Hearts fans back Pressley to put one over on Romanov

IT HAS become the way of Scottish football these days that clubs outside of the Old Firm see their best players plundered by their Glaswegian counterparts. However, when Vladimir Romanov arrived at Tynecastle, most Hearts fans expected that the days of their players heading west along the M8 would be over.

So surely the announcement on Friday that Steven Pressley - Mr Hearts for the past half dozen years - was to wear the green and white hoops of Celtic was bound to rankle even the most pragmatic of the Jambos faithful. But it would appear that quite the opposite has occurred.

By Friday, it was a straight race between Charlton Athletic and Celtic, and most Hearts fans, already resigned to his absence, were hardly fussed where he went. "I wish him the best of luck wherever he goes, even Celtic, and I'm a Hearts fan," posted Arfur on The Scotsman website.

On the same site, Paranoid John, another Hearts fan, suggested that Pressley should sign for Celtic and hoped "he would score the winner against Hearts and give a two-fingered salute to the man in the stand who is responsible for Hearts losing their best player and captain". A clear enough indicator, then, that Hearts fans still support their former captain over their eccentric owner.

As the news broke that Pressley had indeed chosen Celtic Park over the Valley, Hearts fans were again quick to wish their former talisman well. "It is his last chance to get some silverware, so all the best Elvis," was Gorgie Aggro's stance. Heppy Heppington concurred, wishing Pressley "all the best", and stating: "As a Hearts fan it hurts to say you've made the right move. I can see him coming back to haunt us, I think any diehard fan won't grudge him that as he is a respectable man, unlike Vlad."

Of course, there were some angry Jambos, mainly found on the infamous Kickback website. "I'm raging that he went to Glasgow," said truejambo81. "I feel utterly sick and humiliated," was the reaction of hmsfc. But despite these comments, there are numerous threads supporting their former idol. There is a prevailing sense of respect.

Pressley will undoubtedly go straight into a Celtic side bereft of a calming influence in defence. Perhaps the acid test for what the Hearts fans really think of their Hall of Fame inductee will be on January 14, when Celtic visit Tynecastle. Romanov may choose to sit that one out.

MARK ATKINSON

Taken from the Scotsman