Hearts goalkeeper Jamie McDonald lifts lid on eight years of Vladimir Romanov rule at Tynecastle

Gordon Parks

27 Jun 2013 09:06

McDONALD is one of the high profile players to take a wage cut to help the administration-hit club and he insists most of the damage can be traced back to the start of Romanov's regime.
Jamie McDonald, Hearts keeper Jamie McDonald, Hearts keeper

JAMIE MacDONALD had a ringside view of an eight-year reign of madness under Vladimir Romanov
at Hearts.

Now the Jambos keeper is the last man standing.

As players have come and gone from Gorgie amid chaos and controversy, it's fitting a West Lothian local and supporter of the club has survived to tell the tale.

MacDonald has agreed to drop his wages by half as part of the Tynecastle side's battle to stay alive and admits it's been a test of endurance from the moment Romanov entered his world.

He said: "If you look back to the start of Romanov's reign that's where most of the damage was done.

"The odd time he'd come in for meetings and do a little speech through his interpreter. Some of the meetings were mental to say the least, with threats and what not, especially in the early days.

"That was just his character. You don't know if it was just a psychological thing to put in a fear factor. It's a different culture over in Lithuania."

The 26-year-old recalled the infamous Riccarton Three incident which saw Romanov label Jambo trio Steven Pressley, Paul Hartley and Craig Gordon as traitors for speaking out against his leadership of the club.

He said: "I remember the time of the Riccarton Three well. It involved our three best players and he was threatening to not play them. I was only a young boy at the time thinking, 'Wow, this is different from what I'm used to'.

"It was character building. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. It was just his way of dealing with things, rightly or wrongly.

"He threatened to drop them all because they had an outburst against him. It was a strange experience and prepares you for anything in football."

It's been an inevitable journey to administration for Hearts and MacDonald insists the excess of Romanov at the height of his spending was to create a standing room only in the Hearts dressing room. He said: "One Christmas Vlad brought over 33 players from Eastern Europe to play our Under-19 side.

"We played three games against three separate teams of trialists and we ended up signing about 15 of them.

"Then we had between 70 to 80 signed players over the years when Vlad was in charge. If you look back at those days and how many players we were carrying it's astonishing.

"We have done well to cut back over the past two years."

The recriminations towards Romanov will continue but MacDonald is only interested in the job in hand and making sure the Jambos come back from the brink with everyone who loves the club pulling together.

He said: "There's probably a bit of anger there and it's disappointing to see a club like
Hearts go into
administration, with good people who have been here for 10-12 years losing their jobs.

"They had nothing to do with the state the club's in. They've been punished so in that sense there's anger.

"It's been a difficult couple of weeks but there's light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully we get new owners sooner rather than later.

"Since the administrator spoke out about needing to raise money in the short term the fans have been magnificent as always. Especially over the last year, with the share issue and being asked to give so quickly.

"They've all done it which is a credit to them. It's a great place to play. With the fans' backing hopefully we're all going in the one direction."

MacDonald admits the financial implosion at Hearts has been a disaster waiting to happen but believes they had to hit rock bottom before starting to repair the damage.

He said: "Did I see this coming? Probably, yeah. The last three years especially there have been numerous times when we've gone without getting paid for a couple of months at a time.

"You kind of realise administration is probably inevitable but at the same time you think it's going to be all right.

"For some reason we managed to be okay in the past but this time it has come to a head. But at least everyone knows what is happening now."

Gary Locke's side face a-15 point penalty in the SPL next season and MacDonald insists they can triumph over adversity. He has no hesitation in being part of the
fightback as he is already indebted to the club he's served his entire career.

He said: "I've been at Hearts a long time and did feel a responsibility and that I owed the club something. It's a bit of payback to try to help them.

"I also have the selfish reason in that I want to stay here and play.

"It's going to be difficult and we all know that. If we can finish 11th it would be a great achievement but it's a challenge we are all looking forward to.

"You don't want to walk through life and have it easy, you want to challenge yourself and that's what we'll all be striving for.

"We'll be battling every week for the club with the fans and backroom staff all behind us."

Taken from the Daily Record