It is just rotten, I can't take it any more

[alanjambo]

That is true.

 

Mercer came and Mercer went. Robinson came and Robinson went. Romanov came and Romanov will go too.

 

Each of these three eras in the Club's history saw a rise in fortunes and then a decline.

 

The Romanov dynasty has a terminal diagnosis IMO. His 'project' has not worked and he has lost interest.

 

The acid test was the summer window a few seasons back when his failure to strengthen the squad for the Champions league qualification phase showed lack of real intent - IIRC we ended up playing Jamie Mole up front. He either lacked the funds or the will to take the Club forward at that time and, since then, our best players have been sold or emptied, and the quality of the squad has declined.

 

How the opening poster feels is common to a lot of Hearts supporters - it's nothing in particular that Romanov has done, just a slow erosion of the club's former identity that makes people feel disconnected and even alienated. It is viral.

 

Nobody knows why Romanov is here, what he wants from his 'project' or what he will do next. He never tells us anything. Fans and players are treated with equal distain. Does he still pick the team? Who knows, and actually it ceases to matter since the players aren't good enough and some don't care anyway.

 

So, that slow erosion of morale that the OP describes will lead to lower crowds at matches, less corporate support, fewer sales of merchandise, lower income, poorer players and poorer results.

 

Romanov will not be forced out. The things that might have floated his boat 4 years ago - owning a bigger club than Kaunus, speculating in the transfer market, picking the team, deciding the tactics, being adored by fans, being respected in the wider football community - have withered on the vine (largely through his own unintelligible actions) and there can be very little left for him at Hearts any more.

 

Romanov seems to be eating away at Hearts from within. It's a weird kind of auto-cannibalism.

 

A shiny new stand or a million pound signing won't turn this around. Many of the ordinary people who turn up to support the club and pay hard earned money see Romanov for what he is - a total charlatan, who cares absolutely nothing for the wonderful football institution that he was fortunate enough to get his hands on.

 

Romanov will go sooner or later blaming everyone under the sun - fans, players, agent, SFA, referees, the media - for not supporting his project and making his 'dream for Hearts' come true. He may even write one of his poems about it to explain how everyone let him down.

 

Hearts will continue with another owner or consortium. Things will get better in lots of ways and slowly, people like the OP will begin to feel the club they once knew being returned to them.

 

It is only a matter of time.

 

 

What a great post. It's how I feel exactly. I hate the way things are at the moment but I honestly believe Romanov will go at some point. It'll feel as great as when he first took over.

[davemclaren]

Or self-delusion.

 

 

 

Robinson-esque head in the sand tactics, & we all know where that ended.

 

 

New owner and a new start?

[The Don]

Was the fisherman pal directed at me?

 

Ifso keyboard hardman come and call me a hobo to my face haymarket sunday will do just approach the bald one with the leather jacket on and ask if he cares for a round in morrison circus car park.

 

Few people will point me out to you.

 

Scary guy

 

:107years::107years::107years::107years::107years::107years::107years:

[Le Chat]

That is true.

 

Mercer came and Mercer went. Robinson came and Robinson went. Romanov came and Romanov will go too.

 

Each of these three eras in the Club's history saw a rise in fortunes and then a decline.

 

The Romanov dynasty has a terminal diagnosis IMO. His 'project' has not worked and he has lost interest.

 

The acid test was the summer window a few seasons back when his failure to strengthen the squad for the Champions league qualification phase showed lack of real intent - IIRC we ended up playing Jamie Mole up front. He either lacked the funds or the will to take the Club forward at that time and, since then, our best players have been sold or emptied, and the quality of the squad has declined.

 

How the opening poster feels is common to a lot of Hearts supporters - it's nothing in particular that Romanov has done, just a slow erosion of the club's former identity that makes people feel disconnected and even alienated. It is viral.

 

Nobody knows why Romanov is here, what he wants from his 'project' or what he will do next. He never tells us anything. Fans and players are treated with equal distain. Does he still pick the team? Who knows, and actually it ceases to matter since the players aren't good enough and some don't care anyway.

 

So, that slow erosion of morale that the OP describes will lead to lower crowds at matches, less corporate support, fewer sales of merchandise, lower income, poorer players and poorer results.

 

Romanov will not be forced out. The things that might have floated his boat 4 years ago - owning a bigger club than Kaunus, speculating in the transfer market, picking the team, deciding the tactics, being adored by fans, being respected in the wider football community - have withered on the vine (largely through his own unintelligible actions) and there can be very little left for him at Hearts any more.

 

Romanov seems to be eating away at Hearts from within. It's a weird kind of auto-cannibalism.

 

A shiny new stand or a million pound signing won't turn this around. Many of the ordinary people who turn up to support the club and pay hard earned money see Romanov for what he is - a total charlatan, who cares absolutely nothing for the wonderful football institution that he was fortunate enough to get his hands on.

 

Romanov will go sooner or later blaming everyone under the sun - fans, players, agent, SFA, referees, the media - for not supporting his project and making his 'dream for Hearts' come true. He may even write one of his poems about it to explain how everyone let him down.

 

Hearts will continue with another owner or consortium. Things will get better in lots of ways and slowly, people like the OP will begin to feel the club they once knew being returned to them.

 

It is only a matter of time.

 

:clap:

[Fourcandles]

That is true.

 

Mercer came and Mercer went. Robinson came and Robinson went. Romanov came and Romanov will go too.

 

Each of these three eras in the Club's history saw a rise in fortunes and then a decline.

 

The Romanov dynasty has a terminal diagnosis IMO. His 'project' has not worked and he has lost interest.

 

The acid test was the summer window a few seasons back when his failure to strengthen the squad for the Champions league qualification phase showed lack of real intent - IIRC we ended up playing Jamie Mole up front. He either lacked the funds or the will to take the Club forward at that time and, since then, our best players have been sold or emptied, and the quality of the squad has declined.

 

How the opening poster feels is common to a lot of Hearts supporters - it's nothing in particular that Romanov has done, just a slow erosion of the club's former identity that makes people feel disconnected and even alienated. It is viral.

 

Nobody knows why Romanov is here, what he wants from his 'project' or what he will do next. He never tells us anything. Fans and players are treated with equal distain. Does he still pick the team? Who knows, and actually it ceases to matter since the players aren't good enough and some don't care anyway.

 

So, that slow erosion of morale that the OP describes will lead to lower crowds at matches, less corporate support, fewer sales of merchandise, lower income, poorer players and poorer results.

 

Romanov will not be forced out. The things that might have floated his boat 4 years ago - owning a bigger club than Kaunus, speculating in the transfer market, picking the team, deciding the tactics, being adored by fans, being respected in the wider football community - have withered on the vine (largely through his own unintelligible actions) and there can be very little left for him at Hearts any more.

 

Romanov seems to be eating away at Hearts from within. It's a weird kind of auto-cannibalism.

 

A shiny new stand or a million pound signing won't turn this around. Many of the ordinary people who turn up to support the club and pay hard earned money see Romanov for what he is - a total charlatan, who cares absolutely nothing for the wonderful football institution that he was fortunate enough to get his hands on.

 

Romanov will go sooner or later blaming everyone under the sun - fans, players, agent, SFA, referees, the media - for not supporting his project and making his 'dream for Hearts' come true. He may even write one of his poems about it to explain how everyone let him down.

 

Hearts will continue with another owner or consortium. Things will get better in lots of ways and slowly, people like the OP will begin to feel the club they once knew being returned to them.

 

It is only a matter of time.

 

Candidate for 'Post of the year award'.

[bighusref]

As for goodmorningmrfisherman,

 

Good, good Jambo despite what the usual reactionary posters think.

 

See you tomorrow bud.

[IMA MAROON]

A shiny new stand or a million pound signing won't turn this around. Many of the ordinary people who turn up to support the club and pay hard earned money see Romanov for what he is - a total charlatan, who cares absolutely nothing for the wonderful football institution that he was fortunate enough to get his hands on.

 

I quite like the idea of having million pound players and a new stand. I don't need Romanov to love the club to be happy supporting it.

[gowestjambo]

I am a life long Hearts Supporter First Game = 1971 = Texaco Cup V Motherwell Semi Final at home. Wolves beat us in the final 2 legs blah blah....

 

I have been a season ticket holder since I was 20 (born 1963)

 

Sadly, I can't watch the team any more. I have tried, but for me the Romanov regime is just rotten. The whole atmosphere, culture, what ever you want to call it...it's just gone (for me)

 

So why post....

 

Simply, can anyone give me any genuine encouragement that we can ever get out of this downward spiral?

 

Am I being overly pessimistic?

 

I guess this is just I cry for help...........

 

This stuff I watch, it isn't Hearts anymore. It is just...well just rubbish

 

HELP :-0

 

I know how you feel, but you can change your job, you can move house, you can change your car, you can change your wife (I have done all of these) BUT you can NEVER change your Football Team!!

[Nucky Thompson]

As for goodmorningmrfisherman,

 

Good, good Jambo despite what the usual reactionary posters think.

 

See you tomorrow bud.

I think posters were commenting on his keyboard warrior attitude not his Jamboness:)

[Eggo]

I am a life long Hearts Supporter First Game = 1971 = Texaco Cup V Motherwell Semi Final at home. Wolves beat us in the final 2 legs blah blah....

 

I have been a season ticket holder since I was 20 (born 1963)

 

Sadly, I can't watch the team any more. I have tried, but for me the Romanov regime is just rotten. The whole atmosphere, culture, what ever you want to call it...it's just gone (for me)

 

So why post....

 

Simply, can anyone give me any genuine encouragement that we can ever get out of this downward spiral?

 

Am I being overly pessimistic?

 

I guess this is just I cry for help...........

 

This stuff I watch, it isn't Hearts anymore. It is just...well just rubbish

 

HELP :-0

 

 

 

There are some lovely knitting patterns in the Sunday Post tomorrow,but dont come crying to me when you drop a stitch;)

Take a step back give yourself a dust down and thank god your a Hearts fan,because theres a lot worse things in life:)

[Debut 4]

First game 1971?

 

I take it,us being pish for the first 20 odd years of your Hearts supporting life didnt prepare you for the current situation?

 

Just now is bad,buts let face it,we have far far worse.

20 years pish from 71? I think we turned things round mid 80`s no? Sorry to point this out , i just like things to be closer to the truth.

[bighusref]

I think posters were commenting on his keyboard warrior attitude not his Jamboness:)

 

And, god love him, he is far from a keyboard warrior. He was responding to somebody having a pop at him. Too many on here seem to look at join date and post count as some sort of barometer of Jambo-ness.

[awadooningorgie2]

Great thread and some brilliant posts - congrats to the OP and how utterly tiresome all the Hobo accusations are.

 

For me, Hearts is about certain values and that is what we all relate to.

 

Identity is key and frankly, I do not take pride in anything the Romanov regime stands for or has done to Hearts.

 

I do not consider myself a racist in any way, could not be further from it, but there is no doubt the whole Lithuanian feel to the club has been a major issue.

 

In terms of the Lithuanian owner and management, as well as the general contribution of Lithianian players over the past 4 years, it is impossible to feel pride in the club as it is right now. The values shown by those in charge and those on the pitch are not those same Hearts values I have always been proud of.

 

Football is tribal, about identity, and this has been stripped from us.

 

The sooner it changes the better but that is another story of course.

[Heart of the Matter]

I quite like the idea of having million pound players and a new stand. I don't need Romanov to love the club to be happy supporting it.

 

So do I come to think of it.

 

But there is for me a difference between

 

(a) supporting a club - ie, buying match tickets, wanting the team to win, shouting encouragement, wearing a replica jersey, etc

 

(feeling part of the club - ie, the sense of belonging to a wider community, the history and heritage, the emotional attachment that makes you want your children to wear a maroon and white scarf

 

They are not mutually exclusive of course, but the damage to the latter is more systemic and long-lasting.

 

I think Romanov's biggest crime is to make a lot of supporters feel that Hearts of Midlothian FC is now a distant relative of the club that we all used to feel part of. We don't seem to matter any more.

[TNCASTLE]

I once went to Love Street in 60's during the week I think and we lost 7-3 and were lucky we didn't get a right gubbing! And you say YOU'RE depressed!!!

It was a long,long,long way back to Embra....

However Masochism = Hearts supporting, did your older relatives not tell you?

It was explained to me like scratch golf, one bad shot for them and they are depressed two good shots in the round for me and I am elated. Ergo Hearts supporting...bet we improve on 3-7 today? Get it??!!! I would have fought the bald guy in the Carpark and missed THAT game at Love Street any day!!!

[Randy Marsh]

At least you knew the players were giving 100%, & you respected them for it.

 

 

Totally agree with that. Even in recent times when we were struggling (noteable in Leviens first full season) you could always expect 100%.

 

I have been going to all away matches but not going to bother now because i dont enjoy them. Its torture watching us play with no strikers on the pitch week in week out.

[Heart of the Matter]

I know how you feel, but you can change your job, you can move house, you can change your car, you can change your wife (I have done all of these) BUT you can NEVER change your Football Team!!

 

Absolutely true - you never change your football team.

 

But is it possible to care less about that team? To feel less disappointment if the team loses? To feel less elated when the team wins? To be less interested in the players signed by your chairman? To be less inclined to go to a match on Saturday afternoon?

 

I don't think the OP was thinking of becoming a Dundee United supporter as a result of his growing disillusionment with happenings at Tynecastle.

 

Just out of interest GWJ, what made you change your car?

[Charlie-Brown]

So do I come to think of it.

 

But there is for me a difference between

 

(a) supporting a club - ie, buying match tickets, wanting the team to win, shouting encouragement, wearing a replica jersey, etc

 

(feeling part of the club - ie, the sense of belonging to a wider community, the history and heritage, the emotional attachment that makes you want your children to wear a maroon and white scarf

 

They are not mutually exclusive of course, but the damage to the latter is more systemic and long-lasting.

 

I think Romanov's biggest crime is to make a lot of supporters feel that Hearts of Midlothian FC is now a distant relative of the club that we all used to feel part of. We don't seem to matter any more.

 

In the last 30+ years there has often been crowds below 10K for league matches at Tynecastle, sometimes they were below 5K and even below 2K a couple of times ..... at one game I attended there was approx 1800 to watch an already relegated Hearts play Kilmarnock in the SPL and a couple of months later the club faced closure - even Robbo, MacKay & Levein etc played to attendance between 7K-10K in some home games - at present crowds remain at a generally higher level - your not trying to tell me there was less disconnection to the club in days gone by when a large part of the support had deserted the club in droves?

[mirsad_beslija]

well i agree with the original posting. i rememeber my first game i was eleven it was a 0 _0 home aberdeen draw. kinda liked it even tho no goals. i am 46 now. season ticket before ground recostruction. then weatfield stand , now old enclousure old main stand. wee bit cheaper and you get the sun on your face on a good even if the play is average.what i would say about the current team is there are .... no stars in it no one who pleases the crowd . just unfortunatly mostly average players. so thats why the apathy exsists no crisma on the field to buck up the crowd... and thats why it hurts so badly cos Edinburgh should have by far and away a much much much bloody better team ... that it has at this moment in time .... 2006 team which vlad helped fiance was brill ... that was when he was interested ..any how good days may occur again once he gets bored with his submarines and come dancing and whatever other venture he is up too. GO ON THE HEARTS . :Hearts Man spotrun::Hearts Man spotrun::Hearts Man spotrun:

[Geoff Kilpatrick]

So do I come to think of it.

 

But there is for me a difference between

 

(a) supporting a club - ie, buying match tickets, wanting the team to win, shouting encouragement, wearing a replica jersey, etc

 

(feeling part of the club - ie, the sense of belonging to a wider community, the history and heritage, the emotional attachment that makes you want your children to wear a maroon and white scarf

 

They are not mutually exclusive of course, but the damage to the latter is more systemic and long-lasting.

 

I think Romanov's biggest crime is to make a lot of supporters feel that Hearts of Midlothian FC is now a distant relative of the club that we all used to feel part of. We don't seem to matter any more.

 

 

I've never felt part of this club in my lifetime. As for HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN, my support and love for this club hasn't changed at all under any ownership of the club. It doesn't mean I disagree with many things that previous stewards of the club have done, it means I simply want what's best for the club in my opinion. It doesn't matter to me whether I'm listened to or not in the grand scheme of things.

[269miles]

Frank I suggest you go and hang yourself, given the state of your depression. The fact that it's taken you 2 years on kickback to reach the point where your 20th odd post reaches this conclusion tells me your either pashed or a

 

As for your fisherman pal go back to Granton you Hobo:107years:

 

Is it any wonder so many people don't post or have stopped posting when you read crrap like this ?

[Archie White]

What about Archie White, John Craig, Colin More, Bobby Robinson, Crawford Boyd, Pat McShane? Did they play for the jersey to the sub-5K fans?

 

Hey, leave me out of this. The guys in the team in my era were as p*sh as I was but we all felt part of the club, not just the team. You saw the chairman, directors, trainers etc at least some stage through the week and there was a "we're in his together" spirit. We knew each other from top to bottom. We could all speak the language.

 

The club looks fractured internally to me now. There is a known structure in place but nobody is quite sure what it is and no-one can see it. It's not my club anymore.

[johnniejambo]

ive been a jambo for 46 years and have seen the bad and good and been a season ticket holder for most of that time only missing when i was unemployed for a year and 3 years ago when the C.S.A. decided to rob me of 33% of my wages but always go when i can

 

and im sorry i dont post as much here but i go elsewhere for my hearts chat much less hoboism coz im a hobophobic :107years:

[Charlie-Brown]

Hey, leave me out of this. The guys in the team in my era were as p*sh as I was but we all felt part of the club, not just the team. You saw the chairman, directors, trainers etc at least some stage through the week and there was a "we're in his together" spirit. We knew each other from top to bottom. We could all speak the language.

 

The club looks fractured internally to me now. There is a known structure in place but nobody is quite sure what it is and no-one can see it. It's not my club anymore.

 

Are you really actually Archie White? If so hello Archie That's amazing .....

[fordy]

can't give you any proper reason to get out of your depression....all i can say is just be glad you are a jambo mate, it could be so much worse. Hearts give you every emotion you can think of, usually in a 90 min period, but think of life without them...that would be soooo hard.... hearts are my life and hearts are most peoples life on here, so it isn't a matter of how good on the pitch we are, we really have never been that good, the main thing is that we are HEARTS and hearts are great....i will sleep easy knowing that and so should all hearts fans...good night all jambos the world over, and remember hearts are for life not just for the burley weeks......

 

Excellent post! Sums it up perfectly for me.

[Enzo Chiefo]

I am a life long Hearts Supporter First Game = 1971 = Texaco Cup V Motherwell Semi Final at home. Wolves beat us in the final 2 legs blah blah....

 

I have been a season ticket holder since I was 20 (born 1963)

 

Sadly, I can't watch the team any more. I have tried, but for me the Romanov regime is just rotten. The whole atmosphere, culture, what ever you want to call it...it's just gone (for me)

 

So why post....

 

Simply, can anyone give me any genuine encouragement that we can ever get out of this downward spiral?

 

Am I being overly pessimistic?

 

I guess this is just I cry for help...........

 

This stuff I watch, it isn't Hearts anymore. It is just...well just rubbish

 

HELP :-0

 

Great post FF. Couldn't agree more.

 

This is not a situation that bears comparison with the 70s and early 80s. This comes down to identifying with the club - sadly, at the moment all we have is the strip and the ground.

 

We have an owner who picks signings and the team and operates a draconian disciplinary code for anyone who has the gall to speak out about anything....the disgraceful treatment of Burley, Anderton, Brellier, Pressley, Gordon, Hartley, Banks and Glen for example. Any football manager will tell you that they want players banging their door down when they are not playing....Romanov wants everyone to be subservient to him and his Ruskie cohorts. The effect is that anyone who is a natural leader is punished and/or removed.

 

Romanov does not want success unless he is solely responsible for delivering it. Therefore, he would have to manage the team, score the winning goal and lift the cup all by himself in order to facilitate this. He is an attention seeker who resents anyone else being popular or successful...the sackings of Burley and Anderton were a direct result of this trait.

 

However, for the club to be successful at all, we need leaders on and off the park along with quality players who are obviously going to be popular with the fans if they deliver. Romanov has systematically ripped the heart out of the club and removed every single person who falls into these categories, yes...every single one!!

 

We have 3 directors who are all foreigners, reside abroad and never open their mouths far less set foot in the ground. We have a foreign manager who, like Frail and Ivanauskas before him, does not have full control of tactics and selections.

 

Give me the 70s and 80s any day...as has been said before we had Scottish/British managers, chairmen and players who cared about the club and kept the fans informed of events at the club. If we got beaten at least we went down fighting.

 

To be honest, all the accusations of being Hobos, the press are against us, the refs are against us etc is becoming boring as is "Believe", "Together" and all that p*sh!! Our "loyal" hardcore are gonna have to wake up, smell the coffee and think about what is the best approach in order to reclaim our club and it's identity. Trailing round the country every week like little Soviet footsoldiers only serves to prop up what is a terrible regime.

 

Enzo

[Archie White]

Are you really actually Archie White? If so hello Archie That's amazing .....

 

Naw - but I do play as badly as him.

[Heart of the Matter]

even Robbo, MacKay & Levein etc played to attendance between 7K-10K in some home games - at present crowds remain at a generally higher level - your not trying to tell me there was less disconnection to the club in days gone by when a large part of the support had deserted the club in droves?

 

It's a fair point CB, although if you look at attendance records generally in the era you talk about, the Old firm were getting crowds of 20-25k and the same was true for most teams. During the last 10 years there has been a steady increase in people going to football.

 

I am just saying that things go in cycles and with each successive year of the Romanov dynasty, I believe that crowds will fall back, possibly even to the 7-10k levels of relatively recent times. Two years of economic recession and rising unemployment will also make a lot of people question whether they can afford admission prices, but that is a different matter.

[IMA MAROON]

Some interesting feedback.....I can assure you am I not a Hobo, I just don't post much, more of a watcher (reader).

 

It just doesn't seem like Hearts anymore. Again as pointed out above, George Fleming, Alan Anderson et: all may not have been great players but they played for the jersey.

 

There just seems to be something missing now, worse than I can ever recall.

 

 

Tell me then, ff

 

10 men away win at St Mirren.

 

Did any of them play for the jersey?

 

Was it worse than ever before?

[Tommy Brown]

Naw - but I do play as badly as him.

 

I always wondered if you were really AW. You should not have answered Y or N and left us hanging, the mystique has now gone.

 

rename yourself another bygone player and have us wondering again please.

 

PS I don't believe you coud play as bad as him, so are you double bluffing us and are in fact AW