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| <-Page | <-Team | Sun 19 Nov 2006 Hearts 0 Rangers 1 | Team-> | Page-> |
| <-Srce | <-Type | Herald ------ Post Match Comments | Type-> | Srce-> |
| Eduard Malofeev | <-auth | MARK WILSON | auth-> | Douglas McDonald |
| 78 | of 120 | ----- Nacho Novo 78 | L SPL | H |
Hearts supporters in ‘racism’ rowMARK WILSON at Tynecastle November 20 2006 Alex Koslovski, the sport director of Hearts, last night effectively accused the club's supporters of exhibiting a form of racism by booing Nerijus Barasa during their 1-0 defeat to Rangers at Tynecastle. A number of Lithuanian names attracted grumblings from the stands when the line-ups were read out pre-match, with Saulius Mikoliunas being jeered on to the pitch when he replaced Jamie Mole during the second half. A day of discontent around Tynecastle continued after the match when around 200 fans gathered outside the main entrance to protest against Vladimir Romanov's handling of the club in the wake of Steven Pressley's continued exclusion from the starting XI. Many supporters are drawing the somewhat obvious conclusion that inferior players from Romanov's homeland are being promoted instead. Barasa, who again performed poorly, attracted understandable ire from the stands throughout the 90 minutes, but Koslovski claimed that was down to his nationality rather than his performance level. "Mikoliunas maybe [was booed] but I think it is always difficult to come on as a substitute. I don't think it is because he is a Lithuanian," said Koslovski, again put before the media by Hearts instead of Eduard Malofeev, the club's interim head coach who is now departing to pursue a UEFA pro-licence. "But I am surprised about Barasa because I think there is a little bit of discrimination. Barasa played very well, so because he is Lithuanian people maybe shout at him. What's wrong with [Marius] Zaliukas, who was blamed before? He was the best player on the pitch. Nobody is being favoured [at the club] just because they are Lithuanian. It is simply untrue." Koslovski's evaluation of the players' performances was as bizarre as his inference about the attitude of the Hearts fans. It's worth noting that Andrius Velicka, the Lithuanian striker who provides a hard-working spearhead to the team, attracted no booing. A police line kept the unhappy throng of fans clear of the stadium entrance after the match but chants such as "We want our captain back" and "Can you hear us Romanov?" were an audible measure of the growing disillusionment. There were also numerous banners objecting to Romanov's leadership inside the ground, while Pressley's name was chanted on more than one occasion. Roman Romanov, Vladimir's son and the club chairman, was in attendance at yesterday's match along with Sergejus Fedotovas, his fellow director. Romanov senior is expected to arrive in Scotland later this week and will face intense pressure to make a public statement on his future plans. "You should always respect the opinion of the fans, that's obvious, because the fans are the basis for any club," said Koslovski. "When Mr Romanov comes to Britain, he will answer any question about the club." It was put to Koslovski that these were the same people he had accused of discrimination moments earlier, but he replied: "I'm not accusing anyone, but it looks like it [discrimination] if you are blaming players for being in favour because they are Lithuanian." Paul Hartley, recalled to the starting line-up against Rangers, said that he could understand supporters feeling it necessary to stage a protest. "The fans have a right to vent their feelings," he said. "They don't like what's going on, there are a lot of us who don't like what's going on, and they have a right to protest. But what I will say about the fans is that they gave us great backing." Hartley admitted, however, that he was upset to hear boos directed against Barasa and Mikoliunas. "No-one likes to be booed, especially in these difficult times," he said. "I don't like supporters booing our own players. I'd condemn that." Koslovski earlier informed that Pressley was on the bench after computer analysis of the 1-1 draw at Falkirk on Monday gave a glowing review of the team's defensive display in his absence. Fast becoming the Comical Ali of Romanov's regime, this is the man who said Eugenijus Riabovus was hanging around Hearts purely for "personal development" and would not be slotting in as the latest interim head coach. Tomorrow, Riabovus begins his new duties as the seventh man to take charge of the Tynecastle squad since Romanov came to power at Tynecastle. Koslovski added he "did not know yet" whether Pressley would be considered for Hearts' next match against Inverness on Saturday. The club are without a win in their last seven outings and have dropped to fifth in the table. |
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