Civil war breaks out at Hearts as Romanov threatens to sell all players

Ewan Murray
Saturday October 28, 2006
The Guardian

Controversy and Heart of Midlothian have become inextricably linked since the owner Vladimir Romanov began his involvement with the club 20 months ago. Seldom, though, have events been played out in such a dramatic manner as they were at the training ground yesterday.

Hearts' regular Friday media briefing was hijacked by three of the club's senior players - Steven Pressley, Paul Hartley and Craig Gordon - with Pressley reading out a statement which referred to "significant unrest" in the dressing room. It was, in effect, a vote of no confidence in Romanov, who has constantly meddled in team affairs.

"I would like to wish Valdas a speedy recovery, but whether he returns or not is almost incidental in relation to the problems associated with this football club," the club captain said. "While, publicly, I have expressed the need for unity behind the scenes, I have made my concerns abundantly clear.

"The last two years have been very testing for the players. Together, we have faced a number of challenges and worked hard at retaining some degree of unity. However, due to the circumstances, morale, understandably, is not good and there is significant unrest within the dressing room."

It is a defining moment in Romanov's ownership. Never before have the players voiced public discord with the way Hearts is run and Pressley has been a conciliatory figure in times of turbulence. The captain has met with Romanov to ask the Lithuanian to minimise his involvement in team selection, a process which involves a proposed team being faxed by the manager to the owner before every game.

There was speculation that Ivanauskas would become the third manager in 12 months to be sacked by Romanov following the club's home defeat to Kilmarnock last Saturday after which Gordon said he felt that some players were not pulling their weight.

That hint of a dressing room split - there are seven Lithuanian players at Hearts - seemed to be confirmed by Pressley: "I've tried along with the coaching staff and certain colleagues to implement the correct values and disciplines, but it has become impossible. There's only so much the coaching staff, a captain and certain colleagues can do without the full backing, direction and coherence of the manager and those running the club."

While the 33-year-old's value to the club is not significant in monetary terms, the disillusioned Scotland internationals Hartley and, particularly, Gordon, who has attracted the admiring glances of Arsenal and Manchester United, are now almost certain to be sold in January.

Romanov has said he can bring in a new team at any moment and is unlikely to back down because of such criticism. Indeed, the owner spent Thursday evening trying to justify the bemusing team selections to a group of supporters.

Eduard Malofeev, the senior of three newly-appointed sporting directors, is in charge for the visit of Dunfermline. Whether Pressley, Hartley or Gordon feature should distinguish whether or not Heart of Midlothian are likely to continue to exist as their increasingly worried supporters know it.

Taken from the Guardian/Observer