October 27 – Pressley’s All Shook Up

IT’S up to Scotland today for a look at one of the maddest characters in the game, Hearts chairman and former Soviet submarine commander Vladimir Romanov who was at the mercy of a player revolt, lead by captain Steven Pressley today in 2006 when threatened to sack the whole squad if they failed to win their next match.

As we’ve bought you before, Romanov’s reign has had it’s fair few flashpoints with the fans, media and authorities, but today it was the turn of his squad. Despite lying in second place in the SPL, Romanov was frustrated by his team’s start to the campaign, and told his players that if they failed to beat Dunfermline then the entire first team squad would be put up for sale. Following that, the next part of his masterplan would be to play a team of teenagers against Celtic the week after.

This was the last straw for several members of the first team squad, who – led by the club captain, Steven Pressley – snapped and held a press conference damning their chairman.

Pressley, flanked by fellow Scotland internationals goalkeeper Craig Gordon and midfielder Paul Hartley, let his boss have it. “I have tried, along with the coaching staff and certain colleagues, to implement the correct values and disciplines, but it has become an impossible task.

“There is only so much a 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. Due to the circumstances, morale, understandably, is not good and there is significant unrest within the dressing-room.”

Refusing to comment any further, the trio left and the assorted hacks went looking round Tynecastle for Romanov. When asked if the trio would play against Dunfermline he refused to answer. “Who’s going to play?” he was asked. “I play,” was his characteristically flippant answer.

The game with Dunfermline finished 1-1, as a sold-out Tynecastle showed their backing of Pressley and his fellow rebels. There was only one way this story was going to end though, and by November Pressley was stripped of the captaincy and left the club a few weeks later to join Celtic.

Romanov continues to rule the roost at Hearts and has been relatively quiet in recent months. We’ll see how long this lasts for though. See Pressley’s press conference below and check out what else happened today here.