VLAD RAGE OVER ELVIS 'BETRAYAL'

HEARTS owner Vladimir Romanov has ended his media silence with a bizarre broadside against former skipper Steven Pressley and the Old Firm.

The controversial Lithuanian banker blamed Rangers and Celtic for driving an anti-Hearts agenda in Scottish football.

And he insists Jambos idol Elvis - axed last month after a string of rows with club chiefs - BETRAYED Hearts by selling his soul "for a striped shirt", a clear reference to his move to champions Celtic.

Speaking to Belarussian newspaper "Pressball" in Moscow last week, where he was watching his Lithuanian club Kaunas in the annual Commonwealth Cup, Romanov said: "In Scotland we are having to fight not in the sporting sense, but against constant intrigues.

"Hearts are ahead of schedule in their development plan but nonfootball issues need put right.

"They are created by our rivals, who together with the press systematically accuse us of all kinds of non-existent sins."

Asked if he meant Celtic and Rangers, he added: "Probably. To be honest, I only notice them when they are trying to undermine the club via the media."

Romanov insists he has solved the dressing room conflict that exploded when Pressley, Craig Gordon and Paul Hartley spoke out against the club's regime.

Asked by the paper if he had got to the root of the feud he bristled: "There was no conflict whatsoever - there was a banal betrayal.

"Players sold themselves for the striped shirts they were promised."

Asked if he was referring to Celtic shirts, he shrugged: "I don't know - to prison uniforms maybe.

"But there were issues that were impossible to resolve. It was harming Valdas Ivanauskas's health.

"It was impossible to normalise the situation unless we removed players who did not want to face Celtic, Rangers or other teams. "That's the thing with players.

Once they have achieved their goals, you need to sell them.

"If you let someone like that stay with the team, he will destroy it and take players with him."

Romanov said he is tracking Kaunas' Belarussians - Vyacheslav Hleb and Oleg Strakhanovich - who have been linked with Hearts.

"Strakhanovich impresses me a lot," he said. " Hleb is young but has made big progress in the last year."

Meanwhile Ivanauskas admitted for the first time he thought his Jambos career was OVER during his month-long sabbatical for stress.

But he'll never let the pressure get to him again after learning to take time out to count his blessings and let off steam in the gym.

He said: "It crossed my mind I might never come back to Scotland.

"It was hard but the break came at the perfect time. I realised I had to change for the sake of my health.

"Every day since the break has been a positive experience as I have tried to learn from my mistakes.

"It's not easy finding time to relax but I'll work out or go running to forget my problems and get breathing space to deal with the pressure.

"I try to do it every day and just think how beautiful life is instead of worrying about football."

Hearts are still in with a shout of finishing second in the SPL and face SPL strugglers Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup on Saturday.

Jambos fans have snapped up 5200 tickets in two days as they anticipate a return to Hampden.

Valdas said: "The level of expectation now puts pressure on us to play in a final every year.

"We must play to a standard worthy of defending champions."

Taken from the Sunday Mail