Times Commentary

[Colonel Kurtz]

Excellent piece by Tom Dunsmuir today on The current situation at Heart of Midlothian

Gives a balanced view

I would ask someone with more tech knowledge than me to post the article in full...the headline is...Laszlos disillusionment leaves Hearts to flatline

[Surrey Jambo]

Haven't found it in the online version. Anybody else?

[Ben Dover]

Haven't found it in the online version. Anybody else?

 

Me neither

Searching on Tom Dunsmuir comes up saying his LATEST times piece is about Walter Smith ?

[jambovambo]

Scan it in ?

[Colonel Kurtz]

I have the Scottish Edition

I am sure Mr Dunsmuir will excuse me form plucking relevent points from his piece

Laslo has not taken the loss of key players well,and not being replaced...but no other SPL team has been able to spend lavishly

On the striker issue..Laszlo would have onlookers believe that Hearts create chance after chance,and players like Obua have done little to suggest he is quite the player in the transfer market.

Laszlos negative attitude is having a detrimental effect on the dressing room

Hearts are responsible for what standing Laslo has in British footnall ,but that association is almost certainly poised for an imminent ending..Romanov then faces his latest battle to appease the fans who still fill the Tynecastle stands to a surprisingly high level given the fare on offer

[Colonel Kurtz]

Scan it in ?

 

Christ son,ive just mastered the DVD

[Boris]

I have the Scottish Edition

I am sure Mr Dunsmuir will excuse me form plucking relevent points from his piece

Laslo has not taken the loss of key players well,and not being replaced...but no other SPL team has been able to spend lavishly

On the striker issue..Laszlo would have onlookers believe that Hearts create chance after chance,and players like Obua have done little to suggest he is quite the player in the transfer market.

Laszlos negative attitude is having a detrimental effect on the dressing room

Hearts are responsible for what standing Laslo has in British footnall ,but that association is almost certainly poised for an imminent ending..Romanov then faces his latest battle to appease the fans who still fill the Tynecastle stands to a surprisingly high level given the fare on offer

 

You missed the bit that seemed surprised that Csaba hadn't been given his P45 yet, given Romanov's track record in hiring and firing managers.

 

You could be forgiven for thinking Csaba Laszlo knows some dark secret about Vladimir Romanov. The Heart of Midlothian manager issued his latest tacit demand towards the club's majority shareholder yesterday. Quite why Laszlo feels himself in a strong enough position to do this, together with why - taking history into account - Romanov has not already replied with a P45 are interesting points indeed.

 

Romanov has not earned a reputation as a trigger-happy character without just cause. This is the man who jettisoned George Burley from the Tynecastle hotseat amid Hearts' finest start to a season in five decades. John Robertson had already been removed from office by that point: coaches have come and gone from the Hearts dugout in the past four years almost as if they never appeared in the first place.

 

Until Laszlo, that is. The Hungarian is Hearts' longest-serving manager under Romanov's stewardship. Laszlo was hailed for taking the team to third place in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League last May but, since then, matters have turned distinctly sour.

 

It has been lost amid Rangers' financial woes, Celtic's stuttering form under Tony Mowbray and the wearying end to George Burley's Scotland tenure that Hearts are the major underperformers in the top flight. Given their wage bill remains significantly higher than any club outside the Old Firm, it is rightly a source of bemusement for supporters that Hearts head to Kilmarnock tomorrow as the ninth-placed team in the league, only two points from rock bottom.

 

Laszlo has not taken the summer loss of three key players - Robbie Neilson, Bruno Aguiar and Christos Karipidis - well at all. Hearts, saddled with debt and subsidised almost entirely by Romanov's business empire, did not replace the trio with similarly experienced - not to mention expensive - performers. Not that any other team in the SPL has spent anything like lavishly either, it must be noted.

 

Laszlo has spoken of "losing energy every day" because of financial and squad constraints at Tynecastle. The subtext is clear, he feels Romanov has let him down by refusing to supplement the squad to what the manager perceives as an acceptable level during last summer.

 

"If it is possible to do what I want to be successful then I do not have any problem to stay here," he explained. It is almost impossible, one has to surmise, in the present climate for Laszlo to do "what he wants". A new striker is Laszlo's top priority. "In the front, we are not dangerous enough," he said.

 

He would have onlookers believe, dubiously, that Hearts create chance after chance without having someone to convert them. Players the manager has been influential in bringing to Edinburgh, David Obua, the Ugandan, among them, have done little to suggest Laszlo is quite the operator in the transfer market.

 

"It is very clear, I do not want to talk about my future," Laszlo added. "I will answer every question, but it is not necessary at the moment to say something which afterwards may not be correct. But progress must be there."

 

If Romanov's patience is not entirely tested at this juncture, the theory that he has lost an element of enthusiasm for events at Hearts has a degree of legitimacy. Crucially, the understanding of those who fill the Tynecastle stands - still to a surprisingly high level, given the fare on offer - towards Laszlo is also now on the wane.

 

Laszlo has hardly helped himself by openly questioning why he was not a leading contender to replace Gordon Strachan as the Celtic manager or touting himself for the currently vacant Scotland post.

 

A year ago, Hearts supporters may have forgiven such verbal enthusiasm but now, with the team showing such abject form, the manager's words are rightly viewed as disrespectful. Pertinently, and in a striking change from last season, Laszlo is hardly showing any enthusiasm or emotion at all on the touchline.

 

Laszlo's success last season owed much to his ability to bond what had become a fractious dressing room. Now, it is difficult not to infer that the manager's negative body language and attitude is having a detrimental effect on the players. He is the epitome of disillusionment.

 

Furthermore, "second season syndrome" means few other clubs are likely to cast envious eyes towards the manager himself, especially when that coach has shown little tactical variation to avert his team's slide.

 

Hearts may be responsible for what standing Laszlo has in British football but this association is almost certainly poised for an imminent ending. Romanov then faces his latest battle to appease fans who, perfectly aware of the weak nature of the SPL, are growing increasingly anxious.

 

'His negative attitude is having a detrimental effect on the players'

 

[Boris]

Above is the full text of the article.

[shaun.lawson]

You missed the bit that seemed surprised that Csaba hadn't been given his P45 yet, given Romanov's track record in hiring and firing managers.

 

That's a really excellent article. How come not one journalist appears to have asked him yet about the many failures among his signings?

[redm]

Boris - what's the title of the article please?

[Boris]

Boris - what's the title of the article please?

 

Laszlo's disillusionment leaves Hearts to flatline

 

...as mentioned in the OP

[redm]

Laszlo's disillusionment leaves Hearts to flatline

 

...as mentioned in the OP

 

 

Yes, yes....I'm having a slow day....

 

Ta anyway.

[Victorian]

not that we would ever find out about it either way but IF it was demonstrated to laszlo that the financial side of things precludes him from spending the sort of money he might like to... and he still carries on... then he should go hence forth and further his genes with immediate effect.

 

he isn't doing hearts a massive favour by hanging about. there are other managers.

 

january is the time for an honourable man to either take it or leave it.

[busby1985]

Shabba is the first manager we have that will deserve to be sacked but instead of looking at this great article and its content the media will just use it as another vlad witch hunt!! Shabba's attitude stinks, he blames everyone but himself, hell he is now even giving us a hard time for spending our hard earned cash on saturdays to watch the negative nonsense he serves up every week!! Take a look in the mirror shabba, shut your mouth and start taking the bull by the horns and turn this round.

[Ben Dover]

Very good piece indeed and, amongst many things, he especially hit's the nail on the head with his comment on the striker issue. I've been too shy to don the tin hat and say as much on here, for fear of being told I've never played the game, but surely we need to be camped in the oppositions half with our wingers and attacking midfielders wandering aimlessly back and forth along their 18yd line before a lack of strikers comes to mind ?

Csaba's whole 'legal' defence appears to rest on the 'lack of finance for a striker' claim ...........and it's made to look far from watertight there !

[Jammy T]

Shabba is the first manager we have that will deserve to be sacked .

 

Cervenkov, Malofeev, Valdas and Frail didnt deserve to be sacked?

[neverlikedElvis]

Cervenkov, Malofeev, Valdas and Frail didnt deserve to be sacked?

 

 

Valdas certainly didn't.

[Jammy T]

not that we would ever find out about it either way but IF it was demonstrated to laszlo that the financial side of things precludes him from spending the sort of money he might like to... and he still carries on... then he should go hence forth and further his genes with immediate effect.

 

he isn't doing hearts a massive favour by hanging about. there are other managers.

 

january is the time for an honourable man to either take it or leave it.

 

I agree with this to a large extent

 

It doesnt help though that about the last we heard from Vlad on this subject was him essentially taunting Csaba by saying we had plenty enough money to get strikers in, but he wasnt getting who Csaba wanted.

 

The reality is the relationship between Csaba and Vlad has broken down. If it is deemed it is having a detrimental effect on the team it is for the top man to do something about it. He is the "ultimate" owner after all.

[scott_jambo]

Cervenkov, Malofeev, Valdas and Frail didnt deserve to be sacked?

 

Why Valdas? Rix and Duffy shouldnt of been let near Tynecastle however.

[Diego10]

Cervenkov, Malofeev, Valdas and Frail didnt deserve to be sacked?

 

I think classing any of them as 'Managers' is stretching it, but if Busby thinks they didn't deserve the sack he is mental.

[Jammy T]

Valdas certainly didn't.

 

Did you actually watch any of our football at the start of the season after the cup win?

 

You do recall the awful football, the random team formations and substitutions, the out of position players, let alone that he couldnt actually even handle the job to the extent that he was "signed off" for months

 

You remember the relative quality of players we still had at this time?

 

Goodness me.

[Jammy T]

Why Valdas? Rix and Duffy shouldnt of been let near Tynecastle however.

 

Throw Rix into the pot if you want, only adds to the argument.

 

Why Valdas?

 

Do Hearts fans actually have memories that last more than 2 seasons?

[Francis Albert]

Were Cervenkov, Molofeev or Frail ever appointeed permanently? Frail and I thought the other two were "caretakers" or temporary stand-ins. It seems to have become a habit for everyone who took a training session at Riccarton to be included in the "Vlad sacked X managers" line.

 

And what about Rix as desrving to be sacked?

[Charlie-Brown]

Here are some facts to shed some light on this thread Valdas win record was 52% which is worse than Burley or Tommy Walker but better than everybody else.

 

http://londonhearts.com/scores/man/aamanagersbywpc.html

[Jammy T]

Were Cervenkov, Molofeev or Frail ever appointeed permanently? Frail and I thought the other two were "caretakers" or temporary stand-ins. It seems to have become a habit for everyone who took a training session at Riccarton to be included in the "Vlad sacked X managers" line.

 

And what about Rix as desrving to be sacked?

 

I'm only responding to somebody that said Csaba is the only guy who deserved to be sacked.

 

And the nonsense way that Romanov runs Hearts has meant that we have had endless periods of interim managers.

 

There is an argument to say that other than Rix and Burley, Csaba is actually the only other permanent manager to be appointed.

 

But we have had plenty gash "managers" coaches, "interim" managers, "interim" coaches since Vlad arrived, arguably the only above average one out of 8 or 9 being Burley

[Jammy T]

Here are some facts to shed some light on this thread Valdas win record was 52% which is worse than Burley or Tommy Walker but better than everybody else.

 

http://londonhearts.com/scores/man/aamanagersbywpc.html

 

Season 2 under Valdas - AEK, Sparta etc was a shambles

 

You know it and most Hearts fans with any memory more than a goldfish know it

 

Very few Hearts managers in their time had the money and quality of squad that Valdas had - and he still couldnt do anything with it.

[Charlie-Brown]

Vlads records I mean valdas record is ok but he was in charge for a relatively short period.

 

He was a liar and the person for the huge divides that formed in the squad. I'm am amazed at the amount of support he gets but I guess that's down to stuffing the hobos and scraping over the line and his song.

 

Hey his heart was in the right place but he was not up to it. Strangely enough someone like pressley is vilified around these parts and he probably had more to do with the cup win and second place.

 

Valdas was in charge for 47 games - that is 1 game short of 4 times the amount of games Burley was in charge for (12no)

[Jammy T]

He was a liar and the person for the huge divides that formed in the squad. I'm am amazed at the amount of support he gets but I guess that's down to stuffing the hobos and scraping over the line and his song.

 

.

 

...and ignoring the fact that once the momentum of season 1 was finished, and he started season 2, that season, with the talent we still had was gash under him.

 

He completely lost control....

 

....and what precisely has this "King" of Managers done since?

[shaun.lawson]

Vlads records I mean valdas record is ok but he was in charge for a relatively short period.

 

He was a liar and the person for the huge divides that formed in the squad. I'm am amazed at the amount of support he gets but I guess that's down to stuffing the hobos and scraping over the line and his song.

 

Hey his heart was in the right place but he was not up to it. Strangely enough someone like pressley is vilified around these parts and he probably had more to do with the cup win and second place.

 

Agree, except for the last bit which over-eggs the pudding IMO! But on a related theme: I think it's astonishing how much blame Pressley gets for the huge divisions in the squad at the time, and how many people have just forgotten how responsible Valdas (and of course, Vlad) were for it. Similarly, Jankauskas is very often praised on here for his contributions; his part in the divisiveness of the time conveniently glossed over.

[Charlie-Brown]

Season 2 under Valdas - AEK, Sparta etc was a shambles

 

You know it and most Hearts fans with any memory more than a goldfish know it

 

Very few Hearts managers in their time had the money and quality of squad that Valdas had - and he still couldnt do anything with it.

 

Except win a Scottish cup and finish 2nd in the SPL

[Jammy T]

Except win a Scottish cup and finish 2nd in the SPL

 

Can you actually read??

 

Season 2 numbnuts

[audrey65]

Shabba is the first manager we have that will deserve to be sacked but instead of looking at this great article and its content the media will just use it as another vlad witch hunt!! Shabba's attitude stinks, he blames everyone but himself, hell he is now even giving us a hard time for spending our hard earned cash on saturdays to watch the negative nonsense he serves up every week!! Take a look in the mirror shabba, shut your mouth and start taking the bull by the horns and turn this round.

 

Agreed. If he wants to go (or Vlad wants to sack him) then now is the honourable time to do it. It would give his successor time to have a look at the squad before the January window and identify replacements for the players he deems "not good enough".

 

It could be a long list.

[Charlie-Brown]

Can you actually read??

 

Season 2 numbnuts

 

Nice Abuse Jammy - losing the plot are we because Valdas Ivanauskas is statistically the best manager who won a trophy since Tommy Walker ... what has John Collins done since leaving Hibs or Alex Miller - they are still the last managers to have won them trophies - not Yogi or Mowbray or anyone else.

[rudi]

Nice Abuse Jammy - losing the plot are we because Valdas Ivanauskas is statistically the best manager who won a trophy since Tommy Walker ... what has John Collins done since leaving Hibs or Alex Miller - they are still the last managers to have won them trophies - not Yogi or Mowbray or anyone else.

 

You can butter it up any way you want,Valds couldn't hack it,end off.

[rudi]

Agreed. If he wants to go (or Vlad wants to sack him) then now is the honourable time to do it. It would give his successor time to have a look at the squad before the January window and identify replacements for the players he deems "not good enough".

It could be a long list.

 

Have we not already been told that there will be NO players brought in during the next window?

[Charlie-Brown]

You can butter it up any way you want,Valds couldn't hack it,end off.

 

No buttering up is required - he won a cup, got 2nd place, won 52% of games - those are facts and 100 years from now nobody will care about romanov or pressley or anything else from that time - the only thing that will stand is Valdas achievements, same for Jim Jefferies, Tommy Walker etc.

[shaun.lawson]

Meh part of it may have done for reaction, however, I don't think you can discount the effect the leaders in our team, remember leader in the team! Which pressley was main had in securing the cup and 2nd. Much moreso than valdas IMO, I think we succeeded in spite as opposed to valdas.

 

Though we all see it differently I accept.

 

Oh, I do get what you mean. Pressley played a huge part in it all if you ask me; and our season could well have collapsed without him. Contrast that time with now, and the effect that lack of leadership throughout the club and lack of leaders on the park has had.

[rudi]

No buttering up is required - he won a cup, got 2nd place, won 52% of games - those are facts and 100 years from now nobody will care about romanov or pressley or anything else from that time - the only thing that will stand is Valdas achievements, same for Jim Jefferies, Tommy Walker etc.

 

He wasn't around for all of those games we won,gardening leave or something like that,so he can't really be credited for matches won when he had absolutely nowt to do with them.

[shaun.lawson]

Nice Abuse Jammy - losing the plot are we because Valdas Ivanauskas is statistically the best manager who won a trophy since Tommy Walker ... what has John Collins done since leaving Hibs or Alex Miller - they are still the last managers to have won them trophies - not Yogi or Mowbray or anyone else.

 

Personally Charlie, I think there's a chasm the size of the Grand Canyon between managers like Tommy Walker or Jim Jefferies - who built sides over a period of years, and were successful in tournaments they entered at the start - and Valdas Ivanauskas, who inherited a team six points ahead of Rangers, finished only one point ahead of them, and had a whopping two games to win in order to win the Cup. One of them against a Second Division side, which we only won on penalties.

 

If Valdas was any good, he wouldn't have just been sacked by well known European giants, Standard Sumgayit. Whoever they are.

[shaun.lawson]

Good point your right our owner is an idiot. Imagining sacking 2 of the most succesful managers in our history and replacing them with the like of rix and malofeev!!!

 

The only thing more idiotic than that would be someone who tried to justify that type of incompetence :-p

 

[Charlie-Brown]

Personally Charlie, I think there's a chasm the size of the Grand Canyon between managers like Tommy Walker or Jim Jefferies - who built sides over a period of years, and were successful in tournaments they entered at the start - and Valdas Ivanauskas, who inherited a team six points ahead of Rangers, finished only one point ahead of them, and had a whopping two games to win in order to win the Cup. One of them against a Second Division side, which we only won on penalties.

 

If Valdas was any good, he wouldn't have just been sacked by well known European giants, Standard Sumgayit. Whoever they are.

 

Yes you are almost defintely right Shaun and Valdas and Collins were lucky in that respect but 50-100 years from now nobody will remember the details and quiz questions like name Hearts managers who won a trophy valdas will appear on that list of answers so history will be kinder to him than say Levein or Burley or Mowbray.

[shaun.lawson]

Yes you are almost defintely right Shaun and Valdas and Collins were lucky in that respect but 50-100 years from now nobody will remember the details and quiz questions like name Hearts managers who won a trophy valdas will appear on that list of answers so history will be kinder to him than say Levein or Burley or Mowbray.

 

Oh no it won't. Who will Dundee United's history be kinder to? Ivan Golac, who won the Scottish Cup, or Craig Levein? Answer: Levein by a street.

[Charlie-Brown]

Like the fact will stand that pressley is the captain that lifted the cup.

 

Yes he did - nobody has claimed otherwise have they?

 

And Robinson & Deans & Romanov can claim they owned the club when trophies were won.

[Charlie-Brown]

Oh no it won't. Who will Dundee United's history be kinder to? Ivan Golac, who won the Scottish Cup, or Craig Levein? Answer: Levein by a street.

 

perhaps because Golac got them relegated but in a Hearts context nobody in the distant future really remembers the managers who didn't win things - why would they?

[shaun.lawson]

perhaps because Golac got them relegated but in a Hearts context nobody in the distant future really remembers the managers who didn't win things - why would they?

 

Any future historian of the club would have to devote a large section to Wallace Mercer and Alex MacDonald, neither of whom won anything, both of whom were instrumental in our rebirth and resurgence. And here's another example: who do you think Aberdeen's historians will be kinder to? Roy Aitken, who won something; or Willie Miller, who (as manager) didn't?

[rudi]

Yes you are almost defintely right Shaun and Valdas and Collins were lucky in that respect but 50-100 years from now nobody will remember the details and quiz questions like name Hearts managers who won a trophy valdas will appear on that list of answers so history will be kinder to him than say Levein or Burley or Mowbray.

 

Doubt it TBH,if you had asked me yesterday who was the manager when we won the cup in 2006 I think I would have struggled,on the other hand if you had asked me who was the manager in 1998 I would have no problem telling you it was Craig Levein.

 

I await the nibblers,hook line sinker.

Oh and I know it was Jim Jeffries.

[Charlie-Brown]

Any future historian of the club would have to devote a large section to Wallace Mercer and Alex MacDonald, neither of whom won anything, both of whom were instrumental in our rebirth and resurgence. And here's another example: who do you think Aberdeen's historians will be kinder to? Roy Aitken, who won something; or Willie Miller, who didn't?

 

What do most remember Davie McLean who built the foundations of the 1950's team or his apprentice Tommy Walker who inherited the team and club set up and won the glory? What about the pre-war managers who had great teams but won nothing - none of them get in the hall of fame .... history only really remembers the winners and in your Aberdeen example Willie Millers playing career is what people will remember not his managerial career - same with John Robertson so your confusing apples with lemons with examples like that - history is kind to the winners - it really is that simple - that is why Freddie Glidden got in the original Hall of Fame inductee's and not Bobby Parker who had been club captain for almost 10 years but missed the cup final with a broken leg/ankle.

[Charlie-Brown]

It was just you mentioned that when you look back in history no one would care about pressley. Just found that strange when you suggested valdas would be remember due to the cup, but the captain lifting it wouldn't? Just thought it seemed a bit strange.

 

On the owners it is ironic arguablly our two worst owners have been in charge when we won silverware. Just one of lifes little quirks I guess

 

i meant nobody would care about any dispute involving romanov, pressley, valdas etc - in years to come only the cup win of 2006 will be the notable achievement of the era.

[shaun.lawson]

What do most remember Davie McLean who built the foundations of the 1950's team or his apprentice Tommy Walker who inherited the team and club set up and won the glory? What about the pre-war managers who had great teams but won nothing - none of them get in the hall of fame .... history only really remembers the winners and in your Aberdeen example Willie Millers playing career is what people will remember not his managerial career - same with John Robertson so your confusing apples with lemons with examples like that - history is kind to the winners - it really is that simple - that is why Freddie Glidden got in the original Hall of Fame inductee's and not Bobby Parker who had been club captain for almost 10 years but missed the cup final with a broken leg/ankle.

 

Hmm. Brazil 1982 not mean anything to you then?

[Charlie-Brown]

Hmm. Brazil 1982 not mean anything to you then?

 

Yes because iam old enough to have watched that tournament and enjoyed the great fitba they played but somebody born long after that isn't going to know anything about that unless they especially read up on that tournament - the history books will show Italy v Germany and most people won't delve too much beyond that just like nobody but Hobo's will remember Mowbray's masters of flair long after the current muppets have ceased to be....