SUPPORTERS' chief Derek Watson today urged Hearts fans to show caution over plans to boycott a home match in protest at Vladimir Romanov's running of the club.
Fed-up fans on the Jamboskickback website are trying to drum up enough support for the boycott when Gretna visit Tynecastle on February 9.
INFLUENCE: Vladimir Romanov
Their pent-up frustrations boiled over after the weekend's league defeat to Rangers and a number of Hearts fans feel it is time club owner Romanov stopped influencing team selection and substitutions.
While the majority of Jambos are keen for Romanov to remain involved with the club, they want him to allow the Hearts management team to be left in sole charge of who plays for the Tynecastle side and when, and they feel the only way to show their frustration is through some sort of boycott.
That could come in the shape of fans staying away from the Gretna game, however, while Watson, chairman of the Heart of Midlothian Supporters' Trust, shares their frustration over the way things have panned out this season, he doesn't believe voting with their feet is the answer to the club's problems.
Watson said: "I don't think that it is the time for knee-jerk reactions. I can understand people's frustrations because I feel the same way myself but I don't believe that boycotts are the way to go. Even at the height of the Save our Hearts campaign I didn't support them because I believe that all they serve to do is divide the fans."
Despite Watson's reservations though, the plans have been getting backing from a number of fans on the website, with one poster suggesting: "We want a manager to be given 100 per cent control of footballing operations. We want a protest against this random team selection, substitutions and tactical nonsense that are self-destructing Hearts.
"If we were all to choose not to go to one match to show our disapproval with this method of madness, then why not the Gretna match on February 9?
"If the attendance was so low it might just implant a seed of doubt into Vlad's mind that all is not well."
Meanwhile assistant boss Stephen Frail insisted there were some positives to be taken from the 2-1 reverse at Ibrox on Saturday and he praised the contribution of defensive partners Christophe Berra and Marius Zaliukas. He said: "I thought the two of them were immense. It was a difficult game for them but they handled it well and they didn't deserve to be on the losing side.
"Rangers, as you would expect at Ibrox, exerted plenty of pressure during the game but they handled it well."
And Frail admitted that Kestutis Ivaskevicius had done his chances of being named in the starting line-up against Inverness this weekend no harm after making an impression when he came off the bench to replace Saulius Mikoliunas at half time.
He added: "I thought Kestutis did well when he came on. He gave us something different, linked well down the right, and gave Rangers some real problems in the second half."
The full article contains 526 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
