Brown praises both teams and says ‘Barca would have struggled to play out there’

CRAIG Brown paid tribute to both sets of players who struggled valiantly with the conditions at Pittodrie last night. The Aberdeen manager stressed that not even Barcelona could have played football on a night which made some doubt whether the game should have been played at all.

Aberdeen and Hearts battled out a goal-less draw which was desperately short on incident. Although Brown was frustrated at seeing a late chance for Rob Milsom go a-begging, he praised the effort of both teams. Paulo Sergio, the Hearts manager, could afford to wear a satisfied smile as he puffed on a cigarette afterwards. His team, the lowest away league scorers in British football, had managed to gain a point despite creating precious few chances in front of goal.

Hearts’ continued media silence meant Brown was left to extol the virtues of both sides, which he did in a typically fair reflection on the wind-buffeted 90 minutes. He backed the decision by referee Brian Winter to play the game for a start.

“I think it would be very difficult to determine when a game should go on or when it can’t go if you are just taking the wind into consideration,” Brown said. “I think the reason why they played the game is that there was no danger to anyone. There was no danger to any spectator and no danger to any player. From what I hear at Motherwell there was danger of the roof falling in. But here it is a solid old stadium. It has been buffeted for years and has stood up to that.

“In terms of football, it was very difficult to play,” he added. “I think Barcelona would have had difficulty playing out there. If you are looking for a football spectacle, there was no chance of getting one. But we got endeavour from two teams and commitment from both teams, and we got a definite attempt to play football.”

Brown praised the visitors, who sprang a surprise by starting with both Andrew Driver and David Templeton, their two talented wingers. Driver is expected to leave the club in January and has been a rare starter under Sergio. Another ball-player in Mehdi Taouil came on in the second half. Brown was impressed by Hearts’ intention to try and play football, despite the conditions.

“Hearts have the two outstandingly skilful wingers in Scottish football today,” he said. “They are footballers of the highest calibre and even they found it difficult. I said when I saw the Hearts team: ‘we have a game here’.”

Aberdeen spurned the one real chance to score when Rob Milsom headed over the bar in the final minute after a cross from Ryan Jack. “We had one or two chances, particularly at the end,” said Brown. “So we did miss chances. But I compliment the players’ effort. It’s just the quality required to finish was not there. But that’s been the story of our season.”

Although Hearts gained a point, they fell a further two points behind fourth placed St Johnstone, who defeated Kilmarnock. Aberdeen, meanwhile, creep a point nearer the Rugby Park outfit. The Pittodrie side are now seven points clear of bottom club Dunfermline. Brown wants to make player acquisitions in January but has been hamstrung by an inability to get players to leave the club. This is the only way he can free up enough money to bring new players in.

“We are at the limit of our budget here,” he said. “If I want to bring someone in then someone has to go out. And that’s proved hard. I take it as a compliment. No-one wants to leave. The support in the city towards the football team is terrific.

“I can’t go to other teams and force them to make a bid [for one of Aberdeen’s players]. One or two are on the fringes here and I have informed their agents that they can go. But they don’t want to go. They are happy here. At the end of the season it might be different.”