The 5 best Hearts defenders of the last 50 years

The second in our series of looking at the five best Hearts players from the last 50 years in each position
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On Tuesday we looked at the five best Hearts goalkeepers of the last 50 years. Now it is the turn of the defenders:

Takis Fyssas

Zeus, Poseidon, Ares, Apollo, Takis. At Tynecastle there is only one Greek God. Fyssas was sent to Gorgie in the summer of 2005 in a whirl of excitement, incredulity and reverie. Hearts were flexing their apparent financial muscle with a recruit from Portuguese giants Benfica who had helped Greece to a European Championship victory 12 months previous.

Takis Fyssas made a lasting impression in his two seasons at Tynecastle. Picture: SNSTakis Fyssas made a lasting impression in his two seasons at Tynecastle. Picture: SNS
Takis Fyssas made a lasting impression in his two seasons at Tynecastle. Picture: SNS
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Over two seasons fans were treated to watching one of the most composed and classiest players to pull on a maroon shirt. It was the acclaimed 2005-2006 campaign where he had supporters mesmerised. Fyssas was a physical specimen but he also had the composure and technique of a playmaker as displayed with an outrageous piece of skill in a match with Dunfermline Athletic. The way he read the game suggested he had powers of premonition with a favourite move of his, a slide tackle where he would hook his foot around the ball and keep possession.

Fyssas had been due to take the fifth penalty in the Scottish Cup final shoot-out win against Gretna, but on top of being remembered for being a classy operator, a gentleman and cup winner, there was the Champions League sing-a-long he led at Tynecastle when the team secured second place.

Craig Levein

The man has mentioned it himself. There are some in the Hearts support who will never take to him. But if we park Craig Levein the manager, Craig Levein the director of football and just focus on Craig Levein the player we will recognise one of the finest talents to represent the club. Few will have expected much from this Fifer, recruited from Cowdenbeath for £30,000. What the Tynecastle club got was the lot in terms of defensive talent.

Craig Levein is one of Hearts' finest ever players. Picture: SNSCraig Levein is one of Hearts' finest ever players. Picture: SNS
Craig Levein is one of Hearts' finest ever players. Picture: SNS

When it comes to the club’s former defender the question ‘what if?’ still hangs above him. What if he didn’t suffer so many knee injuries? What if he was on the field in Dundee that day in 1986? But there can be another question when it comes to Levein, ‘how good a player did Hearts have?’. One of the best for sure. List the attributes you want in a defender: pace, reading of the game, strength, aggression, composure. Levein had them all. On top of that he showed great resilience and fortitude to keep coming back from serious injuries to not only play well over 400 times for the club but pick up 16 Scotland caps at a time when the country weren’t short of excellent defenders.

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Would Levein have likely played for one of Europe’s biggest teams if he didn’t suffer so many injuries? Yes. Was he still one of the finest Hearts players in the club’s history? Most definitely.

David Weir

Hearts fans tuning into the re-run of the momentous Scottish Cup win over Rangers in 1998 in the past week will have reminisced about one of the most popular sides in the club’s long history. The names roll off the tongue, from Rousset to Adam, Salvatori to Cameron, Naysmith to McCann. It is hard to name any of that starting XI as an unsung hero, but David Weir may be the closest to that tag. It was easy to forget just how good the centre-back was in that famous victory. And just how good he was in general.

David Weir was one of Jim Jefferies best Hearts signings. Picture: SNSDavid Weir was one of Jim Jefferies best Hearts signings. Picture: SNS
David Weir was one of Jim Jefferies best Hearts signings. Picture: SNS

The fact Weir played at the top level into his 40s owes to his ability as one of the best in Scotland in the last couple of decades at reading the game, his professionalism and late entry into the professional game.

He was one of Jim Jefferies' finest signings and came around the time when the Hearts legend was refreshing the team substantially having taken over an ageing squad. Weir was a pivotal addition at the back. He never seemed flustered, rarely looked like losing the head and his playing style was the antithesis of Scotrail, always right on time. Of the four clubs he turned out for, he played fewest games at Hearts, but he made a lasting impression.

Sandy Jardine

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When Sandy Jardine arrived at Hearts aged 33 in 1982 it was somewhat of a homecoming, the prodigal son returning to the area where he grew up. He arrived as a hugely decorated full-back with 13 domestic trophies won with Rangers, plus a European Cup Winners’ Cup. The team he joined, the one he supported as a boy growing up in Gorgie, were in the second tier. He, along with manager Alex MacDonald, transformed the side from underachievers and no hopers to title challengers.

Sandy Jardine had a transformative effect at Tynecastle. Picture: SNSSandy Jardine had a transformative effect at Tynecastle. Picture: SNS
Sandy Jardine had a transformative effect at Tynecastle. Picture: SNS

As player-assistant manager, Jardine was crucial on and off the pitch in dragging Hearts off the floor, implementing standards at Tynecastle. He did so as a sweeper, moving in from a full-back where he served Rangers with such distinction. He had an aura about him which lifted the qualities of others. His leadership was crucial in helping Hearts establish themselves as one of Scotland’s top sides.

He still had the footballing ability, the yard of pace both on the ground and in the head, but his influence could not be played down. Craig Levein learned a lot and developed hugely alongside Jardine. At the age of 37 he won the Scottish Football Writers Association Player of the Year in the 1985-1986 season, becoming just first in Scotland to win the award with two clubs.

Gary Naysmith

It is unlikely that another Hearts Academy graduate will be likened to one of the best Brazilian players of a generation but that’s what happened to Gary Naysmith not long after he made the switch from Tynecastle to Everton in 2000. The moniker ‘El Blanco Carlos’ was bestowed on him by supporters of the Toffees after an impressive start to his time at Goodison Park.

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An early positive impression would not have surprised the Hearts fans, after all they witnessed Naysmith, as a 17-year-old, make his debut in a League Cup match with Celtic and put in a bewildering display. It wasn’t long before the teenager had firmed down the left-back spot and displaced Neil Pointon as first choice. This was a precocious bundle of energy who was combative, eager and always on the front foot. Even after he had made his name in the team, helped Hearts win the Scottish Cup in 1998 and seen his value skyrocket, he still had that willingness, exemplified by his strike at Parkhead in a 3-2 win, bombing into the box to run onto a through ball and slam a shot into the net.

For some he is Hearts’ best youth product since the 90s and for more he is the best left-back the club has had.