Who's telling the truth? Romanov, Laszlo, or neither?

[shaun.lawson]

Up until now, my attitude's always been that as Romanov's about as untrustworthy an individual as you can get, then if the manager is upset, he must have good reason to be so. So if the manager told journalists and another Kickbacker that he hadn't signed Witteveen, I naturally believed him: especially given Vlad's track record.

 

But another Kickbacker's contradicted this - and he has a very good source. Then there's what Csaba said during the summer: I could've sworn he said Celtic wanted him, then last week, questioned why they hadn't come in for him. Seems quite a paradox there, no? If Csaba could exaggerate or even make things up, who's to say he couldn't in other areas too?

 

Something flashed through my mind a while back now. I don't doubt for a moment that working conditions at Hearts are difficult, and in many ways, bizarre - but could Csaba have actually played on Romanov's public reputation in order to exaggerate these difficulties, because he wants out? Could he also be doing so to try and play the fans off against the owner, so as he sees it, he leaves with reputation intact? He's wrong about that, of course: his reputation amongst the fans is deteriorating game by game, but his comments after the Celtic match suggested to me that he's weirdly oblivious to that. That he thinks he's done a great job, and is still doing a good one.

 

Because the thing is, even allowing for his tendency to ramble and for issues with translation, there are contradictions all over the place in what he's said. Twelve senior players left last summer, and only three young players came in, or so he said - but that's simply wrong. With Uganda, he also made excuses which didn't bear up to scrutiny: there seems to be a pattern here.

 

To be honest, I still like the guy, and am desperately sad it's going wrong. Given I've supported him until the last few days, this post is almost sacrilegious on my part! I hope he can turn it around, but very much doubt he will; and am starting to wonder whether we haven't got on our hands a manager who's almost as much of a loose cannon and prone to bouts of total gibberish as our owner. And crucially, a manager who's been looking for an exit strategy for months now. If he didn't, he would've changed his approach and tried other players - but he hasn't, and there must be a reason for that.

[Charlie-Brown]

Up until now, my attitude's always been that as Romanov's about as untrustworthy an individual as you can get, then if the manager is upset, he must have good reason to be so. So if the manager told journalists and another Kickbacker that he hadn't signed Witteveen, I naturally believed him: especially given Vlad's track record.

 

But another Kickbacker's contradicted this - and he has a very good source. Then there's what Csaba said during the summer: I could've sworn he said Celtic wanted him, then last week, questioned why they hadn't come in for him. Seems quite a paradox there, no? If Csaba could exaggerate or even make things up, who's to say he couldn't in other areas too?

 

Something flashed through my mind a while back now. I don't doubt for a moment that working conditions at Hearts are difficult, and in many ways, bizarre - but could Csaba have actually played on Romanov's public reputation in order to exaggerate these difficulties, because he wants out? Could he also be doing so to try and play the fans off against the owner, so as he sees it, he leaves with reputation intact? He's wrong about that, of course: his reputation amongst the fans is deteriorating game by game, but his comments after the Celtic match suggested to me that he's weirdly oblivious to that. That he thinks he's done a great job, and is still doing a good one.

 

Because the thing is, even allowing for his tendency to ramble and for issues with translation, there are contradictions all over the place in what he's said. Twelve senior players left last summer, and only three young players came in, or so he said - but that's simply wrong. With Uganda, he also made excuses which didn't bear up to scrutiny: there seems to be a pattern here.

 

To be honest, I still like the guy, and am desperately sad it's going wrong. Given I've supported him until the last few days, this post is almost sacrilegious on my part! I hope he can turn it around, but very much doubt he will; and am starting to wonder whether we haven't got on our hands a manager who's almost as much of a loose cannon and prone to bouts of total gibberish as our owner. And crucially, a manager who's been looking for an exit strategy for months now. If he didn't, he would've changed his approach and tried other players - but he hasn't, and there must be a reason for that.

 

The first part of your post is too in-depth regards the point i want to make which is the part i highlighted in bold - at Hearts we have previously experienced Joe Jordan & Tommy Mclean steadfastly refuse to change course or alter their tactics & teams selections even though results got worse and fans got on their backs citing many of the complaints we are currently hearing.

[vegas-voss]

He reads stuff in the press and takes it as if it were true.The guy lives in fantasy land half the time.In the close season he was linked in the press just a tiny bit to Celtic and a German team so what does Csaba tell us,he knocked them back.Then just the other week one paper had him linked to the South African job so what does Csaba tell us yeah thats right he knocked it back.It's always after the jobs been filled though that he says he knocked it back.

[Robbo27_22]

I don't think either of them gives us the full truth.

 

Csaba has been adamant that he's the gaffer - if that's the case, why has he changed our god awful formation/tactics?

 

Vlad said he didn't think the strikers Csaba listed were good enough - clearly, that is a complete lie. The guys Csaba wanted would have to be in a coma to be worse than Nade/DW.

 

As someone said on another thread, Vlad probably wants rid of Csaba but doesn't have the cash to fire him. Csaba probably wants out but doesn't want to lose any dosh. In short, we're pretty ****ed.

[dazbo]

I don't think either of them gives us the full truth.

 

Csaba has been adamant that he's the gaffer - if that's the case, why has he changed our god awful formation/tactics?

 

Vlad said he didn't think the strikers Csaba listed were good enough - clearly, that is a complete lie. The guys Csaba wanted would have to be in a coma to be worse than Nade/DW.

 

As someone said on another thread, Vlad probably wants rid of Csaba but doesn't have the cash to fire him. Csaba probably wants out but doesn't want to lose any dosh. In short, we're pretty ****ed.

 

That about sums it all up for me too mate! Well said that man!

[Jambomo]

I don't think either of them gives us the full truth.

 

Csaba has been adamant that he's the gaffer - if that's the case, why has he changed our god awful formation/tactics?

 

Vlad said he didn't think the strikers Csaba listed were good enough - clearly, that is a complete lie. The guys Csaba wanted would have to be in a coma to be worse than Nade/DW.

 

As someone said on another thread, Vlad probably wants rid of Csaba but doesn't have the cash to fire him. Csaba probably wants out but doesn't want to lose any dosh. In short, we're pretty ****ed.

 

Indeed, this is pretty much my opinion as well.

[shaun.lawson]

The first part of your post is too in-depth regards the point i want to make which is the part i highlighted in bold - at Hearts we have previously experienced Joe Jordan & Tommy Mclean steadfastly refuse to change course or alter their tactics & teams selections even though results got worse and fans got on their backs citing many of the complaints we are currently hearing.

 

Both effectively hung themselves through their own bloody mindedness. Csaba's on the same path sadly.

[Ben Dover]

Short and to the point Shaun ...thank ****

 

Personally, looking at Casba's time in post anyway, I cant where all this Vlad GTF stuff can be justified.

Witteveen's 'capture' is surely the only instance that warrants any debate on who was to blame. Other than that it's surely a simple case of "there's a war on don't you know" and everything is being rationed - cash especially

And Csaba me old mate, in my opinion you have wasted your coupons on Obua and Ballogh

I loved the mans enthusiasm last season but I dont think he ( although many past coaches certainly could ) can justify blaming Vlad for HIS lack of output from the squad we have

[AlphonseCapone]

Yip, it's a stalemate of two rambling lunatics who couldn't pick the right team or tactics between them. And has been said on another thread, it's only the fans who are hurting.

 

Supporting Hearts though is never straight forward and painless, and at the end of the day, we'll all be here long after both these idiots leave.

[Le Chat]

They're both slavering *****.

[Victorian]

in short... i no longer have any faith in csaba. given that he quite obviously places his own issues with vlad ahead of the good of the club then i see him as untrustworthy.

 

given that then i am quite willing to entertain the notion that he's not always been whiter than white regarding the truth.

 

i want him out... now.

[The Mighty Thor]

One's a walter mitty-esque character and the other's crazier than a shecht hoose rat.

 

Take yer pick.

[shaun.lawson]

in short... i no longer have any faith in csaba. given that he quite obviously places his own issues with vlad ahead of the good of the club then i see him as untrustworthy.

 

given that then i am quite willing to entertain the notion that he's not always been whiter than white regarding the truth.

 

i want him out... now.

 

In terms of putting his personal issues ahead of the good of the club, he's learning from the master, vic! But I don't disagree. They're as bad as each other TBH; and when one of them's gone, the other will still be here.

[magicTs]

The owner is a complete and utter bellend.

 

The manager is a mediocre coach with a crap squad who doesnt appear to have many ideas how to make things a little bit better.

 

Neither would be involved within a healthy Heart of Midlothian. Sadly the club as a whole is in a coma, still on life support but for how long............?

 

Apathy reigns supreme.

[Francis Albert]

Vlad said he didn't think the strikers Csaba listed were good enough - clearly, that is a complete lie. The guys Csaba wanted would have to be in a coma to be worse than Nade/DW.

 

 

I think he said they were "not suitable" which is different. Even if he said they were not good enough it would be a crazy opinion not a lie.

 

I don't think Csaba lies - in fact some of his recent comments have been far too honest.

 

Both Vlad and Csaba seem to have a somewhat shaky grasp on reality however.

[cosanostra]

My guess is the following.

 

1. Csaba makes it clear how much we are in need of a goalscorer. Vlad agrees and tells Csaba to compile a list and he'll look at them.

2. Vlad signs Witteveen from one of his preferred agents. Csaba is ok with this because he's agreed from the beginning that Vlad will do this. He still thinks he's going to be allowed one of his own signings so accepts Witteveen.

3. Vlad says no more signings, use the youth team and Witteveen. Csaba feels like he's been lied to, cheated and set up to fail by the guy who's support he needed the most.

4. Vlad signs Cinikas.

5. Csaba is enraged and finds it difficult to stay focussed on his job. His passion and drive to succeed is gone because he knows in his heart of hearts that succeeding with no forwards and without Bruno's quality in midfield is impossible.

6. Csaba denies he's unhappy but it's clear to everyone that he's getting more and more frustrated as his gut instinct that the team is going to fail proves to be spot on.

7. This is where we are now and I'd imagine that something has to give. Csaba knows that he's doomed so he needs to figure what will be worse, unemployment or keeping the reputation that he built last season. He seems to be going on about signings in January a lot. My guess is that depending on what happens then, Csaba will make his decision.

 

Csaba is a good guy and a good manager. Vlad has always been dishonest and petty and he's proven that he knows **** all about football. Let's face it, Vlad has plenty of previous. I think we should be supporting Csaba and giving it tight to Vlad although I've no idea how we go about that as he's never here. Csaba, unfortunately for him, is stuck here to face the music will Vlad ****es about doing whatever rich people do.

 

As for Csaba's team selection. That is harder to explain. I can only imagine that Obua keeps getting a game because of his height. If he was dropped i'd imagine we would be the smallest SPL team height-wise by quite a distance. We do have a lot of wee guys playing for us now. The 4-5-1 is pretty obvious really. We're never going to score lots of goals because our forwards are so bad so we focus on the strong part of our team which is defence. We've missed Zal an incredible amount and the rashness and lack of street sense shown by Bouzid and Jonsson has had pretty disasterous consequences. We also miss the quality of Kingston but who knows when that wee dick will contribute. We've also had a lot of average and above average players suffer a spectacular loss of form at the same time. I have no idea how we pull out of the nosedive we're now in.

 

All we can do is support Csaba and the team and hope Vlad does something about it before we lose an excellent manager and our better players

[Victorian]

In terms of putting his personal issues ahead of the good of the club, he's learning from the master, vic! But I don't disagree. They're as bad as each other TBH; and when one of them's gone, the other will still be here.

well there seems to be more and more people accepting the practical reality that we have one character on one side who is here to stay and pretty much an immovable object, therefore it's a waste of time and energy to continue to rebel against him.

 

on the other side we have a 'hired hand' who is also now playing silly buggers. people would appear to be accepting that as a transient paid employee then he is more worthy of their displeasure at present.

 

for me csaba seems to be hiding behind previous instances of him being undermined and the sympathy he got for that. i think people are now beginning to see it as a sham and a cop-out therefore in times of great frustration and hurt he gets it in the neck. quite rightly as far as i'm concerned.

 

i see more and more people recognising the importance to differentiate between signing issues and week-to-week team management issues. people are beginning to see csaba as a bit of a fraud.

[Heaven98]

They're both slavering *****.

 

See that's my kind of post. None of this second third or fourth-guessing "inside the mind of" nonsense. So they're both fed up with each other - wow, there's a surprise - but CL should be doing better with what he has got.

[iainmac]

Up until now, my attitude's always been that as Romanov's about as untrustworthy an individual as you can get, then if the manager is upset, he must have good reason to be so. So if the manager told journalists and another Kickbacker that he hadn't signed Witteveen, I naturally believed him: especially given Vlad's track record.

 

But another Kickbacker's contradicted this - and he has a very good source. Then there's what Csaba said during the summer: I could've sworn he said Celtic wanted him, then last week, questioned why they hadn't come in for him. Seems quite a paradox there, no? If Csaba could exaggerate or even make things up, who's to say he couldn't in other areas too?

 

Something flashed through my mind a while back now. I don't doubt for a moment that working conditions at Hearts are difficult, and in many ways, bizarre - but could Csaba have actually played on Romanov's public reputation in order to exaggerate these difficulties, because he wants out? Could he also be doing so to try and play the fans off against the owner, so as he sees it, he leaves with reputation intact? He's wrong about that, of course: his reputation amongst the fans is deteriorating game by game, but his comments after the Celtic match suggested to me that he's weirdly oblivious to that. That he thinks he's done a great job, and is still doing a good one.

 

Because the thing is, even allowing for his tendency to ramble and for issues with translation, there are contradictions all over the place in what he's said. Twelve senior players left last summer, and only three young players came in, or so he said - but that's simply wrong. With Uganda, he also made excuses which didn't bear up to scrutiny: there seems to be a pattern here.

 

To be honest, I still like the guy, and am desperately sad it's going wrong. Given I've supported him until the last few days, this post is almost sacrilegious on my part! I hope he can turn it around, but very much doubt he will; and am starting to wonder whether we haven't got on our hands a manager who's almost as much of a loose cannon and prone to bouts of total gibberish as our owner. And crucially, a manager who's been looking for an exit strategy for months now. If he didn't, he would've changed his approach and tried other players - but he hasn't, and there must be a reason for that.

 

Shaun, in any dispute / conflict / debate / argument there is likely to be:

 

1 the way CL sees it

2 the way VR sees it

3. the absolute truth, lying somewhere in between 1 & 2.

 

In this instance, I'm going for option 3.

 

IMO, CL is going hell for leather for a compensation pay-off, with complete indifference as to how the team plays, as witnessed (again) on Saturday.

[magicTs]

My guess is the following.

 

1. Csaba makes it clear how much we are in need of a goalscorer. Vlad agrees and tells Csaba to compile a list and he'll look at them.

2. Vlad signs Witteveen from one of his preferred agents. Csaba is ok with this because he's agreed from the beginning that Vlad will do this. He still thinks he's going to be allowed one of his own signings so accepts Witteveen.

3. Vlad says no more signings, use the youth team and Witteveen. Csaba feels like he's been lied to, cheated and set up to fail by the guy who's support he needed the most.

4. Vlad signs Cinikas.

5. Csaba is enraged and finds it difficult to stay focussed on his job. His passion and drive to succeed is gone because he knows in his heart of hearts that succeeding with no forwards and without Bruno's quality in midfield is impossible.

6. Csaba denies he's unhappy but it's clear to everyone that he's getting more and more frustrated as his gut instinct that the team is going to fail proves to be spot on.

7. This is where we are now and I'd imagine that something has to give. Csaba knows that he's doomed so he needs to figure what will be worse, unemployment or keeping the reputation that he built last season. He seems to be going on about signings in January a lot. My guess is that depending on what happens then, Csaba will make his decision.

 

Csaba is a good guy and a good manager. Vlad has always been dishonest and petty and he's proven that he knows **** all about football. Let's face it, Vlad has plenty of previous. I think we should be supporting Csaba and giving it tight to Vlad although I've no idea how we go about that as he's never here. Csaba, unfortunately for him, is stuck here to face the music will Vlad ****es about doing whatever rich people do.

 

As for Csaba's team selection. That is harder to explain. I can only imagine that Obua keeps getting a game because of his height. If he was dropped i'd imagine we would be the smallest SPL team height-wise by quite a distance. We do have a lot of wee guys playing for us now. The 4-5-1 is pretty obvious really. We're never going to score lots of goals because our forwards are so bad so we focus on the strong part of our team which is defence. We've missed Zal an incredible amount and the rashness and lack of street sense shown by Bouzid and Jonsson has had pretty disasterous consequences. We also miss the quality of Kingston but who knows when that wee dick will contribute. We've also had a lot of average and above average players suffer a spectacular loss of form at the same time. I have no idea how we pull out of the nosedive we're now in.

 

All we can do is support Csaba and the team and hope Vlad does something about it before we lose an excellent manager and our better players

 

Posts on JKB dont come any better than that. Top work.

[Victorian]

Shaun, in any dispute / conflict / debate / argument there is likely to be:

 

1 the way CL sees it

2 the way VR sees it

3. the absolute truth, lying somewhere in between 1 & 2.

 

In this instance, I'm going for option 3.

 

IMO, CL is going hell for leather for a compensation pay-off, with complete indifference as to how the team plays, as witnessed (again) on Saturday.

 

this for me is the truth of the matter and it make my blood boil.

 

how people can continue to excuse and back someone who is quite openly using our club as a vehicle to win a personal war and walk away with our club's money is well beyond my comprehension.

 

people are quite at liberty to think what they like about romanov. people were quick enough and vicious enough to lambast him for interfering in team selection.... but what exactly is csaba doing right now that's different. nothing is the answer. he too is arseing about with our team and our results for his own purposes.

[iainmac]

well there seems to be more and more people accepting the practical reality that we have one character on one side who is here to stay and pretty much an immovable object, therefore it's a waste of time and energy to continue to rebel against him.

 

on the other side we have a 'hired hand' who is also now playing silly buggers. people would appear to be accepting that as a transient paid employee then he is more worthy of their displeasure at present.

 

for me csaba seems to be hiding behind previous instances of him being undermined and the sympathy he got for that. i think people are now beginning to see it as a sham and a cop-out therefore in times of great frustration and hurt he gets it in the neck. quite rightly as far as i'm concerned.

 

i see more and more people recognising the importance to differentiate between signing issues and week-to-week team management issues. people are beginning to see csaba as a bit of a fraud.

 

Absolutely spot on but the "hired hand", if he had done one iota of research, would have known that before taking the job! But I'm guessing the ?250K per annum salary would have been enough to keep him warm at night and allay those fears.

 

But now, it appears to me that he's taking that salary under false pretenses and "playing hard ball" with the team that we all love to try to make some kind of point to "the immovable object".

[davemclaren]

Absolutely spot on but the "hired hand", if he had done one iota of research, would have known that before taking the job! But I'm guessing the ?250K per annum salary would have been enough to keep him warm at night and allay those fears.

 

But now, it appears to me that he's taking that salary under false pretenses and "playing hard ball" with the team that we all love to try to make some kind of point to "the immovable object".

 

I've always said that Csaba was happy to take the salary and should have known that Vlad could prove 'difficult' to work for so no excuses for him there. Is he now taking it under false pretenses? I don't know, but he certainly isn't doing much to make the team perform better and needs to work out how to do that soon...for all our sakes.

[shaun.lawson]

My guess is the following.

 

1. Csaba makes it clear how much we are in need of a goalscorer. Vlad agrees and tells Csaba to compile a list and he'll look at them.

2. Vlad signs Witteveen from one of his preferred agents. Csaba is ok with this because he's agreed from the beginning that Vlad will do this. He still thinks he's going to be allowed one of his own signings so accepts Witteveen.

3. Vlad says no more signings, use the youth team and Witteveen. Csaba feels like he's been lied to, cheated and set up to fail by the guy who's support he needed the most.

4. Vlad signs Cinikas.

5. Csaba is enraged and finds it difficult to stay focussed on his job. His passion and drive to succeed is gone because he knows in his heart of hearts that succeeding with no forwards and without Bruno's quality in midfield is impossible.

6. Csaba denies he's unhappy but it's clear to everyone that he's getting more and more frustrated as his gut instinct that the team is going to fail proves to be spot on.

7. This is where we are now and I'd imagine that something has to give. Csaba knows that he's doomed so he needs to figure what will be worse, unemployment or keeping the reputation that he built last season. He seems to be going on about signings in January a lot. My guess is that depending on what happens then, Csaba will make his decision.

 

Csaba is a good guy and a good manager. Vlad has always been dishonest and petty and he's proven that he knows **** all about football. Let's face it, Vlad has plenty of previous. I think we should be supporting Csaba and giving it tight to Vlad although I've no idea how we go about that as he's never here. Csaba, unfortunately for him, is stuck here to face the music will Vlad ****es about doing whatever rich people do.

 

As for Csaba's team selection. That is harder to explain. I can only imagine that Obua keeps getting a game because of his height. If he was dropped i'd imagine we would be the smallest SPL team height-wise by quite a distance. We do have a lot of wee guys playing for us now. The 4-5-1 is pretty obvious really. We're never going to score lots of goals because our forwards are so bad so we focus on the strong part of our team which is defence. We've missed Zal an incredible amount and the rashness and lack of street sense shown by Bouzid and Jonsson has had pretty disasterous consequences. We also miss the quality of Kingston but who knows when that wee dick will contribute. We've also had a lot of average and above average players suffer a spectacular loss of form at the same time. I have no idea how we pull out of the nosedive we're now in.

 

All we can do is support Csaba and the team and hope Vlad does something about it before we lose an excellent manager and our better players

 

Shaun, in any dispute / conflict / debate / argument there is likely to be:

 

1 the way CL sees it

2 the way VR sees it

3. the absolute truth, lying somewhere in between 1 & 2.

 

In this instance, I'm going for option 3.

 

IMO, CL is going hell for leather for a compensation pay-off, with complete indifference as to how the team plays, as witnessed (again) on Saturday.

 

Both the above posts are excellent IMO. Until very recently, I was exactly where cosa is: now, partly because of Csaba's ridiculous comments after the Celtic game, partly because he just will not bring young players in, partly because when they were brought on late in the game, Glen and Novikovas both looked dangerous (so why won't he start with either, and why the groundhog day approach every single week?), I lean more towards what Iain's said.

 

It's probably fairest to say that there is no truth: only the perspective of one man, and another. Trouble is, Csaba's let that perspective affect his work - just as Vlad frequently has. And it's the whole club which pays the price for that.

[berrasbraw]

The 1st one has an ego bigger than Simon Cowell's and thats saying something.

The other will soon be in the same looney bin as Ivanauskas.

[Cade]

It's like two 5 year olds squabbling in the playground.

 

And all the time they are doing that, we're falling deeper into an abyss.

[Victorian]

Absolutely spot on but the "hired hand", if he had done one iota of research, would have known that before taking the job! But I'm guessing the ?250K per annum salary would have been enough to keep him warm at night and allay those fears.

 

But now, it appears to me that he's taking that salary under false pretenses and "playing hard ball" with the team that we all love to try to make some kind of point to "the immovable object".

 

I've always said that Csaba was happy to take the salary and should have known that Vlad could prove 'difficult' to work for so no excuses for him there. Is he now taking it under false pretenses? I don't know, but he certainly isn't doing much to make the team perform better and needs to work out how to do that soon...for all our sakes.

 

on the strikers issue i think he's either still hiding behind an excuse which is beginning to wear very thin or else he's completely lost touch with the realities of being a post-transfer window era football manager.

 

every single person on here fully accepts that we can't do anything in the transfer market for another two months yet he still bangs on about it. if he really is serious about lamenting the fact he doesn't have a striker then perhaps someone should remind him that the job of football manager entails an awful lot more to it than what happens during transfer windows.

 

on the issue of players he picks continually and players he wont. this has nothing to do with transfer windows or players being too inexperienced as he would have you believe if you could decypher his ravings. i strongly believe he is as well versed in the dark arts of 'taking the *******' as anyone else.

 

he's thrown in the towel alright and he's hoping the draught wafts a nice cheque in his direction as a result.

[Feg9]

My guess is the following.

 

1. Csaba makes it clear how much we are in need of a goalscorer. Vlad agrees and tells Csaba to compile a list and he'll look at them.

2. Vlad signs Witteveen from one of his preferred agents. Csaba is ok with this because he's agreed from the beginning that Vlad will do this. He still thinks he's going to be allowed one of his own signings so accepts Witteveen.

3. Vlad says no more signings, use the youth team and Witteveen. Csaba feels like he's been lied to, cheated and set up to fail by the guy who's support he needed the most.

4. Vlad signs Cinikas.

5. Csaba is enraged and finds it difficult to stay focussed on his job. His passion and drive to succeed is gone because he knows in his heart of hearts that succeeding with no forwards and without Bruno's quality in midfield is impossible.

6. Csaba denies he's unhappy but it's clear to everyone that he's getting more and more frustrated as his gut instinct that the team is going to fail proves to be spot on.

7. This is where we are now and I'd imagine that something has to give. Csaba knows that he's doomed so he needs to figure what will be worse, unemployment or keeping the reputation that he built last season. He seems to be going on about signings in January a lot. My guess is that depending on what happens then, Csaba will make his decision.

 

Csaba is a good guy and a good manager. Vlad has always been dishonest and petty and he's proven that he knows **** all about football. Let's face it, Vlad has plenty of previous. I think we should be supporting Csaba and giving it tight to Vlad although I've no idea how we go about that as he's never here. Csaba, unfortunately for him, is stuck here to face the music will Vlad ****es about doing whatever rich people do.

 

As for Csaba's team selection. That is harder to explain. I can only imagine that Obua keeps getting a game because of his height. If he was dropped i'd imagine we would be the smallest SPL team height-wise by quite a distance. We do have a lot of wee guys playing for us now. The 4-5-1 is pretty obvious really. We're never going to score lots of goals because our forwards are so bad so we focus on the strong part of our team which is defence. We've missed Zal an incredible amount and the rashness and lack of street sense shown by Bouzid and Jonsson has had pretty disasterous consequences. We also miss the quality of Kingston but who knows when that wee dick will contribute. We've also had a lot of average and above average players suffer a spectacular loss of form at the same time. I have no idea how we pull out of the nosedive we're now in.

 

All we can do is support Csaba and the team and hope Vlad does something about it before we lose an excellent manager and our better players

 

 

Could hardly agree more.

[Teuchterjambo]

There is much good debate in this thread already regarding the conflicts that may exist between Vlad and Csaba and in the main speculating what effect that might be having on Csaba. This debate of course is perfectly valid for all of the managers that have worked under Vlad and short of Vlad having a highly unlikely Eureka moment it will always be like this. The mans ego will always stand in the way of a good relationship with somebody who is doing a good job and as a result gaining a level of acceptance and popularity. However unpalatable this may be to us it is simply the way it is and all the debate in the world will not change it and in fact renders the debate pretty futile.

We are where we are with Vlad but we are not where we were with Csaba - he has changed or has he ?

He is understandably depressed by the results but the real character of any manager and his worth stems from his performance when the chips are down. It seems that just when the team need strong leadership he is consuming himself in self pity and blaming the situation on anything else bar himself and his team selections and tactics.

What is the difference between Csaba now and the Csaba of last season ? Last season he admittedly had a bit more quality had a bit more luck on his side and was riding the wave of acceptance and popularity from fans and players alike.

The tactics were the same , stubborn refusal to change tactics and personnel were the same,the inane ramblings were the same it is just that they were more acceptable on the back of a winning streak. How many of us now cringe when last year we smiled at some of the abject nonsense he spouts at press conferences ?

The bottom line is that the Vlad factor is not acceptable but it is a constant. The truth is that in the face of adversity Csaba Laszlo has been found wanting both in a footballing sense and in his character and is simply not the man that many of us hoped that he was.

He is losing many of the fans and I believe that unless he stands up to be counted soon he will lose the dressing room further than he has already - time to stand up to the plate Csaba for all our sakes.

[leginten]

The sad reality is that Romanov will make it impossible for anyone to manage the football side of the club successfully for longer than a few months. There will be no betterment until the ******* goes. Csaba and "together" sure have lasted a long time, haven't they?

 

The whole topic of "the truth" about the last few years is a fascinating one, and I hope some (budding?) journalist has a project lined up (for once the dust has settled) which would involve interviewing all the main protagonists and trying to make some kind of sense of it all. One of these days I'll finally get round to starting my Kickback poll on whose views would actually be most trusted.

 

By the way, cosa, that's a great post.

[Del1812]

Neither.

 

Vlad talking pish when he claims there was money to sign a striker.

 

But Csaba would have been allowed to sign a forward on a free transfer, fitting into the wage structure or on a loan deal.

 

Csaba just doesn't work hard enough to be a successful manager at a club like ours in the long term. He doesn't watch the opposition, he doesn't scout players and the targets he finds he does so through hearing a name, seeing a video but rarely (if ever) actually goes to watch them the amount of times you should to be able to really have a clear idea what type of players they are.

 

To be a successful manager in the SPL you need to work round the clock to get the best deals possible for the club. Csaba just doesn't work hard enough and the real problem is he is never going to change because his ego is telling him that he is a good enough manager to lead clubs so big that he doesn't need to scout or watch opposition because there are others employed to do this.

 

He's in trouble now though. He clearly overestimated how much getting us to 3rd last season would boost his ratings and now that he's spent more time this summer linking himself with other clubs as opposed to scouring Britain and Europe for the best free agents available.

 

Now he's left with an average squad and he's too stubborn to change everything because it is the fault of the inexperienced players. How could it not be? This is the great Csaba Laszlo that engineered 3rd place last season, it has to be someone elses fault.

 

The really bad thing is I don't want him to go. This is still much better than what we had before he arrived.

[Charlie-Brown]

Neither.

 

Vlad talking pish when he claims there was money to sign a striker.

 

But Csaba would have been allowed to sign a forward on a free transfer, fitting into the wage structure or on a loan deal.

 

Csaba just doesn't work hard enough to be a successful manager at a club like ours in the long term. He doesn't watch the opposition, he doesn't scout players and the targets he finds he does so through hearing a name, seeing a video but rarely (if ever) actually goes to watch them the amount of times you should to be able to really have a clear idea what type of players they are.

 

To be a successful manager in the SPL you need to work round the clock to get the best deals possible for the club. Csaba just doesn't work hard enough and the real problem is he is never going to change because his ego is telling him that he is a good enough manager to lead clubs so big that he doesn't need to scout or watch opposition because there are others employed to do this.

 

He's in trouble now though. He clearly overestimated how much getting us to 3rd last season would boost his ratings and now that he's spent more time this summer linking himself with other clubs as opposed to scouring Britain and Europe for the best free agents available.

 

Now he's left with an average squad and he's too stubborn to change everything because it is the fault of the inexperienced players. How could it not be? This is the great Csaba Laszlo that engineered 3rd place last season, it has to be someone elses fault.

 

The really bad thing is I don't want him to go. This is still much better than what we had before he arrived.

 

Best post on the thread so far.

[Deevers]

Simple truth is that we need a "Hearts Man" in charge of team affairs at Tynecastle, but with the present incumbent we have as owner that is never going to happen.

[shaun.lawson]

Simple truth is that we need a "Hearts Man" in charge of team affairs at Tynecastle, but with the present incumbent we have as owner that is never going to happen.

 

In the past, I've kinda laughed at the idea of always needing a Hearts man in charge. Isn't that our own version of "Rangers men", "Hibs class" or "Celtic mindedness"? It can be very limiting at times.

 

But in this case, I think you're absolutely right. Sadly, you're also right that it'll never happen.

[Gigolo-Aunt]

Anyone know if the wages money for the Macedonian chap was around the same time as the collapse of the Sentanta Channel?

[Charlie-Brown]

In the past, I've kinda laughed at the idea of always needing a Hearts man in charge. Isn't that our own version of "Rangers men", "Hibs class" or "Celtic mindedness"? It can be very limiting at times.

 

But in this case, I think you're absolutely right. Sadly, you're also right that it'll never happen.

 

Why wouldn't it happen? He's previously had Robbo as manager and currently has given Scots guys like Campbell Ogilvie & John Murray control of important parts of the day to day running of the football club, he also let Frail have control of the 1st team for at least 5 or 6 months.

[shaun.lawson]

Anyone know if the wages money for the Macedonian chap was around the same time as the collapse of the Sentanta Channel?

 

Probably was TBH. But there was also HMRC chasing us, to the point of handing us a winding up petition. If that had anything to do with us not getting a striker, Csaba must've hit the roof, and rightly so - because it was his boss' complete incompetence he would've been paying the price for.

[stirlo]

Csaba did a great job last season - but it really has all gone to his head this season. His comments last week, following a lucky win against Celtic, about the Liverpool and Man U jobs were the comments of a man who's completely lost the plot IMO.

 

I was highly critical of Romanov for not providing funds to purchase a striker - but Laszlo still has a far better squad of players than most SPL managers have to work with.

[shaun.lawson]

Why wouldn't it happen? He's previously had Robbo as manager and currently has given Scots guys like Campbell Ogilvie & John Murray control of important parts of the day to day running of the football club, he also let Frail have control of the 1st team for at least 5 or 6 months.

 

His public comments on Scottish football, agents, managers and so on rather give the lie to that, Charlie. He also got rid of Robbo very quickly: Robbo was really Robinson's choice to take over when he did.

[Gigolo-Aunt]

Probably was TBH. But there was also HMRC chasing us, to the point of handing us a winding up petition. If that had anything to do with us not getting a striker, Csaba must've hit the roof, and rightly so - because it was his boss' complete incompetence he would've been paying the price for.

 

On the HMRC, yes - but I dont think we can blame Vlad for all clubs cutting their cloth ever more after Sentanta went tits up.

 

One might argue why a striker was not first priority, but seems we had a bit of bad luck with the Macedonian chaps money.

[iainmac]

Why wouldn't it happen? He's previously had Robbo as manager and currently has given Scots guys like Campbell Ogilvie & John Murray control of important parts of the day to day running of the football club, he also let Frail have control of the 1st team for at least 5 or 6 months.

 

...and was prepared to give Levein first crack until he decided to go to Leicester.

[shaun.lawson]

On the HMRC, yes - but I dont think we can blame Vlad for all clubs cutting their cloth ever more after Sentanta went tits up.

 

One might argue why a striker was not first priority, but seems we had a bit of bad luck with the Macedonian chaps money.

 

Neither do I, and I never have. But as was pointed out on another thread, do I think Csaba or any manager would be able to sign the kind of players Jim Gannon has at Motherwell, even if they wanted to? Nope. I don't think we're focused on the British market at all.

 

If there wasn't a Sporting Director to contend with, and if Vlad didn't have such a ghastly track record, I'd be much more inclined to blame Csaba for not bringing a striker in immediately. As it is, I'm less than convinced it's ever that simple when it comes to us bringing in players: the whole process seems very complex and convoluted, and subject to Vlad being incommunicado or away on other business.

[john brownlee]

this thread is a load of old pesh based on conjecture and lies

[shaun.lawson]

...and was prepared to give Levein first crack until he decided to go to Leicester.

 

Levein could hardly have been more vindicated given the way Romanov subsequently behaved.

[iainmac]

His public comments on Scottish football, agents, managers and so on rather give the lie to that, Charlie. He also got rid of Robbo very quickly: Robbo was really Robinson's choice to take over when he did.

 

Shaun, if you moved from Witney to Antartica, you could not be further from the truth!! CPR actually tried to veto Robbo's appointment but had lost virtually all power at HMFC by then.

[Charlie-Brown]

His public comments on Scottish football, agents, managers and so on rather give the lie to that, Charlie. He also got rid of Robbo very quickly: Robbo was really Robinson's choice to take over when he did.

 

Okay and maybe you can say that Burley wasn't his 'choice' either however he did give Frail control of the team and was also on the verge of giving Mark McGhee the job until he backed out, prior to that Campell Ogilvie had approached Levein and asked him to consider the job ..... there is no doubt that there is a 'clique' of managers / agents / journo's etc that work to further Old Firm interests within football and Chick Young admitted as much that he's approached players or their agents to 'tap' them up on behalf of certain clubs....however there are of course still a number of people in Scottish football untainted by that and whom I think VR would trust enough to consider for Hearts jobs at various levels.

[Gigolo-Aunt]

Neither do I, and I never have. But as was pointed out on another thread, do I think Csaba or any manager would be able to sign the kind of players Jim Gannon has at Motherwell, even if they wanted to? Nope. I don't think we're focused on the British market at all.

 

If there wasn't a Sporting Director to contend with, and if Vlad didn't have such a ghastly track record, I'd be much more inclined to blame Csaba for not bringing a striker in immediately. As it is, I'm less than convinced it's ever that simple when it comes to us bringing in players: the whole process seems very complex and convoluted, and subject to Vlad being incommunicado or away on other business.

 

 

AK going has turned out to be a massive blow. The Csaba/Vlad relationship has been strained ever since then.

[iainmac]

Levein could hardly have been more vindicated given the way Romanov subsequently behaved.

 

Seen as he had already made up his mind to go some time before that, I hardly think that Levein took that into consideration.

[shaun.lawson]

Shaun, if you moved from Witney to Antartica, you could not be further from the truth!! CPR actually tried to veto Robbo's appointment but had lost virtually all power at HMFC by then.

 

Really? That amazes me. If you recall, the ground fell away from under Robbo's feet incredibly quickly: we all spent the final five or six games of that season knowing he would be gone. That's why I've always assumed Vlad didn't really want him to begin with.

 

You learn something on here every day, it seems!

[shaun.lawson]

Seen as he had already made up his mind to go some time before that, I hardly think that Levein took that into consideration.

 

I'd be astonished if he didn't. There were many factors behind Levein's departure: not knowing what his budget would be, the very clear sense he'd taken us as far as he could, his rumoured extra-curricular activities all among them. But another was the huge uncertainty surrounding the ownership of the club. Craig's a smart chap, and must've doubted Romanov would persist with him given he'd been appointed by someone else.