Julien Brellier

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Personal information
Julien Brellier
Date of birth	January 10, 1982 (age 25)
Place of birth	Echirolles, France
Height	6 ft
Nickname	le Juge, Jools
Playing position	Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current club	Heart of Midlothian
Number	28
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1998-2000 2000-2003 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2005 2004-2005 2005-present	Montpellier Hérault Internazionale → Lecco (loan) → Legnano (loan) Venezia → Salernitana (loan) Hearts	00 (0) 47 (0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:13, 27 March 2007 (UTC). ² National team caps and goals correct as of 1 December 2006 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Julien Brellier (born 10 January 1982, in Echirolles) is a French professional footballer currently playing for Scottish Premier League club Hearts. He is a defensive midfielder who plays just in front of the back four.

Brellier started his career at French club Montpellier and was recruited by Italian giants Internazionale Milan in 2000. He made a limited number of appearances with Inter and was loaned out to Lecco and Legnano before joining Venezia, initially under a co-ownership agreement. He played part of the 2004-05 season with Salernitana and was released in May 2005. He was given a trial by Hearts, where he impressed manager George Burley and was signed on a two year deal by the Edinburgh side in August. ^[1]

Brellier quickly became a firm favourite with the Hearts fans: his unspectacular, diligent covering role in midfield allowing fellow midfielders Paul Hartley and Rudi Skácel greater attacking freedom, from which they scored a combined total of 30 league goals during the 2005-06 season. By the latter part of that season a giant French flag, with the words "Le Juge" emblazoned across it, became a regular spectacle at Hearts' home stadium Tynecastle, while the crowd took to singing his name to the tune of Verdi's La donna è mobile.

Despite Brellier being one of the most popular players at Tynecastle, it was frequently reported in the media that Hearts' owner Vladimir Romanov did not share the supporters' high opinion of him. ^[2] After the signing of Bruno Aguiar Brellier was used more often as a substitute and, in an April 2006 interview, he suggested he was unhappy with the treatment he had received. ^[3] However in June 2006 it was confirmed that Brellier and Hearts had agreed to extend the Frenchman's stay with Hearts until 2007. ^[4]

[edit] References

^ Hearts move to capture Brellier, BBC Sport, 2 August 2005.
^ Pulling at Hearts' strings, BBC Sport, 24 October 2005.
^ Brellier unhappy over treatment, BBC Sport, 30 April 2006.
^ Vlad wants French ace Brel to extend stay, Scotsman.com Sport, 27 June 2006.

[edit] External links

Julien Brellier career stats at Soccerbase
Appearances at londonhearts.com

Heart of Midlothian F.C. - Current Squad

Persondata
NAME	Brellier, Julien
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	French footballer
DATE OF BIRTH	January 10, 1982
PLACE OF BIRTH	Echirolles, France
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH