Rudi Skacel was born in the Hradec Králové region of what would become, while he was a teenager at his regional club, the Czech Republic. He would divide much of his professional career between his homeland, Scotland and Greece, with diversions to three other European countries, including an English interlude at Southampton.

It was an interlude for which the fans were kept waiting. And once the long, drawn-out transfer was completed, there was another wait: would Rudi ever live up to the reputation he had achieved at Hearts?

Managed by George Burley, Hearts won their first eight SPL fixtures in 2005-06, with Rudi scoring in the first seven of them. By the time Burley left for Southampton in mid-season, they’d lost a couple of games, but they were still in second place. That’s where they finished the season, with Rudi top-scoring. And for good measure, he not only scored Hearts’ normal-time goal in the Scottish Cup Final v Gretna, but was on target as they won the penalty shoot-out. No wonder, then, that Burley was keen to bring to St Mary’s a player who, as he promised in the match-day programme,

“loves to get forward, has lots of energy and is an exciting player to watch.”

Given that he always looked committed enough, why was Rudi less exciting – and less productive – than Southampton’s fans had been led to expect? His explanation – in the match-day programme for his last home game – is that he had not been deployed in his preferred position, “playing just behind the striker on the left side.” That may not satisfy those who have deduced, from his subsequent success, upon return to the SPL, that the standards in Scotland’s top flight are lower than those of the Championship.

Halfway through his second season as a Saint, Burley left to manage Scotland and Rudi promptly departed, on a six-month loan to Berlin, where his form returned: “I was back playing mostly in my favourite midfield position,” he explained.

But Hertha couldn’t afford his transfer fee, so he returned to St Mary’s. Soon switching to left-back, behind Drew Surman, Rudi was as spirited as anyone in a side struggling, in vain, against the drop. His contract ran out in the summer and, having found his time at Southampton “frustrating”, he was hardly likely to be seeking a new contract to play League One football – although he confessed that the Championship was “a tough league, tougher than I expected.” Rudi would soon return to the cushier SPL, after a brief stop at his first pro club, in Prague, and a diversion to Greece. Back with Hearts, he was again a Scottish Cup-winner in 2012, this time scoring twice in a 5-1 win v Hibs. Within a year, though, he was starting a third spell at Slavia Prague and apart from a swansong spell with Raith he wound up his career in his homeland.