Roman won't shirk if axe has to swing

IT would be difficult to gauge the true feelings of Vladimir and Roman Romanov on Sunday's draw with Rangers. Fair to assume, though, that they expect nothing other than success in all walks of life.

"We really need this one," said Romanov Jnr, the Hearts chairman, prior to the game. "This will set the tone for how we play for the rest of the season and it is a big one."

The tone, then, must remain slightly muted. The players and head coach Graham Rix are rightly contented by not losing any ground as they strive for Champions League qualification, but they will be mindful that trips to Ibrox, Easter Road and Celtic Park must all be confronted before the season's end.

As the Romanovs look on from afar at events in Edinburgh, it is upon results like Sunday's that they are formulating their plans for next season. Reading between the lines, Graham Rix may be toiling to convince them of the merits of extending his six-month head coach's contract.

When decision time arrives in May, neither Roman nor Vladimir will shirk the issue, for it is not their style. In fact, it is more likely that the younger Romanov, given his status as the current Hearts figurehead, will be the one to inform Rix of his fate, good or bad.

To the Lithuanian, it will simply be another monumental announcement. Like the ones he has to make on a daily basis, the sort that help nurture the mysterious intrigue over the events of a typical week in the Romanovs' life.

Like appointing a new managing director for the Birac aluminium plant in the Bosnian city of Zvornik, or meetings with national account managers at the Russian headquarters of Ukio Bankas Investment Group in Moscow. An interesting life? Nah, just everyday, run-of-the-mill duties.

"Hearts business takes a lot of time out of my schedule as I have other responsibilities," says 30-year-old Roman. "I have to run the two other companies that you mention, so of course I wish I could spend more time on Hearts but I have to stress how difficult it is to be in three different places each week when those places are spread across Europe.

"I don't find it frustrating. We live in an age where you can call and talk to anybody on a mobile, or you can email. At Hearts we put people in key positions, like Campbell Ogilvie, to run the everyday operations so I don't have to be here every day.

"During the transfer window in January I had to travel a lot and had to divide my responsibilities between the club and my other projects. Now we have divided the responsibilities at Hearts and I think we have done a good job."

That has allowed Romanov Jnr to allocate the required amount of time to other matters, particularly at the Birac factory where he is the president of the management board. When a freak off-piste snowboarding accident killed the company's general director in January, Romanov was instantly forced to search for a replacement whilst co-ordinating a new £11.5million expansion at the plant.

Back in Edinburgh, he also had to help out in concluding deals for 11 new Hearts players before the closure of the transfer window, although the majority of negotiating in that field was left to his father. With January consigned to the memory banks and a new female general director, Alnija Brusokiene, now in place in Bosnia, young Romanov has finally begun to see some space appearing again on the pages of his diary. But not for long.

"There is going to be a lot of work to do in the summer time," he continues with puffed-out cheeks. "We are concentrating on building a new stand at Tynecastle, we will look at changing the board to bring in more Scots, and then there are players.

"We will do everything possible to keep the ones we feel are key, and if we qualify for the Champions League then of course we will need to strengthen. We aren't here to let players go."

It wouldn't be that much of a shock to hear of Romanov's springtime negotiations with football agents being interrupted by a phone call from producers at Channel 4. A soap opera entitled "The Romanovs" would surely supersede anything the Osbournes have to offer. In particular, the thoughts of Romanov Jnr and Snr on team selection at Hearts would be priceless viewing. "Our point of view is not important because it's amateur," insists Roman. "It's an amateur's opinion. We can have our thoughts, but we don't have enough professional knowledge to decide who is better on the pitch. We are more listeners in this situation.

"I think at every club, chairmen want to know why this player is playing, why this strategy was chosen for a game, or why another player is not being played. We just want to listen because we have to know what's going on."

Time spent as a student in America has injected the younger Romanov with an awareness of western culture and values, and in that respect he pulls his punches a little more often that Vladimir. However when something needs said, it needs said. "If you can do so with a sense of humour, it always helps. Personally, I would rather not see my name in the newspapers, especially when they talk about my haircut. I don't know what the media write here but I just find it exciting that they write about us.

"Negative publicity motivates the club more, and it certainly motivates Vladimir. He is a humble man, much like myself."

Nonetheless, the Lithuanians have taken Hearts to the brink of arguably the most memorable season in their 132-year history. The chairman is surprised at such advanced progress since his father first bought out Chris Robinson in February last year, at a time when the prospect of signing a European Cup winner like Edgaras Jankauskas was nothing but undiluted fantasy in Gorgie.

The Romanovs' dealings in signing players to FBK Kaunas and then loaning them to Hearts has been often questioned. Romanov Snr is understood to be a major sponsor of the Lithuanian club, but he holds no shares or official connection.

So what happens when one of the Kaunas players who is on loan at Hearts is sold? Does the money go to Kaunas, Hearts, or Vlad? "Vladimir Romanov is the main owner of Hearts now, he owns over 80 per cent," says Romanov Jnr, "so it doesn't matter if the money stays at Hearts, or goes to UBIG, or Vladimir keeps it. It's his money.

"If the money stays with Hearts it's still Vladimir's because of his investment in the club. I don't see a big problem about where the money goes because he is the majority shareholder. If he invests in a player, the money will come back to him.

"Maybe we do it because if Kaunas approaches an agent for a player the price they are given will not be as high. But if Hearts made the approach clubs and agents might ask for more.

"When we first arrived at Hearts nobody wanted to come here. Players would say, 'Who are Hearts?' and things like that, so we didn't expect all of this so quickly." There may be considerably more to come. Rix has been issued with the brief to qualify Hearts for the Champions League via second place in the SPL before proceeding to win the Tennent's Scottish Cup. Simple as that. Should he pull it off, the old rock and hard place will come firmly to the fore with both Romanovs in the middle.

However, it is in those kind of awkward situations that Roman Romanov can thrive.

"At this moment we are supportive of Graham," he says. "We are very positive about what we are doing and we will sit down with Graham at the end of the season and assess the situation.

"Of course he has a chance [of staying]. It's a crucial time of the season and if he gets the results then he will have done well. We retain a positive relationship with Graham.

"Valdas Ivanauskas is there too and he gives us more communication between Vladimir and the management staff. It is easier with him in terms of language.

"At this moment we are happy with what Valdas is doing, and also he helps some of the eastern European players to adapt to the football and lifestyle in Scotland.

"Valdas has his own ideas, as do others at the club. We just have to put them all together and then the final decision is made by the coach. I don't think Valdas tries to push Vladimir's ideas through."

So, there is the man who will shape the future of Hearts along with his soon-to-be-president father. Roman Romanov may only be 30, but he has crammed more into his young life than most others double his age.

He certainly favours the busy life more than the high life, but there can be little question that young Romanov intends Hearts to touch the sky under his chairmanship.

Taken from the Scotsman