Romanov revolution is irresistible

More than a few dizzy souls, having taken in Saturday's bewildering Tennent's Scottish Cup final, must have left Hampden thinking: what next from Vlad the Impaler?

With a Hearts Scottish Cup triumph over Gretna now added to the club's Champions League place next season, the most dramatic paradigm shift in Scottish football in 20 years is well under way. Just how strong Hearts can become, however, will depend on how great a maverick Vladimir Romanov truly is.

The Lithuanian's name was being chanted long into the night by drunken Hearts fans who caroused their way back to Edinburgh on Saturday, their discordant singing getting progressively worse with each fresh can of lager. In terms of Hearts being put on a par with Rangers and Celtic, these supporters are investing all their hopes in Romanov.

It is a story which tingles with both excitement and uncertainty. Sometimes I wish we could travel forward five years in a time-machine to see how it all pans out.

At least some aspects have become clearer about Hearts' majority shareholder in recent weeks. For one thing, most observers of the Scottish game now believe Romanov to be a kosher figure, notwithstanding the mystery and intrigue which still surround him. Anyone who has managed to spend some time with him in recent weeks, as some of us have, while not disputing his eccentric aspects, would certainly attest to his passion for the club.

Romanov is certainly different. At Hampden on Saturday I sat in front of a row of crusty Russian submariners – survivors of the 1961 K-19 submarine disaster, whom Romanov, bizarrely, had invited to Hampden – who sat bedecked in their uniforms and shiny brass and gazed out upon the scene. Later, Romanov came away with some baloney about how the presence of these briny sea-dogs had helped him remain calm on the day. Put simply, the Hearts owner is a man with an eye for pageantry.

This season, of course, Romanov's greatest pageant has been his hiring and firing of coaches at Tynecastle. It has been a debilitating business for the club and, significantly, has been exacerbated by Romanov making flawed decisions. Now he faces another decision, starting today, over the future of Valdas Ivanauskas.

The former FBK Kaunas coach, who in a previous incarnation back home in Lithuania has already been fired by Romanov, was probably 10 minutes away from being dispatched to the salt mines by Romanov at Hampden had Hearts lost to Gretna on penalties. The truth is, Ivanauskas made heavy weather of this Hearts triumph, making it a more laboured effort than it ought to have been.

While the Gretna coach, Rowan Alexander, made various tactical changes which intermittently brought the advantage back to Gretna, Ivanauskas lumbered along, with his tendency to make straight personnel swops – Julien Brellier for Bruno Aguiar being one – rather than proactive tactical interventions. Frankly, and perversely, Saturday wasn't Big Valdas' finest hour.

He can be a lugubrious and faintly comical character. Bearing the permanent look of someone whose cat has just been squashed by a fire-engine, Ivanauskas can suddenly break into a vast, beaming smile, just as he did on Saturday as he strode onto the pitch after a nerve-wracking 120 minutes. There is a certain wariness about this football coach, as if he is forever awaiting his next ambush.

In defence of the Hearts coach, try putting yourself in his shoes. Imagine what it must be like, in the throes of a major cup final, trying to make decisions on the bench while knowing that Romanov's judgmental eye is peering down on you from the expensive seats. The fact is, Romanov is on record as stating his disapproval of various mind-game decisions made by Graham Rix, whom he sacked. It is a fact which must weigh heavily in the mind of the stony-faced Ivanauskas.

The Hearts coach is mired amid confusing cross-currents of communication at the club. For one thing there is what Romanov is telling Ivanauskas about the team – specifically, whom to play in it. Secondly, there is Ivanauskas' fractured English itself, in trying to communicate to a team of disparate tongues and cultures. None of it makes for sleek football or a smooth football club.

Whatever we are to make of Romanov – and he is a highly likeable character – the sight of a fit Andy Webster in the Hampden stand on Saturday spoke of the meddling which is obvious in connection with the team. The dispute over Webster's contract at the club has spilled over into Ivanauskas' stooge-like selecting of the team inside the dressing-room, and it is nothing but a hindrance to Hearts. Somehow, Romanov must find himself a coach whom he respects and can leave to get on with running the team.

Amid all the uncertainty, there is very dramatic potential at Hearts. A successful side, fuelled by Romanov's money, could certainly win the Bank of Scotland Premierleague ahead of the Old Firm. If the old Tynecastle main stand, a memorial to 19th century engineering, can be hauled down and a new two-tier one be erected in its place, a successful Hearts could be playing to 25,000 sell-outs every week, in the grip of a Gorgie gone ga-ga. The prospect is mouth-watering.

It all still depends on Romanov. His investment in Hearts seems genuine and his enjoyment of the club is certainly authentic. Being a maverick is fine, just so long as he doesn't end up destroying his own creation. In the meantime, let the singing and celebrations continue around Gorgie and beyond.

I just hope Vlad isn't lining up one of those ancient Ruskie submariners to be the new Hearts coach. After all, he likes having a coach who is used to being out of his depth.

Taken from the Herald