This week served up another predictable tragi-drama from Romanov's big top circus, opera house and pantomime pantaloons.
This week i am sick of it, can't take much more.
Everything about it is just waring me down.
This culminated in my experience at Tynecastle yesterday - this game was the most annoying & frustrating, badly scripted, amateurishly directed and poorly acted dross i have witnessed all season - it probably wasn't but that's how it felt, i was in a stinking mood by the time the game was over.
I spent a load of the game venting vitriol at variety of victims, my language and general demeanor not for me to be proud off. Why do we do it to ourselves!
Breath in ... and rest.
Vladimir Romanov has once again plunged himself and the club into disarray and ignominy with his paranoid ravings, which appear to this time be full on - libellous. Essentially Vlad has stated in an interview to Russian sports magazine Futbal that the old firm are in some way corrupting Scottish Football, players and referees.
Here is a bit of the translated transcript -
Q. When you took over you declared that Hearts would in a few months be mounting a real challenge to Rangers and Celtic and would be battling for the title. Nobody took you seriously then but you soon returned the club to long forgotten heights. What was the secret of your success?
A. Celtic and Rangers? Even Kaunas are a match for them on the pitch. The thing is they've turned football into a type of show business with their underhand games. They buy off players and referees. When it comes to weaker teams then nobody can help but if two opponents are equally matched, then the referees can have a real influence on the outcome.
Seems pretty conclusive to me, if this is a legitimate translation ( Vlad in an official statement on Hearts web site has back tracked from this) Vlad has accused both Rangers and Celtic of 'buying off' referees.
Given what has gone on in Italy at the end of last season, what it has cost some of the clubs over there. This must be dealt with seriously, will it? i don't think so. Half of me wants one or both of the gruesome twosome to take it as far as they can, drive a legal stake into the heart of Vlad and his death grip on our club. The other half is petrified that the 'camel that breaks the straws back' may well be that long drawn out and acrimonious legal battle. Vlad gives up and walks away.
There are some other statements from the interview that do read like an exit strategy is being sought -
Q. Things have got that bad in Britain?
A. That's not the word for it. I went there with the hope that I'd be able to avoid all the dirty stuff that we've all grown used to here. I thought that there everything was clean, ideal, (that I would be dealing) with gentlemen. But it turned out that there everything is even worse.
Q. Worse than here?
A. Yes, by some way.
Q. In what way is that visible?
A. They have a different mentality. A different culture, or to be more precise, lack of culture. What do I mean by that? Here, for example, I can say to German (Tkachenko, the Russian football magnate who runs the agency that represents players such as Laryea Kingston and who was sitting next to him during the interview): 'Why are you trying to deceive me?' (German Tkachenko interjects: 'And I would feel ashamed'.) A And he would feel ashamed. But if I say that to a British person, they give you an innocent look and say, 'Me? Deceive you? I'll see you in court!' That's the difference.What we would call base behaviour is the norm for them. It's normal for them to betray one's own club and conduct talks with another club behind their back or not to give their team everything on the pitch because someone has seduced them by waving the shirt of another club at them.But fans there deserve something much more. They are not like the tiffosi in Italy. British supporters are well-versed, they understand everything, they live for football. But they are being served up a rotten product, even if it is well packaged.
A couple of thoughts here, Vlad has always had it in for untrustworthy agents, a lot of his actions and over-reactions over his time here has i believe been caused by players and agents not playing the game Vlad's way. It is pretty clear that Vlad also feels the same way about players who also do not play the game exactly as he sees it. Any decent is taken as a betrayal, a personal betrayal to be dealt with, with utmost severity.
Pretty clear that it is Vlad's way or it is the highway.
Vlad came here because he wanted an even playing field where everyone adhered to his view of how football business should be conducted. He can't get that in Russia/Lithuania which is why he came here, now he seems convinced that it is worse here?? Where else can he go, how about South America bet it is nice and clean and tidy over there. I am not so sure that this is an indication of the exit strategy being sought. But i do think the exit may seek him out much quicker than he expects. All i will say about Vlad and his apparent madness is that, behind all of this is a long term goal. That goal being to get a foothold over here for his bank UKIO-BANKAS, and to expand that business. This dwarfs any ripple caused by his ownership of this football club. He owns this club in order to grease the wheels toward that goal. Vlad has and is however making so many mistakes that that goal is looking further away by the hour. Right this moment in time how many people do you think would open an account at the George St branch of UKIO-BANKAS A failed bank venture would surely see him go as cold as ice to Hearts, Edinburgh and Scotland. For an awful lot of people that would be good riddance and bugger the consequences.
One of the most disappointing aspects of all of this is the divisions it is building into the Hearts support. The talk shows and web sites are crammed full of anti Vlad versus pro Vlad battles, everyone is entitled to their opinion obviously but lately it reminds me of that scene in 'Life of Brian' where Brian thinks that he and the rest of The Peoples Popular Front of Judia are about to strike a blow against the oppressive Romans only to discover that they are happier to battle it out with their mortal enemy The Judian Popular Peoples Front.
Seems to me that some people spend their entire lives in perpetual disgust at their clubs chairman and board, like it is their job or something. I just can't be arsed with that.
Where do i stand on all of this?
I hate the term 'Romanov apologist', mostly bandied around by the above malcontents.
I do not apologise for Romanov, he has made a hundred thousand mistakes in the last 2 years. He is most probably President of the United Wards of BonkersVille!
But here is what i believe right now, having sumpt up all the lines which are to to be read between, over the piece -
I believe, the new stand and the building of it remains the acid test of his intentions for our club.
I believe, Hearts will be a better team next season than we are this season.
Is anything else required really, think i have nailed my colours to the mast there. I remain a supporter of the Romanov revolution, with all the baggage that entails. However failure of either of those statements for me will be the tipping point from support to rejection.
It all started so well as well. An absolutely beautiful day in Edinburgh for the visit of St Mirren. We are all no doubt aware of the all too obvious effects ( beneficial? ) of global warming. As i sat awaiting the kick off i was struck with the idea that the day felt like April in every way but the aroma of spring bloom. I was a bit surprised that the Hearts support were in much finer fettle than last week, galvanised once again by the knowledge that we are the most hated and ridiculed team in the history of evil and stupid teams. A snappy rendition of The Monkeys self titled anthem set and lightened the scene.
The first seeds of disgruntlement in my gut was as the team was announced, we were playing Neil McCann in the middle with Laryea Kingston. That pairing against St Mirren just wouldn't cut it for me. They are a nasty team who play the game on the edge of a foul, Larry needed more than just Nelly in there with him especially given they would no doubt play 5 across the middle. Why not Brellier in there protecting Larry and the back 4.
Another rant - St Mirren drive me nuts, i hate playing against them, is it just me? They have honed to a fine art the ability to nudge their mark just a tiny bit just a split second before the aerial challenge, just enough to make the edge but not enough for a foul. They are experts at it, all of them, the whole game yesterday. Drove me to distraction.
Another rant - During this game the referee MacDonald seemed to experiment with a new interpretation of the rules. That rule which states that obstruction is a foul unless you are the defender and you are attempting to shepherd the ball over your own byeline. For the whole game he modified this rule so that it became obstruction is a foul unless you are the defender and you are attempting to shepherd the ball over your own bye line OR you are a Hearts player!
Drove me to distraction.
Another rant - If that little bugger McCann fann*es about with the ball again when he is last man 20 yards out with nobody near him other than the opposing forward bearing down on him, i swear i will walk on the park and hoof the ball up field myself. Anyone who was at the game will know what i mean.
Drove me absolutely mental.
Hearts started the game pretty well, the crowd were happy and expecting, Larry played some good passes over the top out to Driver on the left wing, driver making good progress and getting the crosses in. Best effort in the early stages was a 30 yard raking volley hit perfectly by Velicka, the keeper doing really well to tip over.
The StMirren goal then came against the run of play then? For the most part, however a couple of moments before it came a very similar opening appeared for them. Worryingly a clipped ball onto the penalty spot from deep allowed their forward in on goal with not a centre half in sight. I had been growing in my confidence of the Berra/Zaliukas partnership but that was a shocker. He took it really well tho so can't take anything away from him.
That was it, even if we are not the most hated and ridiculed team in the history of evil and stupid teams, we are about the most frail.
Hearts spent the rest of the game chasing their tails with no leadership, or coherence.
Grudging respect to St Mirren i guess, their game plan paid off and they stuck to their task well, competed for everything blah, blah.
It is just as well we have uncovered a potential gem in Larry Kingston ( this goes part of the way to my belief that we will be a better team next season, another couple of players of his ilk and things could start to cook once again ).
Some media pundit mentioned in today's press that whilst Larry had a decent game he was in no way a replacement for Paul Hartley, that pundit has not been to Tynecastle much in the first half of this season! I dare say Hartley will get a new lease of life now that he is at his beloved Celtic.
Hearts goal came from a dubious free kick ( i don't believe the corruption or bias jibe i just think the ref is an idiot ) 20 yards out on the right side of the box. Expertly lofted over the wall and into the far corner. Thank Christ for that.
This week i am sick of it, can't take much more.
Everything about it is just waring me down.
This culminated in my experience at Tynecastle yesterday - this game was the most annoying & frustrating, badly scripted, amateurishly directed and poorly acted dross i have witnessed all season - it probably wasn't but that's how it felt, i was in a stinking mood by the time the game was over.
I spent a load of the game venting vitriol at variety of victims, my language and general demeanor not for me to be proud off. Why do we do it to ourselves!
Breath in ... and rest.
Vladimir Romanov has once again plunged himself and the club into disarray and ignominy with his paranoid ravings, which appear to this time be full on - libellous. Essentially Vlad has stated in an interview to Russian sports magazine Futbal that the old firm are in some way corrupting Scottish Football, players and referees.
Here is a bit of the translated transcript -
Q. When you took over you declared that Hearts would in a few months be mounting a real challenge to Rangers and Celtic and would be battling for the title. Nobody took you seriously then but you soon returned the club to long forgotten heights. What was the secret of your success?
A. Celtic and Rangers? Even Kaunas are a match for them on the pitch. The thing is they've turned football into a type of show business with their underhand games. They buy off players and referees. When it comes to weaker teams then nobody can help but if two opponents are equally matched, then the referees can have a real influence on the outcome.
Seems pretty conclusive to me, if this is a legitimate translation ( Vlad in an official statement on Hearts web site has back tracked from this) Vlad has accused both Rangers and Celtic of 'buying off' referees.
Given what has gone on in Italy at the end of last season, what it has cost some of the clubs over there. This must be dealt with seriously, will it? i don't think so. Half of me wants one or both of the gruesome twosome to take it as far as they can, drive a legal stake into the heart of Vlad and his death grip on our club. The other half is petrified that the 'camel that breaks the straws back' may well be that long drawn out and acrimonious legal battle. Vlad gives up and walks away.
There are some other statements from the interview that do read like an exit strategy is being sought -
Q. Things have got that bad in Britain?
A. That's not the word for it. I went there with the hope that I'd be able to avoid all the dirty stuff that we've all grown used to here. I thought that there everything was clean, ideal, (that I would be dealing) with gentlemen. But it turned out that there everything is even worse.
Q. Worse than here?
A. Yes, by some way.
Q. In what way is that visible?
A. They have a different mentality. A different culture, or to be more precise, lack of culture. What do I mean by that? Here, for example, I can say to German (Tkachenko, the Russian football magnate who runs the agency that represents players such as Laryea Kingston and who was sitting next to him during the interview): 'Why are you trying to deceive me?' (German Tkachenko interjects: 'And I would feel ashamed'.) A And he would feel ashamed. But if I say that to a British person, they give you an innocent look and say, 'Me? Deceive you? I'll see you in court!' That's the difference.What we would call base behaviour is the norm for them. It's normal for them to betray one's own club and conduct talks with another club behind their back or not to give their team everything on the pitch because someone has seduced them by waving the shirt of another club at them.But fans there deserve something much more. They are not like the tiffosi in Italy. British supporters are well-versed, they understand everything, they live for football. But they are being served up a rotten product, even if it is well packaged.
A couple of thoughts here, Vlad has always had it in for untrustworthy agents, a lot of his actions and over-reactions over his time here has i believe been caused by players and agents not playing the game Vlad's way. It is pretty clear that Vlad also feels the same way about players who also do not play the game exactly as he sees it. Any decent is taken as a betrayal, a personal betrayal to be dealt with, with utmost severity.
Pretty clear that it is Vlad's way or it is the highway.
Vlad came here because he wanted an even playing field where everyone adhered to his view of how football business should be conducted. He can't get that in Russia/Lithuania which is why he came here, now he seems convinced that it is worse here?? Where else can he go, how about South America bet it is nice and clean and tidy over there. I am not so sure that this is an indication of the exit strategy being sought. But i do think the exit may seek him out much quicker than he expects. All i will say about Vlad and his apparent madness is that, behind all of this is a long term goal. That goal being to get a foothold over here for his bank UKIO-BANKAS, and to expand that business. This dwarfs any ripple caused by his ownership of this football club. He owns this club in order to grease the wheels toward that goal. Vlad has and is however making so many mistakes that that goal is looking further away by the hour. Right this moment in time how many people do you think would open an account at the George St branch of UKIO-BANKAS A failed bank venture would surely see him go as cold as ice to Hearts, Edinburgh and Scotland. For an awful lot of people that would be good riddance and bugger the consequences.
One of the most disappointing aspects of all of this is the divisions it is building into the Hearts support. The talk shows and web sites are crammed full of anti Vlad versus pro Vlad battles, everyone is entitled to their opinion obviously but lately it reminds me of that scene in 'Life of Brian' where Brian thinks that he and the rest of The Peoples Popular Front of Judia are about to strike a blow against the oppressive Romans only to discover that they are happier to battle it out with their mortal enemy The Judian Popular Peoples Front.
Seems to me that some people spend their entire lives in perpetual disgust at their clubs chairman and board, like it is their job or something. I just can't be arsed with that.
Where do i stand on all of this?
I hate the term 'Romanov apologist', mostly bandied around by the above malcontents.
I do not apologise for Romanov, he has made a hundred thousand mistakes in the last 2 years. He is most probably President of the United Wards of BonkersVille!
But here is what i believe right now, having sumpt up all the lines which are to to be read between, over the piece -
I believe, the new stand and the building of it remains the acid test of his intentions for our club.
I believe, Hearts will be a better team next season than we are this season.
Is anything else required really, think i have nailed my colours to the mast there. I remain a supporter of the Romanov revolution, with all the baggage that entails. However failure of either of those statements for me will be the tipping point from support to rejection.
It all started so well as well. An absolutely beautiful day in Edinburgh for the visit of St Mirren. We are all no doubt aware of the all too obvious effects ( beneficial? ) of global warming. As i sat awaiting the kick off i was struck with the idea that the day felt like April in every way but the aroma of spring bloom. I was a bit surprised that the Hearts support were in much finer fettle than last week, galvanised once again by the knowledge that we are the most hated and ridiculed team in the history of evil and stupid teams. A snappy rendition of The Monkeys self titled anthem set and lightened the scene.
The first seeds of disgruntlement in my gut was as the team was announced, we were playing Neil McCann in the middle with Laryea Kingston. That pairing against St Mirren just wouldn't cut it for me. They are a nasty team who play the game on the edge of a foul, Larry needed more than just Nelly in there with him especially given they would no doubt play 5 across the middle. Why not Brellier in there protecting Larry and the back 4.
Another rant - St Mirren drive me nuts, i hate playing against them, is it just me? They have honed to a fine art the ability to nudge their mark just a tiny bit just a split second before the aerial challenge, just enough to make the edge but not enough for a foul. They are experts at it, all of them, the whole game yesterday. Drove me to distraction.
Another rant - During this game the referee MacDonald seemed to experiment with a new interpretation of the rules. That rule which states that obstruction is a foul unless you are the defender and you are attempting to shepherd the ball over your own byeline. For the whole game he modified this rule so that it became obstruction is a foul unless you are the defender and you are attempting to shepherd the ball over your own bye line OR you are a Hearts player!
Drove me to distraction.
Another rant - If that little bugger McCann fann*es about with the ball again when he is last man 20 yards out with nobody near him other than the opposing forward bearing down on him, i swear i will walk on the park and hoof the ball up field myself. Anyone who was at the game will know what i mean.
Drove me absolutely mental.
Hearts started the game pretty well, the crowd were happy and expecting, Larry played some good passes over the top out to Driver on the left wing, driver making good progress and getting the crosses in. Best effort in the early stages was a 30 yard raking volley hit perfectly by Velicka, the keeper doing really well to tip over.
The StMirren goal then came against the run of play then? For the most part, however a couple of moments before it came a very similar opening appeared for them. Worryingly a clipped ball onto the penalty spot from deep allowed their forward in on goal with not a centre half in sight. I had been growing in my confidence of the Berra/Zaliukas partnership but that was a shocker. He took it really well tho so can't take anything away from him.
That was it, even if we are not the most hated and ridiculed team in the history of evil and stupid teams, we are about the most frail.
Hearts spent the rest of the game chasing their tails with no leadership, or coherence.
Grudging respect to St Mirren i guess, their game plan paid off and they stuck to their task well, competed for everything blah, blah.
It is just as well we have uncovered a potential gem in Larry Kingston ( this goes part of the way to my belief that we will be a better team next season, another couple of players of his ilk and things could start to cook once again ).
Some media pundit mentioned in today's press that whilst Larry had a decent game he was in no way a replacement for Paul Hartley, that pundit has not been to Tynecastle much in the first half of this season! I dare say Hartley will get a new lease of life now that he is at his beloved Celtic.
Hearts goal came from a dubious free kick ( i don't believe the corruption or bias jibe i just think the ref is an idiot ) 20 yards out on the right side of the box. Expertly lofted over the wall and into the far corner. Thank Christ for that.
Vlad responded to the trouble he had gotten himself in, by releasing a statement on the club website. In the statement he stated that 'thank God he had not come across any conspiracies' in this country - an open reversal of his reported statements to the Russian mag.
Just couldn't help himself though, if there is one thing Vlad hates more than dodgy agents and mutinous players it is the media. Here is how Vlad visualises the Scottish media..
Rip Ding WOOOO
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