OLD FIRM ARE STUCK IN THE PAST

VLADIMIR ROMANOV last night tipped Hearts to mount a sustained assault on the SPL title this season - because he swears the Old Firm are stuck in the past.

The Tynecastle owner spoke out ahead of this weekend's big kick-off to underline his hopes and ambitions for the new campaign.

And while the big-spending Lithuanian banker admitted he is unlikely to launch any major cash splashes he insisted manager Valdas Ivanauskas already has the players in place to put up a title fight.

Romanov saw his side split the big two last season, lift the Scottish Cup and claim a place in the Champions League qualifiers.

Now he reckons his squad were only playing at between 50 and 60 per cent of their capabilities throughout a traumatic campaign that saw them lose two managers - George Burley and Graham Rix.

And Romanov backs Ivanauskas to revolutionise Scottish football with a new attacking brand of football that will be too radical for Gordon Strachan and Paul Le Guen to keep up with. He said: "A successful season for me will be seeing the management team working together.

"I want them not only to use experienced players but also young players. This may be a risk but that's what I'd like.

"I want young players in the team and for Hearts to have a unique style.

"Scottish football needs to change its style for the game to progress here.

"I don't think there will be much progress from Celtic or Rangers because they cannot change their style so quickly - they have a long history of playing the style they do.

"More and more young players will play more often for Hearts.

"We've already changed the style of football. It is more and more attacking. The progress starts in the head.

"I guess other teams will now start to change their style. There will be no room for slow defenders any more because Scottish football will become more and more attacking.

Romanov insists last season's SPL campaign was undermined by agents who had unsettled some of his top players, presumably including Rudi Skacel and Andy Webster.

He said: "We had chances to win the title but the influence of agents on some players undermined our chances.

"Our team used only 50-60 per cent of its capabilities."

When asked if he expected more from his group Romanov said: "Yes because the negative influence of some agents to some players will not be there any more.

"Some players were worried about not getting injured last season - that won't happen any more."

But Romanov does not believe Hearts are ready to mount a serious push in this season's Champions League.

Tomorrow they take on Bosnian minnows Siroki Brijeg at Murrayfield for a place in the final round of qualifiers but Romanov said: "I don't think we are ready yet for the Champions League. We need time for the players to build their fitness.

"We need a further month to fully prepare but our target is to qualify and we can."

Romanov then claimed his long-term plans for the club could see Hearts build one of the most spectacular stadiums in Europe.

He said: "During the World Cup I saw several stadiums, Berlin, Munich, Dortmund.

"That has given me an idea of how Hearts' new stadium should look. Why can't we build a better stadium than the Olympic stadium?

"If you are building a new stadium it should be better than all o t h e r s . My dream is for S c o t l a n d internationals to be staged at Hearts' new stadium but I cannot do this alone - I need support from Edinburgh City Council and the SFA."

And of his frosty relationship with the game's governing body Romanov said: "I don't have a bad relationship with the SFA - I have no relationship with them.

"Why are they trying to gag me? I thought banning people from speaking their mind is something that might happen in Lithuania, not Scotland.

"I keep thinking this is a bad dream, not reality.This is a return to the dark agesmaybe we'll all become apes again."

Romanov also aimed a blast at Scotland's referees who he still believes conspired against his team last season.

He said: "The man who paints on a wall will never be a great artist.

"The same applies to Scottish referees. I'm not expecting big changes this season.

"If Scotland qualify for the European Championship finals or if Milan, Juventus and Florentina are forgiven for their misdemeanors then I'll forgive and forget about the referees last season."

Taken from the Daily Record