'Beautiful' display gives Romanov a warm glow

VLADIMIR Romanov, the Hearts owner, believes yesterday's derby demolition of Hibs at Hampden was the first significant step in realising his ambition of making the Tynecastle club the dominant force in Scottish football.

The Russian-born Lithuanian businessman was in poetic mood last night as he relayed his thoughts on Hearts' comprehensive semi-final triumph to the media through his spokesman Charlie Mann.

"Today I saw what I have been dreaming about, the way my team played beautiful football," said Romanov. "My dream is starting to come true. Glasgow has been the football capital of Scotland, but I will do my best to make sure Edinburgh takes over that crown.

"We are just taking the first steps in that ambition, but we hope to repeat Glasgow's success in the world of football. I feel very excited, it was gorgeous today. You had two teams from the capital who came to Glasgow and showed they could play football.

"Originally, I didn't believe it was the right decision to play the game at Hampden but now I have changed my mind. It was the right decision, because the semi-final and final need to be absolutely enjoyed by everyone in Scotland.

"I was never worried during the game because the referee was very sure, very strong and did really well. I could see our team was nervous at the start, but I said to many people beforehand that I believed it could be Paul Hartley's day. I couldn't have imagined he would score a hat-trick, but he looked totally calm throughout the game.

"Our fans were wonderful today, they are the golden fans of this country. I appreciate them much more than all the oil and gas reserves of Russia."

Taken from the Scotsman