I fear Vlad will never support his manager, says former Hearts defender Alan McLaren

• Vladimir Romanov

The former Hearts defender says the club has stumbled from one "catastrophe" to another under the Lithuanian and is shaking his head in disbelief once again following the sacking of Csaba Laszlo.

McLaren, pictured below, who made 180 appearances for the Tynecastle club before moving to Rangers in a 2 million deal that saw Dave McPherson go in the opposite direction, believes the Hungarian had been doing a good job under difficult circumstances.

And he says Jim Jefferies will find it difficult if Romanov keeps behaving the way he did when strikers Stephen MacLean and Izale McLeod had trials at Hearts recently.

The manager made it clear he was keen to sign them in a bid to solve the scoring problems that have hampered his side this season only to be undermined by Romanov when he basically claimed the duo weren't good enough for Hearts.

"I am slightly surprised but then again when you look at what has happened at Hearts over the last few years I shouldn't be surprised at all," said McLaren.

"It's been a catastrophe after catastrophe under Romanov. Hearts need stability but they're never going to get it with this man in charge. It's a poisoned chalice under Romanov.

"Hearts are a big, big club but I am honestly surprised they've been so well supported over the last few seasons. They've got 13,000 season-ticket holders, which is great, but the patience of those fans must surely be running out.

"Normal people work out what they are going to do next before it happens. At Hearts, it seems as though they sack a manager and then try to fund a plan."

On the situation regarding those two trialists, the former Scotland international added: "Csaba said from day one of the current season that he needed a striker. Then, when the current transfer window opened, he brought Stephen MacLean and Izale MacLeod in on trial.

"As the manager, he felt they were players who could add something to his team yet the owner comes out and basically says they're not good enough. How can someone make that judgement when they are sitting in Lithuania?

"Csaba did exceptionally well last season but things haven't really gone for him this season. The statistics show they haven't been scoring enough goals and you can't pick up three points all the time if you've not got enough firepower. I am sorry to see him go because I thought he did quite a good job. He handled things well and was certainly passionate about the job. I had a couple of dealings with him for a charity match and he couldn't have been any more helpful or nicer.

"He could have become a Cup-winning manager for Hearts in a few weeks time. The League Cup could have been in the bag before the end of February."

While Hearts crashed 3-0 at home to Aberdeen on Wednesday in what was to be Laszlo's last game in charge, McLaren says he'd seen improvement from earlier in the season and believes the likes of Craig Thomson, Scott Robinson and Gordon Smith had all grabbed their chances in recent weeks with both hands.

"They had seemed to be getting themselves back into things (in the league] and the fact they are sitting fifth at the moment showed that," he said.

"I think the young kids who've come into the side recently have been doing really well. For instance, I saw Scott Robinson against both Celtic and Rangers and he did well in both those games.

"The one thing we are lucky about is that there aren't a lot of hugely sellable assets at the moment so hopefully Jim Jefferies will be able to keep the nucleus of the team.

"Having said that, Jose Goncalves will be going in the summer and I also can't see Michael Stewart staying when his contract runs out. If Christian Nade goes as well that will be another of the big earners off the wage bill. The other side of that coin, though, is that they are all experienced players the club would be losing."

According to McLaren, the fact Hearts have struggled to excite their fans this season has been magnified by the job being done by John Hughes over on the other side of the Capital.

"Everyone is looking to finish third in the SPL but there's a lot of competition this season," he noted. "Yogi, for instance, has done an exceptional job at Hibs.

"He's used his nous to identify players with a chip on their shoulder who have a point to prove and has given them the platform to do that.

"Liam Miller cost Hibs nothing but he has been a standout in the SPL this season. Unfortunately, the players Csaba has brought in (this season] haven't really done it for him."

• After nearly a decade, Jim Jefferies returns to spiritual home of Tynecastle with high hopes for Hearts

• Hearts fans have their say on Csaba Laszlo's departure

• Defiant ex-Hearts boss Csaba Laszlo paid the price for being 'nobody's puppet'

• I fear Vlad will never support his manager, says former Hearts defender Alan McLaren

• • Martin Dempster, who covered Hearts for the Evening News during Jim Jefferies' first spell in charge, welcomes his return to Gorgie

• Hearts fans have mixed views over sacking of Csaba Laszlo

• George Foulkes: Jim Jefferies the obvious choice for Hearts after 'inevitable' Laszlo sacking