Tynecastle woes bring back bitter memories for ex-Jambo Lee

EWING GRAHAME
Published on Sunday 4 March 2012 05:19

LEE Johnson spent only seven months at Tynecastle following his move from Yeovil Town in January 2006 but that period has been indelibly stamped on his memory.

The midfielder has only just returned to the SPL, joining Kilmarnock from Bristol City last month, but he has followed events at his former club with interest and wasn’t surprised to learn that Hearts players have had problems being paid on time by owner Vladimir Romanov this season.

Johnson quickly came to the conclusion that he needed to leave the Edinburgh club when voodoo became part of the rehabilitation process for injured players and Romanov began picking the team.

He also claims that Romanov threatened him when he complained about these developments.

“I’m not amazed what still goes on at Hearts,” he said. “That’s the way the guy is, it’s his money and that’s the way he wants to do things.

“When there is something major wrong at a club, like there was at Tynecastle, you just have to move on.

“I loved it at Hearts. We were flying, we had the best side they’ve had in a long time and the fans were brilliant but I read the signs. It was just a shame that it was broken up. Alarm bells started ringing for me as soon as the owner started picking the team.

“That was it for me, I was going to go anyway. You can’t have that – unless he wants to come to training and actually manage the team every day.

“Whether I was in his team or not, I was always going to move on. A lot of crazy things happened at Hearts around that time. People have spoken about the ‘voodoo treatment’ and ‘witch doctors’ when you were injured. I went through all that as well – there was a lot of that.

“Sometimes the team was even picked in that manner. Some of the stuff that went on was outrageous.

“Romanov once said he would put my tongue in a vice if I ever ended up in Lithuania, so maybe I shouldn’t say too much.”

His trying time in the capital didn’t deter Johnson from returning to Scotland, although he confesses that it indirectly prevented him from starring in the Premier League down south.

“That experience made me realise what I’ve got at a club like Kilmarnock, with a good man as a manager,” he said.

“When I left Hearts I had two options, Blackpool and Bristol City. My dad was the manager at Bristol and I really didn’t want to go down that route.

“But Blackpool had a Latvian president, Valeri Belokon, and that put me off. I was frightened the same thing would happen there, as it had at Hearts.

“They were making me their highest-paid player but I didn’t want to risk the scenario of having another Romanov.

“And it actually went the other way at Blackpool. Belokon turned out to be a good guy and they’ve had success, getting to the Premier League.

“So it was probably my mistake. But at the time, I was so scared because it was a key stage in my career.”

Taken from the Scotsman