Joint statement sees fans sit on the fence

EWAN MURRAY

WHILE Vladimir Romanov's ruthless removal of key employees at Hearts has raised eyebrows across Britain, the club's major shareholder can be safe in the knowledge that members of supporters' groups do not appear to be on the verge of revolt.

The shock departures on Monday of chief executive Phil Anderton and chairman George Foulkes has changed the mood of Hearts fans, who had displayed a degree of tolerance after the sacking of George Burley the previous week.

Patience has run out, and there has been consternation among battle-weary Hearts followers this week.

But in a bland statement which merely reiterated what Romanov and the club's board had already said, members of the Supporters' Trust, Fans' Forum, Shareholders Association and Federation of Hearts Supporters' Clubs did not criticise the new regime.

After a meeting between the groups and Roman Romanov on Monday evening, a joint statement was issued which read: "We are united in the view that the board believed that their recent actions were in the best interests of Heart of Midlothian. It is important that supporters continue to back the team.

"The board felt that George Burley was not able to maintain the progress of the team and reiterated that Burley was not sacked. The board also maintained that there were valid reasons for the dismissal of Phil Anderton.

"Roman Romanov re-emphasised that Vladimir Romanov was committed to the club for the long term and would continue to provide major investment in the team and stadium redevelopment."

The statement did not indicate whether the supporters' groups backed or opposed recent events.

Only a year ago, the same supporters looked towards a common goal of removing Chris Robinson and stopping the sale of Tynecastle.

Romanov's actions may fall short of building flats in Gorgie and moving in with the Scottish Rugby Union at Murrayfield, but the Lithuanian banker has put Hearts on the footballing map like never before for negative, rather than positive reasons after a highly-promising start to the SPL season.

"The handling of recent events made for poor public relations," added the statement, with a late entry for the biggest understatement of 2005.

Taken from the Scotsman