VLAD'S CASH HELPED TO KEEP CRAIG AT THE CLUB..

ROBBIE NEILSON can remember a time not so long ago at Hearts when Paul Hartley would have been gift-wrapped for a big club to come and take away.

Now the defender is confident that the Vladimir Romanov regime at Tynecastle has the funds to keep one of Scottish football's finest players in years in Edinburgh.

At 29, Hartley is at the peak of his powers and a host of top clubs will be interested in a player who almost single-handedly destroyed Celtic on Sunday.

Neilson has been around Tynecastle longer than most. He's been there during the days when the club seemed to sell on any player with a price tag in a bid to reduce the massive debt.

So whatever you may think of Romanov, the fact is if he wasn't around there is every chance Hartley would be off at the end of this season.

He nearly did leave over a year ago when Celtic made a botched and embarrassing move for the midfielder.

How the SPL champions must regret not finding *, that extra few thousand y to buy a player who, if his club asked a couple of million for him, would still be a bargain.

Neilson said: "Hopefully we can keep a hold of Paul.

"We have kept Craig Gordon and he is one of the best goalkeepers in Britain in my eyes.

"That goes to show the club can keep the best players and I hope we do that with Paul.

"He's been fantastic for us this season and I'm sure there will be other clubs interested in him.

"Maybe a few years ago the club would have struggled to keep Paul. However, the money situation has totally changed now from what it was.

"Back then, any kind of offer for players would have meant they were away because we were in a lot of debt.

"But Mr Romanov has put his money where his mouth is and is producing good wages for boys to keep them at the club.

"Paul was just fantastic against Celtic. He has produced some really big performances for us this season and has scored great goals in the important matches.

"That's the sign of a great player. It's all right doing it against the lesser sides but Paul's been doing against everyone. I'm just delighted for him.

"On Sunday I wasn't expecting Paul to take his second free-kick so quickly. He does practise them a lot at training. He will take free-kicks again and again and keeps scoring with them."

The 3-0 win over Celtic took Hearts to within touching distance of a shot at the Champions League, with the Scottish Cup Final against Gretna still to come.

You can't blame Neilson, a steady performer at right-back throughout the season, for almost not wanting to jinx his team.

To come so far and lose it now would be up there with that fateful afternoon at Dens Park in 1986.

Neilson said: "I don't want to look too far ahead but it would obviously be brilliant if we could get to the Champions League.

"Even then we would still have a qualifier to get through first and that will be a difficult game.

"But it's nice just to be thinking about it."

It sure is and boy do Hearts want it.

I'm sure the tannoy announcer thought he was doing his bit for the cause at half-time on Sunday when he reminded us all that Hearts were about to play the most import ant 45 minutes in the club's history.

There's nothing like a bit of extra pressure to make the old knees buckle.

Neilson said: "People speak about pressure but Valdas has kept saying to us that it's good pressure to have.

"I would much rather have this than what Dunfermline and Livingston have gone through this season - down the bottom of the league and fighting for their lives.

"Hearts are a big club and we are going for big rewards and that's what you want to be doing in the game. You don't want to be down at the bottom of the league."

Neilson is right. Hearts want the chance to test themselves against the best clubs in Europe and they're almost there.

Scotland can be a warped place at times and the conspiracy theorists have had a field day since Sunday. The truth of the matter is that Hearts were far better than Celtic, who are already on their holidays, and over this season they have deserved second place ahead of a poor Rangers side.

They certainly deserved to beat the champions who have carried a fair amount of luck against the Jambos this season.

Neilson said: "We did speak at half-time about what happened on New Year's Day when Celtic came back - and they fought back again and had a few chances towards the end.

"But we held on for a fantastic result. It's been a while since we've beaten them.

"It was one of the biggest results of the season but Aberdeen onWednesday will be an even bigger game if we get what we want. Then there's the Cup Final, so every match is massive for us.

"It's all very well being a one-season wonder. We have to look at being consistently good and I do think you will see a different Hearts team next season.

"The other sides will know what to expect from us.

"I've always thought that it can be more difficult for Celtic and Rangers because teams are right up for it when they play them.

"That might happen with us next season. But we have real character and our attitude is bring it on."

Taken from the Daily Record