Romanov promises stronger Hearts to tackle 'resistance'

AS ALMOST 24 hours of celebrations came to a conclusion at Tynecastle yesterday following Hearts' Scottish Cup final victory over Gretna, Vladimir Romanov reiterated his pledge to strengthen the team for next season, and admitted he had not expected so much resistance both on and off the pitch to his project of transforming the Edinburgh side into a credible rival to Rangers and Celtic. The club's majority owner also admitted he had not realised how important the cup was to Scottish football supporters in general, and in particular to those of Hearts, whom he acclaimed as "national treasures".

"I'm ready for next season," Romanov said. "I'll seal my pockets so no-one can take the money. I'll spend the money on strengthening the team.

"When the team was built, it was built to win the championship, but of course we didn't expect systematic resistance from the whole surroundings. We wanted to catch Celtic and Rangers by surprise this season, but Celtic managed to pull away. We didn't expect to get hit below the belt by various organisations, especially from referees."

Asked who, besides match officials, formed this "resistance", Romanov said: "It's the whole system that makes money from football, but we don't want to lose their business."

Romanov will dig deep in order to continue the redevelopment of Tynecastle stadium as well as that of the playing squad. "The Hearts fans are a national treasure," he continued. "It's very difficult to find fans like that, and not to fulfil that potential is a crime. In the capital of Scotland there is no reasonable stadium that could be similar to those in Glasgow."

Replacement of the main stand remains the priority as the club seeks to extend its capacity by some 8,000 beyond its current limit of a little over 17,000. Such expansion will of necessity go hand in hand with continued success on the pitch, and Romanov promised the club would make every effort to retain the trophy they won for the first time in eight years on Saturday.

"When I came here I didn't know much about this country, and didn't imagine the cup was so important for the fans. We'd probably have prepared better for the cup games if we'd known they were so important for the fans. We'll be more serious about the cup next season.

"My main goal is to get the team playing great football, and results will come from that, and to ensure there are no parasites around the club feeding from it. If this happens we will become champions and have great results.

"It's too early to set goals for next season. Many stars might want to leave for a bigger stage, and to replace them should be players who want to become stars and are hungry."

Lest the fans interpret this as a suggestion that a mass clear-out was on the way, Romanov implied that departures would be kept to a minimum over the summer. "At this moment it doesn't look like more than one," he said, the one in question presumably being Rudi Skacel. Andy Webster could also go, however, and it remains to be seen what will happen to Julien Brellier, whose ability is plain to the Hearts supporter but less obvious to Romanov.

One person who will surely stay in some capacity is Valdas Ivanauskas, the interim coach, even if Romanov refused to say what his plans were for his fellow Lithuanian. "If I say I'm leaving him [in position], you're going to say he's a bad coach. If I say the opposite, you'll say he's a good coach. Time will tell."

Having made mention of what he believes is the compulsively contrary nature of the Scottish media, Romanov decided to expand the attack on those sitting around the table with him inside Tynecastle. "In my worst nightmares I didn't expect a season like that - especially from the media. There is no institution that could criticise and punish referees who make mistakes, agents who manipulate players all the time, giving out disinformation and cheating the fans. The media's goal should be to cover things like that, but everybody works [according] to his intellect."

Romanov was speaking after the open-top bus journey from the City Chambers, where the Hearts players had been accorded a civic reception, along Princes Street and up to Gorgie. While hundreds of thousands acclaimed their heroes as they inched their way through the packed streets, a crowd limited for safety reasons to around 15,000 waited patiently inside the ground, where they were entertained by a samba band and a rock group.

Once the team bus arrived, the players emerged one by one from the tunnel to the applause of the support. Several who had not been part of the cup final 16 took part in those celebrations, but Andy Webster was a significant absentee. Romanov said he did not know why the international centre-back, who celebrated on the pitch with the rest of the squad after second place in the SPL had been achieved with a win over Aberdeen, had decided not to turn up yesterday.

"You should ask his agent. Too many agents make decisions for the players. I don't know where he is, to tell the truth.

"It was big news for me that he didn't play against Rangers. We didn't have a central defender who can defend well, but with some little injury he's out for two weeks. My medical staff - including Pyjama Man, who washes his hands not only after going to the toilet and wears medical clothes - gave a different opinion."

Going by such remarks, the gulf between player and club would appear unbridgeable. Steven Pressley, however, said he thought it was still possible that Webster would stay.

"I hope so," said the club captain, who stated in the cup final programme that Webster was potentially the best player he had ever played with. "I've gone on record many times saying Andy is possibly the best young defender this country has had for some time. But sometimes players have to move on. It was disappointing not to see him, but we understand his reasons."
Burley favourite to land Skacel as Southampton eye Czech

SOUTHAMPTON are confident that Rudi Skacel will be on their books next season in a move which will reunite the Czech international with George Burley and Simon Hunt, the management team who signed him for Hearts last summer.

A source at the south-coast club said a deal had been done to secure the services of the 27-year-old, who only officially became a Hearts player two weeks ago when the Edinburgh club bought out the two remaining years of his contract with Marseille, from whom they acquired him on loan.

Skacel, who scored in both normal play and the penalty shoot-out in Hearts' Scottish Cup final victory over Gretna, said he was saddened by his impending departure, but claimed events at the club had left him with no alternative. "It's been an amazing year for me and for the team," he said at yesterday's Tynecastle celebrations.

"I am very sad, but I must go. But thank you." He refused to state his preferred destination either yesterday or on Saturday evening, but on the latter occasion did go out of his way to mention his previous coaches.

"Some things in the last four months have changed," he said. "In the last four months some decisions this club made were not good for the team. I signed for George Burley and Simon Hunt." Vladimir Romanov, Hearts' owner, said he was prepared to let Skacel depart for the right kind of club. Hearts have not disclosed how much they paid Marseille to secure the player's registration, but they can reasonably expect to make several hundred thousand pounds in a resale. "If he wants to go to a club he likes, if it's a good club we would make an opportunity for him to go," Romanov said.

"But if it's a mediocre club we wouldn't."

He declined to say whether he regarded Southampton as good or mediocre, adding only: "Every club has its own history and great potential. It's up to the management of the club to make it great."

Steven Pressley added his own tribute to Skacel, who made an immediate impact at Hearts by scoring in his first seven league games. "He was very emotional in the dressing-room," the club captain said after yesterday's party. "He's one we'll really miss, because he's a great lad. He's a mad character, and a very likeable guy."

Taken from the Scotsman