HERE COMES A CHOPPER - IT MUST BE ROMANOV
TYNECASTLE IN TURMOIL... Is it a bird, is it a plane? How Neil Cameron was stood up by Vlad the Superman
Neil Cameron

AS the good men of the Press corps huddled together for warmth outside Hearts' training ground yesterday morning, our attention was drawn to a helicopter that appeared and flew low across the Riccarton football pitches.

"It's Vladimir coming to save the day," came the cry. It was a joke, of course, but for a moment it seemed the old adage that there is many a true word spoken in jest might be relevant.

As the pilot circled the field, he flew lower and lower until you could almost see who was inside and every one of us thought that, indeed, Romanov was about to make a grand entrance in true presidential style.

Sadly, the helicopter didn't land and disappeared over the trees. It was a real disappointment, actually.

Okay, so perhaps Hearts' owner was never going to arrive in such spectacular fashion to tell us all what the hell was happening at his club and, in fact, at that precise moment he was at Edinburgh Airport ready to make another flight.

But here's the thing. Anything is possible at Heart of Midlothian in what has been the most incredible and eventful season in their history.

The phrase of the day was "business as usual".

Players, coaches and eventually the beleaguered manager, Graham Rix, uttered those words as they left the training base.

Business as usual! The former Iraqi Minister of Information, Comical Ali, couldn't have spun it any better. Or should that be worse?

At least some of the players hadn't lost their sense of humour. Craig Gordon joked there were "meetings about meetings" and Paul Hartley asked those waiting desperately for a comment if anything was happening at all.

Best bit of the day was when the person manning the front desk told the assembled pack that "The Director" had asked for us all to stand outside because the players were about to have lunch and shouldn't be disturbed.

A word of advice, Mr Director, whoever you are...

Sacking a successful manager who hadn't lost a league game, bringing in 11 players all at once midway through the season and then having the current coach removed from team selection duties is going to disturb players a hell of a lot more than a group of journalists being near while they eat.

Around noon the players made their way home after their meeting where it was decided Romanov has some explaining to do. Apart from the captain, Steven Pressley, all refused to comment.

One senior man, who will remain nameless, slapped the back of his head when asked for a quick word as if to demonstrate that is what he would get if he did say anything.

And this was an intelligent guy who normally isn't scared to open his mouth.

As Ally McCoist once quipped to reporters during a media ban imposed by Graeme Souness at Ibrox: "No comment, lads - and that's off the record."

Rix finally appeared but as the media crowd gathered round, he also decided to say nothing.

However, when asked directly if he had been the one who had chosen the team for the draw at Dundee United, his face changed colour and for a moment he did look as if he wanted to speak.

Rix will have to cough on all of this eventually. It won't be business as usual at Hearts that day.

Even Romanov arriving by helicopter wouldn't top that one.

Taken from the Daily Record