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| <-Page | <-Team | Sat 28 Oct 2006 Hearts 1 Dunfermline Athletic 1 | Team-> | Page-> |
| <-Srce | <-Type | Herald ------ Players | Type-> | Srce-> |
| Eduard Malofeev | <-auth | MARTIN McMILLAN | auth-> | Brian Winter |
| 110 | of 111 | Andrius Velicka 12 Jim Hamilton 48 | L SPL | H |
Bednar calls for an end to turmoilMARTIN McMILLAN November 01 2006 THE level of unrest at Hearts continued to be revealed yesterday when Roman Bednar and Julian Brellier became the first of the club's foreign contingent to speak out. Czech striker Bednar described recent weeks at the club as unbearable and called for an end to the turmoil. He joins rebel trio Steven Pressley, Paul Hartley and Craig Gordon in criticising the way the club is run by its owner, Vladimir Romanov. Pressley, flanked by Gordon and Hartley, was forced to read a dramatic pre-written statement at the club's Riccarton training base last Friday after Romanov allegedly threatened to sell squad members if they failed to beat Dunfermline. The captain's outburst finally blew away the uneasy image of squad unity at Tynecastle. All three played in the 1-1 draw at Tynecastle and Roma-nov watched the match before flying back to Lithuania to look after his other business interests. Pressley has requested a meeting with the owner but that is now on hold as interim coach Eduard Malofeev continues to lead the team, despite his lack of English. Hearts are now 10 points behind leaders Celtic – their last league win was against Dundee United at home on September 30 – and Bednar has almost had enough. The forward claims there is no full-scale player revolt, but has demanded a final end to the strife in an attempt to get the club's stuttering title bid back on track. Ahead of Saturday's trip to Parkhead, the 23-year-old said: "There has been no revolt against Mr Romanov but strange things happen here. Since the time the new owners took over the club, a lot of things have happened. The situation over the last three weeks has been unbearable. "Of course, we are only players and our job is to do our best on the pitch. But we also have the club's best interests at heart and you cannot concentrate on football in such an oppressive atmosphere. It is really too much. Now, the only thing we can do is wait and see what happens, but one way or another, it must be resolved." Brellier, the club's popular French midfielder, admits he may have to leave Tynecastle after being continually left out of the picture. Brellier made a positive impact after being signed by George Burley last summer but he has been increasingly sidelined by head coach Valdas Ivanauskas. He faces competition for his place from Bruno Aguiar but the Lithuanian, and now Malo-feev, have selected defender Ibrahim Tall in the holding midfield role in the last two games. Brellier came on for the last 12 minutes to the biggest cheer of the day against Dunfermline but it was not enough to assuage the former Inter Milan player's ire. "I'm disappointed and very angry. I can understand when Bruno plays ahead of me. I am not saying that Ibrahim is no good because he is a very good player. I just think he is a much better player in defence. "I cannot understand it because Hearts have very good players for this position . . . the way I'm feeling right now, I don't feel I am being treated like a normal player. "I have to think about my future. I have been very happy in Edinburgh. I have a great relationship with the fans, but with a situation like this one I have to think about leaving. I can't be happy with that. I am a very committed player. I just think I don't deserve this."  Taken from the Herald |
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