VLADIMIR ON THE COUCH

VLADIMIR ROMANOV was last night warned his dictatorial style of leadership is in danger of torpedoing Hearts.

And his Tynecastle directors were accused of being a bunch of yes men too scared of the former Soviet submariner to rock the boat by questioning his orders.

Romanov stunned Scottish football on Saturday when he axed manager George Burley despite Hearts sitting proudly at the top of the SPL.

Tom Lucas,a top sports psychologist who has worked at Celtic and Motherwell, has compared the Lithuanian to Lord Nelson.

Indeed, he believes Romanov's actions on Friday night may well have sunk Hearts' title hopes.

And Lucas insisted if - against all odds - there is to be a glorious end to the championship race then Steven Pressley will be the one to hail.

Lucas said: "It's a case of, 'I see no ships'.

"So far as I can see, Romanov's decision to fire Burley at the weekend effectively ended their Premier League title hopes.

"Men who are power mad can't change their spots.

"They are unyielding and sometimes single-mindedness can be a vice as well as a virtue.

"But they are allowed to prosper because of the weakness of the men who sit in the same room"People such as George Foulkes are guilty of clouded judgment becausetheyneveraskany questions.

"There's only one man who can save them - Pressley. To all intents and purposes he is the new manager because he has the temperament to hold together a dressing room that is in danger of collapsing.

"But if Romanov makes one more bad decision, there will be an exodus of unhappy players and the owner will forever be held responsible by the fans for killing Hearts' dream.

"Did nobody ever think to ask Romanov what his motives were for wanting to take over a club such as Hearts in the first place?

"There are no comparisons to be made with Roman Abramovich at Chelsea, in spite of how obvious that argument might seem. The Russian billionaire moved into the city of London that is widely regarded as being the capital of Europe.

"Abramovich also took over a fashionable club with a Premiership background.

"But no one asked any questions about Hearts' debt and how it is to be managed in future.

"Nobody batted an eyelid when he spoke about getting the club a bigger fan base than Celtic or Rangers.

"There were no dissenting voices when Romanov talked about doubling the capacity of a ground that previous owner Chris Robinson said couldn't be expanded.

"There was no attempt to tone down the statement that Hearts could win the Champions League. A statement that was made 24 hours before it was announced Burley had been binned.

"Romanov is the emperor in the altogether and nobody will tell him that.

"Megalomaniacs flourish because of weak men and Romanov has thrived on the internal chaos that has engulfed Hearts in recent times."

Pressley restored order to a chaotic scene at Tynecastle on Saturday when he rallied the team to get a win over Dunfermline in the immediate aftermath of the news that Burley had been fired while sitting at the top of the league without a defeat to blemish his reputation.

The captain has now been elected the players' official spokesman until a decision is made on who becomes the new manager.

And the psychology behind that move is flawless, according to the Oxford graduate with a degree in sports-related matters of the mind.

Lucas said: "The players will be wary of Romanov but they'll believe everything's going to be all right if Pressley tells them so"His message to the dressing room will be, 'Wehave to focus ondoing this for ourselves now'.

"I don't think it's being melodramatic to say Pressley is the glue that's holding Hearts together while Romanov threatens to rip them apart.

"I think Steven went up in everyone's estimation because of the way he conducted himself while the rest of the players were trying to absorb the shock of what had happened.

"I don't think the players would have fully taken in the magnitude of what had happened until Sunday morning.

"Put it this way, the situation at Hearts will end in tears unless somebody can do something to counteract the menace of Romanov. The people in the boardroom who were so delighted to see the back of Robinson are relying on Romanov to be the knight in white armour who will be the answer to their prayers.

"But there will be warfare if a another Lithuanian comes into the dressing room and lets his countryman pick the team.

"And if Romanov can get rid of two managers at Tynecastle in such a short space of time it will affect the players into the bargain.

"When that day dawns, Paul Hartley will want out to Celtic. Rudi Skacel will want out of the country. And the Hearts fans will be out of their minds with frustration.

"They've waited so long for someone to give them the hope that they might challenge the Old Firm for the biggest domestic prize of all.

"And then when they find that man their owner fires him while he's at the top of the table."

Not even Nelson could have turned a blind eye to that kind of self-inflicted wound.

Shooting yourself in the foot is an accident Shooting yourself in the head is a suicide bid

Taken from the Daily Record