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Scotland: Romanov stops the scoffing as Hearts revel in winning style [Wed Sep 21st, 2005]
Glasgow (AFP) - When Vladimir Romanov swept into power as owner of Hearts in January, he joked that his mission to smash the Old Firm's dominance of Scottish football would be achieved in a matter of "hours and minutes."
Few believed the multi-millionaire Lithuanian banker when he enthused about his grand plans to build a stadium to match the awesome arenas that house Celtic and Rangers on his way to making Hearts the number one force in Scotland.
Now, seven games into the Scottish Premier League season, the sceptics have been stunned into silence. Romanov's long-term ambitions for the Edinburgh side are suddenly looking like they could be realised.
Hearts are five points clear at the top of the league and could potentially extend their gap over current champions Rangers to eleven points should they win against the Glasgow giants at Tynecastle.
Maybe, just maybe, Romanov -- who also has a controlling interest in Lithuanian side FBK Kaunas and Belarus-based MTZ-Ripo Minsk -- can deliver.
"Each club I have has the goal of becoming champions," insisted Romanov. "Its a question of creating pleasure and entertainment for the people.
"Football is like chess, remember, its not all won and lost with the legs. You have to play it with the head too. And the experience of one feeds into what you do with another. What I would say is I am not eternal, the club is."
Certainly the turnaround in Hearts in the past year has been nothing short of remarkable.
Almost a year to the day on Saturday, Hearts played Rangers in a similar fixture amidst a backdrop of black balloon protests as the fans desperately tried to save their club from plans to move the club to Murrayfield, the home of Scottish rugby, on a groundshare basis.
Ugly chants were directed at the then-chief executive, Chris Robinson, asking for him to quit his position.
Few could have predicted that within a matter of months Robinson would agree to sell his controlling interest in the club to 57-year-old Romanov, owner of Lithuanian-based UKIO Banks.
Romanov, the son of a Russian military man, had long held a desire to buy a Scottish club.
After failed attempts to buy Dundee, Dundee United and Dunfermline a few years ago, he returned with an offer for Hearts.
He moved in to pay 880,000 pounds (US$1.58 million) for Robinson's shareholding at the end of January and embarked on a drive to change the face of the club.
Within weeks of him taking over, John Robertson was sacked as manager, replaced by former Scotland star George Burley.
Money was then poured into the club to secure the services of previously impossible targets such as Greek Euro 2004 winner Panagiotos Fyssas and Czech Republic international midfielder Rudi Skacel.
Skacel's purchase has paid off instantly, as he has broken a club record by scoring in seven consecutive games going into Saturdays clash with Rangers.
Such has been the demand for tickets at the 18,000-capacity Tynecastle, moves are already afoot to reshape the stadium and increase its seating to 24,000. The turnaround, in short, has been astonishing.
"You can't knock Vladimir for what he has done in an incredibly short space of time," admitted Wallace Mercer, Hearts chairman when they lost the league on goal difference to Celtic in 1986.
"He talked a good game before he came to the club about his ambitions and now he's delivering," Mercer said.
"It was only last year that I was at a Hearts game with Rangers where they let off thousands of black balloons in protest.
"Now the fans have a special song dedicated to Romanov. Its unbelievable, because even I didnt have my own song and I was at the helm for 14 years."
Romanov got a chance to hear that song at first hand recently, when he travelled to a 4-1 win over Livingston on a supporters' bus. Fans crowded around him, desperately trying to take home a picture souvenir of their new saviour.
Indeed, the only fears Hearts fans may have is over their new owners hands-on transfer policy which has seen him choose the players that are brought into the club, ahead of Burley.
Romanov makes no apologies for his interference in playing matters. "I consider it should be my right to buy players for the club, it is the head coachs duty to train and manage those players," he argues.
"This club is 130 years old, it's had a lot of managers and I dont suppose George Burley will be the last. However, the reality of investment - time and money - is that the final word must rest with me."
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