Romanov can fulfil ambitions, says Ogilvie

CAMPBELL Ogilvie, the Hearts general secretary, has insisted any scepticism about Vladimir Romanov's intentions as owner of the club is completely unfounded.

The former Rangers secretary, who joined Hearts in December, held a rare media briefing yesterday and made it clear he is convinced Romanov is both sincere in his pledge to dislodge the Old Firm from the summit and capable of fulfilling it.

"The ambitions here are massive," said Ogilvie. "There have been various comments made about the Romanovs' involvement and where they are trying to take the club, but having seen at first hand their commitment, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind they genuinely want to take the club to a higher level and challenge the Old Firm.

"Personally, I've never had any suspicion about their motives, but I know at the outset there might have been.

If you take it on fan base and revenue, Rangers and Celtic are obviously ahead of the pack in Scotland but Hearts closed the gap last season and you create a new expectancy level among the support as a result.

"That's one of the reasons why Vladimir Romanov and the board are looking to extend the capacity of Tynecastle to the region of 25,000."

Ogilvie revealed that Hearts, having switched their European ties to Murrayfield for the new season, could also finish the domestic campaign at the home of Scottish rugby if they receive approval to redevelop Tynecastle before next summer.

"The plans for the stadium are well down the line.

We will probably be playing at Tynecastle for the whole of this season, although there is still a possibility of an application to the SPL to move later in the season. Ideally, Tynecastle could be redeveloped in 18 months time."

Taken from the Scotsman