Higgins backs Webster's integrity

TONY Higgins, senior organiser of the Scottish Professional Footballers Association, last night strongly criticised Vladimir Romanov over comments that suggested a lack of commitment from Andy Webster to Hearts.

The Tynecastle owner was this week quoted as saying the club "can't be totally sure we can rely on the player" after suggesting Webster was planning to move to Rangers.

Talks aimed at extending the Scotland defender's Tynecastle contract, which expires in the summer of next year, have broken down.

Higgins said the SPFA would monitor the situation closely and insisted it was unwise of Romanov to launch his latest controversial outburst.

"We're disappointed," said Higgins. "Knowing Andy Webster and his development as a player, he is a guy who always gives 100% at club and international level.

"I think clubs have to be very careful in using a term like 'trust'. Professionals in the game would tell you the one thing that can be guaranteed from Andy is commitment and the trust of his team-mates.

"I don't know, in the strictest sense, what he meant.

"But my view is that you don't enter that arena with a professional player. Football is a global game and these comments can have a Europe-wide or global readership.

"We live in a post-Bosman era and the reality is that the conditions have changed. Players inevitably [still] play with clubs as their contract end looms. In Andy's case, I think that's over a year away.

"The vast majority of professional players give a full-time and wholehearted commitment to the club they're with. If they don't do that, then they don't get a prospective employer."

Whether Webster plays again for Hearts remains to be seen. He was dropped for the recent Edinburgh derby but it has been suggested he may return for Sunday's crucial Bank of Scotland Premierleague match with Celtic.

Higgins said the SPFA would require a complaint from Webster over his treatment to take any action. "In the modern situation of the legalities of contracts, clubs have to be very careful about what they insinuate," he said. "We'd investigate the legal situation if there was any complaint, but just now I'm only making a general observation."

Higgins was speaking at an SPFA open day at Hampden, aimed at providing better education and employment prospects for players when their careers come to an end.

Taken from the Scotsman