VLAD

VLADIMIR ROMANOV last night admitted he has picked the Hearts team and will do so again in the future.

The Tynecastle supremo revealed for the first time the extent of his involvement in team selection.

Romanov will ask manager Valdas Ivanauskas why he picked or left out a certain player and, if not satisfied with the answer, would seek a second opinion from someone else inside the club.

Asked directly if he picked the side, Romanov said: "I did and I will."

The Lithuanian then went on to clarify that he could not have the final say because he is not at the training ground every day.

But it is clear he has a bigger say in who starts for Hearts than any other club owner in Scottish football. Romanov said: "How can I explain?

"Please understand one aspect. To be able to pick the team you should be at the training ground twice a day. And I am not, as you can see.

"To pick the team it is not enough to just be a coach, however. You need to talk to the medical staff and get information from the club doctors on the individual condition of the players. I have no ability to do this. But sometimes there are situations when I ask the coach some searching questions about the make-up of the team.

"If you want to know how the Hearts team is picked, listen to me. I will ask Valdas why a particular player has been selected - like Takis Fyssas or Lee Wallace. The coach will say 'during the training session Fyssas was stronger and better'.

"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 there is a doubt about if it should be Takis 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.

"Last season I was telling them, 'why is Andrew Driver not playing more often?' And they were laughing at me. But now we can see what this player can bring to the Hearts team.

"When George Burley was in charge I asked him why Calum Elliot did not play in the CIS Cup at Livingston. We went out of the Cup because Elliot did not make the team. Look how he played after that."

Taken from the Daily Record