Kozlovski says sorry

STUNG by criticism he received for remarks made after Hearts' defeat by Rangers last weekend, Alex Kozlovski yesterday apologised to the Tynecastle club's supporters for claiming their booing of two Lithuanian players had been motivated by the duo's nationality rather than their ability, writes Graham Bean.

Kozlovski, Hearts' sport director, had accused fans of "discrimination" over their jeering Saulius Mikoliunas and Nerijus Barasa. His comments provoked a furious reaction from supporters' groups and Kozlovski now accepts he was wrong.

Although sorry for any offence caused, the sport director was not ready to apologise for the continued inclusion of Mikoliunas and Barasa in the team and reeled off a bewildering list of statistics to justify their selection.

Mikoliunas, in particular, has been off form for a number of weeks yet continues to be picked, to the increasing frustration of the Hearts supporters. He was booed on to the pitch as a substitute against Rangers and did little to convince fans when he was thrust into an unfamiliar attacking role.

"I apologise for the comments made last week after the Rangers game," Kozlovski said. "I didn't intend to [cause offence] but the players felt hurt from the reaction from our supporters."

Kozlovski then produced statistics from a sheet of paper which he claimed proved Barasa and Mikoliunas make credible contributions to games.

"Right now, I have statistics from the games regarding the players who were booed," Kozlovski said.

"Nerijus Barasa, in the last game, completed 25 passes, made 13 tackles and 15 headers.

"This performance matches Christophe Berra, Ibrahim Tall and Marius Zaliukas. It's more or less similar performances but these players have different nationalities. The players' feelings are not good and they felt it was unfair on them."

Kozlovski regrets becoming overwrought in the aftermath of the Rangers fixture and will strive to keep a lid on his emotions in future. "You always need to be calm and analyse a situation and that is why I'm saying sorry," he explained. "High emotions help no-one."

Taken from the Scotsman