I'VE HAD A CHANGE OF HEART OVER ROMANOV

THERE has been no bigger critic than me this season of the way Vladimir Romanov has gone about his business at Hearts.

But as the weeks turn to months and the extent of his ambitions for his club become even clearer, I'm beginning to warm to the Tynecastle majority shareholder.

Romanov's actions in the transfer window have shown he is not going away and the fact Hearts are still challenging up there at the top of the SPL is a credit to his determination - and let's not forget his spending power.

I still do not agree with the things he did earlier in the season, particularly the decision to part company with George Burley when the club were going so well at the top of the league.

However, few would agree with the things they heard about me when I was in the game, even if facts bore no resemblance to the fiction that was printed and spoken.

Let's take big Duncan Ferguson, for example, who was memorably pictured in the Record during his time at Dundee United holding up aChristmas wage slip that showed he had earned next to nothing to take him into the festive season.

I'd fined him so often for various misdemeanours he was left with only a few quid to see him through the most difficult time of the year and he won public sympathy against big, bad Jim McLean.

Yes, he had been rightly fined for breaches of club discipline - if you shoot someone in Christmas week the punishment dished out is still the same as any other time of the year.

However, it was never written at the time that I took him into the office on the quiet and asked him what he needed to see him through.

He requested £200 to buy his presents and it duly came from my own pocket with a vague understanding between us that it would be repaid whenever.

Now, the papers didn't show a picture of Duncan's pay packet a week later when he picked up two big £400 bonuses for two United wins and he was as good as his word as he came into my office and repaid the £200 seven days earlier.

So I know public perception can be different from the reality of a situation and while I will never agree with the departure of Burley from Tynecastle, Romanov is getting more right than wrong.

He deserves enormous credit for the determination he has shown to give Hearts the best chance of winning the title in almost 50 years and he'll certainly not be short of numbers in his squad to get him there after signing 11 new players in January.

It's amazing to think we won the title in 1983 using a hard core of 12 players and there were only around 16 regulars when we played 70 matches in the 1986-87 season, going all the way to the UEFA Cup Final.

There is no doubt there are loopholes in a system that allows so many players to be loaned from one club to another but I don't blame Romanov for exploiting them to the best of his ability.

If the players are anything like the quality he has brought to the club so far they will definitely post astrong challenge in the weeks ahead to a Celtic side who look as if they are struggling.

Even if half the players Romanov has brought to the club in January are good enough to become first picks they'll run Celtic close and he has already shown he has a good eye for talent.

There are many players at Hearts at this time taking exceptional wages but crucially they are producing the goods for the club.

Significantly, Romanov also appears to be building for the future because players are signing for up to three years, although don't ask me to explain a balance sheet that must make horrendous reading for an accountant. It's strange that it's only eastern Europeans with money, such as Roman Abramovich at Chelsea, who come into the British game and don't seem to care much for the return they get on their investment.

In saying that, I reckon Romanov's best arrival in January could turn out to be Jim Duffy, who has joined as part of the coaching team. Jim will be a better coach now than he ever was in the past because a spell out the game allows mellowing time to reflect on what you did right and wrong in previous jobs and where you will do better in future.

Jim was among an unbelievable group of good coaches who were out the game and who still have so much to offer, such as Jocky Scott, Paul Hegarty and my own brother Tom.

Jim could be worth a couple of top-quality signings to Graham Rix and the fact they know each other from their time together at Chelsea, Portsmouth and Dundee is a big bonus.

Romanov looks to have assembled a winning squad on the pitch - and a winning team of coaches off it as well.

Taken from the Daily Record