Hearts on the brink: Former boss Paulo Sergio claims fans will ensure club's survival despite impending crisis

By Craig Swan

EXACTLY a year since Sergio led the Gorgie men to a famous Scottish Cup Final victory over rivals Hibs, the former boss has spoken of his dismay at Hearts' current plight.
Hearts players throw Paulo Sergio in the air after the 5-1 thrashing of Hibs a year ago Hearts players throw Paulo Sergio in the air after the 5-1 thrashing of Hibs a year ago

EXACTLY one year ago today, Paulo Sergio had Hearts fans singing in the streets as he paraded the Scottish Cup from the front of an open-top bus.

Twelve months on, those same supporters are sat slumped on those same pavements with their beloved club now perilously close to financial meltdown and a shock demotion to the First Division.

And the staggering situation makes the Portuguese manager sick to his stomach.

Sergio is shattered at the calamitous turnaround from the joyous scenes of May 20 last year to the situation today which sees the club standing at the edge of an abyss.

Yet, in truth, he’s not entirely surprised.

When Sergio was with previous club CFR Cluj at their mid-season training camp in Marbella in January, he made public his fears for Hearts under the control of Lithuanian owner Vladimir Romanov.

Just two months previously, the fans had to fork out to save their club from the wrath of the taxman with Romanov not in a position to pay a hefty outstanding bill.

A winding up order was only averted after frantic fundraising helped secure a deal with HMRC. However, since then crisis has never ben far away from Tynecastle and returned last week with a bang.

Hearts’ Lithuanian parent company UBIG asked to be declared insolvent and the SPL board will meet this morning at Hampden to discuss the situation.

An 18-point deduction could be dished out which would see the club relegated and Sergio is disgusted.

He may have been in Cyprus securing a deal to become the new manager of APOEL when Record Sport broke the news of Hearts’ latest trauma, but he could easily have been back in Gorgie Road given the passion in his voice as he surveyed the uncertain landscape at Tynecastle.

Instead of discussing the joy of an anniversary, Sergio was left reeling and said: “This is sad news. It is such a pity that someone can provoke such a situation at a huge institution like Hearts.

“I hope the worst things don’t happen but I said a long time ago I hoped someone could buy the club to turn it around and make it what the Hearts supporters deserve.

“If this relegation is going to happen, it will be a very, very sad day.

“If that’s how it turns out, it’s terrible. It would be so sad if Hearts were to be in the lower divisions for the next year.”

Hearts fans should have spent yesterday reminiscing on the glorious events of last year. On May 19, they had the day of their lives when the Cup Final turned into a one-sided 5-1 rout. At Hampden that day, they rubbed Hibs’ noses in it.

At Easter Road at the weekend, those same Hibees got the chance for payback and the ones attending the win over Dundee gleefully chanted about their neighbours going bust.

So instead of gloating on their one-year anniversary, Hearts fans were consumed by fear over this morning’s SPL meeting.

Sergio was happy to recount those events of 12 months ago, only there was irony mixed with the pride.

He said: “Things are almost the same as they were one year ago.

“I was trying to negotiate a new contract back then when I was in Scotland and I am doing the same this weekend in Cyprus, so things are very similar for me.

“But I must say the kind of feeling you get from days such as the Scottish Cup Final are ones you never forget. The relationships I built up in Edinburgh will live with me for ever and I still have contact with friends there. I had an amazing feeling at Hearts and I’ll always feel I am a part of that special family at the club.

“My career at Hearts may have ended last summer but I left hoping that Hearts would continue to get better and stronger.

“I am, and always will be, a supporter of Hearts and the memories of that day at Hampden will always give me great pleasure and satisfaction.”

Sergio, like most Hearts managers in the Romanov regime, had to act as a media firefighter as well as a coach during his days as boss in Gorgie.

Controversy was never far from the surface and his former assistant Gary Locke is now the man having to answer the difficult questions on matters outwith his control.

Sergio couldn’t miss Locke’s affection for the club and
sympathises with his situation.

He said: “It is a dream job for Gary. He is competent as a coach and I just hope he has the luck he deserves.”

Right now, though, all Locke, Sergio and every other Hearts fan can do is hope as they are now mere bystanders to events they can no longer influence.

Sergio, however, sees one chink of light.

Should the nightmare scenario unfold, administration and the removal of Romanov, could finally give the fans their long-awaited opportunity to step in and seize power.

He said: “The fans can hopefully take charge and make the club reborn.

“With those fantastic people supporting them they could become more organised financially and come out stronger in the future. Whatever happens, Hearts will always be there because with the fans the club has, nothing will ever bring it to an end.”

Taken from the Daily Record