Michael Stewart vows to boycott press

Published on Tuesday 3 November 2009 21:50

HEARTS captain Michael Stewart has accused the media of having "manipulated" remarks he made about Hibs to stir up controversy ahead of Saturday's derby.

The former Hibs player says he will boycott the written press after arguing his remarks that Hibs had capitalised on slices of luck had been "twisted". Stewart had been speaking at an event alongside Hibs skipper Chris Hogg to promote the fact both teams will wear strips commemorating the war dead during Saturday's match. "We went along to promote a fantastically worthy cause and all the papers have done is spin everything round into a pile of **** which I never said," said Stewart. "By doing it they are trying to undermine our position and boost Hibs as much as possible. I wouldn't be happy if we were sitting second in the league and somebody was having a go saying we were lucky.

"People will read the headlines and say it is sour grapes. It is not sour grapes as I never said it. I was asked a million times if I was surprised that Hibs were sitting second. I said 'No, I'm not'. I said they were doing extremely well to keep their run going and that when they had a slice of luck, they have capitalised on it whereas whenever we have had luck, we have not capitalised on it."

He added: "They (the press] are complete parasites. They tried to manipulate, twist and put a spin on everything that has been said.

"I won't be speaking to the papers again as they cannot be trusted and clearly will do what they want to suit their agendas."

The Scotsman attended the event at which Stewart made his original remarks, and we consider our report to be an accurate and fair account of what the player said, which was also carried as a news item on the club website.