I pick the team, admits Romanov

Ewan Murray
Saturday September 9, 2006
The Guardian

The Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov has spoken for the first time about his role in team selection at Tynecastle. It has long been suspected that Romanov's interference in team matters has caused a breakdown in relationships with the three managers he has sacked in the past 18 months, with one former employee claiming privately that the owner stipulates which substitutions must be made in matches and at what time.

Romanov's latest comments do nothing to contradict such claims. Albeit with the hint of a smile, he said: "I did [pick the team] and I will," before offering the latest insight into the way things work at the Edinburgh club.

"Then I will ask 'But did he have a proper medical test before the game?' If I see that the coach is in any doubt about his answer, then there is a doubt about if it should be Fyssas or Wallace. Then I ask the club doctor about the two players and if they had fitness tests. That is my level of involvement - I want to know how much the coach knows about each and every player."

Romanov also defended his transfer dealings despite players being brought in against the will of managers and many failing to create an impact in the first-team. "Some of the players we brought in did not develop as we had hoped," he explained. "It is normal for some to do well and others not. Unfortunately, I followed [the former manager] Graham Rix's advice on one or two and they were not good at all."

Taken from the Guardian/Observer