Christian Nade lands in hot water after dressing room fracas

CHRISTIAN NADE may have jeopardised his Hearts career by punching team-mate Ian Black in the Celtic Park dressing room following Wednesday evening's 2-0 defeat.

The Frenchman is facing a gross misconduct charge for striking the midfielder following an angry exchange between the pair, who criticised one another for their efforts during the match.

Manager Jim Jefferies has consulted senior officials at Tynecastle and is unlikely to select Nade for this afternoon's SPL match with Falkirk. The manager was himself disappointed with the striker's performance against Celtic.

The incident could put Nade's hopes of signing a contract extension in doubt. He recently held talks with sport director Alexandr Metlitski about a new three-year deal which has yet to be signed. It remains to be seen what sanctions Hearts will impose on the player but the club have taken a dim view of his violent actions.

Meanwhile, Hearts have formally completed the appointments of Billy Brown and Gary Locke as assistant manager and first-team coach respectively. The pair finally signed contracts at Tynecastle yesterday to once again link up with manager Jefferies and revealed their joy at returning to Gorgie.

"I am really happy to be here and looking forward to the challenge," said Brown. "I am delighted to be back at the club where we had so much success in the past and hope to bring back more success this time."

Locke, a former Hearts captain, said: "I am absolutely delighted to be back. It was my ambition to play for Hearts as a kid and when I moved into coaching it was always an ambition to be a coach at Tynecastle. It has just happened a bit quicker than I ever expected."