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Romanov tears at Hearts followers
Scotland - 18 December, 2006
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Those die-hard loyal followers of Scottish Heart of Midlothian now must face a fear that has been in the back of their minds for the past few months – that the danger averted by an apparent saviour, could be surpassed by his hidden agenda.
Hearts fans are in a quandary of majority holder Vladimir Romanov's actions. Some have repeatedly trimmed their opinions to stay in line with Romanov's erratic actions. Others simply question his understanding of what they see as their heritage.
There is success. Hearts have season-ticket holdings are at a record high. In the past year, the club has managed a foothold in the Celtic-Ranger dominated Scottish Premier League to finish as runners-up, acquire the Scottish Cup and reached the qualifying stages of the Champions League.
Yet a hand-picked manager who steered the team to a perfect league record was sacked and then asked to come back. The chairman was deposed, the chief executive fired, the players have endured seven changes of coach in 20 months and team selection also takes account of the needs of Lithuanian pay-per-view TV.
The Scottish backbone - Craig Gordon, Robbie Neilson, Steven Pressley and Paul Hartley - assuredly will be gone by next summer, leaving a homegrown void.
From what can be gathered, Hearts' debt is greater than the GBP 20 million of two years ago. The increased interest goes straight to Romanov's Ukio Bankas. If Romanov pulls out for any reason whatsoever and no adequate buyer comes forward, the club can be put into liquidation with Ukio Bankas as the preferred creditor.
The bank would get first call on a sale of the assets, mainly Tynecastle and the players. Although he is presently negotiating with Edinburgh City Council about the purchase of land around Tynecastle, Romanov has already tried surreptitiously to buy Murrayfield and lease it back to the Scottish Rugby Union.
When that story came out long after the attempt was made, there was not much to be said from Romanov's backers. They could not keep faith in a saviour with the reality of his manoeuvres.
Regardless of how things pan out on the pitch, Hearts will have only one winner when all is said and done. And, he's not from Scotland.
Hearts fans are in a quandary of majority holder Vladimir Romanov's actions. Some have repeatedly trimmed their opinions to stay in line with Romanov's erratic actions. Others simply question his understanding of what they see as their heritage.
There is success. Hearts have season-ticket holdings are at a record high. In the past year, the club has managed a foothold in the Celtic-Ranger dominated Scottish Premier League to finish as runners-up, acquire the Scottish Cup and reached the qualifying stages of the Champions League.
Yet a hand-picked manager who steered the team to a perfect league record was sacked and then asked to come back. The chairman was deposed, the chief executive fired, the players have endured seven changes of coach in 20 months and team selection also takes account of the needs of Lithuanian pay-per-view TV.
The Scottish backbone - Craig Gordon, Robbie Neilson, Steven Pressley and Paul Hartley - assuredly will be gone by next summer, leaving a homegrown void.
From what can be gathered, Hearts' debt is greater than the GBP 20 million of two years ago. The increased interest goes straight to Romanov's Ukio Bankas. If Romanov pulls out for any reason whatsoever and no adequate buyer comes forward, the club can be put into liquidation with Ukio Bankas as the preferred creditor.
The bank would get first call on a sale of the assets, mainly Tynecastle and the players. Although he is presently negotiating with Edinburgh City Council about the purchase of land around Tynecastle, Romanov has already tried surreptitiously to buy Murrayfield and lease it back to the Scottish Rugby Union.
When that story came out long after the attempt was made, there was not much to be said from Romanov's backers. They could not keep faith in a saviour with the reality of his manoeuvres.
Regardless of how things pan out on the pitch, Hearts will have only one winner when all is said and done. And, he's not from Scotland.
Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 -
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