Hearts face criticism from Alex Salmond as speculation grows over Thomson

The club was also criticised by First Minister Alex Salmond over the handling of the scandal. Hearts confirmed on Sunday that Thomson, who last month pleaded guilty to lewd, libidinous and indecent behaviour, would be leaving the club "imminently", adding they would "find a solution" in the coming days.

There is speculation that Thomson will be found a role at either Lithuanian team FBK Kaunas or MTZ-Ripo in Belarus after the statement stopped short of explaining under what terms the 20-year-old would leave.

Romanov came under intense pressure to remove Thomson from the Tynecastle squad after he was fined and placed on the sex offenders' register last month after admitting the offence, which related to inappropriate conduct towards two underage girls over the internet.

Now former Hearts defender Alan McLaren has urged Romanov to sever all ties between the player and club. "I don't think he should go to another club but it's not for me to decide," McLaren said. "It's not what I would like and it's not what a lot of Hearts fans would like. They want him sacked by Hearts and out of Hearts forever.

"If he is still going to be on the wage bill for the next two or three years, it's not acceptable. They have to clarify the position."

The First Minister, a Hearts supporter, was asked yesterday if he agreed with the decision to end the player's Hearts career.

"Yes but it took too long," said Salmond. "The club's delayed response is about the club not immediately understanding it's responsibilities to wider society.

"It's a blindness. What you do in football affects other things. You can't have a narrow focus. And for one reason or another Hearts didn't appreciate that quickly enough."

Romanov initially stood by the player, with a club statement putting his misconduct down to "naivety and possible wrong outside influence" before the Lithuanian-based businessman hit out at "mafia" and "maniacs" who were trying to destabilise the club.

But he claimed at the weekend he had been unable to make an informed decision until the end of his holiday last week, saying: "I came back from my travels on the seventh and only then was I able to meet Craig Thomson and his family.

"We have had discussions, I have reviewed all the facts concerning his case, and I understand that he has done the wrong thing." McLaren concurred with Salmond that the club took too long to reach the right decision. "It's a good decision, unfortunately it's three or four weeks late," said McLaren. "The long time it has taken the owner to come to this decision was very upsetting for a lot of people - the victims, the victims' families and Hearts fans.

"They wanted it dealt with immediately and it wasn't. This should have been the priority of the owner, it was a serious decision and it should have been dealt with quickly."

Romanov fuelled speculation he would seek another club for Thomson, who has made more than 50 appearances for Hearts, when he called on people to stop focusing on the player. "But I also understand that it is quite widespread in society, that on the social network it is a very dangerous thing," Romanov said. "There is something wrong from the wider perspective.

"There are some very serious things wrong that need to be addressed, it's not about singling out one person."

Hearts manager Jim Jefferies believes Thomson's career in Scotland is over. Jefferies said: "It has made it impossible for him to continue in this country.

"All the signs are he wants to stay in football, but it will have to be done elsewhere."

The Hearts manager added: "The boy has paid for being very silly, but he's brought this on himself.

"It will be a hard lesson for him and now he'll have to resurrect his career elsewhere." Meanwhile the sponsor who terminated their relationship with Hearts at the height of the fall-out say they will not be reviewing their decision in light of the club's announcement that the player will not represent the club again.

Two weeks ago, macb water withdrew its support as official water sponsor of the Hearts team, ending an arrangement that was described as being worth 5,000. At that time, the company cited disappointment with the way Hearts had handled the matter, following a statement from the club that there were mitigating factors for Thomson's conviction, and that the player would be kept on.

Last night, a spokesperson for macb said that the company would not be reconsidering its position. "It was the right thing for the club to do," said the spokesperson, "but we would not change our position.

"We based our decision on a set of circumstances and the fact that he (Thomson) has left doesn't necessarily mean that everything goes back to square one."

The original macb statement said: "As a company with strong family values, we are left with no choice but to terminate our relationship with Hearts Football Club.

"Along with countless others, fans and co-sponsors alike, we are extremely disappointed with the club's handling of this situation and as a result can no longer continue our support."

Last week shirt sponsors Wonga welcomed the suspension of Thomson.