I WANT MORE SCOTS AT THE HEART OF MY TEAM

VLADIMIR ROMANOV has come out with some weird and wonderful statements in his eventful 18 months at Tynecastle but the latest is the biggest jaw-dropper of all.

He wants to fill Hearts with home-grown players. Yes, you read that right. The man who has imported a clutch of Lithuanians to Gorgie would love to see the majority of his players groomed in places such as Kirkcaldy, not Kaunas.

Romanov was speaking through an interpreter but his message was loud and clear.

He has recruited extra youth coaches to help Hearts bring more first-team stars through the ranks and while there will always be foreigners in the side, he wants the squad to have greater local identity.

Romanov has already pinpointed five youngsters he reckons have the class to become fixtures in the first team soon -English-born duo Andy Driver and Jamie Mole and Scotland Under-21 starlets Calum Elliot, Lee Wallace and Christophe Berra.

Romanov said: "Since the moment I took over Hearts the target has been to become Scottish champions.

"We are still working towards that goal but being champions would not be enough. I want to build a club at a high level in the game.

"But I don't want title after title if that means we neglect building up the club itself. That is why I also want to see the development of young players at the club and for that reason I've appointed more youth coaching staff.

"I want us to have at least five home-produced young players on the bench rather than three.

"The five players I have in mind are Elliot, who we have loaned to Motherwell, Wallace, Driver, Mole and Berra. It is a risk letting Calum leave but it will help him develop through playing more games.

"I think we can risk developing the youngsters this season because Celtic and Rangers are not that strong. They may be stronger again a year from now and I might lose the chance to play the young players.

"We want to be champions and and also to have five more young Hearts players coming through. In the January transfer window we can choose some new players to bolster those young players.

"I haven't instructed Valdas to play young players but I have increased the number of coaches we have to work with these emerging talents, so they are ready more quickly. To become champions of the SPL is very important but it is not the main goal.

"I'm not talking about an all-Scottish team.We will still have other players as well. We must have a proper Scottish accent, though.

"And we want the others to fear the strength of Hearts.

"It is a task trying to fulfil that and there will be foreigners to help as well. But I would like most positions to be filled by Scots."

Romanov is engaging company, even for those who of us who haven't yet quite worked out whether we like him or not.

He certainly talks like a man who has a passion for his football club.

Romanov is also unforgiving towards those he feels have wronged him. Rudi Skacel and Andy Webster, for example, won't be on his Christmas card list.

Romanov said: "It has been a good summer transfer window for us. We spent a lot of money on Roman Bednar's new contract and we had to pay Marseille for half a year of Skacel's contract, knowing he would leave.

"Let's just see how Skacel fares at Southampton. I think we have two strong midfield players now in the centre (Paul Hartley and Julien Brellier). As for Webster, we have Berra. Last year it was a crime not to play Berra more often and the reason for that was Webster. We also had Ibrahim Tall and Jose Goncalves who needed to play more often.

"Therefore Webster couldn't play properly when we had stronger options than him.

"Please understand me. Berra is on the same level as Webster. The time came for Christophe to play so that he would develop.

"I can't say to Steven Pressley to step down because he is in his last years and he plays well in every game so Webster had to step down.

"Some of the players we brought in did not develop as we had hoped. Check the transfers we have made - it is normal situation for some to do well and others not.

"Unfortunately, I followed Graham Rixs advice on one or two and they were not good at all. I tried to meet the coach's requests." Rix is gone, which isn't a surprise, yet Craig Gordon and Paul Hartley remain. Which is something of a shock.

Romanov said: "I would never try to stop a player moving to the right club if he has the right offer and a chance to really improve his life and his career. I would say, 'good luck' and let the man go.

"There was some interest in Craig but we had a chat and decided that for both parties it was better if he remained at Hearts.

"He needs to play more games for his club and for Scotland. There was definite interest and offers and one club wanted to steal him away from Tynecastle.

"So we had to have long chats explaining to Craig what we want to do for Hearts and for him.

"He wanted to stay and keep playing first-team footb all. I hope now that he stays for five more years."

And we will end with a typical Romanov outburst.

He said: "When I came here I had no desire to beat Rangers and Celtic -I just wanted to build up Hearts. We are not at the stage where we always beat them but give us abitmore time. The Old Firmwanttokill Hearts. They are too late now to do that."

Taken from the Daily Record