ROMANOV MUST PRAY THIRD FORCE STAYS WITH HIM

THE streets of Scottish football are littered with the remains of those who once imagined they were the Third Force.

Hearts have a few nervous weeks to ensure they do not join the long list of those who have made claims to rival the Old Firm.

Last week Dundee supremo Peter Marr admitted he was one of the many dreamers who imagined they could become significant players in the SPL. In pursuit of the dream he fired the dependable Jocky Scott and replaced him with the more charismatic Ivano Bonetti.

For a brief period Dundee lit up the league, signing Argentinian internationalist Claudio Caniggia and silver-haired Fabrizio Ravanelli.

Dundee are now struggling in the middle of the First Division, are mired in debt and were dumped out of the Scottish Cup by this year's fashionable dreamers Gretna.

The scale of Dundee's decline is a warning to those who believe there is a magical fix in football.

History proves there is only one consistent way to make progress in the provinces of life and that is to follow the path of Jim Jefferies at Kilmarnock and pursue a policy of slow but sure steps forward.

The meteoric rise is always fatally flawed and it is for that reason I have nervousness about the otherwise remarkable progress Gretna have made under the nicotine regime of the flamboyant Brooks Mileson.

Who can forget John Boyle's whirlwind arrival at Fir Park? He promised to make Motherwell the third force in Scottish football and invested heavily, buying a squad of players including John Spencer, Don Goodman, Andy Goram and Ged Brannan who should have delivered a decent season.

But Well ended up flirting with the relegation zone. Within a few years the club were in administration and Boyle took a massive personal hit subsidising the club's debt.

Don't get me wrong. I love the dream more than most. In fact, I have spent a lifetime screaming from the sidelines, willing someone - anyone - to challenge the big two.

But the last 10 years have been littered with false promises.

What is even more worrying about the debris that ambition has left behind is that almost every club that thought big has had a different strategy for success. In other words, they have failed in a myriad of ways.

Marr has admitted he was wrong to abandon the steady-ship that Scott was steering for something more charismatic. Even the business proposition had a logic of sorts.

Dundee planned to bring in bigname players from Italy then sell them on to top clubs in England. But the gateway concept fell apart when the European transfer market fell into chaos and "player power" meant individuals could walk away at virtually any time.

Boyle's approach was more communitarian. He believed he could build a more welcoming and successful club, lure fans away from the Old Firm and open up Fir Park to anew generation of fans, including more women and kids.

Again it was a fair thought but the buses still streamed out of Lanarkshire to Ibrox and Parkhead. Even the local MP was a Celtic fan.

Mileson's vision is even more ambitious. He is halfway through a journey up the leagues which has already outstripped my gloomy predictions and if he can guide Gretna to Europe it will be one of the greatest achievements in the history of Scottish football.

His concept of wrapping Gretna in a charitable trust that will secure the club's future is yet another innovative attempt to buck the power of the established teams.

But by far the biggest attempt to become the "third force" is Romanov's sack-and-spend policy at Hearts. Romanov has been a cold breath of fresh air. Almost everyone, including his closest confidantes, have been overwhelmed by his ruthless and capricious decisions.

There are those who say the sacking of George Burley cost Hearts the league, others that the ill-advised appointment of Graham Rix handed the initiative back to the Old Firm, and there are those who now think Rangers can catch Hearts for the critical second spot.

It is rare to see a league climax in which it is Rangers who are desperately playing catch-up.

If Hearts hold on to second and enjoy a financially rewarding campaign in Europe then the reckless role Romanov has played will be forgiven.

If not, then another formidable dream will lie in tatters.

Taken from the Daily Record