DISGRACE OF HEARTS

SO what next for Mad Vlad? What more can this little banker possibly have left up his sleeve?

He has already taken out Elvis and is now set to escort Craig Gordon and Paul Hartley off the premises after ordering that neither man be allowed to face Rangers at Ibrox on Saturday in a decision which must surely rank among his daftest yet.

Soon he will have flushed out the entire Riccarton Three and rid his club of its most sought-after talents. Nice going dumbski.

So what on earth is the next move of a man who appears to be hell bent on systematically dismantling one of our country's greatest sporting institutions?

Perhaps Romanov is planning to go the whole hog some day soon and announce that his club is to change its name. Why stick with Heart of Midlothian after all when with, every move, he is ripping that very heart out of his team?

Heartless of Midlothian would be much more fitting but Romanov could go a step further and rename them FBK Kaunas because then at least the transformation would be complete.

They are now playing like one of those Lithuanian sides which grub around the lower reaches of European football and sometimes wash up on these very shores but never manage to make an impression.

You know the sort. Teams rippling with burly six-footers whose only purpose is to be functional and stubborn. Soulless groups of men who operate without flair and who seem devoid of any kind of character or individuality.

If that's what Romanov is trying to achieve then his work is very nearly done. And, you know what, it is truly heartbreaking to watch.

On Saturday, shortly after receiving orders to empty his best two players, Valdas Ivanauskas assembled a side of sturdy journeymen and watched them grind out a draw on a ploughed field at Ibrox.

Later Ivanauskas suggested quite bullishly that the end had justified the means. Hearts had taken a point from Rangers on their own turf so why should he have to explain his team selection?

It was a bit like a policeman standing outside a fireworks factory which has just caught fire, telling the gathering crowd: Please disperse - there's nothing to see here!

When asked about the missing Scotland double act Ivanauskas said: "This is football business. I can't say a lot more than that. I pick the team for the result. You saw the result last week and you saw the result today."

When it was pointed out that just two weeks ago Ivanauskas himself had described Gordon and Hartley as being vital to Hearts' future he said: "That was two weeks ago. I'm sorry but for me the team is the most important. This is football politics and I don't want to speak about it.

"This result was OK for you? I am happy with it. If we had lost this game then maybe you could ask me about the selection."

What absolute and utter guff. What a desperate charade. Hearts have been blowing up before our very eyes for long enough now but the people in charge appear to believe that their own supporters and the watching world, for that matter, button up the back.

Yes, this result may well have been good enough to keep them in the chase for second place, even if it meant they were leapfrogged into fourth by Aberdeen and also pegged back by city rivals Hibs.

But, please, spare us the bull. Do not attempt to bluff us into believing we are watching a team in progress. Hearts have gone so far backwards in the last 12 months that they are now not even a pale imitation of the side which ripped through the SPL under George Burley at the start of last season.

That team played with energy, zest and no lack of style. Yes, they moved the ball forward quickly but they did it with invention and subtlety. They were, in fact, a joy to behold.

These days anybody unfortunate enough to run into Ivanauskas' lot are left to gouge at the eyeballs.

Had Hartley been in the mix on Saturday then maybe they might have attempted to play the ball through him and perhaps they have constructed a chance or two which would have enabled them to take all three points from a Rangers side which, of course, has itself seen better days.

But while three successive clean sheets suggests that, under new management, the Ibrox side have bottomed out and are on the way back up, Hearts continue to plummet.

They offered nothing other than stuffy resistance at the weekend and can count themselves fortunate that Walter Smith is still having to make do with the odds and ends which Paul Le Guen left behind.

So far the Ibrox boss has been able to draft in three new players - all defenders - and two of them made up the heart of a new-look back four. Ugo Ehiogu and DavidWeir may have a combined age of 70 but their know-how and physical presence are precisely what Rangers require as Smith attempts to lay the foundations for his team.

He can now set about improving personnel in more advanced areas before the transfer window slams shut but Hearts can be thankful that, on Saturday at least, Smith was forced to work with a very ordinary bunch.

Only Barry Ferguson who was outstanding - and Nacho Novo added any real spark or imagination to Rangers' forward play but this pair were not enough to burst through a thick wall of maroon.

Ferguson did get the he ball in the net in 77 minutes after Novo and sub Chris Burke had combined cleverly on the right flank to set up the chance but the captain was flagged for offside and although Smith called the decision "dubious" it was correct.

He said: "If we could have got one up then it would have been a big advantage. We edged the chances in the first half and in the second we pushed Hearts back but didn't create much.

"The one real incisive move we had was given offside and that looked dubious from the dugout. We are all disappointed not to have won a game which we dominated."

Smith's sense of injustice will have been heightened as his side just about deserved to nick a winner, given that they were the only team seriously endeavouring to do so.

But the fact remains that Gordon's replacement in the Hearts goal, Steve Banks, was forced into serious action just twice, both times in the first half when he kept out efforts from Ferguson and Weir.

Rangers also had a penalty claim turned down eight minutes from time when Ehiogu was hauled to the ground by Ibrahim Tall as the pair jostled under a hanging corner but it was a half-hearted appeal.

Smith, on the other hand, has no shortage of plans and will now try to recruit a few of them before the market closes at midnight on Wednesday.

He said: "We have bids in for a number of players. We will wait and see how they go. If we get a couple of players in that would be great. If not then we'll wait until the summer."

Either way it does not bode well for the likes of Czech international Libor Sionko - who wasted another chance to prove that he is anything better than distinctly average - and possibly Brahim Hemdani whose work is neat and tidy but never inspirational.

Smith needs so much more from his players and will be hoping to secure the services of some big characters, highly-driven men with real leadership qualities. Men like Paul Hartley.

And yet Romanov and Ivanauskas would have us all believe their side is better off without him. It is truly a mad, mad world.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Barry Ferguson (Rangers)

Taken from the Daily Record