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Edinburgh club, where seven Lithuanians play, captain Steven Pressley openly expressed concern that there are "visible disturbances" within the team due to various processes happening in the club. It is believed that this was a response to club owner Vladimir Romanov's threat to sell all players if they do not win the next match.
Surrounded by the team's leaders Paulo Hartley and Craig Gordon, the Scottish club defender announced at a press conference that the last couple of years have been a real challenge for the players, wished luck to the team's interim coach Valdas Ivanauskas, who took a break for two weeks and was temporarily replaced by Eduard Malofeyev, and admitted that maintaining discipline and unity among the players became impossible.
"This statement is on behalf of many players, and it is not related to Eduard Malofeyev. My first impression is that he is a sincere and hardworking person. I would like to wish Valdas a quick recovery, but whether he returns or not is almost unrelated to the problems in this football club. I tried together with the coaching staff and some colleagues to instill certain values and discipline, but it became an impossible task," said S. Pressley at the conference with P. Hartley and C. Gordon who unexpectedly came instead of E. Malofeyev.
"There is not much that the coaching staff, captain, and some colleagues can do without full support, guidance, and coherence from the coach and those managing the football club. I publicly stated the necessity of unity, while behind the scenes, I showed my concern clearly. The last couple of years have been a challenge for the players, and together they had to face many challenges. I worked hard to maintain unity, but for certain reasons, morale is not good and there are visible disturbances within the team," the player said.
Although S. Pressley did not specify the specific reasons for the disturbances, it is believed that the captain and his teammates took such a drastic decision due to dissatisfaction with the main club shareholder V. Romanov, who, as the Scottish press has been speculating for a long time, is accused of interfering in the selection of the team and this time threatened the players that if they do not win against "Dunfermline", the businessman from Kaunas would sell them all to any club that comes along, and in the match against "Celtic", he would field the youth team.
Last season, "Hearts" sensationally parted ways with coach George Burley for undisclosed reasons, and Graham Rix, who unsuccessfully led the team and told the players before one match that he no longer selects the team, was fired and replaced by V. Ivanauskas. The Lithuanian, who temporarily worked as a coach, fully took over the strategist's duties this season, but after the defeat against "Kilmarnock" and meeting with V. Romanov, he announced that he would take a two-week break due to health problems. This season, "Hearts" withdrew early from the Champions League and UEFA Europa League, but in the Scottish Premier League, they are in second place, trailing the leader "Celtic" by eight points.
