We’ve all commented recently on the decline of Hearts this season and the fact that the club is now at a crossroads, one where at least one of the paths leads over a cliff into oblivion.
But throughout all this madness we’ve witnessed in the last 30 months, one thing has intrigued me – and probably ALL Hearts fans, too. Namely – does Vladimir have ANY idea what he’s doing?
For a while I believed the answer was ‘yes’. If you overlook the ridiculous sackings of Burley and Anderton as just being an unfortunate clash of egos, then the investment in the Academy and submission of the Stadium plans suggest he has both a vision and timetable. The fans have responded by filling Tynecastle for every match for almost three seasons now, proving that the club has the potential necessary to back an ambitious owner.
But I’m now struggling to believe in a bright future when all the PRESENT signs suggest impending catastrophe. The club now has an accumulated debt of £38million, and year-on-year trading is miles short of break-even (although the Craig Gordon fee may make NEXT year’s accounts look a bit better). The only remaining players with any significant transfer value are Kingston and Berra. The squad looks de-motivated and is still too big, with some big earners simply not contributing (for whatever reason). The splashing of silly money on Pinilla, Makela and Beslija suggest that the player recruitment process is a disjointed shambles. We have no permanent (qualified) manager. Generally the fans see no sense of direction from the regime, with no communication from them either.
So what are we to make of Vladimir? He hardly ever comes to Scotland nowadays – mind you, would the prospect of watching Calum Elliot aimlessly galloping around the pitch persuade YOU to travel 800 miles at considerable expense?! It seems even the lure of watching Miko in action has lost its appeal for him.
So as Mr Romanov sits in his plush office in Vilnius, what could he be thinking (delete as appropriate)?
‘Oh sh*t – what have I got myself into with this damn Scottish football team? Help – what should I do?’
‘Despite the referees working for Celtic & Rangers, the Hearts fans still blindly come to the games, even with no good players in the team – so I will build them a new stand and let their club pay huge interest on the debt to my bank forever. My plan is perfect. ‘
‘Frail is clearly useless – I`ll get Malofeev in’
‘Frail is clearly useless – time for me to start picking the team again’
‘Frail is clearly useless – I’ll dump him in April and enjoy the adulation from the fans when they hear who is taking over on 1st May’
‘Frail is clearly useless but no-one else wants the job, so he’ll have to do’
‘Frail is an excellent manager – I`ll give him the job.’
All the work at the club seems to have fallen to Pedro Lopez, Campbell Ogilvie, David Southern and Stephen Frail.
Roman Romanov seems to have disappeared off the radar. As ‘acting CEO’, his job title seems quite ironic, since many fans now wonder if the whole thing is just an ‘act’. Anatoly Korobochka does appear to be involved still, but somehow in the background.
So we could view this ‘hands-off’ policy in two different ways. Either it’s a sign that Vladimir trusts his management to deliver…er…expensive mediocrity, or else he doesn’t really care anymore about the football side of the project. Either way, things don’t look good for a revival any time soon.
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Who can say. For a while there, it really did look like VR had a bona-fide long-term business plan for the club – however that is looking increasingly remote as the months pass. First and foremost, the team needs to perform on the park for ANY of the business goals to be achieved. If Romanov’s plan is to develop youngsters to sell on at a profit (i.e. a production line of Craig Gordons), or to win bonuses through European qualification, or to generate income through increased gate receipts & office/hotel space, merchandising, sponsorship, etc – ALL of those things require that we have a proper management structure in place with a talented team that is picked on merit. There are frankly precious few players left in the Hearts team these days who are fit to wear the jersey, so most of these ambitions go out the window with it. I’ve heard it mention at various points by several club officials that the plan may be to develop the business / infrastructure side of the club first, before concentrating (i.e. throwing money at) the team, but that can never work. A good manager with full autonomy and a modest budget could turn it all around of course, just as Burley did after Robbo left. We can but hope…
As you say, a good manager who knows British football – and who gets full control – could dramatically improve the spirit of the team and the fans. Sometimes I wonder if Romanov is gearing everything to the 2010 timetable – until then he will sell everybody he can, clearing out anybody left from the Burley/Pressley era, just to start anew. Other times…. I just think we’re doomed, Captain Mainwaring.
I am the first to agree that there is a hell of a lot wrong at Hearts at the moment (not least on the pitch). But I often think the worst sin of all committed by the owner is the lack of regular, meaningful communication with the fans. Plenty of ?non-stories? (and Frail is the master at this) but no real substance. As a result speculation runs rife and we are left with rumours and half-cocked media stories to chew on. This understandably breeds anxiety amongst the fans to the point that when there is an announcement which may be of some consequence: – the new stand, the search for amanager with experience of British football etc. we are immediately sceptical. It could be argued that if there is nothing to say then why say anything at all but I don?t see Rangers, Celtic and big, ambitious clubs outwith Scotland operating like this. If questions need answering then come out and answer them. We don?t know if Romanov is the genuine article with Hearts best interest at his core or malevolent figure ready to bring the club down (or something else). This is ridiculous and entirely his fault. Wheeling out old ?weasel words? Charlie Mann in the way that he has is no good at all. Every evasive word he utters would lead the most open minded fan to think that there is something being hidden from them. Play it with a straight bat for *****?s sake. If it?s bad news then tell us?
I’d agree with that actually – there is simply nothing coming out of Hearts to encourage enthusiasm. We had bad times under Wallace Mercer but the great thing about Waldo was that he always faced the press and managed to try and put a positive spin on things – this at least kept people interested and made them feel that the owner was at least trying to address the situation. As it is no-one knows what the hell’s going on, hence all the questions and very little answers.
Romanov is apparently deigning to grace us with his presence for tomorrow’s game, so maybe there will be some information released then. On the other hand…
Think I might give it a miss to be honest…..I’m sleepy just thinking about it!
silly money on makela, beslija and pinilla. sorry but that’s wrong becuase they all should be playing and not the duds who are playing jsut now.
I thought this was going to be an article about a Karaoke night where Romanov started off with Oblivion by Terrorvision… Oh well. Good article sir. I read tonight that Romanov is coming to all of the home games between now and the end of the season and he has advised that the players are going nowhere, I suspect he means they wont be sold as opposed to having nothing to live for etc. I did however also read an article this evening stating that there wont be any big spending this summer. Mixed messages and Miko rumours flying around. Does anyone else think the Miko rumour has been released to increase season ticket sales?
JJ16 – whether they should be paying or not, they cost the best part of £2m – silly money for a club like Hearts. Incidentally, I think all 3 are average players, with less talent than Miko. Dalien – did Romanov say THAT ? “The players are going nowhere” ? Jeez – we could have told him that – hopefully he’ll see for himself today !! The article tried to show my fear that if this man REALLY did believe that HE could direct a football team successfully, then he is an AMATEUR / CHARLATAN / FRAUDSTER. Looking at the financial results (and the incredible comments that accompanied them), I’m starting to wonder what sort of man would allow such reckless spending at a company with an income of £10m. But I guess there’s no point in us worrying about the finances – thats his area of “expertise” … isn’t it ?
I’ve just checked Pinilla’s career stats. Over 4 seasons, he’s played for 5 clubs, starting a total of 22 games (+ 44 subs) scoring 10 goals. Quite appalling that Hearts would sign a guy who can’t seem to hold down a club, never mind a place in the team. I just think this illustrates the shambolic approach to player recruitment at Hearts.