Tynecastle engulfed by civil war

“Sack the board” and “Are You Watching Romanov?” were the main themes of the protest, before the Romanov signature tune — to Verdi’s La donne e mobile — was changed to “Vladimir Bugger-off”. However, inside, one of Romanov’s circle of trust, Alex Koslovski, accused the club’s supporters of discrimination after several of the Lithuanian players were targeted for jeering during the game.

Steven Pressley, the cause célèbre after being jettisoned under Romanov’s orders last Monday against Falkirk, had no such problem. The demoted Hearts captain was a mere substitute but heard his name sung to the rafters every time he warmed-up. However, Pressley never came off the bench and Hearts are now showing signs of going backwards after seven games without a victory.

Eduard Malofeev, who has probably the worst caretaker record known to man, departs today to take his Uefa coaching licence. No wins in six games speaks volumes about the mess into which Hearts have descended since the Russian, who requires Koslovksi to translate everything into English, was appointed by Romanov to babysit Hearts while Valdas Ivanauskas sought sick leave to relieve his stress.

Paul Hartley took Pressley’s armband but the Scotland midfield player aside, Hearts lacked heart. There was not enough leadership on the pitch and the Tynecastle fans sensed it. They jeered Nerijus Barasa after every mistake — and there were plenty — and Saulius Mikoliunas, when he came off the bench and gave a timid contribution.

You can fool some of the people some of the time. But eventually, the penny drops. Not, though, in the case of Koslovski who defended Romanov’s compatriots. “I am surprised Nerijus was booed because he played very well. But because he is Lithuanian, maybe people shouted at him. I am not accusing the fans of anything but it looks like it if you are blaming players because they are Lithuanian. No one is being favoured [by the management] because they are Lithuanian. That is simply untrue.”

Of the demonstration, Koslovski said: “You should always respect the opinion of the fans because they are the basis of every club. When Mr Romanov comes to Britain, he will answer all the questions about the club.”

Romanov would have to become a tax exile in the United Kingdom to have enough time to answer all the questions about a club that began this season with dreams of playing in the Champions League, but is now out of Europe after exiting two tournaments and is on the seventh man in charge of the team in two years when Eugenijus Raibovas takes over the baton from the woeful Malofeev.

Hearts have dropped to fifth in the table as a result of 86 changes in 15 games. However, when you have left out mainstays such as Pressley and Robbie Neilson, as well as Hartley, as part of some bizarre rotation policy, then you court disaster.

Hartley later begged Romanov to repair the damage that has been done to Hearts. “I do not know if he will come and see the players but the sooner everything is sorted out the better,” the midfield player said. “We all want the club to progress and challenge for honours. He will have stuff to say to us but I am sure everything will come out in the open.

“We all want to be successful and the only way to do that is for us to get our points across and for Mr Romanov to do so. Then we can stop making the back pages every day. I do not want to be captain. Steven Pressley is the only captain. He has been here eight years and is our main man and the sooner he is back in the team the better.

“The fans have every right to demonstrate and make their feelings known. However, they have always backed the team and they stayed behind us for the whole game.” However, Hartley acknowledged that not everyone enjoyed that privilege. Of the Lithuanian players being jeered, he said: “I would condemn that, I do not like supporters booing their own players.”

All of the Hearts circus overshadowed the events on the pitch, but that was no bad thing. Quality appeared to have fled the country yesterday along with Romanov. It was a truly dreadful encounter in which both sides, with the exception of Barry Ferguson, struggled to conjure up any inventiveness amid the snapping tackles. Diving littered the contest, with Barasa and Charlie Adam being the main culprits.

Hearts changed their system again to 3-4-1-2, with Hartley just behind Andrius Velicka and Jamie Mole but the hosts rarely troubled Allan McGregor. Velicka, who had scored seven goals in the previous six games, did manage one looping shot in the early stages, but it was Ferguson’s bursts from deep — one embellished by a couple of one-twos — that created the biggest danger, shooting over on one occasion while setting up Novo to bring a save out of Craig Gordon with the other.

McGregor had to deny Velicka in the first moment of the second half when the striker broke clear and then saved from an audacious effort by Hartley after the Hearts captain had nutmegged Brahim Hemdani.

Novo was then booked for aiming a kick at Marius Zaliukas — and perhaps should have been sent off — and that prompted missiles to be thrown from the Rangers fans at Gordon. The Hearts goalkeeper then produced a point-blank save to deny Kris Boyd but there was nothing Gordon could do when Novo killed off Hearts in the 77th minute.

The hosts failed to clear a bouncing ball in midfield, allowing Novo to seize possession and advance towards the box. No one closed him down — a habitual Pressley role — and Novo thrashed a low 25-yard shot past Gordon.

“We showed great fight and commitment,” Ferguson declared. “It is good to be back into second place. We are a long way behind Celtic. They deserve to be on top because they are the best team so far.”

Heart of Midlothian (3-4-1-2): C Gordon 7 — I Tall 7, C Berra 6, M Zaliukas 6 — N Barasa 4, B Aguiar 7, J Brellier 8, L Wallace 6 (sub: J Goncalves, 46min 5) — P Hartley 8 — A Velicka 5, J Mole 5 (sub: S Mikoliunas, 60 3). Substitutes not used: J MacDonald, S Pressley, R Neilson, E Jankauskas, C Karipides. Booked: Hartley, Zaliukas.

Rangers (4-3-2-1): A McGregor 7 — A Hutton 6, B Hemdani 7, K Svensson 6, S Smith 6 — B Ferguson 9, J Clément 7, C Adam 6 — N Novo 6, D Prso 6 — K Boyd 6. Substitutes not used: S Klos, T Buffel, S Papac, G Rae, L Sionko, F Sebo, L Martin. Booked: Clément, Novo, Boyd, Smith

Taken from timesonline.co.uk