SKIPPER PAYING PENALTY FOR STANDING UP ONCE TOO OFTEN

STEVEN PRESSLEY has held Hearts together over the last 18 months but now the club, and possibly his Tynecastle career, appears to be unravelling before his eyes.

It seems not a day goes past now without Hearts becoming embroiled in further turmoil and the latest saga to envelop the club is one of the saddest.

The alleged plot to oust Elvis as club captain led to him missing Monday night's game with Falkirk and in his absence Hearts failed to win for the sixth consecutive match.

I always had the fear Elvis might suffer as a consequence of taking the courageous step of speaking out about the current situation at Tynecastle.

Club owner Vladimir Romanov was always going to take exception to someone breaking ranks.

It's such a shame because Heart of Midlothian is a great club and Romanov has the funds at his disposal to make them winners.

Whatever happened to make Elvis, who was flanked by Craig Gordon and Paul Hartley that day, publicly say what he did, it must have been pretty serious.

I suspect it wasn't just one thing but a catalogue of events.

Elvis must have been pushed pretty far because he loves the club and at this stage of his career is not going to upset the applecart if he doesn't have to.

He's not daft either so we can only presume he has finally reached the end of his tether.

Only Elvis knows what it has been like to be Hearts captain over the past two seasons as Romanov has employed six different first-team coaches. Despite the constant upheaval, the Scot has acted in an ambassadorial capacity as the public face of the squad.

I'm sure there were a lot of things he would have liked to have commented on but didn't because he is so dignified.

Pressley is a very straightforward guy and not someone prone to sudden and dramatic outbursts just for the sake of it so he must really have been teetering on the brink for some time.

Until a fortnight ago he had kept everything pretty much under wraps and I'm sure all the players, and a lot of the backroom staff, must have been glad of his presence.

To be honest, I don't think anybody outside of the club really knows what happened before the Falkirk game because everything around Tynecastle appears shrouded in mystery these days.

But one thing that's for sure is everybody in the game would have been disappointed to read about Elvis' plight because is one of the most respected professionals in the country.

He is the perfect example to any young player and I think even Hibs fans will have some sympathy for him. Elvis is everything a footballer should be on the pitch, in the dressing room and on the training ground.

Jim Jefferies and I have always tried to fill our dressing room with as many good types as we can and that's why we signed Elvis for Hearts from Dundee United.

You have a much better chance with guys like him rather than ones you have to encourage every to play.

Alongside Gary Locke andYogi Hughes, Elvis is up there with the best and most dedicated professionals I've ever had the pleasure to work with. He is the kind of wholehearted player football clubs must have and Hearts will be far weaker in his absence.

Yet I still reckon that despite his strange methods Romanov acts the way he does because he's convinced this is the best way to get success.

That might be the case in his country but I don't think the way he's doing things here, including his constant interference in team selection, will get him anywhere.

The continual changes in management and coaching staff don't help the players either.

You need a settled environment at a football club as it takes a while to get your methods and thoughts across to players. They won't have a clue what is going on if personnel is changing every few months.

Romanov needs to allow whoever is in charge to get on with the job although I don't think that's the way he operates.

Sadly for Hearts supporters, this season was a great opportunity for them to finally be up there challenging for the league. But they have blown it.

It's such a pity because Hearts are one of football's great institutions.

But the bottom line is that you won't win matches if your best players are not on the pitch.

While Elvis was posted missing against Falkirk, Paul Hartley was only on the subs bench despite being Hearts' match winner on so many occasions. I'm a great admirer of Paul and his attitude and determination are first-class.

When we beat Hearts recently the ball ran into our dugout and Paul almost attacked me trying to get it back. That showed the guy was 100 per cent committed to winning and even at 2-0 down he was refusing to give up.

However, if the best players suddenly lose their fervour and passion for their club it can only mean more bad times ahead.

Taken from the Daily Record