Scotland's Game

[Siphiwe Tshabalala]

Gretna beat St Johnstone to promotion from the second tier.

Was that not the last day of the season too?

 

I quite like the Gretna story to be fair, sums up the mess we were in when they beat us in their last ever game!

[jambo1975]

Interesting to hear Burley talk about his time here. Can't remember him saying anything about it before. Didn't he have to agree full non disclosure as part of his severance?

[julienbrellier]

Spencer is attempting to troll. Best ignored.

 

Vladimir Romanov remains the greatest person to ever be involved with Heart of Midlothian.

 

 

 

He has called it how it was and that segment with Elvis and Burley show quite clearly how bad things had got at that time.

 

3 manager of the month awards and Burley was sacked.  That says it all for me.  Even if we forget some of the other questionable stuff that occurred afterwards as a result of vlads intervention, to sack a manager with an incredible record who was probably about to win the league was as moronic a decision as has ever been made at a football club.

 

Did I enjoy some of the time under vlad? Of course I did.  But it could have been so much better and he almost ruined us.  To label him as the greatest man to ever be involved with us is as bad a post as I've seen on here.  I think you have really lost credibility here.  He didnt give a **** about us and only the heroic efforts of our fan base saved us in the end. 

 

Take a reality check mate, seriously

[Irufushi]

Really good tonight.

 

Tom English always seems spot on to me. Like him.

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

He has called it how it was and that segment with Elvis and Burley show quite clearly how bad things had got at that time.

 

3 manager of the month awards and Burley was sacked. That says it all for me. Even if we forget some of the other questionable stuff that occurred afterwards as a result of vlads intervention, to sack a manager with an incredible record who was probably about to win the league was as moronic a decision as has ever been made at a football club.

 

Did I enjoy some of the time under vlad? Of course I did. But it could have been so much better and he almost ruined us. To label him as the greatest man to ever be involved with us is as bad a post as I've seen on here. I think you have really lost credibility here. He didnt give a **** about us and only the heroic efforts of our fan base saved us in the end.

 

Take a reality check mate, seriously

I'm not getting into a Pressley debate again but I actually liked that Vlad dismissed him and wouldn't speak to him. Pressley thought he was bigger than the club.

[Spencer]

I'm not getting into a Pressley debate again but I actually liked that Vlad dismissed him and wouldn't speak to him. Pressley thought he was bigger than the club.

FFS

[jamtartan74]

To a degree, however, that is perhaps the most visible attack on Lennon on tv at a game. Only thing I can think of is the McCoist/Lennon bust up. However, that doesn't make what happened sectarian. I think that whole "attack on Lennon" stuff was better illustrated earlier by the bullets, public attacks and abuse he took.

 

I'll be honest, Lennon is an outspoken man, he was as a player. He stood up to a lot of personal abuse, and whilst I hated him as a player I have to say I respected him immensely for his conduct in the face of what was purely sectarian attacks. Nobody deserves bullets in the post.

 

As for the show as a whole, you forget how mad Romanov was. Absolutely mental. I think the feel good vibe since the end of the administration process has skewed my memories of before then. But I too felt the program quickly glossed over the crisis our club faced under Robinson at the end. We lurched from crisis to financial crisis. Diminished squad, rudderless on the pitch (to a degree!) and we as fans reached for the man who came along and offered a way out. Local or not, Robinson would have ended Hearts as we know it! Yes, Romanov nearly ended us and he made us a laughing stock, but those two cups make it almost worth all that. We'd not won a thing under Robinson's plan and we'd be a yo-yo team at Murrayfield.

 

Kinda also feel that whilst Hearts fans come out of that program amazingly well, that it glossed over the concerted and co-ordinated efforts of the fans before Budge and also the help we got from some clubs, every ticket bought at away games equaling a ?1 to the FOH from Partick for one. However, Hearts and our fans came out well there and I'm happy with that.

 

Thought elsewhere it was fair. Thought Pressley spoke well as well.

 

A good show which pointed the finger at the right people (Murray, Romanov, Mileson) and also at those running the national game. After all, if the SPL and the SFA had the right checks in place for ownership and auditing and if they hadn't foolishly turned that deal down (and if the OF hadn't walked on SPL TV) then we wouldn't have faced as many of the issues we have had.

well said sir, that's a good post. About to watch the prog so will see it all for myself but agree with all u have said.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Hansel]

Really enjoyed watching that. It's great where our club is considering where it has been.

[William H. Bonney]

I'm not getting into a Pressley debate again but I actually liked that Vlad dismissed him and wouldn't speak to him. Pressley thought he was bigger than the club.

And vlad didn't?

[Debut 4]

Cosgrove is a fraggel rock with his pseudo Weegie accent.

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

And vlad didn't?

Vlad was.

[Beast Boy]

Cosgrove is a fraggel rock with his pseudo Weegie accent.

Think he lives near Denistoun mate. I used to see him sometimes when visiting a friend.

[John Findlay]

I'm not getting into a Pressley debate again but I actually liked that Vlad dismissed him and wouldn't speak to him. Pressley thought he was bigger than the club.

Geoff that is nonsense. What's more you know it is.

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

Geoff that is nonsense. What's more you know it is.

Really? When Pressley was running over to Malofeev arguing substitutions etc., who thought they were more than a player?

[Stuart Lyon]

Watched part of the first episode but couldn't bring myself to watch the hypocrites from the Scottish media who failed to nail the SFA for its blatant favouritism towards Sevco.

[Clerry Jambo]

I have always admired Pressley. He was a fantastic captain of our club.

 

He is vilified by a moronic element of our support, simply because he made a stand against an imbecilic owner who treated our club in a truly shameful manner.

 

Those who abuse Pressley should remember that he lived through what was going on within the club and the bizarre place it had become under that regime.

 

His actions at Tynecastle whilst playing for Celtic weren't particularly well judged but equally weren't aimed at our fans. To listen to Pressley speak it's fairly clear he had a strong affinity to our club and was sad the way things ended.

 

The blind support, even now by some, of the Russian simply serves to illustrate how many stupid ignorant people are out there.

[We_are_the_Hearts]

Really good tonight.

 

Tom English always seems spot on to me. Like him.

Best journalist we have by a country mile. 

[Currahee!]

I have always admired Pressley. He was a fantastic captain of our club.

 

He is vilified by a moronic element of our support, simply because he made a stand against an imbecilic owner who treated our club in a truly shameful manner.

 

Those who abuse Pressley should remember that he lived through what was going on within the club and the bizarre place it had become under that regime.

 

His actions at Tynecastle whilst playing for Celtic weren't particularly well judged but equally weren't aimed at our fans. To listen to Pressley speak it's fairly clear he had a strong affinity to our club and was sad the way things ended.

 

The blind support, even now by some, of the Russian simply serves to illustrate how many stupid ignorant people are out there.

 

It doesn't matter if Pressley's chest thumping wasn't aimed at the fans. It looked that way.

 

A former Hearts captain doing that in a Celtic strip? He's a rat.

[Currahee!]

You epitomise the type of clown I was referring too Geoffrey.

 

He was an absolute disgrace

 

Yet without him we'd be on 6 Scottish cup wins and be playing at Murrayfield or a horrible out of town stadium....

[JamboX2]

Really? When Pressley was running over to Malofeev arguing substitutions etc., who thought they were more than a player?

As Pressley said in the show, the day he was sacked he was offered the assistant managers job! Pressley was Mr Hearts, the same segment showed the clips of the game he scored two at Falkirk to get a draw and he looks ecstatic. To me, he deserves a lot of praise for voicing what were major concerns amongst fans that season. We went from a well organised and winning side the year before to a disjointed and chaotic team. For one, Valdas vanished, two Malofeev was running an asylum and the team was massively oversized.

 

Pressley was, in my view, the greatest Hearts captain of modern times.

[TyphoonJambo]

_{As Pressley said in the show, the day he was sacked he was offered the assistant managers job! Pressley was Mr Hearts, the same segment showed the clips of the game he scored two at Falkirk to get a draw and he looks ecstatic. To me, he deserves a lot of praise for voicing what were major concerns amongst fans that season. We went from a well organised and winning side the year before to a disjointed and chaotic team. For one, Valdas vanished, two Malofeev was running an asylum and the team was massively oversized.}

 

Pressley was, in my view, the greatest Hearts captain of modern times.

 

_{You know what, I agree. The vile hatred that has come out of a chest thump, agreably not that well thought through, has completely overshadowed all he done for this club. I would love to shake him by the hand and buy him a beer, anyday.}

[Coco]

Such bitter commentary from Cosgrove on Gretna and Mileson.  

 

I doubt many Gretna fans would have done anything differently.  Maybe he should look up what a Ponzi scheme is too.  

[John Findlay]

Really? When Pressley was running over to Malofeev arguing substitutions etc., who thought they were more than a player?

Have you played football and if you have. We're you ever Captain of your team?

[TexasAndy]

Another good watch last night.  One thing is for sure, we at least have one decent, honest journalist in Scottish football and he's English!!  Well actually Irish lol  His bigging up of Hearts fans made me feel proud.  

[John Findlay]

Really? When Pressley was running over to Malofeev arguing substitutions etc., who thought they were more than a player?

Have you played football and if you have. We're you ever Captain of your team?

[TyphoonJambo]

Any chance someone can put this onto YouTube for us expats? sounds a good watch.

[John Findlay]

Sorry for the double post.

[Haken]

I kind of view Vlad now as something that needed to happen.  Without his intervention, we were gone.  It all seemed to good to be true.  And very soon, it turned out to be the case.  However, if there had been no Romanov, there would have been no Skacel.  And players like Fyssas, Jankauskas, etc.  All that is more than countered though by the absolute madness that descended.  But Romanov the greatest Hearts man ever?  No.  Not for me.

[The Treasurer]

Oh Mr Romanov was a disgrace Geoffrey. The way the club was run and ultimately left was completely unacceptable.

 

For you to lavish praise upon such a parasite says much about you I'd suggest

Mr Romanov made huge mistakes, there is no doubt about that.

But one thing is certain, without his involvement, Heart of  Midlothian would not exist today.

That is not open for debate, that is a FACT

[Spencer]

It doesn't matter if Pressley's chest thumping wasn't aimed at the fans. It looked that way.

 

A former Hearts captain doing that in a Celtic strip? He's a rat.

He's a rat and a snake according to the intelligentsia on here

 

I recall him as a magnificent Hearts captain who gave his all.

 

None of us can imagine what it was like to exist within the club under the regime of that lunatic.

 

Blind faith is a frightening thing

[TexasAndy]

I kind of view Vlad now as something that needed to happen.  Without his intervention, we were gone.  It all seemed to good to be true.  And very soon, it turned out to be the case.  However, if there had been no Romanov, there would have been no Skacel.  And players like Fyssas, Jankauskas, etc.  All that is more than countered though by the absolute madness that descended.  But Romanov the greatest Hearts man ever?  No.  Not for me.

Good summing up.  The important point being that without him we WERE gone.  He could have been one of  the greatest Hearts men ever but screwed it up with his interference.  I also think he underestimated the club debt and thought it could be consumed through his bank businesses.  The Financial crash messed up that plan.  

[Maroon Sailor]

Wallace Mercer was the greatest thing ever to happen to Hearts.

 

Hearts would have survived regardless of Romanov who was never in it for Heart of Midlothian Football Club.

[Pans Jambo]

I have always admired Pressley. He was a fantastic captain of our club.

 

He is vilified by a moronic element of our support, simply because he made a stand against an imbecilic owner who treated our club in a truly shameful manner.

 

Those who abuse Pressley should remember that he lived through what was going on within the club and the bizarre place it had become under that regime.

 

His actions at Tynecastle whilst playing for Celtic weren't particularly well judged but equally weren't aimed at our fans. To listen to Pressley speak it's fairly clear he had a strong affinity to our club and was sad the way things ended.

 

The blind support, even now by some, of the Russian simply serves to illustrate how many stupid ignorant people are out there.

^^^This guy gets it^^^

 

The haters can hate but SP loved our club and was a great leader. Not been bettered since IMO.

[Beast Boy]

No Romanov = No Hearts

 

I wish people would put aside their churlishness towards him and just admit that.

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

Have you played football and if you have. We're you ever Captain of your team?

Yes and yes.

 

Why?

[Maroon Sailor]

No Romanov = No Hearts

I wish people would put aside their churlishness towards him and just admit that.

No Wallace Mercer = No Hearts

 

No Ann Budge = No Hearts

[stirlingshirejambo]

Enjoyed that

Not sure I understand cosgroves ponzi comment

Also was that Roberts Martinez speaking about being sacked as a Motherwell player?

[LeftBack]

Fairly sure it came out mccoist said something unsavoury, though I may have made that up.

 

The Robinson bit was priceless.

 

The banner "yer full of mince"

he told him "one day you'll be Hibs manager"

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

He's a rat and a snake according to the intelligentsia on here

 

I recall him as a magnificent Hearts captain who gave his all.

 

None of us can imagine what it was like to exist within the club under the regime of that lunatic.

 

Blind faith is a frightening thing

Pressley was a magnificent captain. However, he overstepped the mark with the Riccarton 3 fiasco and tried to act like a manager. I don't give a shit about chest thumps or anything like that. It's part and parcel of the game.

[Pans Jambo]

No Romanov = No Hearts

 

I wish people would put aside their churlishness towards him and just admit that.

Although it is true that he saved Tynecastle from being a housing development which I will always thank him for (& the Scottish Cup Success & the Euro ties we enjoyed), you cannot dismiss the fact that he took the club to within an inch of it's life. Even the pie man didn't do that. 

[Maroon Sailor]

Pressley was a magnificent captain. However, he overstepped the mark with the Riccarton 3 fiasco and tried to act like a manager. I don't give a shit about chest thumps or anything like that. It's part and parcel of the game.

He only said what the fans suspected

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

He only said what the fans suspected

It doesn't matter what he said. It's what he did that was the problem.

[Gigolo-Aunt]

Enjoyed that

Not sure I understand cosgroves ponzi comment

Also was that Roberts Martinez speaking about being sacked as a Motherwell player?

 

He played with Motherwell mate and was one of a number of players who left when they went in to Admin.

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

Although it is true that he saved Tynecastle from being a housing development which I will always thank him for (& the Scottish Cup Success & the Euro ties we enjoyed), you cannot dismiss the fact that he took the club to within an inch of it's life. Even the pie man didn't do that.

And I wouldn't swap a minute of it. He gave us 10 years we had no right to given the inevitable Airdrie esque path we were on and made us newsworthy everywhere.

[Kiwidoug]

It's all part of life's rich tapestry.  Trust me, I know.  I'm 68.

[upgotheheads]

Mr Romanov made huge mistakes, there is no doubt about that.

But one thing is certain, without his involvement, Heart of  Midlothian would not exist today.

That is not open for debate, that is a FACT

 

 

Good summing up.  The important point being that without him we WERE gone.  He could have been one of  the greatest Hearts men ever but screwed it up with his interference.  I also think he underestimated the club debt and thought it could be consumed through his bank businesses.  The Financial crash messed up that plan.  

 

I'm not sure that we would haved ceased to exist without Romanov but we wouldn't be at Tynecastle. The likelihood is we would have  been  groundsharing at Murrayfield for a few years before building a 10,000 seater leggo stadium somewhere, or maybe playing at Livingston.

 

We shouldn't forget that Romanov 'forgave' tens of millions of our debt to his organisations, otherwise we would have been liquidated. I see Romanov as a kind of lovable rogue, he put two fingers up to the establishment, kept us at Tynecastle and brought Takis Fysas and Rudi to Hearts, which will do for me.

 

It's a pity he didn't give Burleigh the chance to finish the job, because we would have won the league that year. Funny how things turn out though, in 50 years time Romanov might be seen as the catalyst for the greatest era in our history, which is just about to begin.

[Cambo_Jambo]

I have always admired Pressley. He was a fantastic captain of our club.

 

He is vilified by a moronic element of our support, simply because he made a stand against an imbecilic owner who treated our club in a truly shameful manner.

 

Those who abuse Pressley should remember that he lived through what was going on within the club and the bizarre place it had become under that regime.

 

His actions at Tynecastle whilst playing for Celtic weren't particularly well judged but equally weren't aimed at our fans. To listen to Pressley speak it's fairly clear he had a strong affinity to our club and was sad the way things ended.

 

The blind support, even now by some, of the Russian simply serves to illustrate how many stupid ignorant people are out there

 

Aye, pretty much this. Vlad was quite a ride and I maintain that we didn't end up worse off than we would have been before he came in (roughly the same debt give or take, rattling around in Murrayfield IF we were still able to afford rent) but that was a stay of execution, albeit with 2 rather dashing pots sat in our trophy room. However, he did pish away huge sums of money on garbage players and then scarper leaving us close to getting liquidated. I mean, I'd ask those that love Vlad and love laughing about how Rangers died how they can co-habitat those two thoughts in their head. It almost happened to us because of him.

 

I always loved Pressley as a player for us. Inspirational. The courage it took to be the leader speaking our against Romanov in the 'Riccarton Three' event must have been a lot.

 

Loads get angry about him playing for Celtic, I don't care and struggle to understand why a man that's played for Rangers, Hearts, Dundee Utd and Celtic can be said to have had the 2 years he spent at Park Head as his defining club and even more so, why that would upset anybody.

 

That chest thumping moment was clearly aimed at the board room and over the heads of the fans. He was shafted by Romanov while trying to make a point about the club, I think, he regards as being the one he most identifies with. It was ill judged but I'd never regard it as his defining moment at Tynecastle.

[Brave Hearts]

Although it is true that he saved Tynecastle from being a housing development which I will always thank him for (& the Scottish Cup Success & the Euro ties we enjoyed), you cannot dismiss the fact that he took the club to within an inch of it's life. Even the pie man didn't do that.

 

Although the pie man would have left us homeless and within two inches of or club's life

[zoltan socrates]

Wallace Mercer was the greatest thing ever to happen to Hearts.

Hearts would have survived regardless of Romanov who was never in it for Heart of Midlothian Football Club.

This man is correct

[Nookie Bear]

The "absolute disgrace" who saved the club from selling the ground?

 

More "absolute disgraces" like him please.

 

I will ignore the personal abuse.

 

I sometimes believe you can only judge an owner by the care they give to the club, and the condition they leave it in - on that basis, Romanov probably sits alongside Robinson in that respect.