Romanov's report card has plenty pass marks

IT WAS a close-run thing, but in the end Hearts got there. Coming second in the SPL and winning the Scottish Cup meant that this was the Edinburgh club's most successful season since 1959-60, the last time they were champions.

The last Hearts side to win the cup were almost as successful, but they slipped back to third in the league after being right up there for much of the campaign. For a time the same fate seemed to lie in wait for this year's squad, but they did just enough to fall over the finishing line by beating Aberdeen 1-0 in the most fraught atmosphere many in attendance had ever experienced at a football match - until Saturday, that is, when Gretna's gritty fightback threatened to provoke mass despair among the majority support at Hampden.

Yet, no matter the narrowness of the margin by which they clinched both prizes, Hearts can claim to have made a substantial achievement in Vladimir Romanov's first full season at the helm. Their next step, as the majority shareholder said on Sunday, is to build on that achievement - and how precisely to do that will be the subject of protracted discussions between Romanov and his lieutenants over the close season.

The Lithuanian businessman has already been told by some of his most trusted staff that stability will be essential if Hearts are to go from strength to strength. Romanov may rail at referees, agents and other unspecified forces of evil, but the fact remains the man himself has to take responsibility for some of the decisions which threatened to derail his club's hopes.

The sacking of George Burley was one such decision. Even if you accept Romanov's argument that it was necessary to preserve the integrity of the club, the departure of Burley clearly had a destabilising effect.

The appointment of Graham Rix was another error, one which was only just rectified in the nick of time, when Romanov decided that his compatriot, Valdas Ivanauskas, should take over for the rest of the season. Ivanauskas restored a measure of mental toughness to the squad, and the rest is history.

Counting John McGlynn, who took temporary charge after Burley left, Hearts have had four head coaches this season. Steven Pressley, the captain, is just one of the more prominent figures at the club to make public his belief the next appointee - which he hopes will be Ivanauskas - should be given time to build the squad.

Romanov has yet to commit himself on the former Lithuanian international, but some of those close to him say he already knows full well that he cannot expect the squad to emulate this season if they have to undergo the same upheaval. Romanov's detractors may label him an interferer, but the man himself would explain it differently: in an interview with The Scotsman a fortnight ago, he said he had not anticipated being required to firefight so much, because he had not realised how badly Hearts were in need of an overhaul in virtually every area of their activities. In other words, he has no penchant for tinkering for the sake of it: he wants to make lasting repairs.

This brings us to one of the most fascinating aspects of Romanov's character, and one for which he has not received enough credit. Pushing 60, a product of the old Soviet system in which inquisitiveness and initiative were distinctly discouraged, he has come to an alien culture and shown remarkable enterprise and adventurousness at an age when many of his contemporaries would be contemplating sloping off into a quiet retirement.

Contrary to his depiction as Mad Vlad, a self-indulgent would-be dictator, he has also shown himself to be far more adaptable to new circumstances than is usual for a man of his age. While he continues to lambast the Scottish football establishment, he has understood for some time that you do not conquer every castle with a full-frontal assault - hence the appointment of Campbell Ogilvie.

Hiring Ogilvie, formerly on the Rangers board, as Hearts' director of operations last November gave Romanov entree to the inner circles of the SFA. He has since remained just as free to indulge in verbal assaults on the authorities, while leaving it to Ogilvie to employ more subtle methods from within.

Another off-field area which has seen a marked improvement is the marketing of the club. Everything depends on success on the pitch, of course, but Hearts are now cranking up their efforts to ensure they capitalise on that success. Their newly-adopted slogan, "The Heart and Soul of Edinburgh", sums up their strategy: to become far more widely known as the sporting representatives of the capital, and to encourage newcomers to the city to find it natural to adopt the club as their own. The more closely Hearts are explicitly regarded as Edinburgh's club, of course, the harder it could become for Hibs to attract more supporters.

That may be welcomed by Hearts fans, but, while his aim is to make the club the best in the country as well as in Edinburgh, Romanov would actually welcome more competition from Hibs, and from Aberdeen - in fact, from anyone willing to join in his assault on the Old Firm's duopoly. The more genuine competition they face, the tougher it will be for Rangers and Celtic to maintain their stranglehold on the game in Scotland.

For his challenge to that stranglehold alone, the advent of Romanov should be welcomed by anyone who wants new life to be breathed into Scottish football. And anyone tempted to accuse Hearts supporters of credulous adoration of the businessman should recall the seriousness of the decline into which the club had fallen under the stewardship of the previous board.

Asking whether Romanov has been good or bad for Hearts is therefore a futile question. The bottom line is that without him, the club would be playing their home games at Murrayfield - not in the Champions League before a capacity crowd, as could soon be the case, but in front of a few thousand in the lower reaches of the SPL.

He could be better for Hearts - less disruptive at times, and less wasteful of some of the playing talent at his disposal - and to do so he will have to sit down over the next few weeks and learn from the mistakes he has made this season. Already, however, the positives of the Romanov era significantly outweigh the negatives.
Warm welcome given to Cold War foes

AN EXTRAORDINARY gathering of Cold War foes - retired Scottish and Russian submariners - was brought together at Edinburgh Castle by Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov after the club's Scottish Cup triumph at the weekend.

The event was arranged by Romanov, himself a former Soviet submariner after being conscripted as a teenager. He took the veterans of the K19 Russian submarine to the cup final at Hampden as his guests of honour, and the next day he introduce them to their Royal Navy counterparts.

The veterans toasted each other with rum and vodka, their respective traditional navy tipples, before tucking into a haggis dinner.

"We're all brothers, competitors, never enemies," said Jim McMaster, chairman of the West of Scotland branch of the Submariners Association. "We're delighted to have the chance to salute the sailors from the famous K19."

The Soviet submarine was involved in one of the most dramatic incidents of the Cold War when a nuclear leak occurred as the vessel was on a secret mission off the US coast in 1961. The drama - which led to deaths among the crew as they battled to prevent a nuclear explosion - was later portrayed in the Harrison Ford film K19: The Widowmaker.

"It's a huge honour for us to be here to meet the former Royal Navy submariners," said Admiral Anatoli Shevchenko.

"In Cold War times, we always had the utmost respect for them. They are great navy people. I would like to thank Seaman Romanov for organising this meeting."

Proposing a toast, McMaster won laughter from the old Soviet sailors when he said: "I've been to Russia a few times myself - but never officially."

Romanov said: "When we were in the submarines in the North Sea we could never dream that one day we might be here in Scotland. We never thought that there was so beautiful a country or a city like Edinburgh."

With tensions high during the Cold War "for whatever foolish reason, this could have been destroyed by chance".

He told the Scots how the former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev is campaigning for a Nobel peace prize for the K19 crew.

"We would like to ask if the submariners of Scotland would back this initiative," he said. "We would be honoured to support this," said Mr McMaster, who also presented Mr Romanov with honorary membership of the West of Scotland branch of the Submariners' Association.

Meanwhile, Romanov's wife, Svetlana Romanov, spoke yesterday of how she could not watch the penalty shoot-out in the Scottish Cup final after Hearts' match against Gretna had finished 1-1 after extra-time. "I was so happy we won the cup but it was such a nerve-racking game that I could hardly watch," she said, revealing she ran inside the VIP suite at Hampden.

"After Paul Hartley was sent off I went inside - it was too tense for me."

Svetlana usually remains at home in Lithuania where she watches Hearts games on television.

"The first time I came to Scotland was on New Year's Day when we were winning 2-0 then lost to Celtic, so I was worried about this one as well," said Romanov's wife.

"But I am so proud for Vladimir, Roman and the team in what they have achieved so far in Edinburgh.

"It's taken a lot of effort and nervous energy, but when I saw the joy on the fans' faces on Princes Street, I knew it was worth it.

"Now I'm looking forward to coming to see Hearts more often next season, and exploring Edinburgh.

"It was really interesting for me to meet and talk to the Lord Provost Lesley Hinds at the game and in the Tynecastle boardroom after that fantastic bus parade through the city. She is such a nice and approachable person."

Taken from the Scotsman