Hearts players for sale

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Mad Vlad Romanov has said that if Hearts lose tomorrow then the whole Hearts squad is up for sale.

Romanov issues warning to players

Hearts majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov has warned his players they are all for sale if they do not win this weekend, BBC Scotland has disclosed.
And captain Steven Pressley responded with a statement voicing the players’ unhappiness at affairs at the club.

Romanov says he will move players on to “Kilmarnock or whatever club will take them” unless they defeat Dunfermline.

And he has warned that he would then play a team of youngsters against Celtic the following weekend.

BBC Scotland disclosed the latest turn of events only days after Romanov granted head coach Valdas Ivanauskas two weeks’ leave on the grounds of ill-health.

Second-top Hearts had lost 2-0 at home to Kilmarnock last weekend, leaving the Edinburgh club eight points adrift of holders Celtic. While publicly I have expressed the needs for unity, behind the scenes I have made my concerns abundantly clear

Eduard Malofeev was appointed interim head coach of the Tynecastle club during Ivanauskas’ absence.

And, at Fridays pre-match media conference ahead of Dunfermline’s visit, Pressley revealed that there is “significant unrest” in the dressing-room.

Flanked by team-mates Paul Hartley and Craig Gordon, Pressley said in a statement that the last two years had been “testing for the players”.

He said the squad wished Ivanauskas well but stressed that trying to maintain team discipline and unity had become “an impossible task”.

“This is a statement on behalf of a number of players,” he said.

"This statement is no reflection on Eduard Malofeev. My first impression is that he is an honest and diligent man.

"I would like to wish Valdas a speedy recovery, but whether he returns or not is almost incidental in association with the problems related to this football club.

"I have tried, along with the coaching staff and certain colleagues, to implement the correct values and discipline, but it has become an impossible task.

"There is only so much coaching staff, a captain and certain colleagues can do without the full backing, direction and coherence of the manager and those running the football club.

"While publicly I have expressed the needs for unity, behind the scenes I have made my concerns abundantly clear.

"The last two years have been testing for the players and together they have faced a number of challenges.

"I would have worked hard to have retained unity.

“However, due to circumstances, morale understandably is not good and there is significant unrest in the dressing-room.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/6091336.stm

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gordon, pressley, hartley dropped today. fans are apparently walking out after 15 minutes.dunfermline look good value at 7/1

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Was just going to post that. I’ll definitely stick a few quid on Hunfermline. He’s some nutjob, the 3 lads dropped are the 3 that released the statement on behalf of the players last night too. A walk out after 15 mins would be hilarious.

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yeah its absolutely crazy whats going on there. what are hunfermline like this year bandage?

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They’re not great but I’ll still put maybe 20 euro on it.

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1-1 in the end. Probably should have had a draw/no bet flutter which rock tells me was 5/1. Hearts are in absolute turmoil though but it was probably slightly optimistic expecting Hunfermline to win there given that their manager resigned during the week too. The 3 lads actually played for Hearts in the end too.

Saw an interview with the Hearts caretaker manager on Setanta before the Celtic game. He’s a 65 year-old ex Belarus manager with no English. The reporter asked him how the players were feeling after the game given Romanov said they’d all be sold if they didn’t win. When the interpreter repeated the question to him in his native tongue he just started screamingat the reporter in Russian or whatever. It was fooking hilarious.

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More changes at Hearts - after Pressley and Hartley were dropped yesterday. Hartley to the bench and Pressley out of the squad altogether. Now they’ve changed caretaker manager.

Riabovas to take over at Hearts

Hearts have confirmed that Eugenijus Riabovas will take over from Eduard Malofeev as temporary head coach.
With Valdas Ivanauskas granted leave due to ill-health, Malofeev took over the reins but he is now leaving to pursue his Uefa pro coaching licence.

Hearts have drawn two and lost two matches under the 64-year-old Malofeev.

Riabovas recently steered FBK Kaunas to the Lithuanian title and he will be the seventh man in charge during owner Vladimir Romanov’s 21-month rule.

Romanov also controls FBK Kaunas and the 55-year-old Riabovas becomes the third manager to make the switch from the Lithuanian city to Tynecastle.

Malofeev was Ivanauskas’ successor and Riabovas’ predecessor at FBK Kaunas.

John Robertson, George Burley and Graham Rix were all dismissed by Romanov prior to the appointment of Ivanauskas, while long-serving coach John McGlynn has twice stepped in for brief spells.

A statement from Hearts said that Riabovas would take over “later this month”, so it is unclear if he will be in charge for the visit of Rangers to Tynecastle on Sunday.