Beslija unimpressive at Belgium's bottom club

Published on Wednesday 5 December 2007 11:52

MIRSAD BESLIJA has shed over a stone in weight since transferring to the Belgian club Sint-Truiden, although president Roland Duchatelet is refusing to commit to a decision on whether his season-long loan will be made permanent.

The Bosnian was forced to undertake a physical conditioning programme after Hearts permitted his return to Belgium in August, a story first revealed in the Evening News. Beslija had previously earned a fearsome reputation as the fastest player in the country's Jupiler League, however in 20 months at Tynecastle he appeared just 13 times despite being an 800,000 record signing from Racing Genk.

Duchatelet welcomed him to the Limburg province in August but Sint-Truiden coaching staff instantly ordered him to lose weight.

The winger initially worked his Bosnian socks off in an attempt to persuade management that he is worth the permanent transfer fee Hearts demand. On the field, though, progress has stalled.

Beslija's move couldn't exactly be ranked an unqualified success, with Sint-Truiden anchored to the bottom of the Jupiler League.

The Belgian media yesterday reported that several of the club's players would find themselves surplus to requirements if performances did not improve. One of those named was Beslija.

"He has played when he has been fit. In the beginning, he was not fit. Mirsad was six to seven kilograms overweight when he first came here," explained Duchatelet.

"He has had some injuries but now he plays in most games, either starting or coming on as substitute.

"He could do with losing another kilo or two but he's reasonably fit now.

"We feel he could still improve a little but he is fit enough to participate.

"I get the impression he is happy here. He is supposed to be here for one year and then go back to Scotland. We don't know if he will stay longer than that.

"We will see later what happens because our board must think a bit about this decision. The fee is an aspect and also whether he fits well in the system here. It's too early to discuss all of that just now."

Beslija has started only once for Sint-Truiden, in a 2-0 defeat at Westerlo on November 10. The club, incidentally, in addition to their lowly league position, found the spectre of a match-fixing scandal looming over them last year.

He has appeared six times as substitute and has yet to score, but Duchatelet refuted any suggestion he could be dispatched back to Hearts as early as January.

"I don't expect him to go back in January, that wasn't discussed at all," added the president. "We needed a lot of time to get him into better condition, and he is now much better physically than when he came here. It would be a bit of a shame if he went back now after all this work."

A procession of fitness and injury complaints restricted Beslija's outings at Tynecastle after he arrived in January 2006 during Graham Rix's tenure. His application in training and matches was occasionally questioned, as is now becoming the case in Sint-Truiden.

"Like any player, he has qualities in certain areas. He can do some things well and other things not so well," said Duchatelet. "Typically, Mirsad is strong in the right-wing position, that is the position for him. He can't change, which limits the possibilities for him to be used in other areas.

"I think he didn't play enough in Scotland, he hardly played at all for a year before he came to us. That's the main issue. Any player wants to play and I believe that's the reason he wanted to change clubs."

As statistics prove, Beslija has yet to make any greater an impact at the Staaienveld Stadion than he did at Tynecastle. The municipality of Sint-Truiden is in the centre of Belgium's fruit-producing region, but signs of the winger's unquestionable talent ripening remain few and far between for now.