar way to the likes of Jim Bett when he was in his prime. So Aguiar certainly does have the ability, if not the consistency.

As Frail pointed out though, because Aguiar has had such a bad injury, he could be psychologically shot to pieces. If you’re not completely sure what I’m getting at, just think about Neil McCann’s approach to the game since the injury he got at Kilmarnock a couple of years back – scarred to the point of hardly ever committing to a serious challenge. If Aguiar is in the same boat, then he may never get the chance to realise the potential that he has, which would be a big shame.

Obviously though, we’d like that not to be the case, and that Bruno can make a full recovery and help to beef up the Hearts midfield.






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MrH

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10 comments

  • jonnyjambo16 says:

    Who cares about him
    Specs Haver said in an earlier article about these lads
    2008 Scotland U-17 squad

    Michael Deland (Defender)

    Daniel Thomson (Midfield) (brother of Jason)

    Scott Robinson (Forward)

    2008 Scotland U-15 squad

    Shaun Thomson (Goalkeeper) (already playing U-17 at Hearts)

    Dale O’Hara (Midfield) (Goes To Ma Skool)

    Jamie Walker (Forward) (already playing U-17 at Hearts)

    Hearts U-19s close to first-team in 2008

    Ryan McGowan (Defender or Midfield)

    Gary Glen (Forward)

    Jason Thomson (Defender)

    ..then perhaps in 2009…

    David Templeton (Forward)

    Stephen Husband (Forward or Midfield)

    Jonathan Brown (Defender)

    Rocky Visconte (Midfield)

    Jamie McDonald (U-21 Goalkeeper on loan to QoS)

    Mark Ridgers (Goalkeeper)

    They should all get a game b4 end of season (Cept 4 Jamie) as they’ve got more talent than that injury prone player who will do himslef more damage by just putting his boots on!!!

  • jonnyjambo16 says:

    O and by the way soz H but a belive bruno has much less ability than ruben who has been outstanding this season

  • Specs Haver says:

    Now that Brellier is away, Bruno should be much more confident on the training pitch !! Seriously though, he was probably the best of the 11 players to arrive in the January 2006 transfer window (in my opinion). He could be one of those classy midfielders who hardly ever scores a goal (Flogel and Fulton spring to mind there). As you suggest, what we really need is a Hartley or Cameron who get forward at every opportunity. Frail would do well to start coaching 1 or 2 of our midfielders to start doing that. Good luck to Bruno though – his return is a welcome boost.

  • jonnyjambo16 says:

    A do huv 2 admit that bruno can do a job but he’s not better than ruben and jonsson

  • Specs Haver says:

    JJ16 – on his day, I reckon he is as good as (if not better) than Eggert and Ruben. However all 3 are similar types of player, and hardly ever score – which is a problem for the team (in my opinion). Do you reckon O’Hara will be a good player for us (if he’s at your school) ?

  • MrH says:

    From what I’ve seen both Jonsson and Ruben are average at best. Ruben flatters to deceive in the extreme and maybe looks ok now that there’s nothing to play for, but don’t expect him to deliver when the going gets tough. As for Jonsson, I think the fans are bumming him up purely because he was dismissed by the Daily Ranger in such an arrogant way last season. I’ve only seen him play well once, and even then he looked like an average player having a good day, rather than a player with special potential beginning to realise it.

  • itsnomarooned says:

    I’d be very happy to see Bruno back as, if nothing else, it’s like a new player coming in (as the old cliche goes). I’m not sure I know if he favours a holding or more attacking midfield role. It was certainly the latter when Hartley was here (and fair enough) but is he someone who could go forward?

  • MrH says:

    He was more of a midfield general type player wasn’t he? Likes to patrol the central area of the park and spray passes around. Probably best suited to playing alongside others who break forward and of course, a ‘minder’ close by.

  • itsnomarooned says:

    Actually my previous post wasn’t accurate. I meant to say he favoured the holding role when Hartley was here.

  • jonnyjambo16 says:

    yeah dale looks like a very gd player

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