Romanov heading for Tynecastle as Sergio backtracks on ambition to win title

Published Date: 01 October 2011
By STUART BATHGATE
WHEN Paulo Sergio took over as Hearts manager in August, he said his mission was to win the championship.
With less than a quarter of the season gone, his team are already 13 points behind leaders Rangers, so it was little surprise yesterday that he backtracked when reminded of his goal.

"I didn't say in what year," Sergio said after being asked how far away he thought he was from fulfilling that ambition. "I think it's a big distance to the biggest clubs in Scotland at the moment, but what I said in that time (was] it's not impossible to put a plan to the future to achieve that goal. If not with me it can be with another manager, but I think it's possible if you do the right things at the right moment."

It was Vladimir Romanov who charged Sergio with the aim of winning the title, and the problem for the Portuguese manager is that the Hearts owner is not renowned for his patience.

Romanov will be at Tynecastle tomorrow for Hearts' match against Celtic - the first match involving his club he has attended since the defeat by Dundee United back in August. He sacked Jim Jefferies and Billy Brown after that game, but Sergio appeared unconcerned by the suggestion that the owner's visit might be an ill omen for him. "If he came to want another one it's no problem for me," he said.

The notion that Romanov is liable to fire a manager every time he appears in Edinburgh is far-fetched, but it is certainly the case that the Kaunas-based businessman cannot be happy with Hearts' last two matches - a defeat at St Johnstone in the SPL and another at Ayr United in the League Cup. Hearts have a far better record at Tynecastle, where they have won their last three games, and Sergio is frustrated by the inconsistency they have shown in recent weeks.

"I saw the team growing up every weekend. Last ten or 15 days was one step forward and two back, so I'm not liking that. But I hope a different performance next game and a different attitude and desire. We didn't win at St Johnstone because their players desired to win the game more. They didn't play better, but they desired more to win the game.

"We can't be a team with two faces. Even if we beat Celtic I won't be happy because I'm thinking of the next away game. We are showing one thing at home but another thing away. I'm not happy with that. We have to improve it.

"The SPL is a marathon. We haven't finished the first third yet. We know we have a lot of things to improve, but what gives me hope is that two or three weeks ago we were doing the right things and moving in the right way. Let's go back and think about that.

After analysing what we did at St Johnstone, I think it's clear for everybody what we have to change."

Hearts' Mehdi Taouil, still a Kilmarnock player at the time of the last Hearts-Celtic match, said yesterday he had not seen anything similar to the attack on Neil Lennon during that game in his time in French football, but that credit should be given to Scottish fans for generally being self-policing. "In France the fans cannot come inside the pitch," he said. "They are not as close as the fans can be here.

"The atmosphere is way better here because there are no fences. All credit to the fans. That (the attack on Lennon] happened one time. I'm sure if it was like this in France that would happen more times than here."

Taken from the Scotsman