Vladimir Romanov praises work of Jim Jefferies in open letter to Hearts support

VLADIMIR Romanov has published an open letter to Hearts supporters praising Jim Jefferies as a manager he can trust. The Edinburgh club's majority shareholder, who will be at Tynecastle this afternoon for the game against Kilmarnock which Hearts hope will end with them safely in the top six, also revealed he wanted to strengthen the squad with players committed to the club rather than "mercenaries".

Romanov released the letter on the Hearts website, www.heartsfc.co.uk, after making a surprise visit to the club's Riccarton training centre. He has been an infrequent visitor to Scotland this season compared to previous years, but appears to have struck up a good relationship with Jefferies, who returned as Hearts manager in January.

"It is good news that Jim Jefferies is the manager, for at last I am working with someone who is truly professional and cares about the club," Romanov wrote. "He cares about the players and recognises the importance of the development of young players . . . .

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"There is always an opportunity to strengthen the team in the summer transfer window. This time we will be looking to bring more patriot or club-minded than commercially-minded players, those who want to play and contribute to the development of the club and themselves – not those who are mercenaries.

"The challenge for the next transfer window is to find the right players to help the club move forward and we will be progressing this work. Thank you once again for your unstinting loyalty and support."

Romanov also praised the efforts of many of the players who have broken into the Hearts team over the past two seasons, and gave the overall impression that he is satisfied the club are heading in the right direction. After growing dissatisfaction over the first half of the season, as Csaba Laszlo's team specialised in defensive-minded displays, the bulk of the Hearts support now appear to share the views of the Kaunas-based businessman in that regard.

Since Jefferies replaced Laszlo at the end of January, a sense of anticipation has returned to match days in Gorgie – and that will certainly be the case today, when Hearts take on Kilmarnock needing a point to be sure of a place in the top six. After losing control of their own destiny when they could only draw at St Mirren a week ago, Hearts became masters of their fate again on Monday night as St Johnstone lost at home to Dundee United.

With a three-point advantage over the Perth team, Jefferies' side could actually lose today yet still qualify for the upper half provided St Johnstone fail to win at Pittodrie tomorrow. But the manager is not interested in scraping through by default. He wants a positive result this afternoon in order first to be on the right side of the SPL split, and then to attempt to climb another place or two.

"We want to win for two reasons: to get in the top six and we could close the gap on Motherwell, who don't play until Tuesday," Jefferies said. "If we do that then we have them to play again. That is how big it is for us. We might not need to win and still get there, but we should be looking at the team above us."

Seven points ahead of Hearts at present, Motherwell play Celtic in midweek, so Jefferies' thoughts of catching them are not wholly implausible.

He knows, however, that at the moment his players cannot afford to think about any post-split games, but must concentrate on beating Kilmarnock in a game where Tynecastle could be close to capacity.

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"What we are looking for is the fans to create the same atmosphere as we got against Rangers," Jefferies continued. "When we went a goal down they stuck with us. The fans will play a huge part in getting behind us, creating an atmosphere that can unnerve any team. They have done it in the past and I am sure they will do it again on Saturday."

• Hearts have announced the death aged 84 of former Tynecastle player Douglas Armstrong. A left-half, Armstrong was with the club for eight years from 1948, making more than 80 appearances.