Letter from Hearts fans targets Romanov

The on-again, off-again love affair between Scottish Heart of Midlothian fans and majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov has taken a turn toward the negative.

An open letter posted on The Hearts Supporters' Trust website is virulently, yet descriptively critical of Romanov's leadership.

"We are an important sporting institution and you have turned us into a circus freak show," part of the note reads, going on to compare Romanov to a "playground bully".

The fans loved the way Romanov built the team into a power the past two seasons, but claims his recent actions have undermined that success. The letter began by praising Romanov's financial input, but proceeds to blast the Lithuanian businessman.

Part of the unpopularity stems from the Pressley affair.

Former captain Steven Pressley made a statement to the media regarding "significant unrest" on the club, while flanked by fellow players Paul Hartley and Craig Gordon. All three players were called to individual disciplinary meetings at the club, which ultimately resulted in Steven Pressley's contract being terminated by mutual consent.

That played with the supporters trust as a greedy businessman humiliating one of the more popular players.

"The way you treated Steven Pressley was, for many of us, the last straw," the letter read. "We know him well enough to know that if he thought it was in the best interests of the club to criticise, then there must have been real problems. You may have brought money to the club but Elvis (Pressley) has shown not only great class as a footballer but real integrity.

"Your response to being challenged seems to have been the response of the playground bully."

Midfielder Hartley was left on the bench for the defeat by Aberdeen at Tynecastle on Saturday, but Gordon was named to replace Pressley as club captain. Both players have remained quiet about the hearings, while Pressley is being pursued by no fewer than six clubs, including Celtic.

With Romanov's in control, Hearts won the Tennent's Scottish Cup last season and secured participation in the Champions League qualifiers for the first time in club history.

"The truth is that we have gone from being the best thing in Scottish football for decades to being a laughing stock," the letter goes on to say. "People talk about us but rarely about the football. What we see now is constant interference, the public humiliation of some of our greatest players and a businessman who seems to see our club as a vanity project.

"And it is our club. We are the people who are now being mocked at work because of your antics."

"It now seems that you and the board do not care about results on the pitch. The farce we have just endured of having a central defender play in midfield against Aberdeen with Paul Hartley on the bench, demonstrates that you do not even respect the fans any more."

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.