HARTLEY GETS ON FINE WITH ROMANOV

Hearts midfielder Paul Hartley quashed any notions of a rift between him and Vladimir Romanov after his recent display of support for departed manager George Burley.

Burley, the former Ipswich and Derby boss, left the Edinburgh club in controversial circumstances before last Saturday's Bank of Scotland Premier League match against Dunfermline at Tynecastle.

After being substituted near the end of the 2-0 win over the Pars, Hartley revealed a t-shirt bearing the words 'for the gaffer' who had stepped down due to "irreconcilable differences".

That gesture, which many took to be a slight on the club's majority shareholder Romanov, was replicated by midfielder Rudi Skacel at full-time.

However, Hartley insists all the Gorgie players, who are looking to extend their 12-game unbeaten Bank of Scotland Premier League run against Hibernian at Easter Road, are right behind the wealthy Lithuanian businessman.

He said: "I get on fine with Mr Romanov. I've spoken to him over the last couple of days and we don't have a problem.

"Rudi and I decided to put the t-shirts on as a mark of respect for the manager and to show how the players felt about him.

"It was nothing to do with Mr Romanov and he had no problems with it.

"Certainly, I'm happy here and I'm sure the other guys are as well.

"We can see that the owner is trying to build something big and we want to be a part of it.

"The players want to do well for ourselves but we also want to do well for Mr Romanov."

Hartley insists Romanov's contribution to the Edinburgh club's revival since arriving last season has been immense, typified by the quality of applicants such as Claudio Ranieri and Sir Bobby Robson for the vacant managerial post.

He said: "The last year has been unbelievable. The club was talking about going into administration and moving out of Tynecastle and going to Murrayfield before Mr Romanov arrived.

"He has put spent money bringing quality players in on good salaries.

"He wants to make Hearts one of the top clubs and I'm sure that we're progressing towards that.

"And to be linked with Ranieri and Robson is really good. I don't think that Hearts would have been linked with two of the biggest managers in Europe a year ago.

"It shows you how far the club has come along and how far Mr Romanov has worked to get us to the top."

Hartley, however, was less supportive of Jambos chairman George Foulkes who, after Rangers dropped two points against Livingston in midweek, declared the SPL title race was now between Hearts and Celtic.

The Ibrox men are now 11 points behind the league leaders but the Scottish international insists the champions, as well as third-placed Hibs, are still very much in contention.

He said: "Anyone who says that Rangers are out of the title race are kidding themselves on. There's no chance of that being the case.

"There's 12 games gone and people are saying it's a two-horse race but I'm not having that.

"Hibs have been written off as well but I think it's between four teams to be quite honest.

"Hibs are a fantastic young team, they have a really good manager there and they have gone on a fantastic run since we last played them."

Taken from sportinglife.com