Eldar Hadzimehmedovic Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Which of these is your personal favourite? "I don't think they would have any debt by the end of this year? ? 2004 http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/3710698.stm ?It's inevitable that we will reach the level of Celtic and Rangers? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4053433.stm'>http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4053433.stm "Regarding Hearts, final say regarding transfers or player selection is on Craig Levein? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/3756624.stm ?It will be John Robertson's prerogative to choose and sell players? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4053433.stm "We hope that a satisfactory arrangement will be reached whereby Mr Romanov assumes part of the debt? "Vladimir Romanov wants to make sure that Hearts is no longer perceived as a selling club and he is prepared to put his personal wealth at the disposal of Hearts to achieve this? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4163213.stm "We want to challenge the Old Firm in Scotland. That is not going to happen in 12 months but perhaps three, four or five years. To do that we will need players for that level. Money is not a problem. It is about the quality of player? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4230683.stm "Vladimir Romanov does not pick or select the team. He is not involved in that process. George Burley was the manager and had the final say in the selection of the team." - Charlie Mann http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4374016.stm "Phil Anderton ticked many boxes - but not all. We are looking for a person who can deliver on both business and financial aspects? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4396500.stm Hearts chairman Roman Romanov had this week told a fans group that a well-known figure was already "working incognito" for the club. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4469344.stm "Graham is the first-team coach and Graham is the man who should make any statements about who picks the football team. Mr Romanov has a regular debate with Graham Rix on team issues after matches and that's the key point, it's after matches? ? Charlie Mann http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4690068.stm "He would love to pick the team but he knows he can't - he doesn't have enough knowledge. We can't have amateurs in charge of the team. It's a job for professionals? ? Roman http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4818618.stm ?I don't think Celtic and Rangers will progress much and I think we can play at their level? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/5211620.stm ?The best moment (last season) was when Burley left the club? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/5229440.stm "I will ask Valdas why a particular player has been selected, like Takis Fyssas instead of Lee Wallace. The coach will say: 'During the training session, Fyssas was stronger and better'?. Then I will ask: 'But did he have a proper medical test before the game?' If I see that the coach is in any doubt about his answer then there is a doubt about his decision. So then I ask the club doctor about the two players and if they had fitness tests? "When I took over, my main target was for Hearts to become Scottish champions. But I realised both Rangers and Celtic wanted to kill Hearts, but they are too late to do that now? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/5329990.stm ?I want to dedicate Hearts' victories to those journalists who, because of their hate towards us, only notice our defeats and say it is fair criticism when in fact it is simply hysteria with only one aim - to dismantle the club? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/5372246.stm "Hearts are ahead of schedule in their development plan but non-football issues need to be put right? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/6307459.stm The Board of Heart of Midlothian Football Club (Hearts) has begun the search for a football manager to fill the current vacant post at Tynecastle. The manager, who will have full responsibility for team selection, will be an experienced football manager and will preferably have experience of management in British football. The new manager will work with sport director Anatoly Korobochka and assistant head coach Stephen Frail. In the interim Stephen Frail will assume the "caretaker manager" role at Hearts with full responsibility for team selection and coaching of the first team squad. The Board of Directors of Hearts acknowledges it is not acceptable for Hearts to be in its current position in the league. The new manager's task will be to drive the club forward on the playing side to fulfill the club's ambitions. The move by the Board of Directors has the full backing of Hearts majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov. http://www.heartsfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/HeartsNewsDetail/0,,10289~1203369,00.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drylaw Hearts Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 It's verbal diarrhoea on huge scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie-Brown Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 "Though we sometimes go down we can aye come back up" .....NMH 25th April 2008. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sked21 Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Which of these is your personal favourite? "He would love to pick the team but he knows he can't - he doesn't have enough knowledge. We can't have amateurs in charge of the team. It's a job for professionals? ? Roman http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4818618.stm Oh the irony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffundo Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Which of these is your personal favourite? "I don't think they would have any debt by the end of this year? ? 2004 http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/3710698.stm ?It's inevitable that we will reach the level of Celtic and Rangers? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4053433.stm'>http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4053433.stm "Regarding Hearts, final say regarding transfers or player selection is on Craig Levein? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/3756624.stm ?It will be John Robertson's prerogative to choose and sell players? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4053433.stm "We hope that a satisfactory arrangement will be reached whereby Mr Romanov assumes part of the debt? "Vladimir Romanov wants to make sure that Hearts is no longer perceived as a selling club and he is prepared to put his personal wealth at the disposal of Hearts to achieve this? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4163213.stm "We want to challenge the Old Firm in Scotland. That is not going to happen in 12 months but perhaps three, four or five years. To do that we will need players for that level. Money is not a problem. It is about the quality of player? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4230683.stm "Vladimir Romanov does not pick or select the team. He is not involved in that process. George Burley was the manager and had the final say in the selection of the team." - Charlie Mann http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4374016.stm "Phil Anderton ticked many boxes - but not all. We are looking for a person who can deliver on both business and financial aspects? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4396500.stm Hearts chairman Roman Romanov had this week told a fans group that a well-known figure was already "working incognito" for the club. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4469344.stm "Graham is the first-team coach and Graham is the man who should make any statements about who picks the football team. Mr Romanov has a regular debate with Graham Rix on team issues after matches and that's the key point, it's after matches? ? Charlie Mann http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4690068.stm "He would love to pick the team but he knows he can't - he doesn't have enough knowledge. We can't have amateurs in charge of the team. It's a job for professionals? ? Roman http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4818618.stm ?I don't think Celtic and Rangers will progress much and I think we can play at their level? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/5211620.stm ?The best moment (last season) was when Burley left the club? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/5229440.stm "I will ask Valdas why a particular player has been selected, like Takis Fyssas instead of Lee Wallace. The coach will say: 'During the training session, Fyssas was stronger and better'?. Then I will ask: 'But did he have a proper medical test before the game?' If I see that the coach is in any doubt about his answer then there is a doubt about his decision. So then I ask the club doctor about the two players and if they had fitness tests? "When I took over, my main target was for Hearts to become Scottish champions. But I realised both Rangers and Celtic wanted to kill Hearts, but they are too late to do that now? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/5329990.stm ?I want to dedicate Hearts' victories to those journalists who, because of their hate towards us, only notice our defeats and say it is fair criticism when in fact it is simply hysteria with only one aim - to dismantle the club? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/5372246.stm "Hearts are ahead of schedule in their development plan but non-football issues need to be put right? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/6307459.stm The Board of Heart of Midlothian Football Club (Hearts) has begun the search for a football manager to fill the current vacant post at Tynecastle. The manager, who will have full responsibility for team selection, will be an experienced football manager and will preferably have experience of management in British football. The new manager will work with sport director Anatoly Korobochka and assistant head coach Stephen Frail. In the interim Stephen Frail will assume the "caretaker manager" role at Hearts with full responsibility for team selection and coaching of the first team squad. The Board of Directors of Hearts acknowledges it is not acceptable for Hearts to be in its current position in the league. The new manager's task will be to drive the club forward on the playing side to fulfill the club's ambitions. The move by the Board of Directors has the full backing of Hearts majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov. http://www.heartsfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/HeartsNewsDetail/0,,10289~1203369,00.html That looks like a shed load of evidence of the lies we have been fed over the years. What I wanted to know is where are all the vlad sheep with their staunch defense of all things VR. you can not defend the indefensible! thats why people should think before renewing season tickets! you are putting money into Romanovs pockets .... nothing is being invested in the club. All we have to show is a big black hole in the accounts and a shed load of debt! It's all there in black and white... they have lied to us from the start! now it's time to force their hand and force change! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AirHearts Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 I think that in Vlad's own opinion he doesn't actually pick the team. He simply gives advice and states his opinion. Now for most of us Hearts fans that is more or less the same thing as picking the team especially as such behaviour is rather uncommon in Britain (but not necessarily on the continent). But I am quite confident that Vlad doesn't see it this way... he simply thinks he is giving his opinion and "assistance". Thus when we see Vlad's comments about "not picking the team", we think of them as lies. But in fact they are just failure to communicate. At least Vlad himself doesn't deliberately lie (at least in his own opinion). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walton1983 Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Painful reading and there are many more no doubt. The money ones are the most worrying. Which of these is your personal favourite? "I don't think they would have any debt by the end of this year? ? 2004 http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/3710698.stm ?It's inevitable that we will reach the level of Celtic and Rangers? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4053433.stm'>http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4053433.stm "Regarding Hearts, final say regarding transfers or player selection is on Craig Levein? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/3756624.stm ?It will be John Robertson's prerogative to choose and sell players? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4053433.stm "We hope that a satisfactory arrangement will be reached whereby Mr Romanov assumes part of the debt? "Vladimir Romanov wants to make sure that Hearts is no longer perceived as a selling club and he is prepared to put his personal wealth at the disposal of Hearts to achieve this? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4163213.stm "We want to challenge the Old Firm in Scotland. That is not going to happen in 12 months but perhaps three, four or five years. To do that we will need players for that level. Money is not a problem. It is about the quality of player? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4230683.stm "Vladimir Romanov does not pick or select the team. He is not involved in that process. George Burley was the manager and had the final say in the selection of the team." - Charlie Mann http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4374016.stm "Phil Anderton ticked many boxes - but not all. We are looking for a person who can deliver on both business and financial aspects? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4396500.stm Hearts chairman Roman Romanov had this week told a fans group that a well-known figure was already "working incognito" for the club. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4469344.stm "Graham is the first-team coach and Graham is the man who should make any statements about who picks the football team. Mr Romanov has a regular debate with Graham Rix on team issues after matches and that's the key point, it's after matches? ? Charlie Mann http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4690068.stm "He would love to pick the team but he knows he can't - he doesn't have enough knowledge. We can't have amateurs in charge of the team. It's a job for professionals? ? Roman http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4818618.stm ?I don't think Celtic and Rangers will progress much and I think we can play at their level? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/5211620.stm ?The best moment (last season) was when Burley left the club? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/5229440.stm "I will ask Valdas why a particular player has been selected, like Takis Fyssas instead of Lee Wallace. The coach will say: 'During the training session, Fyssas was stronger and better'?. Then I will ask: 'But did he have a proper medical test before the game?' If I see that the coach is in any doubt about his answer then there is a doubt about his decision. So then I ask the club doctor about the two players and if they had fitness tests? "When I took over, my main target was for Hearts to become Scottish champions. But I realised both Rangers and Celtic wanted to kill Hearts, but they are too late to do that now? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/5329990.stm ?I want to dedicate Hearts' victories to those journalists who, because of their hate towards us, only notice our defeats and say it is fair criticism when in fact it is simply hysteria with only one aim - to dismantle the club? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/5372246.stm "Hearts are ahead of schedule in their development plan but non-football issues need to be put right? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/6307459.stm The Board of Heart of Midlothian Football Club (Hearts) has begun the search for a football manager to fill the current vacant post at Tynecastle. The manager, who will have full responsibility for team selection, will be an experienced football manager and will preferably have experience of management in British football. The new manager will work with sport director Anatoly Korobochka and assistant head coach Stephen Frail. In the interim Stephen Frail will assume the "caretaker manager" role at Hearts with full responsibility for team selection and coaching of the first team squad. The Board of Directors of Hearts acknowledges it is not acceptable for Hearts to be in its current position in the league. The new manager's task will be to drive the club forward on the playing side to fulfill the club's ambitions. The move by the Board of Directors has the full backing of Hearts majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov. http://www.heartsfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/HeartsNewsDetail/0,,10289~1203369,00.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Freewheelin' Jambo Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 I think that in Vlad's own opinion he doesn't actually pick the team. He simply gives advice and states his opinion. Now for most of us Hearts fans that is more or less the same thing as picking the team especially as such behaviour is rather uncommon in Britain (but not necessarily on the continent). But I am quite confident that Vlad doesn't see it this way... he simply thinks he is giving his opinion and "assistance". Thus when we see Vlad's comments about "not picking the team", we think of them as lies. But in fact they are just failure to communicate. At least Vlad himself doesn't deliberately lie (at least in his own opinion). Is this a quote from Catch -22? With "Vlad" being the replacement for the Colonel who kept lying about how many missions the men had to fly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigolo-Aunt Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Think this shows that Campbell Ogilvie should do the talking from now on. Vlad and junior should keep away from the microphone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del1812 Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 There's a couple from that list that are true. For example, George Burley did pick the team and Robbo did have the final say on the team and even the players bought and sold (except from Chesney). Robbo even picked Mikoliunas and Kuzys after watching them in a practice match. Instead of adding them I think you should have added a few more daft things he's said throughout the years. Champions League champs anybody? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Winstone Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 There are some absolute corkers in there! Should have thrown in a few Duke of Edinburgh quotes, just to show the level of stupidity that the men in charge at Hearts are competing with! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldar Hadzimehmedovic Posted April 25, 2008 Author Share Posted April 25, 2008 There's a couple from that list that are true. For example, George Burley did pick the team and Robbo did have the final say on the team and even the players bought and sold (except from Chesney). Robbo even picked Mikoliunas and Kuzys after watching them in a practice match. Instead of adding them I think you should have added a few more daft things he's said throughout the years. Champions League champs anybody? I wanted to be fair and only include ones I found a source for. The only mention I could find of that was the Lithuanian FA guy (LV) saying we wanted CL group stages in 5 years. I can't actually find a CL winners quote anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del1812 Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 I wanted to be fair and only include ones I found a source for. The only mention I could find of that was the Lithuanian FA guy (LV) saying we wanted CL group stages in 5 years. I can't actually find a CL winners quote anywhere. Fair enough. There was another cracker of an interview before Christmas where he stated a squad needed to be constantly rotated to keep the players on their toes and saying that he didn't think managers were important at all. In short the scariest interview he has given, it appeared he would never change. Some will argue he clearly hasn't, some would argue he clearly has, I'm not 100% sure myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AirHearts Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 The money ones are the most worrying. Well to be fair, I think Vlad in his own opinion has gotten rid of the debt, at least in a way. They have stressed to us that although the debt still exists on paper, it isn't really there in the same way as before. I actually think this is quite feasible, especially knowing Vlad's and UBIG's money-laundring reputation in Lithuania. It might actually be more advantageous for them to leave it there on Hearts accounts, while having it covered by assets from their business empire, rather than remove the debt as such. In this way they might be able to get around taxes and other payments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The cruckie cookie Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Champions League one. Note the date. The TimesOctober 15, 2005 Romanov empire aspires to European domination Heart of Midlothian to be continental champions? It could happen, according to their ambitious owner. Our correspondent meets the Abramovich of the Baltics By Owen Slot FROM Kaunas, the second city in Lithuania, comes news of a seismic shift in the power base of European football. It concerns Heart of Midlothian ? yes, Hearts ? and it is this: that they are soon to win the Champions League. Yes indeed: European champions elect. Step aside Chelsea. And if we were not hearing it from the Abramovich of the Baltics, then we would not bother printing it. This is the future, according to Scotland?s Abramovich clone: ?Our goal has to be champions of Europe. I want us to be at the stage where to do anything else, to come back without the trophy, would be shameful. I?d like to do it quicker but I think we?re looking at three years. Nobody believes us. That?s fine. Three years should suffice.? Vladimir Romanov ? he of the Eastern European mega millions ? is sitting in his office, which, quite naturally, is in a bank. His own bank. And he is totally serious. He has got a Hearts tie on and he has got tonnes of cash, too. He even assembled the security staff so he could show us the bank vault. But let?s put the ?replica Abramovich? line to bed, for no other reason than that it irks him. Wealth-wise, Romanov is but a chip where Abramovich is the whole block. Romanov?s empire encompasses such a myriad of ownerships ? bought up when the eastern bloc was being privatised and no one else knew the value of a ?share? ? that evaluation is impossible What we can say for sure is that three companies in which he has had stakeholdings have been investigated by police, and that, based mainly on shares in banking and metalworks, the official line is that he is worth upwards of ?500 million, which means he barely comes up to Abramovich?s knees. But do not suggest that he is following Abramovich?s lead. ?Absolutely not,? he said. ?I was involved in football a lot earlier than he was.? Which is true, because for a decade now he has had money in FBK Kaunas and, more recently, MTZ-Ripo Minsk, the Belarussian club. And certainly do not hint at the idea that he cannot match Abramovich?s ?290 million shopping spree. ?I could spend ?500 million and beat Chelsea, but any fool could win by spending that,? he replied. ?But by spending a tenth of that amount? Then you?ve got something to talk about.? Their style of leadership is different, too. You would not catch Abramovich going to an away fixture on the supporters? bus or sitting with them. Neither would he recite poetry he has written down the phone to the media. And you would never catch Abramovich telling Jos? Mourinho where to go in the transfer market. Romanov, however, has such confidence in his ?own intelligence network reviewing the ability of players from as wide afield as Chile to Japan? that he dictates who George Burley, his manager, will buy. Four of Burley?s summer signings were thus thrust upon him. ?Not ideal? was how Burley described this unique working relationship, but Romanov is not for the turning. ?The final decision,? he said, ?lies with me.? And these decisions don?t seem to have gone too badly. At the start of this, his first full season, scepticism in Edinburgh was rife; Romanov said that Hearts would win the Scottish Premierleague within three years and no one believed him. But then his team started winning. Then they beat Rangers. And today, when they play Celtic, they are unbeaten in the SPL, top of the table and suggesting that, for the first time since 1985, the Rangers-Celtic duopoly could be smashed. So Tynecastle is now swimming with goodwill. Last season?s gates averaged 12,000; this season all 18,000 seats have been filled for every game, many of them with fans singing the name of their new owner. Burley, you imagine, will have been feeling good about life, too, until this morning, when he reads that his three-year goal has stretched from conquering Scotland to conquering the entire Continent. TO FIND Romanov, the drive to Kaunas is 85 minutes on the dual carriageway east of Vilnius. There is barely a landmark en route bar an impressive roadside church, a building that was delapidated until our man decided to fund its complete refurbishment. He clearly has the populist touch: Lithuanian television has bought into his dream and purchased rights to 15 Hearts games this season. On the streets, a Hearts shirt is now a fashion item. But the Ukio Bankas headquarters, his base, is a surprise. Neither tall nor modern nor situated in one of the (rare) smart corners of town, it is all marble colonnades and faded grandeur. Incongruous, yet its owner has pledged his future to his home town. He grew up on its streets ? ?We didn?t have a proper football, we used to play with a basketball, or old tin cans? ? and he started in business here, selling Beatles and Elvis records from the back of a car. He has gone absent only twice, when he was doing national service as a submariner ? ?When Yellow Submarine came out, we were going: ?Wow, they?re singing about us!? That song has a big resonance for me? ? and also when his growing wealth aroused such KGB interest that he and his family had to go underground. The post-Soviet free market was his salvation. The question, which Abramovich himself posed on the single occasion that they met, is: why Scotland? It was certainly no whim; he only arrived at Hearts after hovering, wallet at the ready, over Dunfermline Athletic, Dundee and Dundee United. The answer is twofold. First, his stated vision for a sustainable European football giant: ?I look at Edinburgh and I see one of the world?s leading financial and cultural centres, a city that has the capacity for a fan base of at least 100,000 and I?m not talking fair-weather fans here. If I can convince the local authorities that I?m right, my vision is that Edinburgh should have a stadium of 70-90,000, a stadium that could accomm odate both the city?s clubs, that could stage fantastic derbies. I am convinced it would be full.? Yet, for all his wealth, and even if he could scoop up that army of new fans, he is surely a decimal point or two away from fulfilment. Which brings us to the second answer: ?The country?s developing, the economy?s developing.? Which sounds like an oblique reference to his ambitions to have his businesses, particularly the bank, established there as well as his football team. ?It?s interesting,? he said. ?This may bring promising opportunities that are worth considering.? Such answers are only likely to fuel the natural paranoia that the good times ? which amount to two and a bit months so far ? will not last. The evidence in his favour lies in his clubs in Kaunas and Minsk, neither of which have been plundered for ulterior gain, and in his love for the game, which does feel fervently genuine. He understands about romance and football and this is why his wife, Szvetlana, has so far been banned from watching his new team play. ?It?s a bit too early,? he explained. ?Hearts aren?t playing quite the way I want them to be playing when she first sees them.? He wants beauty in his football, and Hearts fans want to believe he means it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamboy81 Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 SPL champs within 3 years as well http://www.londonhearts.com/scores/mrep/20050807027.htm I think this one one of the interviews he gave before he lost his mind. The sad thing is this would have been very possible if he had just sat back and kept out. I always said that he is a delusional, odd individual bordering on being mentally unstable and I still stand by that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigolo-Aunt Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 SPL champs within 3 years as well http://www.londonhearts.com/scores/mrep/20050807027.htm I think this one one of the interviews he gave before he lost his mind. The sad thing is this would have been very possible if he had just sat back and kept out. I always said that he is a delusional, odd individual bordering on being mentally unstable and I still stand by that. Odd, yes. Mentally unstable ? Dont think he could amass the money and assets he has being mentally unstable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Freewheelin' Jambo Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Odd, yes. Mentally unstable ? Dont think he could amass the money and assets he has being mentally unstable. Hitler did alright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siegementality Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Odd, yes. Mentally unstable ? Dont think he could amass the money and assets he has being mentally unstable. The Krays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie-Brown Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 The Krays. The Krays were feared criminals - Romanov & UBIG got a big financial breakthrough when one of the Oligarchs either Abramovich or Berezovsky paid them a tidy sum to 'walk away' from an Aluminium plant in the Ukraine they were trying to buy - so they did and bought a Bosnian plant instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portobellojambo1 Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Well to be fair, I think Vlad in his own opinion has gotten rid of the debt, at least in a way. I think it is very much in his own opinion Air Hearts. Anything that is written down on paper, as per a company balance sheet, still exists, the only way to get rid of a debt is to either pay it off, which he has not done, or write it off, which UBIG have not done. In fact it would appear they see the debt as very much a way of making money, not for Hearts, but through Hearts, which if I am honest I do not see as being of any benefit to us. To say the debt is not a problem is in my opinion doing no more than treating people as if they are stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigolo-Aunt Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Hitler did alright. Ahhh But there is more to that, as we all know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigolo-Aunt Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 The Krays. Not sure the Krays amassed a fortune of 200 odd million with legitimate investment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldar Hadzimehmedovic Posted April 25, 2008 Author Share Posted April 25, 2008 "I don't think they would have any debt by the end of this year” – 2004 http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/3710698.stm I think this one is the most damning. To say this and then not only keep the debt in place but (depending on which source you trust) almost double it is just bare-faced lying. No ifs ands or buts about it, it's a downright lie. All of the others can be explained away according to interpretation or context but that statement (while he was trying to buy up shares, btw) is there for everybody to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamboy81 Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Odd, yes. Mentally unstable ? Dont think he could amass the money and assets he has being mentally unstable. Why not? No doubt he has been successful in business (before he bought Hearts) so i don't think his intelligence is in question. However he quite possibly suffers from one or more conditions of the mind, acute paranoia being the most obvious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Freewheelin' Jambo Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Ahhh But there is more to that, as we all know. ...until he stopped the Panzers before Dunkirk... These megalomaniacs, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigolo-Aunt Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Why not? No doubt he has been successful in business (before he bought Hearts) so i don't think his intelligence is in question. However he quite possibly suffers from one or more conditions of the mind, acute paranoia being the most obvious. I will take your word for it. We must both agree though, he aint done that bad on the candy front. Must have been lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigolo-Aunt Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 ...until he stopped the Panzers before Dunkirk... These megalomaniacs, eh? This is heading it to a shed debate ! (btw, half way through Stalingrad by Anthony Beevers, if you have not read it - its well worth a read) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AirHearts Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 I think it is very much in his own opinion Air Hearts. Anything that is written down on paper, as per a company balance sheet, still exists, the only way to get rid of a debt is to either pay it off, which he has not done, or write it off, which UBIG have not done. In fact it would appear they see the debt as very much a way of making money, not for Hearts, but through Hearts, which if I am honest I do not see as being of any benefit to us. To say the debt is not a problem is in my opinion doing no more than treating people as if they are stupid. I see your point, but I am quite sure that for them the debt doesn't exist anymore in the same way it does for us. Although different entreprises of the UBIG may seem to have debt as is the case with Hearts, those debts are evened out on the company-level. We have to understand that Hearts is PART of UBIG, whose goal is not to operate so that all of its individual entreprises have a positive bank account, but so that in the end, the bank account of the WHOLE UBIG is on the positive side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portobellojambo1 Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 I will take your word for it. We must both agree though, he aint done that bad on the candy front. Must have been lucky. I think being in Russia as it was breaking up, and possibly being able to deal with contacts within the ruling party built up by his father's involvement with the Russian military, may have played a not significant part in his getting his hands on what at that time were worthless pieces of paper, which became gold dust shortly thereafter. Think the same could be said for all those who benefited in a similar manner, without the break up of the Soviet Union people like Romanov etc. would never have been heard of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siegementality Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Not sure the Krays amassed a fortune of 200 odd million with legitimate investment. And I'm 100% sure Romanov didn't either;). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamboy81 Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 I will take your word for it. We must both agree though, he aint done that bad on the candy front. Must have been lucky. I think he has proved himself to be a good business man. Unfortunately this doesn't preclude you from being a paranoid, attention seeker (without question) and who also in my opinion suffers from narcissism. I think he probably got away with it while at Kaunas because when he made these fundamental errors (ie causing chaos for no good reason) the league was so poor that they still won everything in sight. When he's messed up here though he has found Rangers and Celtic less forgiving and been exposed as an also ran. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigolo-Aunt Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 I think being in Russia as it was breaking up, and possibly being able to deal with contacts within the ruling party built up by his father's involvement with the Russian military, may have played a not significant part in his getting his hands on what at that time were worthless pieces of paper, which became gold dust shortly thereafter. Think the same could be said for all those who benefited in a similar manner, without the break up of the Soviet Union people like Romanov etc. would never have been heard of. Lots of people did benfit, Iain. Im not sure of the time scale, but is that not quite a while ago now ? He must be doing something right. Im not defending his ways with Hearts, but he must have something up top to get where he is today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigolo-Aunt Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 And I'm 100% sure Romanov didn't either;). Im all ears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siegementality Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 The Krays were feared criminals Just different types of gangsters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siegementality Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Im all ears. That can't be pretty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigolo-Aunt Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 That can't be pretty! Hehehehe I think the crux of it is.... VR is a pretty good business man Made a miles hunt of the footballing side in the last 2 years Is that fair ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack D and coke Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 I think he has proved himself to be a good business man. Unfortunately this doesn't preclude you from being a paranoid, attention seeker (without question) and who also in my opinion suffers from narcissism. I think he probably got away with it while at Kaunas because when he made these fundamental errors (ie causing chaos for no good reason) the league was so poor that they still won everything in sight. When he's messed up here though he has found Rangers and Celtic less forgiving and been exposed as an also ran. In the first reason yes he found celtic and rangers less forgiving but now he's finding the st mirren's, gretna's and motherwell's a bit too much. Its plain and simple to me. The man is a f***** idiot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portobellojambo1 Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Hehehehe I think the crux of it is.... VR is a pretty good business man Made a miles hunt of the footballing side in the last 2 years Is that fair ? I think you may be understating the case. Possibly closer to the truth to say that his first venture into business within the Western world, where there is true competition and people who voice opinion, has been a complete and utter fecking disaster. For someone trying to build up his name, or the names of his existing businesses, he doesn't quite appear to have got the hang of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siegementality Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Hehehehe I think the crux of it is.... VR is a pretty good business man Made a miles hunt of the footballing side in the last 2 years Is that fair ? He may know how to run a business but he most certainly doesn't know how to run a football club. He has, and continues to, badly mis-judge the emotion and passion felt by the supporters of this club. It will cost both us and him dear in the end. If Romanov was on The Apprentice I'm sure he'd have been in the boardroom by now "Romanov you've made a James Hunt of it, You're Fired!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeraNT Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Hehehehe I think the crux of it is.... VR is a pretty good business man Made a miles hunt of the footballing side in the last 2 years Is that fair ? Hmmm, Heart of Midlothian Inc - don't seem to be doing too well as a business. How his endless ridiculous statements and mad attitude do him any good in the genarl business world - also begs the question. The guy is running out of gas....................... and his whole crazy mad empire will eventually be flushed down the tubes of capitalism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamboGraham Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 The ambition quotes (SPL, Champions League, etc) don't worry me one bit. To be honest in the those first crazy weeks of 05/06 how many us can say that we didn't dream a little bit..(or a lot!!!!) A football supporter without a dream has very little left.... Romanov is a football fan with money, we all know that! As for the ones about selection...I am convinced that Romanov doesn't see anything wrong with getting involved in that side of the business. I know that in any other business this would be 100% OK and it would be strange if it were not the case...i.e. you put the majority of money into a company you get to say who does what in that company... We all know that football is different but I have tried to come up with a better sentence to say why it is wrong other than...."cos it is!!!"...and I fail everytime. We can always say that he should leave it to people that know how to do the job properly. However, how many of us say the same thing everyday in the real world when organisations are taken over and new people, new processes come in.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenerjambo Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 I can remember a statement not long after the Burley saga along the lines of "Those who are quick to criticise should maybe try to do so in a years time and see how far we've come since then"??? The only place we've came since then is downhill at a very alarming rate with debts getting out of order,promises broken,our first bottom 6 finish since the Spl started, players who are just not rying or are nowhere near good enough to wear the maroon jersey and Steptoe and Son still at the helm of this once proud club. What a feckin' shambles this club is in and I hate to say it but I'm beginning to think enough is enough and we should all be doing something before it gets too late?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auld Reekin' Posted April 26, 2008 Share Posted April 26, 2008 I think that in Vlad's own opinion he doesn't actually pick the team. He simply gives advice and states his opinion. Now for most of us Hearts fans that is more or less the same thing as picking the team especially as such behaviour is rather uncommon in Britain (but not necessarily on the continent). But I am quite confident that Vlad doesn't see it this way... he simply thinks he is giving his opinion and "assistance". Thus when we see Vlad's comments about "not picking the team", we think of them as lies. But in fact they are just failure to communicate. At least Vlad himself doesn't deliberately lie (at least in his own opinion). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGWSkSqBdWM&feature=related "Ah wish you'd stop bein' so good to us, Mistuh Romanov... " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del1812 Posted April 26, 2008 Share Posted April 26, 2008 The ambition quotes (SPL, Champions League, etc) don't worry me one bit. To be honest in the those first crazy weeks of 05/06 how many us can say that we didn't dream a little bit..(or a lot!!!!) A football supporter without a dream has very little left.... Romanov is a football fan with money, we all know that! As for the ones about selection...I am convinced that Romanov doesn't see anything wrong with getting involved in that side of the business. I know that in any other business this would be 100% OK and it would be strange if it were not the case...i.e. you put the majority of money into a company you get to say who does what in that company... We all know that football is different but I have tried to come up with a better sentence to say why it is wrong other than...."cos it is!!!"...and I fail everytime. We can always say that he should leave it to people that know how to do the job properly. However, how many of us say the same thing everyday in the real world when organisations are taken over and new people, new processes come in.... The difference is a lot of owners of businesses interfere because they have experience in this field or at least an experience in business. Most football owners have no experience whatsoever except from being a fan, which as much as we all don't want to admit it, doesn't amount to knowing much about football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portobellojambo1 Posted April 26, 2008 Share Posted April 26, 2008 The difference is a lot of owners of businesses interfere because they have experience in this field or at least an experience in business. Most football owners have no experience whatsoever except from being a fan, which as much as we all don't want to admit it, doesn't amount to knowing much about football. Agree totally. In the normal course of things the senior persons at a firm tend to be people who had started "on the shop floor" and worked their way up. Similarly with "owners", people who had done the hard slog, and decided to keep the company going for future generations, so had bought it, or alternatively other companies in the field, who bought over the company to expand their business, and effectively take away some of the competition. Romanov has failed to realise that football is effectively two businesses rolled into one, the typical day to day stuff which is governed by off field activity, as per your bog standard business, and the football side, which drives the off field activity, and player a huge part in determining the businesses share price. And the part he has totally forgotten about, totally mismanaged, is the most important part, the football side. He has failed to apply best business practice to both sides of the club, off field and on field, and the business is suffering as a result, not unsurprisingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldar Hadzimehmedovic Posted April 26, 2008 Author Share Posted April 26, 2008 This should have been in the OP: "They will look after the team. My only input will be to ensure that their transfer activity is within the club’s budget". Romanov has rejected suggestions that he would seek to use a Scottish club to showcase Lithuanian players, suggesting that the standard of the SPL was too high to make this realistic. http://www.scotsman.com/spl/Vlads-10m-promise.2568917.jp Cracker. Or should that be 'crackers'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffundo Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 Which of these is your personal favourite? "I don't think they would have any debt by the end of this year? ? 2004 http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/3710698.stm ?It's inevitable that we will reach the level of Celtic and Rangers? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4053433.stm'>http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4053433.stm "Regarding Hearts, final say regarding transfers or player selection is on Craig Levein? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/3756624.stm ?It will be John Robertson's prerogative to choose and sell players? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4053433.stm "We hope that a satisfactory arrangement will be reached whereby Mr Romanov assumes part of the debt? "Vladimir Romanov wants to make sure that Hearts is no longer perceived as a selling club and he is prepared to put his personal wealth at the disposal of Hearts to achieve this? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4163213.stm "We want to challenge the Old Firm in Scotland. That is not going to happen in 12 months but perhaps three, four or five years. To do that we will need players for that level. Money is not a problem. It is about the quality of player? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4230683.stm "Vladimir Romanov does not pick or select the team. He is not involved in that process. George Burley was the manager and had the final say in the selection of the team." - Charlie Mann http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4374016.stm "Phil Anderton ticked many boxes - but not all. We are looking for a person who can deliver on both business and financial aspects? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4396500.stm Hearts chairman Roman Romanov had this week told a fans group that a well-known figure was already "working incognito" for the club. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4469344.stm "Graham is the first-team coach and Graham is the man who should make any statements about who picks the football team. Mr Romanov has a regular debate with Graham Rix on team issues after matches and that's the key point, it's after matches? ? Charlie Mann http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4690068.stm "He would love to pick the team but he knows he can't - he doesn't have enough knowledge. We can't have amateurs in charge of the team. It's a job for professionals? ? Roman http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4818618.stm ?I don't think Celtic and Rangers will progress much and I think we can play at their level? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/5211620.stm ?The best moment (last season) was when Burley left the club? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/5229440.stm "I will ask Valdas why a particular player has been selected, like Takis Fyssas instead of Lee Wallace. The coach will say: 'During the training session, Fyssas was stronger and better'?. Then I will ask: 'But did he have a proper medical test before the game?' If I see that the coach is in any doubt about his answer then there is a doubt about his decision. So then I ask the club doctor about the two players and if they had fitness tests? "When I took over, my main target was for Hearts to become Scottish champions. But I realised both Rangers and Celtic wanted to kill Hearts, but they are too late to do that now? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/5329990.stm ?I want to dedicate Hearts' victories to those journalists who, because of their hate towards us, only notice our defeats and say it is fair criticism when in fact it is simply hysteria with only one aim - to dismantle the club? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/5372246.stm "Hearts are ahead of schedule in their development plan but non-football issues need to be put right? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/6307459.stm The Board of Heart of Midlothian Football Club (Hearts) has begun the search for a football manager to fill the current vacant post at Tynecastle. The manager, who will have full responsibility for team selection, will be an experienced football manager and will preferably have experience of management in British football. The new manager will work with sport director Anatoly Korobochka and assistant head coach Stephen Frail. In the interim Stephen Frail will assume the "caretaker manager" role at Hearts with full responsibility for team selection and coaching of the first team squad. The Board of Directors of Hearts acknowledges it is not acceptable for Hearts to be in its current position in the league. The new manager's task will be to drive the club forward on the playing side to fulfill the club's ambitions. The move by the Board of Directors has the full backing of Hearts majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov. http://www.heartsfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/HeartsNewsDetail/0,,10289~1203369,00.html Can this thread be made a sticky for future refference. I thnk it is very appropriate considering the phase we are entering which will lead us up too pre-season and ultimately shape the future of HMFC.?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy52 Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 Champions League one. Note the date. The TimesOctober 15, 2005 Romanov empire aspires to European domination Heart of Midlothian to be continental champions? It could happen, according to their ambitious owner. Our correspondent meets the Abramovich of the Baltics By Owen Slot FROM Kaunas, the second city in Lithuania, comes news of a seismic shift in the power base of European football. It concerns Heart of Midlothian — yes, Hearts — and it is this: that they are soon to win the Champions League. Yes indeed: European champions elect. Step aside Chelsea. And if we were not hearing it from the Abramovich of the Baltics, then we would not bother printing it. This is the future, according to Scotland’s Abramovich clone: “Our goal has to be champions of Europe. I want us to be at the stage where to do anything else, to come back without the trophy, would be shameful. I’d like to do it quicker but I think we’re looking at three years. Nobody believes us. That’s fine. Three years should suffice.” Vladimir Romanov — he of the Eastern European mega millions — is sitting in his office, which, quite naturally, is in a bank. His own bank. And he is totally serious. He has got a Hearts tie on and he has got tonnes of cash, too. He even assembled the security staff so he could show us the bank vault. But let’s put the “replica Abramovich” line to bed, for no other reason than that it irks him. Wealth-wise, Romanov is but a chip where Abramovich is the whole block. Romanov’s empire encompasses such a myriad of ownerships — bought up when the eastern bloc was being privatised and no one else knew the value of a “share” — that evaluation is impossible What we can say for sure is that three companies in which he has had stakeholdings have been investigated by police, and that, based mainly on shares in banking and metalworks, the official line is that he is worth upwards of ?500 million, which means he barely comes up to Abramovich’s knees. But do not suggest that he is following Abramovich’s lead. “Absolutely not,” he said. “I was involved in football a lot earlier than he was.” Which is true, because for a decade now he has had money in FBK Kaunas and, more recently, MTZ-Ripo Minsk, the Belarussian club. And certainly do not hint at the idea that he cannot match Abramovich’s ?290 million shopping spree. “I could spend ?500 million and beat Chelsea, but any fool could win by spending that,” he replied. “But by spending a tenth of that amount? Then you’ve got something to talk about.” Their style of leadership is different, too. You would not catch Abramovich going to an away fixture on the supporters’ bus or sitting with them. Neither would he recite poetry he has written down the phone to the media. And you would never catch Abramovich telling Jos? Mourinho where to go in the transfer market. Romanov, however, has such confidence in his “own intelligence network reviewing the ability of players from as wide afield as Chile to Japan” that he dictates who George Burley, his manager, will buy. Four of Burley’s summer signings were thus thrust upon him. “Not ideal” was how Burley described this unique working relationship, but Romanov is not for the turning. “The final decision,” he said, “lies with me.” And these decisions don’t seem to have gone too badly. At the start of this, his first full season, scepticism in Edinburgh was rife; Romanov said that Hearts would win the Scottish Premierleague within three years and no one believed him. But then his team started winning. Then they beat Rangers. And today, when they play Celtic, they are unbeaten in the SPL, top of the table and suggesting that, for the first time since 1985, the Rangers-Celtic duopoly could be smashed. So Tynecastle is now swimming with goodwill. Last season’s gates averaged 12,000; this season all 18,000 seats have been filled for every game, many of them with fans singing the name of their new owner. Burley, you imagine, will have been feeling good about life, too, until this morning, when he reads that his three-year goal has stretched from conquering Scotland to conquering the entire Continent. TO FIND Romanov, the drive to Kaunas is 85 minutes on the dual carriageway east of Vilnius. There is barely a landmark en route bar an impressive roadside church, a building that was delapidated until our man decided to fund its complete refurbishment. He clearly has the populist touch: Lithuanian television has bought into his dream and purchased rights to 15 Hearts games this season. On the streets, a Hearts shirt is now a fashion item. But the Ukio Bankas headquarters, his base, is a surprise. Neither tall nor modern nor situated in one of the (rare) smart corners of town, it is all marble colonnades and faded grandeur. Incongruous, yet its owner has pledged his future to his home town. He grew up on its streets — “We didn’t have a proper football, we used to play with a basketball, or old tin cans” — and he started in business here, selling Beatles and Elvis records from the back of a car. He has gone absent only twice, when he was doing national service as a submariner — “When Yellow Submarine came out, we were going: ‘Wow, they’re singing about us!’ That song has a big resonance for me” — and also when his growing wealth aroused such KGB interest that he and his family had to go underground. The post-Soviet free market was his salvation. The question, which Abramovich himself posed on the single occasion that they met, is: why Scotland? It was certainly no whim; he only arrived at Hearts after hovering, wallet at the ready, over Dunfermline Athletic, Dundee and Dundee United. The answer is twofold. First, his stated vision for a sustainable European football giant: “I look at Edinburgh and I see one of the world’s leading financial and cultural centres, a city that has the capacity for a fan base of at least 100,000 and I’m not talking fair-weather fans here. If I can convince the local authorities that I’m right, my vision is that Edinburgh should have a stadium of 70-90,000, a stadium that could accomm odate both the city’s clubs, that could stage fantastic derbies. I am convinced it would be full.” Yet, for all his wealth, and even if he could scoop up that army of new fans, he is surely a decimal point or two away from fulfilment. Which brings us to the second answer: “The country’s developing, the economy’s developing.” Which sounds like an oblique reference to his ambitions to have his businesses, particularly the bank, established there as well as his football team. “It’s interesting,” he said. “This may bring promising opportunities that are worth considering.” Such answers are only likely to fuel the natural paranoia that the good times — which amount to two and a bit months so far — will not last. The evidence in his favour lies in his clubs in Kaunas and Minsk, neither of which have been plundered for ulterior gain, and in his love for the game, which does feel fervently genuine. He understands about romance and football and this is why his wife, Szvetlana, has so far been banned from watching his new team play. “It’s a bit too early,” he explained. “Hearts aren’t playing quite the way I want them to be playing when she first sees them.” He wants beauty in his football, and Hearts fans want to believe he means it. No way he'll get a shag if she has been watching this lot. Mind you she might take that dildo Frail to bed with her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fourcandles Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 [/b] No way he'll get a shag if she has been watching this lot. Mind you she might take that dildo Frail to bed with her. That'll be that submarine-shaped thingy full of Sea men? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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