Bruno Aguiar is fit and ready for the trip to Ayreshire on Saturday. The Portuguese playmaker is returning after missing the last 4 games in which they have scored no league goals. Erratic midfielder Larry Kingston is a doubt while Marius Zaliukas and Lee Wallace are both suspended. Meanwhile Janos Balogh could be playing his last game for Hearts with his loan deal running out after the Killie game.

Squad from: Balogh, Kello, MacDonald, Neilson, Thomson, Berra, Karipidis, Jonnson, Rapinik, Kingston, Stewart, Aguiar, Palazeulos, Driver, OBua, Cesnauskis, Nade, Glen, Elliot, Templeton

Derby matches are heated occasions at the best of times without certain players acting up. I think we all know where I’m going with this but it has to be said. Derek Riorden’s behaviour on Sunday was absolutely disgusting, I mean this man is supposed to be a role model but he’s just an overpaid, petulant kid who’s had too much too soon.

The incident in question for anyone who doesn’t know is that when he was being substituted (and may I add rightly so after contributing nothing) he made a gesture at the Hearts fans and was subsequently booked for this incident. But that’s where it will end. He should be hit where it hurts and that’s in his pocket. However this is not in the rules because match official Craig Thomson booked him there and then so no further action can be taken.

Riorden is not the only player to cause trouble during a derby match. The highest profile case would surely be Artur Boruc crossing himself during countless Old Firm derbies. These situations led to Boruc receiving fines and the same should be the case for ex Celt Riorden.

Another case of inciting crowd trouble was committed in 2003 by former Hibs captain; Iain Murrey who shaved 1973 into his head to symbolise better times for the side from Leith. A time were they humbled Hearts 7-0. But that is beside the point. It is at the end of the day a problem.

I say they all should have been fined and that the SFA need to have a long hard look in the mirror because to let players get away with these kinds of incidents is a farce.

Who’d have predicted the score from Easter Road on Saturday? Not me that’s for sure especially after our shoddy display against Motherwell in midweek and our inability to finish our chances against our arch rivals the previous week.

Our strikers were not in form; Nade who started had just 1 goal to his name all season. We had just 1 goal in our last 5 games which came courtesy of Andy Driver at Parkhead so to say the least,  I wasn’t exactly optimistic.

The media said our strikers couldn’t score and of course they have been right 99% of the time. I mean our top scorers are Michael Stewart who hasn’t scored since Falkirk on the 13th September, perennial underachiever Saulius Mikoliunas who has been out of action since the 13th November, Bruno Aguiar and Andy Driver. All these players are on 3 goals and none may I add are strikers.

But footballs a funny old game and Hearts went on to prove this by beating the Hibies in their own back yard. Goals from Christian Nade and Gary Glen secured this and kept our hopes alive of lifting a trophy, come the end of the season.

Next up is Falkirk at Tynecastle. A game that we should win and but let’s not get carried away. As Csaba says let’s get 6 points from our next 2 league games then concentrate on the cup.

Hearts for the cup anyone?

Over the past 3 years Vladimir Romanov has overlooked his revolution. A stint that has seen 8 managers come and go and a host of Lithuanian’s who have been shiped in. He came in and was immediately loved by the Hearts fans. He saved the club from having to move away from our spiritual home to Murrayfield; a 67,000 seater that Hearts wouldn’t even half fill.

 

He wiped the clubs debts by consolidated them in his own bank; Ukio Bankas. Everything seemed to be going well for Hearts and Vladimir who was exciting the fans with talk of the Champions League and splitting the Old Firm in the coming seasons.

 

His first three signings were a sign of things to come. He brought three Lithuanian internationalist; Saulius Mikoliunas, Deividas Cesnauskis and Marius Kizys. Miko and Chesney set the league alight in there early days with exciting wing play. We were the Chelsea of Scottish football; we had a foreign investor and wingers who could swap positions with each other. Things were looking up. We had also secured the services of Lee Miller and Mark Burchill. Somewhat of a dream team you could argue. What could possibly go wrong?

 

Well nothing yet. The summer saw the departure of Hearts Legend John Robertson as manager and Hearts were linked with a number of high profile managers; including “the tinker man” Claudio Ranieri. In the end George Burley arrived through the gates of Tynecastle and brought with him a host of exciting players. European Championship winner, Takis Fyssas, Rudi Skacel, Julian Brellier, Champions League and Uefa Cup winner Edgaras Jankauskas, Roman Bednar, Michael Pospisil and Steve Banks all joined him. This was added to the always solid backbone of Scotland internationalists Craig Gordon, Steven Pressley, Andy Webster and Paul Hartley. A team to truly challenge the Old Firm whose stranglehold on the top two spots has gone on long enough.

 

It couldn’t have started any better either. Hearts were clear at the top after winning our first 8 games and being unbeaten in 10 including a win against Rangers thanks to a Roman Bednar goal and were getting a point at Parkhead courtesy of a Rudi Skacel’s goal under Burley’s reign. Hearts were playing the best football in years blowing teams away in the opening 25 minutes of games and fans were daring to dream that maybe this would be their year.

 

However things started to get complicated as hours before Hearts were due to play Dunfermline they released a statement saying that Heart of Midlothian had parted company with George Burley due to irreconcilable differences. The fans were in shock, what was going on. No one could understand why we had sacked someone who had us playing attractive free flowing football. On the day Hearts won the game 2-0 and the player’s uncovered t-shirts saying “For the gaffer”. Something was badly wrong. What had Burley done to upset Romanov? Had he dared to pick the team by himself? Rumours were rife with claims that Romanov did not appreciate the way that Julian Brellier played when in fact he was the glue in the midfield that was allowing Skacel, Hartley and Miko to attack at will. An incident in the Celtic game was another rumour that Romanov was not happy with his manager. Burley did not bring on Mikoliunas for Brellier and therefore settling for a point.

 

Shortly after this Romanov sack Phil Anderton and this was followed by the resignation of George Foulkes. These gaps were filled by Vladimir’s son Roman and Sergetus Fedatovs. It wasn’t only change in the boardroom but Andy Webster’s agent announced that he would not be signing a new contract with Hearts. This spelt the end of his Hearts career as Webster was not to feature again for Hearts.

 

Suddenly we were searching for a new manager and the same big names came up. Ranieri, Scela, Matteus, Bobby Robson etc. Did we go for one of these high profile managers? Of course we didn’t we hired Graham Rix, a man with very little experience and Jim Duffy to play the role of Director of Football. Rix brought negative football and naive tactics to Hearts along with 11 new players of which he had a say in about two of them arriving. He was quickly out of the Tynecastle revolving door and was replaced by one of Romanovs yes men, Valdas Ivanauskas. Ivanauskas had previously managed Romanovs other team FBK Kaunas but was brought in to steady the ship.

 

By this point results had turned sour and Hearts title challenge basically came to an end on new years’ day when Celtic came back from two nil down to win three two thanks to some dubious refereeing decisions. Fyssas’s sending off comes to mind when there were plenty of covering defenders and two extremely soft free kicks that were awarded. I know what you’re thinking, typical bitter Hearts fan but we have had some shocking decisions go against us.  

 

The title may have been out of reach but second place was still very much up for grabs. While we were faltering and stumbling over the line Rangers were gathering momentum. We simply couldn’t let second place go. And we didn’t thanks to a very special night at Tynecastle. A full house for Aberdeen with the Champions League at the end of it if we could win. On a tough night were you could cut the tension with a knife Hearts didn’t look like they would have enough to beat the Dons. Fortunately the goal finally came from the ever capable boot of Paul Hartley who scored from the spot.   

 

Vlad had delivered as unbelievable as it was. Ok we didn’t win the league but to come second was a huge achievement.

 

Next up was the cup final against Gretna. The first time we had been back to the final since 98. Again it was a nervy occasion after Gavin Skelton had equalised from Rudi Skacel opener. It was backs to the walls and saw Robbie Neilson shoot to Hearts legendary status when he somehow tackled the Gretna forward when it seemed for certain that we would fall behind. It went to penalties and by this time no one in the stadium had any nails left to bite. But all’s well that ends well as the cup came home to Gorgie for the first time in 8 years.

 

You’d think let’s build on this. But, no that’s not the Hearts way. Lets’ dismantle our team and bring in players who are not up to the same standards as those who came before them.  Out went the likes of Skacel, Brellier and Fyssas, and in came Pillabitis, Ivaskevicius and Karipidis. Fair enough Karipidis has come on to a game now but he wasn’t up to much when he first arrived.

 

The season was a disaster on and off the pitch as Hearts crashed out of both the Champions League and the Uefa Cup at the final qualifying rounds. These games were marred by more bad refereeing decisions. Bruno Aguair was sent off for moving the ball an inch in the first leg against AEK which we had led through a Sauly Mikoliunas goal. On top of this Julian Brellier saw red for wearing an earring in the second leg. We finished fourth and therefore did not qualify for Europe.

 

This was the year of the Riccarton three who came out with a statement saying that Vlad had to stop meddling in team affairs. This lead to inspirational captain Steven Pressley and goal scoring midfielder Paul Hartley leaving the club for rivals Celtic.

 

The lack of Stability continued as Ivanauskas left the club due to stress. He was replaced by Eduard Malofeev who somehow managed to win no games in his tenure. The media believed that Hearts would be given a new Lithuanian manager in Eugenijus Riabovas but to every one’s surprise Ivanauskas returned. He did not last long though and was quickly moved upstairs to become director of football. He was replaced by Anatoly Korobochka but he could not save Hearts season.

 

The season which has just passed has been an unmitigated disaster with key players such as Craig Gordon and Roman Bednar being moved on without any investment being put back into the squad.

 

So the question has to be asked was it worth living the dream for one glorious season. I for one wouldn’t have traded that season for anything in the world. However looking at us now is embarrassing, we have become a joke and must sort it out.

 

Mr. Romanov we need your money more than ever and a top class manager that you will allow to have full control over team affairs. It is the only way forward.

 

 Romanov revolution signings

2005

·     Saulius Mikoliunas

·     Marius Kizys

·     Deividas Cesnauskis

 

2005/06

·     Edgaras Jankauskas

·     Roman Bednar

·     Rudi Skacel

·     Takis Fyssas

·     Julien Brellier

·     Ibraham Tall

·     Steve Banks

·     Sammy Cammazola

 

January transfers 05/06

 

·     Juho Makela

·     Lee Johnson

·     Chris Hackett

·     Jose Goncalves

·     Tomas Kanchelkis

·     Bruno Aguair

·     Martin Petras

·     Ludek Staceny

·     Mirsad Beslija

·     Neil McCann

·     Tiago Costa

·     Barasa

 

06/07

·     Kestis Ivaskevicious

·     AndriusVelicka

·     Marius Zaliuskas

·     Christos Karipidis

·     Linas Pillabitus

January 06/07

·     Arkadiusz Klimek

·     Eduardas Kurskis

·     Lareya Kingston

·      

07/08

·     Anthony Basso

·     Audrius Ksanavicius

·     Michael Stewart

·     Ricardus Beniusis

·     Ruben Palazuelas

·     Martin Rapinek

·     Christian Nade

Ever since I have been a Hearts fan it always seems that we have finished very low in the fair play league (link does not include final game). A league that tots up the amount of yellow and red cards that each team accumulates throughout a season and then if like Hearts they have accumulated a large amount then they will be fined accordingly. This has happened to Hearts in the previous two campaigns. This season alone Hearts managed to get 9 players sent off and 74 bookings in the SPL. A shocking amount considering there is only play 38 games in a season.

In comparison Rangers received 7 red cards but did not have nearly as many bookings as Hearts even though they reached the finals of both cup competitions. Don’t get me wrong 7 red cards is still a hell of a lot in one season but the fact it was in a season where Rangers played 68 games you can almost accept it.

Hearts were fined £20,000 earlier in the season due to an extremely high amount of players who were sent off in the previous 3 campaigns. They will be fined again for this year’s misdemeanors to the sum of £40,000.

Hearts managed to get 3 players sent off against Dundee United in January which does not help anyone’s record. This came straight after they had received an official warning from the SFA about their on field behavior.

Since 2005 Hearts have been fined for bad behavior on the pitch and this has to stop. They were fined £5,000 then, £10,000 in 2006, £20,000 in 2007 and of course the upcoming fine. This is such a waste of the clubs finances and frustrates so many people. The attitude of the players has to be questioned but it is not just in a Hearts top that this has occurred. Callum Elliot was sent off during a Scotland under 21’s game last week. 

It comes as no surprise that Hearts are wrapped in controversy as owner Vladimir Romanov has been at loggerheads with the SFA since he arrived at Tynecastle.

All I want is for us to stay out of the headlines for a while and try to stop the shambles that crops up time and time again.

 

Having just watched the news and in the wake of Sepp Blatters proposal that there should be no more than five foreign players in each team. Hearts unsurprisingly finished rock bottom of the table. On a good day Hearts can have maybe three or four Scotsmen in the first team which compared to the rest of the league is shocking.

The BBC report showed Aberdeen to have the most Scotsmen averaged in their first team with Inverness Caley Thistle just behind them. This is probably the reason why Hearts only have Christophe Berra in the Scotland squad. It is unlikely unless every other forward was injured that Callum Elliot would make it into the national side. Ok he has been a regular for the under 21s but unless he improves his game a hell of a lot he will have no chance of making the top side.

Trying to think of other Scotsmen who are regulars in the Hearts team are very difficult to think of. Players such as Michael Stewart and Lee Wallace are squad players and Robbie Neilson has spent long spells out injured this season so you can see why we finished bottom.

If this change does go through then Romanov will have to change his policy of signing unknown foreigner because it will be a complete waste of time. If he is to be believed that is Vlad’s overall plan to make the Jambos have a Scottish dominated team.

This change in the rules, if of course it is pushed through could be the beginning of better times for the Edinburgh outfit. It does not rule out all foreigners because we will still be able to have 5 non nationals. It will hopefully lead us to being a bit pickier with whom we sign and will limit the amount of Lithuanians that Romanov will bring over each summer.

 

I remember just a couple of seasons ago when the spine of the Scottish national team was made up of Hearts players. For the first time in a long time we were not watching players from Celtic and Rangers teaming up with some Englishmen that we had adopted because their great granny had a Scottish gardener. We are of course back to that kind of set up now with just a few SPL players outside the Old Firm being allowed to join the party.

 

Hearts had the pride of having Craig Gordon, Stephen Pressley, Andy Webster and Paul Hartley playing a major role for the national team. However they were the heart of the Scottish national team (oh dear that’s cheesy). But true.

 

Nowadays it is filled with substandard Old Firm player such as Mr consistently inconsistent, Stephen Whittaker. Players such the aforementioned are only in the team because they play for one of the Glasgow teams. This will be proved that the Scottish team loses all its credibility when Kirk Broadfoot gets in the squad. (No hard feeling Kirk but you aren’t good enough for the national team)

 

I honestly don’t know why we put up with this because these players let us down on so many occasions. Take George Burley’s debut against Croatia. A host of Rangers players were withdrawn from the squad with injuries however they were somehow all magically fit for a game a few days later against Celtic. They obviously put club before country and I am sick to death of players picking up these injuries that keep them out of an international friendly. But this is not what I am here to discuss so for now rant over.

 

 

What I hope to see from Fridays encounter with the Czech Republic is to see some of the younger uncapped players getting their opportunity. Obviously my main concern is that Christophe Berra who has now made the last two squads is not overlooked again. Let’s look at the facts Davie Weir is not going to play on forever, he is nearly forty and a game like this is pointless for him to play him. Give the Hearts captain the start and let’s see how he copes against a higher quality of opposition. He is young but has also learned a lot by playing for Hearts. He has had to take on more responsibility since the sale of Stephen Pressley and Craig Gordon. He has stood up to these challenges with dominant performances that have obviously made the Scotland manager sit up and take notice in the young centre back.

 

Burley can play a more experienced player beside him such as Stephen MacManus but don’t waste these chances to test Christophe. He has the making of a future Scotland captain if he is given a run in the team.

 

We do have a chance to make it to the World Cup as long as we introduce our uncapped players at the right time like tonight, not in Amsterdam. They can learn now while there is still time what you need to be an international player.

 

Plus I want to say that Hearts have got someone in the national squad, something that hasn’t happened for a while. I would say who I think should be in the team but because of all the call offs this would be impossible. During the time that I have been writing this post their have no doubt been a few more call offs.

 

 

 

Stevie Frail has been the public face of Heart of Midlothian for the past year doing pre and post match interviews and acting as the manager beside Anatoly Korabochka. He has been given a lot of abuse in his time in charge but he has guided through one of the toughest periods in recent history.

Towards the end of the season he was in charge of both the first team and the reserves. That is a lot of work for a newcomer to management to have to deal with. Incidentally he was in charge of the under 19 team before being Romanov’s chosen one to be the face and voice of Hearts.

You have to feel sorry for the man known affectionately as Shaggy. He had to put a brave face on what was going on behind the scenes at the club and try to improve on the clubs fortunes on the pitch. A feat that proved impossible with interference by a number of non-football people. But he stood tall and got on with the job. He needs to move away to sort himself out. At the moment he must be mentally drained after a season where he was given a ridiculous amount of responsibility for such a young man.

Forced to play certain players and not allowed to play others. It kind of limits his options. Was he allowed to make his own decisions over the team and substitutes? I don’t think so. He was used as a shield for Romanov and his cronies to hide behind. He was undermined on so many decisions including the sale of top goal scorer Andrius Velicka at a crucial stage of the season.

Unfortunately he does look like he could become a good coach but I would hope he would have control of team affairs and not have to worry about in fighting, bad attitudes and the pressure of having to do it all by himself.

When you think about he has come out of the whole situation smelling of roses. He has put up with so much and not complained. He has been a consumet professional which has been admirable. Valdas Ivanauskas did not cope with it so well as he left the club firstly due to stress and since then he has been away of football matters. We have not seen him since. Frail has coped much better and anything he has been able to achieve has easily outweighed the disappointment due to his efforts.

Personally I hope he goes on to have a glorious management career and he can look back at his year in charge at Hearts as character building.

I thank Stevie for putting up with as much as he did and the effort he has given to the club under difficult circumstances. And at least he managed wins against the Hibies and the Hoops.

As a player Hearts fans had to wait over half a season to see one of our highest earners pull on the famous maroon jersey. He came with a big reputation but was never given any opportunities until late on in the season after a row between Romanov and Andy Webster’s over Webster’s contract. Webster agent told him not to sign a new deal and Romanov made an example of Andy by not letting him play for the rest of the 05/06 season.

This same situation happened to Ibrahim Tall this season when Vlad offered him a take it or leave it contract extension. Tall rejected the wage cut and was told that he would not play for the club again.

This led to Tall leaving the club at the end of the season however he did not go quietly. He branded Romanov a “dictator” as well as calling him arrogant over the way that he dealt with the situation. This does open the eyes of the fans. We wanted Romanov and now we have him. Anyone who thought the ride was going to be easy is greatly mistaken. Talls outburst is just one of many that have come about the way that the club is being run.

Anthony Basso has claimed that Romanov banned Stevie Frail from playing him after he refused to sign another deal and since that day Basso didn’t even make the bench. But the problem goes further back than that. The Riccarton three was a proof enough that the club was not being run correctly. Paul Hartley, Stephen Pressley and Craig Gordon spoke publically to the press about the internal problems that were occurring at the club. All three have since been sold on to Celtic and Sunderland respectively. On top of this we have heard countless managers saying that they have not had control of the team and of signings. Tall was just the latest in a long line of unsatisfied former employees of Mr Romanov.

Tall was part of the Scottish Cup winning side and also helped Hearts achieve second place in the SPL.

Tall is the third player to leave the club following Roman Bednar; who also fell out with Romanov, and Neil McCann departed as Hearts have began to build for next season.

 

Heart of Midlothian football club need a manager to put them back on course. But who will be mad enough to take a job that has so many disadvantages. You are forced to play the chairman’s “favourites”, he also makes a lot of signings and it has been the toughest job in football to hold onto.

John Robertson, George Burley, Graham Rix, Valdas Ivanauskas, Eduard Malofeev and now Stevie Frail have all felt what it is like to work under Vladimir Romanov. You get no control but have to foot all the blame. Not exactly enticing.

The question has to be asked; who is going to be stupid enough to take over Hearts? Romanov has stated that he wants a British manger and the names in that have been banded about are former player and manager; Craig Levein and the favourite for the post, Mark McGhee. Hearts have requested permission to talk to the Motherwell manager which was turned down; however Romanov is used to getting what he wants and will stump up big bucks for a successful manager.

Why would McGhee want to leave Motherwell though? They are in Europe next season, have a host of young stars and it looks like he could be starting to build something special. On the other hand he will receive money at Hearts to build a new team and have the chance to once again break the Old Firms stranglehold which I don’t believe will be possible at Motherwell. On top of this there is talk of some of the steelmen’s top stars leaving in the summer including former Rangers youngster; Ross McCormack. Should he come to Hearts he needs to be sure he will have full control. One wonders if this will be the case.

Vlad has come out publically and said that his next manager will have his full backing and that he will not interfere. Fair enough but we have heard this all before. Rix came out and told the world that he did not have much control over the side. Frail was not given control as proven by the Ibraham Tall incident which I will delve into in my next post. And last but by no means least; Burley was not allowed to say anything but it is well known that Romanov was not happy with some of his signings.

The only way that we can attract a manager of Mark McGhee’s stature is by Romanov giving him full backing on the team, backroom staff and signing policy. MGhee has stated this in recent interviews. He is potentially the best manager since Burley as he has shown at Motherwell this season. It wouldn’t exactly be difficult amid the puppets and nobodies that we have accumulated over the past 3 years.

I personally would love to see Mark MGhee or Craig Levein as our manager as he would bring a brand of football to exite the fans and really get bums back on seats at Tynecastle. Come on Vlad let’s start again by getting a manager who knows British football inside out. Give them time to sort out the mess that you have created.

Unfortunately I have just found out that Mark McGhee has pledged his future to Motherwell so it is back to the drawing board for Hearts who must now move to plan b. Whoever that may be.