Hearts: Jim Jefferies slams ‘wasted’ years

JIM Jefferies last night insisted the club had been brought to its knees by years of money being wasted in pursuit of Vladimir Romanov’s wild promises.

Jefferies, who was sacked from his second spell as Tynecastle boss nearly two years ago following an 18-month stint in charge, has watched the latest problems unfold this week with a growing sense of worry as to the future of the club he captained with distinction as a player.

The 62-year-old is clear that trying to live up to Romanov’s far-fetched promises, which included winning the Champions League inside ten years of his arrival in 2005 and recruiting “World Cup players”, have proved the downfall.

He said: “I can’t believe the suggestions that the supporters are to blame. The supporters have been fantastic, they’ve probably kept them afloat, so I don’t know where that has come from. There’s only one reason they’re in the position they’re in and that’s mis-management and the money that’s been wasted on trying to chase certain promises.

“It’s there for all the clubs to do that if they have someone with a lot of money, but you either make a success of it or you throw it away with bad decisions, and there’s been many of them.”