Saulius Mikoliūnas

[Marvin]

Taken from twitter (X) Miko has retired from the game. Loved him and of course Zal. Enjoy your retirement Miko 🫶

 

 

[OTT]

He was a brilliant winger, amazed he just kept going too, 39!!!

 

I'm glad he got to see out his career winning silverware. His treatment in Scotland was a ****ing disgrace. From Davisgate to the reaction from the media after the Scotland game. 

 

I hope the club invites him back at some point, it would be great to see a wee throw back evening to the Vlad years.

 

Happy retirement Miko!!  

[spirt of 98]

What we’d do now for a player like him and Cesney. 

[kingantti1874]

Our boy looks all grown up 

[TallPaul]

His winner v Hibs in the 3-2 was magical 

Edited November 13, 2023 by TallPaul

[Marvin]

@rubyruby thought I'd tag you to share some memories of one of our favourite Liths. My favourite goals were against hibs in a 3-0 at Tynie and a 1-2 loss to celtic.

Edited November 13, 2023 by Marvin

[The Old Tolbooth]

Loved Miko, cracking wee player and we could do with someone like him in our team now! Enjoy your retirement pal, but you won't be looking back on Scotland with fond memories after the disgusting way you were treated here by our media. 

 

All the best wee man

[Cruyff]

Good wee player. All the best Miko.

[Americana]

Loved him , played with so much passion .

 

Strange looking back and at one point he became what was a weak link, could walk into our squad now.

 

Enjoy your retirement.

[jamboozy]

All the very best  Miko, enjoy your retirement.👍

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

Richard Gordon exposing himself as a racist twat over Miko was a crowning achievement. Cup winning legend.

[Gordon Ramsay]

He was class on his day. 

[Pans Jambo]

2 minutes ago, The Old Tolbooth said:

Loved Miko, cracking wee player and we could do with someone like him in our team now! Enjoy your retirement pal, but you won't be looking back on Scotland with fond memories after the disgusting way you were treated here by our media. 

 

All the best wee man

This.

 

The Glasgow media really is an embarrassment to Scotland. If anything, its gotten worse since that period.

[jamboozy]

Just now, Geoff Kilpatrick said:

Richard Gordon exposing himself as a racist twat over Miko was a crowning achievement. Cup winning legend.

This, all day long, the BBC Scotland sports staff were tripping over their hatred of all things Hearts due to Vlad calling them out. When they had their chance to rip into someone, then Miko got all the bile they could muster thrown at him.

      I have never been able to listen to ‘ Dick’ since then without cringing.

[DG_HMFC]

Loved Miko.

 

Like others have said, the treatment he received from the media was disgraceful.

[Harry Potter]

All the best for the future Miko, i have great memories of you playing for Hearts. 

[BlueRiver]

50 minutes ago, TallPaul said:

His winner v Hibs in the 3-2 was magical 

 

One of my favourite derbies that one. Great game. 

 

Still mind Whittaker(?)'s effort smashing both posts and coming back out. Would've made it 3-3. 

 

Possibly the last quality competitive Derby I remember. Since then all the good ones have been one-sided pump fests. 

[boag1874]

One of my heroes growing up, very very fond memories of his time with us. On his day he was genuinely unplayable. Happy retirement!

[rubyruby]

44 minutes ago, Marvin said:

@rubyruby thought I'd tag you to share some memories of one of our favourite Liths. My favourite goals were against hibs in a 3-0 at Tynie and a 1-2 loss to celtic.

Thank u.I loved miko,his treatment was disgusting. The SFA go on about how they don't tolerate racist,sectarian language but yet allowed him to be targeted with vile abuse at every ground he went to,something he put up with for nearly 2 years after the Scotland game,a game that also had a Scotland player dive,a game we won in the end anyway.Im glad he has done so well since then.A cup winner and a hater of the hibees.Hope he visits us soon,took Chesney long enough. 

[Bauld]

He would absolutely destroy this league if we had him in his prime now. 

[Gillsland jack]

All the best in your retirement Miko, hope to see you and a few other of the Lithuanian boy's on the pitch at Half-time, maybe doing the half-time draw, it was a roller coaster time but I loved the way you all collectively drove the Weegie media nuts🤣

[gordiegords]

He was decent for us and has had a good career, wasn’t he a boo boy for a section of the support for a good while? Seem to remember something about folk thinking he was a trouble maker in the dressing room 🤷🏽‍♂️.

 

I liked him so happy retirement Miko.

[Star Lizard]

The difference he made when he came in was glaring . We had a decent team under Robertson but it had a few weaknesses . Miko and Cesny were standouts 

[Bungalow Bill]

You couldn’t dislike Miko, always put the effort in. 
 

I remember in the LC semi against Motherwell, he went down like he’d been shot and SPH just grabbed him and pulled him to his feet 😂. 

[Francis Albert]

Good luck Miko in retirement and thanks for the memories.

 

It has to be said that a section of the Hearts support did not warm to the "Liths". Miko and Cesny got a fair amount of abuse. I even remember after Zaliukas scored twice at Easter Road to give us a 2-2 draw a complaint on here that he did not do anything else in the game! 

 

Not all the Lithuanians were a success. Was it Gordon who referred to them as "faceless cast of a thousand" or something like that. But there were quite a few gems ... more than our current recruitment team have unearthed to date.

[Bindy Badgy]

 

[copa-mundial]

From the moment Robbo brought him on for his first appearance away to Livingston that midweek game. You knew the kid had something about him. 

He was direct, had pace, had fight, could also play with both feet. 

 

Mikoliunas 23. Can look back at fond memories with Heart of Midlothian F.C. 

Scottish Cup winner and champions league goal scorer. 

[Lone Striker]

14 minutes ago, Bauld said:

He would absolutely destroy this league if we had him in his prime now. 

Yep.  He always looked to drive or pass forward when he got the ball.  I would never have recognised him from that photo though - he's no longer a rosy-cheeked wee cherub.😉   

 

Nice to know he's won several accolades back home, and the  outrageous Scottish media vilification  hasn't affected his footballing ability.

 

 

[Star Lizard]

17 minutes ago, Bungalow Bill said:

You couldn’t dislike Miko, always put the effort in. 
 

I remember in the LC semi against Motherwell, he went down like he’d been shot and SPH just grabbed him and pulled him to his feet 😂. 

Lots of Hearts fans did dislike him . Similar to how many dislike current Hearts players and try and talk them down . Hartley got the same treatment from some and before them Flogel . Since then there have been too many to mention like Suso and most recently Atkinson and Vargas 

 

If we signed 22 year old Miko today , he would be called a project and every poor pass or shirked tackle pounced upon while ignoring everything good that he does 

 

 

Edited November 13, 2023 by Sooks

[Star Lizard]

11 minutes ago, Francis Albert said:

Good luck Miko in retirement and thanks for the memories.

 

It has to be said that a section of the Hearts support did not warm to the "Liths". Miko and Cesny got a fair amount of abuse. I even remember after Zaliukas scored twice at Easter Road to give us a 2-2 draw a complaint on here that he did not do anything else in the game! 

 

Not all the Lithuanians were a success. Was it Gordon who referred to them as "faceless cast of a thousand" or something like that. But there were quite a few gems ... more than our current recruitment team have unearthed to date.

It was Keith Jackson . He was referring to Iceland Captain Eggert Jonsson at the time 

 

 

Edited November 13, 2023 by Sooks

[Bindy Badgy]

2 minutes ago, Sooks said:

It was Keith Jackson . He was referring to Iceland Captain Eggert Jonsson at the time 

 

 

 

To further underline the stupidity of Jackson's comment, Jonsson had been at Hearts from well before Romanov bought us.

[Star Lizard]

3 minutes ago, Bindy Badgy said:

 

To further underline the stupidity of Jackson's comment, Jonsson had been at Hearts from well before Romanov bought us.

We would run out of ink very quickly if we tried to underline that particular fannys stupidity 

[ford donald]

19 minutes ago, Bindy Badgy said:

 

This..

[kingantti1874]

Wouldn’t be against going back into the Lithuanian market.  We got some cracking players. 
 

miko, chesney, velicka, zal 

 

 

[indianajones]

**** loved Miko. 

 

His treatment in this country was a complete xenophobic disgrace. 

[micole]

2 hours ago, jamboozy said:

This, all day long, the BBC Scotland sports staff were tripping over their hatred of all things Hearts due to Vlad calling them out. When they had their chance to rip into someone, then Miko got all the bile they could muster thrown at him.

      I have never been able to listen to ‘ Dick’ since then without cringing.

Aye he is well named " Dick".....😁

[i8hibsh]

[Tommy Brown]

3 hours ago, Geoff Kilpatrick said:

Richard Gordon exposing himself as a racist twat over Miko was a crowning achievement. Cup winning legend.

I think you could then add a lists of journalists, too.

then nearly every referee treated him with contempt.

the treatment was disgraceful

[Nobreath]

I was a huge fan of Miko's.

 

He did become the target of the boo boys for a while, and I had a few arguments in the stands off the back of that.

 

Wish him all the best in his retirement from playing football, and would love to see him return as a guest of Hearts.

[Thunder and Lightning]

We should show Barrie McKay videos of him.

[vegas-voss]

Scored some cracking goals for Hearts.Never really understood the hate for the guy from our own fans and there was plenty of it no point glossing over it now

Edited November 13, 2023 by vegas-voss

[ToadKiller Dog]

A very good player for us ,might have looked like noddy but was a lot tougher than that .

So much crap he had to put up with ,refs after Davisgate ,xenophobia after Richard Gordon (Murdo Mcleod had to  to tell Gordon to calm down ,that's how far Gordon went  ).Have never forgiven Gordon for that he should have apologised. 

Some of our own fans I guess saw for a time  attacking him as a way to make a point to vlad ,but I think most rallyed round him .

 

All the best for him in the future ,hope he visits a game some point ,need to get more former players out at half time from that era .

[Toxteth O'Grady]

3 hours ago, Bindy Badgy said:

 

Brilliant 

[Star Lizard]

15 minutes ago, vegas-voss said:

Scored some cracking goals for Hearts.Never really understood the hate for the guy from our own fans and there was plenty of it no point glossing over it now

Because some fans want to be the guy that was first to see a good and popular player is not as good as everyone thinks . They think it makes them look like they are more knowledgeable than the fans who are enjoying supporting said player 

 

For more info check out the Baningime and Hoff threads 

 

 

Edited November 13, 2023 by Sooks

[Lambo85]

The way the Hearts Lithuanian players were treated in the media back then was nothing short of racist.

There is no way the media would get away with that now.

I remember an article written about Jankauskas accusing him of all sorts. Had things in it about him diving whilst playing for Lithuania in a game where he wasn't even on the park at the time and also him getting sent off for diving at Easter Road when his first booking was for persistent fouling and his second booking was for a push on Scott Brown.

[iantjambo]

A great wee player for us. Typical winger who ran hot and cold, but on his day he was untouchable.

Hounded out of Scotland by the disgusting media here.

[edramone]

I was a fan. I seem to recall he got a lot of stick from some Jambos.

[Go for it 1308]

4 hours ago, Geoff Kilpatrick said:

Richard Gordon exposing himself as a racist twat over Miko was a crowning achievement. Cup winning legend.

This

[Star Lizard]

6 minutes ago, edramone said:

I was a fan. I seem to recall he got a lot of stick from some Jambos.

The ones who read the Sun , The Record and listened to Real Radio , yes he did 

[loveofthegame]

2 hours ago, Thunder and Lightning said:

We should show Barrie McKay videos of him.

 

Such a strange and needless dig- both have very similar goals to games ratios, I suspect BM has a better assist to games ration and Miko played in far better Hearts sides.

 

Ignoring that stupid comment - Miko is a player I look back on with huge fondness, probably more fondness than I had for him at the time. He was very unfairly picked on by a partisan (and ultimately xenophobic) Scottish media and I think he got unfairly lumped in as just "another Lithuanian", or as one of the downsides of the Romanov era. 

 

What he was actually was an extremely talented winger who was an important member of our squad over a time when we were as good as we've ever been in my lifetime. Not to forget part of a Scottish cup winning side. Legend might be stretching it but a good player who was part of a great squad.