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Diadora Van Basten

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Lord Beni of Gorgie

Saving grace for Budge compared to the other 3 she leaves us solvent not with hands tied financially. 

 

She managed to get us relegated but saved Tynecastle something that the other 3 would have changed or in Romanovs case jeopardised along with the club itself. 

 

Let's be honest and not reinvent history. 

 

The others all had better teams than Budge, indisputable 

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Bazzas right boot
Just now, The Real Maroonblood said:

McCann certainly did a fantastic job for them and he left them in a good position. 

 

 

Fans hate him fur. Time tho, taken a generation to see his good work to be realised. 

 

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Chris Robinson (and Leslie Deans) were different to Wallace Mercer. They were big Hearts supporters anyway and they had some good business brains between them. For a football club...that's open to debate but after 13 years of Mercer-ship, they wanted to go about things differently, and it worked at first. They wanted to get Hearts back up from the last two or three years of lower League placings. They bring in McLean, it didn't work, but at least they knew it wasn't working, they'd made a mistake but rectified it immediately by bringing in Jim Jeffries. The years under Robinson were probably my fondest memories. He allowed JJ to search the transfer market for players and most were good signings. In his years we saw perhaps the best team/players that i ever remember at Hearts. Cameron, Bruno, Rousset, Niemi, Weir, Fulton.....and the rest. But it all got too much for them in the end. The constant problem of finding funds, particularly after Jeffries left was becoming unsustainable. Debts were rising to uncontrollable levels hence the selling off Tynecastle stuff. He had Levein selling off our best players, signing a few crap ones and fans wanting the funds made available to sign the likes of Ricardo Fuller permanently. It was only going one way. Then Romanov came knocking on the door after being turned down by Dundee Utd and Dunfermline.

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David Black
20 minutes ago, john thomas said:

Budge and Romanov are polar opposites . Do they both have egos ? Possibly . Do most owners of football clubs have

egos ? Probably .

Your last sentence , to me , shows an incredible lack of knowledge on the subject

If you look up the definition of egotistical it highlights the me,me,me in the person. In Mercer I saw the Hearts, Hearts, Hearts in him. He had to put himself out front to get that out. Both our personal opinions. 

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Geddyalexneil
32 minutes ago, Pasquale for King said:

4 year terms voted on by the FoH. 

I am not against that in principal. Being stuck with someone who doesn't want to go and their time is up (as we go backwards football wise at a rate of knots) is depressing.

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5 minutes ago, David Black said:

If you look up the definition of egotistical it highlights the me,me,me in the person. In Mercer I saw the Hearts, Hearts, Hearts in him. He had to put himself out front to get that out. Both our personal opinions. 

 

Mercer was maybe a wee bit egotistical but he did it for the right reasons...to bring Hearts back from the brink and to get the Hearts name out there. I think he knew we were a sleeping giant as the saying used to go and wanted to turn that around. He was watching a not so strong Rangers or Celtic at the time and a very strong Aberdeen and Dundee Utd. He believed he could turn Hearts into the same as them and go head to head with the old firm. It was all going quite well in the mid-80s then Souness arrived at Ibrox in '86, the same summer after we just lost out on winning the League and Alex Ferguson decided to leave Aberdeen and give Man Utd a go. 1986 was a pivotal year in Scottish football when you think about it. Hearts almost pulling it off, Fergie leaving and Souness arriving. It was a great time for football in Scotland. Might've been interesting if Fergie had decided to stay and take on the (new) might of Rangers. 

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kingantti1874
32 minutes ago, Sir Gio said:

Saving grace for Budge compared to the other 3 she leaves us solvent not with hands tied financially. 

 

She managed to get us relegated but saved Tynecastle something that the other 3 would have changed or in Romanovs case jeopardised along with the club itself. 

 

Let's be honest and not reinvent history. 

 

The others all had better teams than Budge, indisputable 


All Accurate, but right now we have our worst team since the late 70’s / early 80’s at a time where we have NEVER been so robust financially or stable of the pitch

 

that is an incredible thing to say and an unbelievable wasted opportunity 

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Just now, kingantti1874 said:


All Accurate, but right now we have our worst team since the late 70’s / early 80’s at a time where we have NEVER been so robust financially or stable of the pitch

 

that is an incredible thing to say and an unbelievable wasted opportunity 

 

Your last sentence....yes, possibly the best opportunity we've had to build the club up in the (near) forty years i've been heading along to Tynecastle. 

There is still time to turn this around but, massive changes are needed. Top to bottom from boardroom to coaches, player recruitment and youth academy. It's all there for someone to take by the scruff of the neck and sort the whole club out. One thing is for sure, we can't carry on the way we've been going these last few years. This club has so much potential and it's being strangled to death by incompetence and lunacy. Ann Budge is a big Hearts fan and she really needs to take a step back for a minute and recap the last few years. I love this club, but what i am watching is not my Hearts.

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Pasquale for King
38 minutes ago, Geddyalexneil said:

I am not against that in principal. Being stuck with someone who doesn't want to go and their time is up (as we go backwards football wise at a rate of knots) is depressing.

Indeed, it’s not democratic either and when you have 8k owners as it were they need to have their voices heard. 

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Lord Beni of Gorgie
38 minutes ago, kingantti1874 said:


All Accurate, but right now we have our worst team since the late 70’s / early 80’s at a time where we have NEVER been so robust financially or stable of the pitch

 

that is an incredible thing to say and an unbelievable wasted opportunity 

I dont disagree, and oddly none of the managers bar Burley has probably had the setup to succeed, well for 2 months. 

 

Would be quite something if Budge picked the team  :lol:

Edited by Sir Gio
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john thomas
5 hours ago, David Black said:

If you look up the definition of egotistical it highlights the me,me,me in the person. In Mercer I saw the Hearts, Hearts, Hearts in him. He had to put himself out front to get that out. Both our personal opinions. 

Sorry but I find it hard to believe anyone has that opinion about Mercer . I'm pretty sure he would find it hard to believe too

Unfortunately he is not around to tell us . Which is a great pity , he was great for Hearts . Ego and all

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Selkirkhmfc1874

To be fair to Mrs Budge the her one legacy is making our future at Tynecastle park sustainable with building new stand with corporate suites etc

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Iirc, Wallace held a press conference because Craig Levein's return from long term injury was like a new signing. 😄

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shaun.lawson

Mercer's a fantastic example of how people's views change with the passing of time. He was massively unpopular when he left. He never recovered from what, frankly, was a ridiculous and outrageous takeover attempt of you-know-who. Lest we forget - and it's frequently completely ignored on here - Mercer actually wanted to merge Hearts and Hibs. That'd have meant the end of both great Edinburgh institutions.

 

I'm frequently accused of not understanding the emotional side of football. God only knows what that must've made him then. Yet just as a cold-hearted business decision ruined him, so his immense commercial attributes and yes, massive personality were what transformed Hearts. He was arrogant (but big clubs should have a certain arrogance), ambitious and hugely visionary; by the late 80s, he knew Rangers were heading off into the distance and essentially uncatchable. He knew that Hearts could no longer win the league on our revenue and gates. Hence his subsequent decision.

 

He was so, so unlucky not to win anything in his time - but he gave HMFC its pride and soul back. No doubt about that. Then Robinson tried to build on that, fell out with Deans; but crucially, showed the fans utter, utter contempt. Also, a lot of people don't realise this - but you know why he jumped at the SMG deal without thinking through the implications? Because he wanted to get it right up Deans and McGrail. He was on record saying as much on the club website FFS. Everything that's happened at Hearts since was a result of one man's vanity and bitterness. 

 

Then he lied about Tynecastle not being 'fit for purpose' and lied about selling the stadium not being a direct result of his handling of the SMG money and lied about Murrayfield being remotely viable and made a total prat of himself with that lunatic idea to play Celtic in Australia. And he kept lying and kept lying and deserved to go down in history as an utter disgrace.

 

Romanov v Budge, though? I totally concur that they're absolute polar opposites... yet somehow, the same. Budge has spent her entire time at Hearts desperate to be the anti-Vlad in every conceivable way - but in football, as in life, extremes never work. They always fail.

 

Romanov got it right up the Scottish authorities, alienating everyone else but entertaining us. Budge played nice with the authorities, won no friends and saw the results of that meekness last year. As we were physically dragged to the trapdoor, forced down it and the door was slammed shut, while rival fans gesticulated in amusement.

 

Romanov spent utterly insane amounts and almost killed the club. Budge focuses on 'living within our means' and has harmed the club horribly through sheer apathy and lack of ambition.

 

Romanov barely communicated at all at times (but was riotously funny when he did)... Budge has communicated constantly, but astonishingly ineptly. Patronising, condescending, you name it.

 

Romanov demanded success. Budge thinks 'success' is falling over the line to win the most piss poor Championship ever known.

 

Romanov didn't so much hate Hibs as completely take the piss out of them. Budge tried to make Hibs our 'friends'. :boak:

 

Romanov employed family members. Budge employs family members.

 

Romanov was far too powerful for his or our own good. Budge is far too powerful for her or our own good.

 

Utterly ludicrous numbers of players passed through the club during Romanov's time... and Budge's time too.

 

Under Romanov, a manager did well to last a year at Hearts. Under Budge, since Neilson left first time round, it's been pretty similar. 

 

But in the end, for all his very many ills, Hearts won things under Vlad. Important things. And that's what a club this size is supposed to be all about. We've completely forgotten that under Budge... so despite her good intentions, I consider her the second worst owner of all four. And concur with most that Waldo was comfortably the best. Mercer was the second best Hearts owner of all time in my view.

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1 hour ago, shaun.lawson said:

And concur with most that Waldo was comfortably the best. Mercer was the second best Hearts owner of all time in my view

 

Mercer the best for me, with Waldo probably third.

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sandylejambo

Mercers idea of joining up with Hibs was taking the maroon of Hearts and the white of Hibs, playing at Tynecastle, joining the names I.E., the Heart of, from us and because Hibs played in the county of Midlothian adding the Midlothian bit to the name.

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15 hours ago, Sir Gio said:

Saving grace for Budge compared to the other 3 she leaves us solvent not with hands tied financially. 

 

She managed to get us relegated but saved Tynecastle something that the other 3 would have changed or in Romanovs case jeopardised along with the club itself. 

 

Let's be honest and not reinvent history. 

 

The others all had better teams than Budge, indisputable 

Bang on. The reason Budge is getting heat is because the first team is shit and has been for ages. All the other stuff is just fluff and very few people would give a toss if we were 4th in the spl.

Edited by GinRummy
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davemclaren
8 hours ago, GinRummy said:

No love for my old boss Archie Martin?

 

🙃 thought not tbf.

We owe him a debt for opening the club up and moving on from the old ways. He gets a tick from me. 

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1 hour ago, davemclaren said:

We owe him a debt for opening the club up and moving on from the old ways. He gets a tick from me. 

He’s an absolute diamond of a guy. He got Walter Kidd a job with us as well but Zico was only there a matter of weeks as he got offered a coaching job somewhere. 

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davemclaren
5 minutes ago, GinRummy said:

He’s an absolute diamond of a guy. He got Walter Kidd a job with us as well but Zico was only there a matter of weeks as he got offered a coaching job somewhere. 

Must be a good age now. Does he still support Hearts? We should do a Q&A with him. 😄

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4 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

Must be a good age now. Does he still support Hearts? We should do a Q&A with him. 😄

Not been in touch with him for years. Must’ve been about 1996. The usual when you get on with someone at work. ‘Will stay in touch, phone me for a pint’. All with the best intentions but never happens. Absolutely loved the club. Aye he was old then so maybe not even around anymore. 

Edited by GinRummy
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ford donald
10 hours ago, sandylejambo said:

Mercers idea of joining up with Hibs was taking the maroon of Hearts and the white of Hibs, playing at Tynecastle, joining the names I.E., the Heart of, from us and because Hibs played in the county of Midlothian adding the Midlothian bit to the name.

Mercer's proposed take over of Hibs was a business opportunity,he seen the value in it players valuation etc,unfortunately it backfired on him, nevertheless I liked him as a chairman,he was a great front man for Hearts and the press loved him.

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davemclaren
12 minutes ago, GinRummy said:

Not been in touch with him for years. Must’ve been about 1996. The usual when you get on with someone at work. ‘Will stay in touch, phone me for a pint’. All with the best intentions but never happens. Absolutely loved the club. Aye he was old then so maybe not even around anymore. 

Always the same when you leave a job. Yeah, must be in his 80s now if still around. 

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Diadora Van Basten

Robinson used to take a salary of £250k and took the maximum tax free redundancy pay when he left.

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On 06/04/2021 at 16:42, jambonian said:

 

Mercer was maybe a wee bit egotistical but he did it for the right reasons...to bring Hearts back from the brink and to get the Hearts name out there. I think he knew we were a sleeping giant as the saying used to go and wanted to turn that around. He was watching a not so strong Rangers or Celtic at the time and a very strong Aberdeen and Dundee Utd. He believed he could turn Hearts into the same as them and go head to head with the old firm. It was all going quite well in the mid-80s then Souness arrived at Ibrox in '86, the same summer after we just lost out on winning the League and Alex Ferguson decided to leave Aberdeen and give Man Utd a go. 1986 was a pivotal year in Scottish football when you think about it. Hearts almost pulling it off, Fergie leaving and Souness arriving. It was a great time for football in Scotland. Might've been interesting if Fergie had decided to stay and take on the (new) might of Rangers. 

It was the around the time money and business started to take over football and more power to the clubs with the largest fanbases. No club outside the Glasgow two have won the league since (only Aberdeen came close in '91), similar trend in most other leagues.

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On 06/04/2021 at 22:04, Selkirkhmfc1874 said:

To be fair to Mrs Budge the her one legacy is making our future at Tynecastle park sustainable with building new stand with corporate suites etc

Give her another few years wasting money and see if its sustainable

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On 06/04/2021 at 13:51, frankblack said:

 

You missed out that Romanov left us in Administration and on the verge of liquidation.

 

To all intents and purposes, he did liquidate us.

 

It's only because UBIG/Ukio Bankas were also finished (as a going concern) that we escaped death by the width of a midgie's ball-hair.

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Selkirkhmfc1874
2 hours ago, Sherbet said:

Give her another few years wasting money and see if its sustainable

Totally agree about wasting money which I've said many times buddy ! All I'm saying is that's the one good thing she's done 

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Biffa Bacon
On 06/04/2021 at 14:32, Blackshades said:

This isn't a support of budge but who does everyone think is waiting in the wings that's going to come in and make everything in the garden Rosey .just wondering? As I can't think of anyone off the top of my head

My thoughts exactly, do we swap a chairwoman who works for free and brings in £3M per year from her contacts for whom? Is it a well meaning hearts supporting bookmaker or other consortium of businessmen . How do we know it will be an improvement?

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Blackshades
43 minutes ago, Biffa Bacon said:

My thoughts exactly, do we swap a chairwoman who works for free and brings in £3M per year from her contacts for whom? Is it a well meaning hearts supporting bookmaker or other consortium of businessmen . How do we know it will be an improvement?

We don't know that's the thing .but for  a lot of people if you don't like something change it, you don't know if it will make matters better or worse but  change it anyway . If you find out it's worse then change it again and again until you disappear up your own back side

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Biffa Bacon
49 minutes ago, Blackshades said:

We don't know that's the thing .but for  a lot of people if you don't like something change it, you don't know if it will make matters better or worse but  change it anyway . If you find out it's worse then change it again and again until you disappear up your own back side

Like starting again with a new squad, when we still have players on our books from Levien, Stendel and Neilson. What about McCulloch and Forrest, are they duds too?

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kingantti1874
7 minutes ago, Biffa Bacon said:

Like starting again with a new squad, when we still have players on our books from Levien, Stendel and Neilson. What about McCulloch and Forrest, are they duds too?


have any of our players improved their performances as the season has gone on? I can’t think of any. Not a great outcome for our coaches 

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The Old Tolbooth

If we could combine the product on the park that Romanov gave us, with the business sense that Budge has off the park, then that would be great! 

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3 hours ago, Biffa Bacon said:

Like starting again with a new squad, when we still have players on our books from Levien, Stendel and Neilson. What about McCulloch and Forrest, are they duds too?

 

McCulloch is a dud. He walked away from Kilmarnock before he was sacked. He left them bottom without winning many, if any games. Don't even know who Forrest is.

As for a new squad....there's a nucleus of a decent squad there. Sure, there's a few duds that need culled but most of Levein's are either away or will be leaving in the summer, well, the ones we can get away. There's only Boyce from Stendel's time, the rest is Neilson's squad. There's plenty decent players in that squad but they need a fresh input, new coaching and style of play. They are bored, just like the fans. The style they are being coached in is far too similar to Levein. There's virtually no congratulations to a goalscorer, they barely even smile when they score, and there's no commiserations if anyone makes a mistake, feksup or scores an own-goal/gives away a penalty. The reaction is the same, pick the ball up and take it to the centre-circle or throw it in the direction of where they've given a free-kick or penalty from. There's a lack of unity within that squad and someone with a fresh approach coming in  is the only way to go. If not, next season will be a turgid, drab affair with similar or worse performances than we've watched this season. 

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