The Hearts football team have just spent a week at Ciocco for pre-season training using the facilities at the hotel for what the Heart’s boss, Jim Jefferies maintains is his favourite summer training base. This is after all, his tenth annual trip to Barga.
Heart of Midlothian Football Club (more commonly known as simply Hearts) are a Scottish football club from Edinburgh, Scotland who currently play in the Scottish Premier League. The current manager of Hearts is Jim Jefferies, assisted by Billy Brown and Gary Locke.
The players have had to endure double training sessions each day as JJ got them in shape for the forthcoming campaign
Icelandic international defender Kari Arnason joined Hearts for their week-long training session. The centre back is a free agent after leaving Plymouth Argyle in the summer.
“Eggert Jonsson knows him and he comes well recommended by the likes of John Blackley,” said Jim Jefferies, “The owner has been good enough to allow us to bring him over and we had a close look at him this week.”
Kari began his career in his native country with Vikingur and he spent five years there before moving on to Sweden with Djurgarden.
He remained in Scandinavia after leaving Sweden, joining Danish side AGF Aarhus and also spent a short loan spell with Esbjerg.
The 28-year-old joined Plymouth Argyle in 2009 and made 72 appearances for the Pilgrims, scoring three goals.
Kari is an international team-mate of Eggert, winning 17 caps to date, finding the net once, although there will be no reunion at Il Ciocco as the Hearts star has been given a two-week break by JJ following his exertions in the U21 European Championship Finals
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Ciocco – It’s a place I know very well and the facilities are superb. The folk are very friendly and can’t do enough for you and the food’s excellent as well. I took Hearts there the last time I was here and also went a number of times with Kilmarnock. It’s an ideal base for a pre-season training camp and we’ll be working the boys hard, that is assured. One thing’s for sure – the players will be fit by the time the season starts! – Jim Jefferies
To round the week off the hearts team played a friendly match against a Barga Select, easily beating the local side 6 – 0
A hat-trick from John Sutton – all set up by the marauding Lee Wallace down the left – and goals from captain Marius Zaliukas, had Jim Jefferies’ side cruising into a 4-0 half-time lead.
After changing the team completely at the break to ensure everyone saw some action – apart from the injured Ian Black and Janos Balogh who was missing through illness, Hearts quickly added to their lead when Arvydas Novikovas slotted home from the penalty spot after he had been upended in the area.
The Lithuanian winger made it 6-0 18 minutes from time when his left-foot shot left the Barga keeper with no chance.
“It was a good work out for the players and we scored some excellent goals,” said JJ. “It rounded off a great week for us and I am very pleased with the effort put in by everybody.