Back in the fold

VLADIMIR ROMANOV was back, Valdas Ivanauskas was back and Steven Pressley was back. If only Hearts found it so easy to make the victories return.

Amid the fog of issues which swirled around this beleaguered club again yesterday another couple of points were spilled and another piece of ground lost in the challenge to at least lead the chasing pack behind Celtic.

Hearts have not won in seven league games and eight in all competitions; hardly the form of a top six side let alone one with aspirations of qualifying again for the Champions League.
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What goes on during a match is rarely the focal point of Hearts' week. Before kick-off in Inverness a spokesman for Romanov briefed the media on what had happened when the owner returned from Lithuania on Friday to meet with supporters, a gathering at which he had attempted to douse the flames of unrest which have been licking around Tynecastle since the threat of a dressing room revolt led to Pressley's removal from the team.

Throw in Ivanauskas' absence because of stress - contrary to widespread expectations he will return to his duties tomorrow - the introduction of the gesticulating cartoon character Eduard Malofeev and fans being labelled racist for booing Lithuanian players, and Romanov didn't exactly have a thin agenda when he met supporters.

"Vladimir wants to see stability on the coaching staff," said Romanov's spokesman, which seemed about as plausible as the Queen arguing for a republic.

"No one at the club ever said that Valdas wasn't coming back. The main driver for him coming back was his health and he now feels his health is good enough to come back.

"Vladimir wants to go ahead at Hearts with 70% of Scots among the playing and coaching staff. That's his long-term view for Hearts.

"There will be Lithuanians who come and go from the club but the criteria for signings will be whether they are good enough to play for Hearts, whether they have the desire to play for Hearts, and whether they are within the club's financial budgets."

Romanov had denied to supporters that he influenced team selection at Hearts, a claim which might be taken with a Siberian mine full of salt.

Malofeev was in the dug-out for the last time yesterday before returning to Russia to complete the qualifications for his Uefa pro-licence coaching badge.

Stevie Frail, a lone Scottish presence on the coaching staff, was also there having been promoted to replace John McGlynn. Neither of them came in to discuss Hearts' hard-working but mediocre performance, though.

That was left to Alex Koslovski, the sporting director who had apologised on Friday for the racism accusation a week ago.

Anyone still following all this? Tune in next week for more.

If a Hearts line-up can ever be described as normal, this was it. Pressley was accompanied on his return by Robbie Neilson and Takis Fyssas, with the inclusion of Julien Brellier in midfield another decision which satisfied the away support.

Inevitably Pressley was given a raucous ovation as he strode on to the field at the head of his team. With a Scot in goal and three more in their back four, Romanov could at least claim to have achieved his 70% quota among the defenders.

No-one from Hearts was willing to concede that Pressley's return amounted to an admission that he should never have been missing in the first place.

"We have said before that the best men in training will be selected," said Koslovski.

"Steven Pressley trained and showed 100% effort and attitude and showed Eduard he deserved to be in the team."

If you follow that logic, Pressley must have been giving less than that when he was dropped in the first place.

Apparently Malofeev will continue to have an input from Russia via regular telephone conversations with Ivanauskas.

Amid all the endless confusion at Hearts, if anything about the club can ever be taken at face value, is the pleasing sub-plot of Ivanauskas being well enough to return to work.

"I have so much respect for him," said Christophe Berra. "All the boys are looking forward to having him back."

Not mentioning the match so far is no accident. It was a drab game played in increasingly cold, bitter conditions.

After setting the tempo for the opening 25 minutes Hearts were forced to retreat and although the match was broadly even, it was Caledonian Thistle who created most of the most dangerous chances.

For all the factors blowing Hearts this way and that they have always had Craig Gordon anchoring their performances. It was the excellent Scotland internatonal goalkeeper whose saves kept them level until half time.

Barry Wilson's low, skipping shot required a sharp reaction from Gordon to push the ball past the post. The goalkeeper's concentration and reflexes passed another examination minutes later when he dived to smother at Dennis Wyness's feet after Caley Thistle worked the ball to him from Wilson's free-kick.

Ian Black almost reduced Gordon to pulling the ball from the back of his net, but his close range header flashed on to the crossbar. Had Dargo's finishing rewarded his effort he would have had a second-half goal to go with his menacing of the Hearts defence.

Hearts' work-rate could not be faulted - they would never have dealt with Caley Thistle if they had been half-hearted - but they laboured to find a way through.

Saulius Mikoliunas made a chance for himself by lashing a shot which Brown parried to safety, and Paul Hartley would surely have hit the target had his chance not been quickly snuffed out by Darren Dods' attentive challenge.

Hartley almost stole it at the death with a low shot which Brown did well to save at the foot of his post.

By then Romanov had left the stadium, beating the traffic but facing a jam of issues to resolve before Hearts have the stability he supposedly wants.

Taken from the Sunday Herald