Scottish managers' chief opens fire on Hearts owner Romanov

ALEX SMITH insisted today that Vladimir Romanov knows NOTHING about Scottish football managers if he reckons they're not good enough for Hearts.

Smith, chairman of the Scottish Managers Association, was outraged by comments from Romanov yesterday, claiming that Scottish coaches are part of a "local footballing mafia" and that the club was staring relegation in the face with interim boss Stephen Frail's time in charge. That provoked a furious reaction from Smith, who pointed out that some of Europe's top managers in recent history have come from Scotland. Smith is fiercely protective of Scotland's bosses and insisted Romanov would be better served checking his facts before opening his mouth.

Romanov, who is still smarting from Mark McGhee's decision to turn down the manager's job at Tynecastle in favour of a new contract with Motherwell, revealed that it's highly unlikely that the club's new boss will be a Scot because the "locals" are part of a Scottish mafia and "wouldn't be able to rise above that".

But Smith said: "Vladimir Romanov doesn't know anything about Scottish managers, past or present, at other clubs. He should remember that and remember where he is working. We've produced some of the top managers in the game. Alex Ferguson won the Champions League with Manchester United last season and Walter Smith took Rangers to the final of the UEFA Cup. Gordon Strachan has also been very successful at Celtic.

"Mark McGhee is doing very well too right now and only a few weeks ago, he was the man Vladimir Romanov wanted as the new manager of Hearts. He did everything he could to try to entice him to Tynecastle."

Romanov claimed that Frail, who was placed on "gardening leave" two weeks ago before eventually severing all ties with Hearts yesterday, almost got his side relegated from the SPL. That's despite the fact Frail, who took over when the Tynecastle side were sitting tenth in the league, lost only three of the 13 games he was in charge of before the split. Hearts have had a string of Scottish managers, including Jim Jefferies, John Robertson and Craig Levein, and Smith hit out at the treatment of Frail.

"If you look back at the Scottish managers they have had at Tynecastle in recent years, not one of them has done anything that would blemish their record and indeed the majority of them have done very well for the club," said Smith. "If you look at the most recent one, Stephen Frail, he is just a young man who was thrust into a major role at a Scottish club. He can hold his head high for the way he carried the job out – he did it with dignity, which is saying something considering everything he had to contend with.

"Mr Romanov needs to stop coming out with these comments because they are helping no-one, least of all himself."