The general feeling of depression was not helped by the dismal exit from the Scottish Cup to Dunfermline last weekend.
I am no financial guru and that's a fact, all i can see at the moment is that the people who own the club are the people who are paying the interest on the debt to the people who own the club - so right now Vladimir Romanov is taking money out of one pocket and putting it in the other and in doing so some numbers are moved around on various company accounts - HMFC & UKIO Bankas
The only beneficiaries would seem to be the players in our vastly over inflated first team squad, who are picking up their weekly thousands whilst getting no where near the first team. Surely Hearts will have a drastic cull at the end of this season?
That is at present to the detriment of HMFC a detriment that will have a cataclysmic effect when and only when
- Romanov ceases to be Sugar Daddy (gets bored or decides he can't do it with provincial Hearts and moves for a bigger club at which point Hearts become Kaunas #2 ) or
- HMFC finances become so outrageous that it puts UKIO Bankas in danger and Vlad gets toppled from his position there, or
- Romanov empire collapses due to any myriad of financial dodgy dealings ( stress here that none are known this is pure speculation ) Romanov is jailed.
- Some bigger bank simply buys UKIO Bankas, the tap is switched off and the debt called in.
At this moment as has been at all moments in the last couple of years the outcome for HMFC is as clear as tar. Most likely for me is number 4 here, given that big banks buy small banks all the time. We all know that the Romanov era will end at some point, sooner or later. The evidence ( announced debt ) and media comment from this week all indicate, suggest and warn that the Romanov era will end at best with HMFC in a worse position than when he took over and at worst mortally wounded.
The only comment i have on that is - Heart of Midlothian Football Club were mortally wounded when he ( Romanov ) took the reigns it would be almost impossible for him to leave us in a worse state. Going bankrupt £20M in debt is as far as i can see is no different from going bankrupt £100M in debt. Like i say i am no financial mind so comments on that statement are more than welcome. All would be lost under either scenario.
Where would we be right now if he had not taken over, most likely scenario is ...
In administration, playing St Johnstone at Murrayfield in front of 4,000 die hard supporters.
Regardless of how crazy he is he is still very much our saviour, even if in 5 years the scenario above is exactly where we are.
The continuing Craig Gordon saga has also served to depress the Tynecastle faithful, our greatest on field asset and in many ways only remaining favourite son appears now to be banished from the team for good. He will be sold in the summer and if we see him in a Hearts jersey before then we will be surprised. It is just as well that Stevie Banks is a decent keeper or the depression would be bubbling in to the manic for a lot of us Jambos. Stevie Banks is a decent keeper, better than decent in fact and i have no concerns about him taking up the mantle as 1st choice #1 what bothers me is the waste of Craig Gordon for all concerned.
Hopefully the game at Tynecastle yesterday was the conclusion to our depression and not some marker on a continuing decent into the abyss. For many reasons it was certainly a marker, all Jambos online were were sent e-mails from the club informing them that there were tickets left ( so hurry up and pick them up ) for the game. This is the first time the club has had to do this since the start of the 2005 - 06 season and indeed the game was the first non home gate sell out since then. A clear indication of the faithfuls disgruntlement. The atmosphere was subdued and tetchy, not helped by the 300 or so ICT fans who themselves seemed bored and depressed. Their favourite jibe was the obvious twisting of the Hibs favourite .. "Vladimir Romanov, he s**ks Paul Hartley off" into "Vladimir Romanov, he f**ked Paul Hartley off".
The atmosphere on the run up to the kick off was further dishevelled ( correct me if i am wrong because i was not in a good position to be certain ) by the unveiling of the huge Hearts jersey that had previously been unfurled down the height of the Wheatfield Stand, this time directly over my head down the centre of the Gorgie Stand. We all became aware that the bloody thing was upside down!
To keep with the upside down theme then i will summarise the game before i get into the nitty gritty. So if you are already bored with this blog entry you can just read the next paragraph and be done with it -
My parting comment as we split to take our seats in the stand before kick off was "We better put in a performance or it is going to feel cold out there today" by the end of the game i was bloody freezing!
Banks was called into action early in the game, the first ICT attack in fact, a throw in from the right was flicked on and landed for Graham Bayne to knock goal ward, a little awkward to take and the effort was a tad weak but a good save from Banks nonetheless. Once again for all of Hearts mighty big squad, a couple of injuries and we struggled badly for cover - no Bruno Aguair or Salius Mikoliunas and Hearts had to re-invent Callum Elliot as a right midfielder and play with Julien Brellier and Laryea Kingston in the centre. Looked to me as though Kingston and Brellier are too similar and a combination of Kingston or Brellier with Aguair may be a better blend. Not too surprising then that the team had a makeshift feel to it however we seemed to play the ball on the deck more than we have done of late, not that that would be too difficult. Driver playing left midfield had the beating of the ICT defence every time until they realised the threat and started to double up on him. This is a good sign but one which we need to recognise and use to our advantage. If they need to double up on the flanks we should be able to move the ball around with a bit more freedom deeper infield looking for that telling pass, a bit of patience maybe required. Lets face it though Hearts are quite far away from a patient, probing outfit with excellent ball retention capabilities.
Arkadiusz Klimek started the game quite well, with a 25 yard shot always rising but a decent effort nonetheless and a neat back heel to put Jankauskas through on goal. As the game progressed however a decent start turned into a dismal conclusion. The Hearts support had decided fairly quickly that anything less than brilliant by any of the new players was to be vilified immediately. A bit unfair i thought bu Klimek did not help himself really, a good move playing him through from midfield early in the second half wasted by him with a ludicrous scoop to the back post when a cut back to Kingston screaming towards the penalty spot was a much better option. Lack of fitness may have crept in but from that point on Klimek struggled with the basics required to make any impact on the game.
Edgaras Jankauskas on the other hand started the game badly and just got worse, he seemed to be penalised every time the ball went near him, can't all have been victimisation. The neat back heel from Klimek was wasted by Jankauskas as he tried to fend of the defender ( fouling him in the process ) rather than just having a shot at goal. Jankauskas is looking more like a waste of space every time he trots on to the park and at a time when our finances are under a great deal of scrutiny he can be seen as nothing more than an unnecessary drain on the club.
Focus on Laryea ( Larry ) Kingston.
Bonkers hair cut.
On the whole i was pretty encouraged by his performance. He played some really good balls through to the front players both on the ground and over the top. He played the ball into the box early when he got the opportunity, this is something we have missed badly and something Miko should take note of. Larry looked as though he wanted a split second longer on the ball than he was being allowed, caught in possession a couple of times and forced into a pass he didn't want to do a couple of others. Just seemed like the fabled pace of the British game and something i am sure he will adapt to. Most telling really that when Larry got moved out to the right of midfield when Elliot ( out of position and having a 2nd half shocker ) was replaced by Eggert Johanson, the midfield lost a lot and crosses started coming in from the right. On the whole a good home debut. About the only thing i can see that can go wrong with Larry's Tynecastle career would be if our rotation policy just p*sses him off and he switches off.
ICT had forced a good few corners and they always looked quite dangerous although that seemed to be more down to our back four than their attack. No idea how Hearts have managed so many clean sheets of late but if it keeps up it is a statistic that will soon start to count big time. Banks also came to our rescue a couple of times especially in the fist half, this concluded in turning a ball round the post that deceptively swirled towards the bottom right corner.
Hearts were frustrated that they just couldn't get a stranglehold on the game and it seemed all to easy for ICT to break things up in midfield. Hearts then had to settle with playing well in elusive flashes throughout the first half and most of the second. However those flashes were pretty good when they came mostly coming from Driver and or Kingston or when Fyassas ventured forward. Our biggest problem was a completely ineffectual front two, this has been a problem all season and if you think about it last season as well ( remember the vast majority of Hearts goals came from midfield last year, that well has run dry ). For all our multitude of strikers we look toothless up there. Bednar came on for Jankauskas and looked a bit livelier, Kingston put him through but he just couldn't get enough behind it to beat the keeper. He then succeedded in twisting himself in knots on the left wing before dropping out of the game for good.
Michael Pospisil then came on for the by then dejected looking Klimek and with his first touch of the ball settled our nerves and the game. Driver on the left once again covered by 2 or 3 ICT players could not make for the byline so he cut inside and knocked a back post cross in with his right. Pospisil rose at the back post to head the ball back across the keeper and into the net for a text book finish. So that is how easy it is. A fairly grudging roar of relief from the crowd was as good as the goal received. The Hearts support remain unconvinced and nervous by the goings on of the last few weeks.
Another home game next week, another win and an improved performance, as spring is looms around the corner, is a must if HMFC and their supporters are to get the spring back in their step.
HOOOO ON THE JAMBOS
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