Help needed re Hearts info

[Guest zeeko1]

Hi again folks. As some of you are already aware I am a sometime contributor to a couple of Leicester City fanzines. You've been good enough to help me out with some Levein, Maybury and De Vries stats in the past so I was wondering if some of you would be good enough to help out again.

 

To explain: I'm currently pulling together an article on the creeping menace of club owners taking over English clubs and demanding and an increasingly hands-on role when it comes to team selection/player signings (we've got a colourful owner ourselves in Mandaric but as far as I know he hasn't started picking the team yet!). This week has seen both Alan Curbishley and Kevin Keegan quit rather than be told which players to pick. Now, with my brother-in-law being a Jambo, I'm aware that what most English fans see as a new and unwelcome phenomenon has actually been going on for years in Scotland with Vladimir Romanov at Hearts. I'm hoping to make reference to this in my article so was hoping for some answers to the following questions:

 

Can anyone confirm how many managers have so far come and gone since Romanov bought into the club in 2004/05? I've got nine on my list so far: Robertson, Burley, Rix, Ivanauskas, McGlynn, Malofeev, Korbochka, Frail and Lazlo.

 

This week has seen angry demos by Newcastle fans against the club's owner over Keegan's departure and calls for boycotts. Have their been any similar demos or boycotts by Hearts fans since things started to go wrong under Romanov (eg when Burley was sacked or over last season's bottom six finish?) and if so have they had any effect?

 

Overall, do Hearts fans resent Romanov's interference or do most simply believe there's nothing they can do about it?

 

Sorry if I've waffled on a bit. Many thanks for any views

[scott herbertson]

Hi again folks. As some of you are already aware I am a sometime contributor to a couple of Leicester City fanzines. You've been good enough to help me out with some Levein, Maybury and De Vries stats in the past so I was wondering if some of you would be good enough to help out again.

 

To explain: I'm currently pulling together an article on the creeping menace of club owners taking over English clubs and demanding and an increasingly hands-on role when it comes to team selection/player signings (we've got a colourful owner ourselves in Mandaric but as far as I know he hasn't started picking the team yet!). This week has seen both Alan Curbishley and Kevin Keegan quit rather than be told which players to pick. Now, with my brother-in-law being a Jambo, I'm aware that what most English fans see as a new and unwelcome phenomenon has actually been going on for years in Scotland with Vladimir Romanov at Hearts. I'm hoping to make reference to this in my article so was hoping for some answers to the following questions:

 

Can anyone confirm how many managers have so far come and gone since Romanov bought into the club in 2004/05? I've got nine on my list so far: Robertson, Burley, Rix, Ivanauskas, McGlynn, Malofeev, Korbochka, Frail and Lazlo.

 

This week has seen angry demos by Newcastle fans against the club's owner over Keegan's departure and calls for boycotts. Have their been any similar demos or boycotts by Hearts fans since things started to go wrong under Romanov (eg when Burley was sacked or over last season's bottom six finish?) and if so have they had any effect?

 

Overall, do Hearts fans resent Romanov's interference or do most simply believe there's nothing they can do about it?

 

Sorry if I've waffled on a bit. Many thanks for any views

 

 

 

 

Interference? What interference?

 

 

 

 

Personally I welcoime it - in the sense that his interference has been to the extent of many millions to save Heartas from going out of existence

 

Re the manager thing - he doesn't fdo managers - he does head coaches with directors of football .

 

None of us like that, some rage about it - (the JamboRagers) and some think we should shrug our shoulders and live with it (The TINAs - There Is No Alternatives)

 

Most of the guys you mention were chosen by Romanov as Head Coaches, with little or no choice of players coming into the club and heavily influenced selection.

 

Only Burley and Laslo have had a fairly free hand in team selection it seems, Burley more so

 

Personally I can liive with the owner saying who comes to the club with the manager having a veto, but that's not what we have here so it grates a bit.

[JAYEL]

Some will see it as a creeping menace others will see it as survival.

 

If it hadn't been for Vlad god knows where we would be today.

 

If that means he brings some players into the club and asks the manager to justify his team selections well i can handle that.

 

As for the managers , some of them were only temporary placements anyway.

[tinydancer]

Interference? What interference?

 

 

 

 

Personally I welcoime it - in the sense that his interference has been to the extent of many millions to save Heartas from going out of existence

 

Re the manager thing - he doesn't fdo managers - he does head coaches with directors of football .

 

None of us like that, some rage about it - (the JamboRagers) and some think we should shrug our shoulders and live with it (The TINAs - There Is No Alternatives)

 

Most of the guys you mention were chosen by Romanov as Head Coaches, with little or no choice of players coming into the club and heavily influenced selection.

 

Only Burley and Laslo have had a fairly free hand in team selection it seems, Burley more so

 

Personally I can liive with the owner saying who comes to the club with the manager having a veto, but that's not what we have here so it grates a bit.

 

 

Personally i think that it's the best thing to happen to us. If you look at the best teams in europe set up apart from Sir Alex then surely our outlook is bright! Do you think that Mark Hughes will stay long at MC if he does not deliver or questions the big money men? What i see in Romanov is a man who knows he can have the top club in Scotland but he wants it his way.

Only time will tell but i'm confident.

Do people still believe that the owners of the OF do not have a say in team selection!?

How many managers have they had between them in the last 20 years to qualify for Europe?

[scott herbertson]

Personally i think that it's the best thing to happen to us. If you look at the best teams in europe set up apart from Sir Alex then surely our outlook is bright! Do you think that Mark Hughes will stay long at MC if he does not deliver or questions the big money men? What i see in Romanov is a man who knows he can have the top club in Scotland but he wants it his way.

Only time will tell but i'm confident.

Do people still believe that the owners of the OF do not have a say in team selection!?

How many managers have they had between them in the last 20 years to qualify for Europe?

 

Don't get me wrong - Romanov in my opinion has ben good for us overall and continues to be . With him we have the potential to establish ourselves as one of the top three in the SPL long term. Without him we are top six at best.

 

I am personally uncomfortable with the DOF/ Head Coach set up as a way of running a football club, but it's a whole lot better than the 'manager with no money' set up aka 'The Hibs Way'

[tinydancer]

Don't get me wrong - Romanov in my opinion has ben good for us overall and continues to be . With him we have the potential to establish ourselves as one of the top three in the SPL long term. Without him we are top six at best.

 

I am personally uncomfortable with the DOF/ Head Coach set up as a way of running a football club, but it's a whole lot better than the 'manager with no money' set up aka 'The Hibs Way'

 

[John S]

I'll be brief and in doing so perhaps not adequately answer the OP

 

Prior to Romanov our ground had been sold with the legal contracts in place. We were heading for a 3 year lease at a rugby ground with no assurance of anything thereafter.

 

If not for Romanov, our club would have died, of that I'm sure.

 

For me its a question of balance, I'm still very happy that we have Romanov.

[Le Chat]

 

Can anyone confirm how many managers have so far come and gone since Romanov bought into the club in 2004/05? I've got nine on my list so far: Robertson, Burley, Rix, Ivanauskas, McGlynn, Malofeev, Korbochka, Frail and Lazlo.

 

 

Not having a go at you mate but this is one thing that seriously gets on my thrupennies. Mainly because its used by lazy west-coast journalists with an agenda.

 

The names in bold were all caretaker managers so they can't count towards managers sacked and the name in maroon is the current DOF who was caretaker for a couple of games and can't therefore be counted as being sacked (particularly as he is still in the role he was brought to the club as).

 

The only managers to have actually been relieved of their duties on a permanent basis are Robbo, Burley, Rix and Ivanauskas. I suppose you could argue that Chervenkov should actually be on the list too.

[Guest JamboRobbo]

Not having a go at you mate but this is one thing that seriously gets on my thrupennies. Mainly because its used by lazy west-coast journalists with an agenda.

 

The names in bold were all caretaker managers so they can't count towards managers sacked and the name in maroon is the current DOF who was caretaker for a couple of games and can't therefore be counted as being sacked (particularly as he is still in the role he was brought to the club as).

 

The only managers to have actually been relieved of their duties on a permanent basis are Robbo, Burley, Rix and Ivanauskas. I suppose you could argue that Chervenkov should acytually be on the list too.

 

Mostly agree, but make no mistake, Malofeev was the permanent boss in Vlads eyes. I know cause I was sat round the table when Vlad said so. He also told us how Malofeev was the greatest coach he'd ever worked with etc etc etc. Then Malofeev shouted some stuff at us about his plans for the future of HMFC.

[Le Chat]

Mostly agree, but make no mistake, Malofeev was the permanent boss in Vlads eyes. I know cause I was sat round the table when Vlad said so. He also told us how Malofeev was the greatest coach he'd ever worked with etc etc etc. Then Malofeev shouted some stuff at us about his plans for the future of HMFC.

 

Don't take this the wrong way as its a genuine question, but how many games was Malofeev in charge for ?

 

5 or 6 while Valdas was apparently under stress ?

 

I think its pushing it a bit to include him, particularly as Valdas came back and replaced him after he'd got his head together.

[Guest JamboRobbo]

Don't take this the wrong way as its a genuine question, but how many games was Malofeev in charge for ?

 

5 or 6 while Valdas was apparently under stress ?

 

I think its pushing it a bit to include him, particularly as Valdas came back and replaced him after he'd got his head together.

 

I guess it depends on the context you're talking about. I was probably a bit Vlad orientated, (i.e. I know that in Vlads head at least, Malofeev was the new head coach, and to quote Vlad, "He (Malofeev) will decide if Valdas returns in any capacity or not"). Oh, and Valdas wasn't ill. Again, straight from Vlads mouth (well translated into English by Pedro but you know what I mean). Stressed? Maybe - stressed at Vlad telling him what to do!

 

Not worth arguing over more than enough of that on here anyway.

 

All I can say is it came straight from Vlad, and I wouldn't make it up. We even had a comical moment at the end of the meeting, where one of the reps (can't remember which) asked Vlad to pass on his best wishes to Valdas. Vlad sighed, sat us all down again, and explained again that Valdas wasn't ill, and that Malofeev would decide if he returned or not. Charlie Mann then sat us all down at the end of the meeting, told us Vlad shouldn't have said that and it had to be kept confidetial etc etc.

[Victor Meldrew]

I think that fans are relatively fickle. By that I mean we don't really care how success is achieved: we simply want that success.

 

In 2005/06 we were stunned when Burley was sacked with 10 games gone, but I think at that stage we were preapred to believe that there had to be a good reason for something that on its face seemed so quixotic on the part of Romanov. It helped that we won a further two games whilst managerless.

 

The appointment of Rix wasbewildering, and the first sign (in my view) that Vlad had really lost the plot, BUT we remained there or thereabouts until New Year's Day and therefore the fans focussed on supporting the team rather than protesting about who was in charge (apart from the now-infamous 'hatkicking' scenes outside Tynecastle!).

 

There was relief when Rix was sacked (Vlad saw sense with that one!) and again we were focussed at that time on winning the Scottish Cup and gtting into the Champions League - which we did with Ivanauskas at the helm.

It was only after that that we started to get REALLY disheartened (excuse the pun!): Malofeev, Korobochka, Frail and dismal performances.

 

Through it all, however, I think we have remained realistic about our prospects without Romanov. Chris Robinson would have had us sell Tynecastle, playing at an empty Murrayfield with no real future.

 

Whilst he does weird and wonderful things, Romanov has kept us at Tynecatle (and has promised to redevelop it - we'll wait and see whether it happens!) and has the resources to make us a success if he wants to, and puts in place a structure that will enable that to happen.

 

I am encouraged by where we are now. I think the penny has dropped with Romanov (to some extent at least) due to the poor performances off the pitch and the difficutly in recruiting a manager. I think that we probably have a balance that Csaba Lazlo and he can live with, and which thus far has got us results on the pitch (in the SPL at least). Whether that will last is anyone's guess.

 

I think that the days of the traditional manager are over. With the sums of cash involved, no successful businessman is gong to give his manager full autonomy on signings. Nor, in my view, should he. In Europe, there has been a tradition of hving a Director of Football / Head Coach type structure, and the World hasn't ended. I also think that the 'bungs' scandal has probably led to owners being more careful about entrusting their money to football people.

 

The Newcastle fans are revolting (in more ways than one ) because they have very high expectations despite having been a failing club for decades. Yes, they have loads of fans, but have achieved nothing of substance in nigh on 40 years. They wuld have turned on Keegan too if they hadn't started winning quickly.

 

If Ashley appoints someone who wins trophies, they'll soon forget about how Keegan was treated.

[JAYEL]

Mostly agree, but make no mistake, Malofeev was the permanent boss in Vlads eyes. I know cause I was sat round the table when Vlad said so. He also told us how Malofeev was the greatest coach he'd ever worked with etc etc etc. Then Malofeev shouted some stuff at us about his plans for the future of HMFC.

 

You have been a changed man ever since.

 

I was really pleased that you got to go to that meeting as you were one of my fav posters on here and voted for you.

 

Something happened at that meeting to totally change your views.

 

Just an observation.

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

.

[Ribble]

 

Not worth arguing over more than enough of that on here anyway.

 

QUOTE]

 

I thought I'd more chance of seeing the hobo's lift the scottish than hear that from you JR

[Guest JamboRobbo]

You have been a changed man ever since.

 

I was really pleased that you got to go to that meeting as you were one of my fav posters on here and voted for you.

 

Something happened at that meeting to totally change your views.

 

Just an observation.

 

 

 

You're right mate. Some things happened at the meeting which I wasn't comfortable with. You can get some idea by reading the post above (Valdas wasn't ill, yet Hearts were telling fans he was ill).

 

It took a wee while after that to see if the other things we were being told at the meeting were true or not. It soon became apparent they weren't.

 

So thats about the size of it. I went along as a Hearts fan in good faith hoping to find out that Vlad wasn't to blame after all. I was fed a load of bull****. And based on that, I'm extremely cynical of anything they tell us. I like Csaba though.

[Guest JamboRobbo]

 

Not worth arguing over more than enough of that on here anyway.

 

 

I thought I'd more chance of seeing the hobo's lift the scottish than hear that from you JR

 

I just can't be bothered anymore.

[Reiver]

Overall, do Hearts fans resent Romanov's interference or do most simply believe there's nothing they can do about it?

 

No matter what the negative doom and gloom merchants say the club wasn't going out of business pre-Vlad. Even if we'd been playing at Murrayfield/livingstone/Dunfermline/ Meadowbank we'd be in a better state than we are now: totally at the mercy of a fickle mad man.

As other people have said most fans take a short term view and despite paying lip service to history and tradition don't seem to care about the dishonourable way the club conducts itself. To some people Hearts is just a football club: something to entertain them once a week. To others it's a business and the most contemptible actions are defended by the Quislings as if this some how makes lying and cheating OK.

Maybe i'm naive for buying the hype or guilty of over romanticising a money making venture but I always thought Hearts were special. As time goes on and i see both fans and players treated like ****e i have to question my allegiance to the club. We're being treated as consumers but we're patently not. You don't change football clubs the way you change shampoo (or in my case furniture polish).

 

(excuse the rambling)

[boabyarsebiscuit]

Hi again folks. As some of you are already aware I am a sometime contributor to a couple of Leicester City fanzines. You've been good enough to help me out with some Levein, Maybury and De Vries stats in the past so I was wondering if some of you would be good enough to help out again.

 

To explain: I'm currently pulling together an article on the creeping menace of club owners taking over English clubs and demanding and an increasingly hands-on role when it comes to team selection/player signings (we've got a colourful owner ourselves in Mandaric but as far as I know he hasn't started picking the team yet!). This week has seen both Alan Curbishley and Kevin Keegan quit rather than be told which players to pick. Now, with my brother-in-law being a Jambo, I'm aware that what most English fans see as a new and unwelcome phenomenon has actually been going on for years in Scotland with Vladimir Romanov at Hearts. I'm hoping to make reference to this in my article so was hoping for some answers to the following questions:

 

Can anyone confirm how many managers have so far come and gone since Romanov bought into the club in 2004/05? I've got nine on my list so far: Robertson, Burley, Rix, Ivanauskas, McGlynn, Malofeev, Korbochka, Frail and Lazlo.

 

This week has seen angry demos by Newcastle fans against the club's owner over Keegan's departure and calls for boycotts. Have their been any similar demos or boycotts by Hearts fans since things started to go wrong under Romanov (eg when Burley was sacked or over last season's bottom six finish?) and if so have they had any effect?

 

Overall, do Hearts fans resent Romanov's interference or do most simply believe there's nothing they can do about it?

 

Sorry if I've waffled on a bit. Many thanks for any views

In Hearts' case, Mr Romanov still seems to have a fair bit of good will banked with the core support due to the fact the club's situation was so dire prior to his arrival as a "White Knight". There's a feeling that his idiosyncracies can be tolerated due to the fact that prior to Mr Romanov's arrival we were about to move from our spiritual home to a soul-less 67,000 seater Rugby stadium. It's part "drowning man doesn't spit in the face of the person pulling them out of the sea" syndrome, part eternal optimism of the typical football fan. Maybe if George Burley hadn't had such a great start, and Mr Romanov hadn't been seen to so visibly pull that all to pieces, Mr Romanov would still have the goodwill of 99% of the Hearts support and we'd still be singing his name at matches. Who knows? As it is, Mr Romanov does still seem to enjoy the confidence of a fair percentage of the Hearts support, despite all of his meddling.

 

There have been no demos, or protests, against the Romanov regime. Unless the "hatkicking" in the aftermath of George Burley's sacking counts. The fact Burley's team managed to win the Scottish Cup in 2006 while operating pretty much on auto-pilot helps. The fact we didn't have to move to Murrayfield helps. And after a concerted campaign against the ownership prior to Mr Romanov's arrival, I am sure that some form of "protest fatigue" also helps.

 

We've had some dire football over the last couple of years. We've had to put up with what at times seemed like unbelievably stupid footballing decisions. At most, you've had some dissent on here. Some grumbling in the pub after games. And we haven't been selling out our home games any more. But the fact the club was on its last legs, and was revived by Mr Romanov, means that you can't really look at Hearts as a guide to how fans of Newcastle Utd or Manchester City will react to their ownership's management style. And put it this way. If Newcastle won even the Carling Cup this season, the fans wouldn't be protesting about Mike Ashley and Dennis Wise as the Open Top Bus edged down a packed Gallowgate the day after.

[marshallschunkychicken]

Mostly agree, but make no mistake, Malofeev was the permanent boss in Vlads eyes. I know cause I was sat round the table when Vlad said so. He also told us how Malofeev was the greatest coach he'd ever worked with etc etc etc. Then Malofeev shouted some stuff at us about his plans for the future of HMFC.

 

That sentence sums up that whole sorry period for me.

[Guest zeeko1]

Not having a go at you mate but this is one thing that seriously gets on my thrupennies. Mainly because its used by lazy west-coast journalists with an agenda.

 

The names in bold were all caretaker managers so they can't count towards managers sacked and the name in maroon is the current DOF who was caretaker for a couple of games and can't therefore be counted as being sacked (particularly as he is still in the role he was brought to the club as).

 

The only managers to have actually been relieved of their duties on a permanent basis are Robbo, Burley, Rix and Ivanauskas. I suppose you could argue that Chervenkov should actually be on the list too.

 

Cheers, it's obviously a grey area (for example it appears Frail was effectively managing the team for virtually all of last season, but you're saying he wasn't actually the manager?) so I'll maybe just say something along the lines of 'Romanov has overseen the coming and going of a conveyor belt of managers and caretaker managers'.

 

Anyway, thanks to everyone for the feedback. Just one final thing re the signing policy. Does the new fella Lazlo have any more say than his predecessors over who he wants to bring to the club? I notice that some more players have recently arrived from Romanov's Lithuanian club which would seem to indicate he has to work with what he's given?

 

Cheers again.

[Le Chat]

Cheers, it's obviously a grey area (for example it appears Frail was effectively managing the team for virtually all of last season, but you're saying he wasn't actually the manager?) so I'll maybe just say something along the lines of 'Romanov has overseen the coming and going of a conveyor belt of managers and caretaker managers'.

 

Anyway, thanks to everyone for the feedback. Just one final thing re the signing policy. Does the new fella Lazlo have any more say than his predecessors over who he wants to bring to the club? I notice that some more players have recently arrived from Romanov's Lithuanian club which would seem to indicate he has to work with what he's given?

 

Cheers again.

 

Frail was holding the fort until Mark McGhee was appointed as Hearts had been talking to him since January and he didn't want to leave Motherwell in the wake of the Phil O'Donnell situation..

 

McGhee bottled it at the last minute.

 

I don't know if you could actually describe 4 or 5 managers over 4 years as a 'converyor belt'. I know the papers do it but they have very little credibility left nowadays, preferring sensationalism to realism.

 

It would be a pity if your article displayed the same slant.

[Guest zeeko1]

Frail was holding the fort until Mark McGhee was appointed as Hearts had been talking to him since January and he didn't want to leave Motherwell in the wake of the Phil O'Donnell situation..

 

McGhee bottled it at the last minute.

 

I don't know if you could actually describe 4 or 5 managers over 4 years as a 'converyor belt'. I know the papers do it but they have very little credibility left nowadays, preferring sensationalism to realism.

 

It would be a pity if your article displayed the same slant.

 

 

Maybe a 'revolving door' then? Sorry, I'm not a newspaper journalist and have no intention of sensationalising anything, but I'd humbly suggest it was realistic to say there have been a hefty number of people taking charge of the team since Romanov bought into the club. I've no idea of the answer, but I'd imagine you probably had a lot less managers/head coaches/caretakers etc over, say, the 10 years pre-Romanov?

 

Whatever, hopefully the new lad will bring a bit of stability on that front. Ta-ra for now

[Guest zeeko1]

Frail was holding the fort until Mark McGhee was appointed as Hearts had been talking to him since January and he didn't want to leave Motherwell in the wake of the Phil O'Donnell situation..

 

McGhee bottled it at the last minute.

 

I don't know if you could actually describe 4 or 5 managers over 4 years as a 'converyor belt'. I know the papers do it but they have very little credibility left nowadays, preferring sensationalism to realism.

 

It would be a pity if your article displayed the same slant.

 

Sorry, meant to say cheers for that bit on McGhee. Info I had was that Romanov wouldn't guarantee him control of signings/team line-ups but I'll amend that accordingly.

[Guest zeeko1]

No matter what the negative doom and gloom merchants say the club wasn't going out of business pre-Vlad. Even if we'd been playing at Murrayfield/livingstone/Dunfermline/ Meadowbank we'd be in a better state than we are now: totally at the mercy of a fickle mad man.

As other people have said most fans take a short term view and despite paying lip service to history and tradition don't seem to care about the dishonourable way the club conducts itself. To some people Hearts is just a football club: something to entertain them once a week. To others it's a business and the most contemptible actions are defended by the Quislings as if this some how makes lying and cheating OK.

Maybe i'm naive for buying the hype or guilty of over romanticising a money making venture but I always thought Hearts were special. As time goes on and i see both fans and players treated like ****e i have to question my allegiance to the club. We're being treated as consumers but we're patently not. You don't change football clubs the way you change shampoo (or in my case furniture polish).

 

(excuse the rambling)

 

Must admit, I kinda expected most fans to reply in a similar fashion to you. I think this is the way most Newcastle fans are feeling at the moment. Having been warned not to 'sensationalise' things though () I won't be making out that all Hearts fans think likewise.

 

OK, that definitely all from me! Cheers.

[adeb74]

Totally agree with some posts that Romanov is both the savour of the club and the devil in disguise.

 

He saved the club from know doubt going bust and tried to be a hero to the fans.............then it all started to go wrong with the sackings, the interferance in the team and the employment of certain managers/ head coaches / players.

 

It is true that football is in a revolutuion type process with the money being spent on team squads and players wages. The owners want more of a say in the team as they feel they are entitled to do as it is now seen as a Buisness Venture rather than just a football team.

 

The Newcastle situation is the prime example of an owner trying at first to be one of the boys, sitting and drinking with the supporters. He has made his "BUISNESS" descisions and now finds himself hated.

 

By no means am i defending him and i genually feel so sorry for the Newcastle fans and Keegan for the situation they now find themselves in. Keegan im sure when he agreed to come back to the club would not have been told of the NEW SET UP otherwise there is no way he would have agreed to go back. The fans at the time were happy to accept the money and get rid of Shepard and co.

 

Its a catch 22 situation and one a lot of us jambos can understand.

 

ade

[marshallschunkychicken]

Hi again folks. As some of you are already aware I am a sometime contributor to a couple of Leicester City fanzines. You've been good enough to help me out with some Levein, Maybury and De Vries stats in the past so I was wondering if some of you would be good enough to help out again.

 

To explain: I'm currently pulling together an article on the creeping menace of club owners taking over English clubs and demanding and an increasingly hands-on role when it comes to team selection/player signings (we've got a colourful owner ourselves in Mandaric but as far as I know he hasn't started picking the team yet!). This week has seen both Alan Curbishley and Kevin Keegan quit rather than be told which players to pick. Now, with my brother-in-law being a Jambo, I'm aware that what most English fans see as a new and unwelcome phenomenon has actually been going on for years in Scotland with Vladimir Romanov at Hearts. I'm hoping to make reference to this in my article so was hoping for some answers to the following questions:

 

Can anyone confirm how many managers have so far come and gone since Romanov bought into the club in 2004/05? I've got nine on my list so far: Robertson, Burley, Rix, Ivanauskas, McGlynn, Malofeev, Korbochka, Frail and Lazlo.

 

This week has seen angry demos by Newcastle fans against the club's owner over Keegan's departure and calls for boycotts. Have their been any similar demos or boycotts by Hearts fans since things started to go wrong under Romanov (eg when Burley was sacked or over last season's bottom six finish?) and if so have they had any effect?

 

Overall, do Hearts fans resent Romanov's interference or do most simply believe there's nothing they can do about it?

 

Sorry if I've waffled on a bit. Many thanks for any views

 

Zeeko

 

If this article makes it online, be sure to come back and give us a link so we can have a read of what you have to say

rip you to shreds

about the situation.

 

Or you could cut and paste from your final copy if it's going to be a hard copy fanzine. Either way, I'd be interested to read it and the relative situations in Scotland / England.

 

Cheers

[Guest zeeko1]

Zeeko

 

If this article makes it online, be sure to come back and give us a link so we can have a read of what you have to say

rip you to shreds

about the situation.

 

Or you could cut and paste from your final copy if it's going to be a hard copy fanzine. Either way, I'd be interested to read it and the relative situations in Scotland / England.

 

Cheers

 

Plans under way for a website though probably not until early next year. I'm a bit of a technical luddite but will attempt to cut and past the hard copy if it sees the light of day any time soon.

 

Grim start for Scotland on Saturday England were no better though. What's the feeling among the Tartan Army on Burley? Seems to be getting it in the neck, judging by the newspaper reports I've read down here. Bit a mini-legend during his time at Tynecastle I recall.

 

Away from the football gloom, hopefully Andy Murray can get you all smiling again tonight. I thought he was awesome against Nadal last night and some of the anti-Scottish views being spouted about him down here are downright pathetic. He's got more balls than Henman ever had and looks the real deal to me.