Hartley slams Vlad knockers

PAUL HARTLEY has hit out at club owner Vladimir Romanov's critics and questioned where Hearts would be now without him.

The Scotland internationalist was speaking at the end of another turbulent week for the Gorgie outfit that saw head coach Graham Rix and director of football Jim Duffy sacked.

Lithuanian Valdas Ivanauskas has been appointed interim head coach until the end of the season which incredibly makes him the fifth man to fill the Tynecastle hot-seat in less than a year with John Robertson, George Burley, John McGlynn and Rix all having spells in charge.

And while Hartley admitted he was "disappointed" by Rix's sudden departure just four months into his tenure at the club he insisted that much of the criticism being directed at Romanov has been uncalled for.

"Since Mr Romanov came in he has spent a lot of money and has done a lot of good things for the club which people seem to forget," said the Hearts fans' favourite. "He is entitled to demand success because of the amount of money he has spent. He wants Champions League football and he wants silverware in the trophy room. Is that a bad thing?

"He's spent millions of pounds at this club and he wants success in return and we as the players are desperate for that to happen.

"We finished fifth in the league last season which was really disappointing.

There was even talk of the club going out of business before Mr Romanov came in and who knows what would be happening now if he hadn't."

And Hartley admitted he would probably have quit the Jambos had it not been for Romanov's arrival.

"I probably wouldn't have signed a new contract here had it not been for Mr Romanov coming.

Without him the quality of guys that have come in wouldn't be as good either so there have been a lot of good things. Things haven't always ran smoothly off the pitch but we are still in a great position in terms of the league and the Scottish Cup."

Despite all the off-field distractions this term Hearts remain in pole position to grab a Champions League qualifying spot for the first time in their history.

And Hartley insisted that with so many strong characters in the dressing room, nothing will be allowed to stand in their way of achieving that goal.

"Nobody needs to tell us what is at stake, it's all there in front of us," he said. "For the players to lose focus at this stage of the season would be ridiculous because we want to get there for the club, for ourselves and for the fans.

"We can still make this one of the best seasons in Hearts' history so we have to keep going. There is massive pressure on us but I would much rather have that than not. This could be our best ever chance to get into the Champions League. You never know in football, it may never come again so we have to take it."

Taken from the Scotsman