It's politics says Ivanauskas as he bows to the inevitable over Hartley and Gordon

HEARTS head coach Valdas Ivanauskas effectively acknowledged that the club are seeking to sell Craig Gordon and Paul Hartley after admitting that it was not his decision to omit the pair from the line-up that drew 0-0 at Ibrox yesterday. Ivanauskas mumbled "yes" when he was pressed on whether he had wanted to play the Scotland internationalists. "It was football politics. Also, Craig had a groin injury," he said.

Only two weeks ago, Ivanauskas described the pair as key members of the team. He could not have been fully aware of owner Vladimir Romanov's pressing need to cash in on his two sellable assets. "It is football business and I can't speak a lot of words about it," the head coach said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "That was two weeks ago, Now it is two weeks later. The most important thing is the team."

Ivanauskas would not comment on reports that Fulham have tabled a £4m bid for Gordon, while Rangers manager Walter Smith did not deny a continued interest in Hartley. Yet on Friday evening, Hearts' website quoted the head coach as saying that Gordon, Hartley, Julien Brellier, Michal Pospisil and Robbie Neilson were "all attracting interest" and that the club were "now in negotiations with some clubs".

The omission of both yesterday saw the Tynecastle club revert to type. The absence of key personnel for a crucial confrontation served as a reminder of Romanov's capacity for decisions that entirely disregard on-field concerns.

Yet, there was a certain irony in the fact that, without Gordon and Hartley - the supposed backbone the club want to remove for fiscal reasons - Hearts avoided defeat at Ibrox for the first time in almost three years. There was nothing particularly edifying about how they did so. But those who predicted Hearts would capitulate did not account for the resolution of new captain Christophe Berra. He was Steven Pressley-like in marshalling his defence. Gordon's replacement Steve Banks, meanwhile, had a couple of assured interventions and a couple of uncertain moments.

The real pity about Romanov's latest meddling in team selection was what had gone before. Events in the early part of the week seemed to offer the Tynecastle faithful hope their club might be in the mood to cast aside a failing for creating media frenzy through decisions made at senior management level.

The only headlines the Lithuanian attracted until the Hearts squad prepared to drive along the M8 yesterday were - shock horror - favourable, centred around agreement being reached with Edinburgh City Council for the £6m land purchase necessary to redevelop Tynecastle, and the on-loan signings of Ghanian Laryea Kingston and Georgian Gogita Gogua. The absence of Gordon and Hartley for an encounter against the team Hearts must topple if they are to earn the right to play in the Champions League qualifiers was the an extension of the above developments. The figures have never added up where Hearts' income and expenditure have been concerned. That is truer now than ever - the cost of increasing the Tynecastle capacity to 26,000 with the construction of a new main stand quoted at anywhere between £10m and £15m.

To finance this project, Hearts must become a selling club. The decision to hold Gordon and Hartley in reserve yesterday was then taken so as not to put them at risk of value-reducing injury. There might also have been consideration given to the fact that the next destination for the Scotland midfielder may well be Ibrox. Hearts are understood to be ready to sell Hartley if a £1.25m bid is received. Smith would be prepared to meet that valuation, but only if he had the funds. That will only be the case if his pursuit of other transfer targets Lee McCulloch and Scott Brown comes to nothing. An outcome that is highly likely with both McCulloch's club Wigan and Brown's employers Hibernian having no intention to sell.

The situation regarding Gordon could be more clear-cut. Hearts are believed to be willing to part with him if the ante is upped to £5m by Fulham, regardless of what the club say about their valuation of the player being double that. The sale of Gordon and Hartley would not merely remove Hearts' highest earners from the wage bill. It would also wheedle out the remaining members of the Riccarton Three, the pair having gone public with the long-gone Steven Pressley over the "major unrest" caused by Romanov's autocratic ways. But that is a side issue. For their harsh words matter less than the harsh economic realities facing Romanov in his Tynecastle project.

Taken from the Scotsman