VLADIMIR Romanov has emerged from his self-imposed public silence by launching a trademark broadside against the media, the Old Firm and players who "betrayed" him and were unwilling to fight for Hearts' cause.
While in Moscow last week to watch his Lithuanian club Kaunas in the annual Commonwealth Cup, the Hearts owner gave this incendiary interview to Belarusian newspaper PressBall:
Q: Ideally, what level do you want to see Hearts at in the near future?
VLADIMIR ROMANOV: The level is already not bad. The only problem is that, in Scotland, we are having to fight not in the sporting sense, but against constant intrigues. Hearts are well ahead of schedule in their development plan, but there are non-football issues that need to be put right.
Q: Are these intrigues created within the club?
VR: No, they are created by our rivals, who together with the press systematically accuse us of all kinds of non-existent sins - overall, they do not conduct themselves in a sporting manner.
Q: You mean Celtic and Rangers?
VR: Probably. To be honest, I only notice them when they are trying to undermine the club via the media. You've got the same situation with Abramovich and Mourinho. This person invested his money, created a superclub, and now suddenly it seems that it was the Portuguese who has done everything. These kind of problems need to be addressed in time, it's the same with the players. Once they have achieved their goals, you need to sell them. It's the same with coaches: if you've achieved what you want, go - and if you are really a star, let the market decide how much you are worth. If you allow someone like that to stay with the team, he will destroy it, and take players with him.
Q: Did you get to the bottom of the conflict between senior Hearts players and Eduard Malofeev?
VR: There was no conflict whatsoever, there was a banal betrayal. Players sold themselves for the striped shirts they were promised; they decided that these were so valuable that they could allow themselves to behave the way they did.
Q: Is that a reference to Celtic shirts?
VR: I don't know. To prison uniforms.
Q: There was a point when you relieved Valdas Ivanauskas of his duties as head coach. What was the reason for that?
VR: I didn't relieve him of his duties - he took ill, and so wasn't able to work. And Malofeev was there, so I didn't see a big problem in Ivanauskas being temporarily absent. It was simply that there were issues that were impossible to resolve. It was this that was harming Valdas's health. Subsequently, it was impossible to normalise the situation [ie: restore Valdas to health] unless we removed footballers who did not want to play against Celtic, Rangers and other teams.
Q: How do you rank Kaunas, Hearts and MTZ Ripo in terms of their importance to you?
VR: I don't. The most important thing is that the quality of the players at each club improves. But without proper organisation, they would all be messed up.
Getting the timing right is essential. If you push a club forward too soon, you will break it. If you do it too late, it will go rotten. This is extremely important, and one of the main tasks is to get that right. My role is probably to ensure that such opportunities are not lost. After all, I am paying money for these players. My belief is that of all the players we have, there is not one of them who cannot be turned into a star. It is doubly painful when you see one of your players drop down a division only to then truly show his potential. When footballers do not sometimes make maximum use of their potential then the coach is to blame. He must be able to feel everything and to find the right key to each player. I don't blame the players.
Q: Which of your projects do you consider the most successful?
VR: All are making gradual progress. But, I repeat, often it is the coaches who are the problem. In this respect, the role of a sporting director is huge, someone who can keep a close eye on the coach, on his work, to see whether he is giving his all, or whether there are areas in which he needs help. It's aggravating when you invest in something and do not get a return. Footballers do not grow, and their potential is not recognised, and the coach continually wants to bring in some stars, who then arrive and don't play. I've already been through this, and it pains me that these years were wasted in vain. But when Lithuanian players go to Hearts it's different.
There it is clear that we are advancing upwards. Of course, we'd like to achieve our goals more quickly, but we are moving forward as fast as we can.
Q: How do you build your relationships with coaches - do you keep your distance?
VR: What distance? I work in close contact with all of them, and am continually resolving lots of different issues.
Q: If it's not a secret, do you have any plans to expand your football business?
VR: No, I don't want more than three clubs. It is hard enough as it is.
Q: In a recent interview with PressBall, the owner of Dynamo Minsk, Yuri Chizh, said that, in a conversation with you, he had advised you not to fish in murky waters.
VR: I don't get involved in anything that is dubious, and once I decide to take on a big project, I always do so openly and derive a lot of pleasure from it. It's impossible to build a skyscraper on shaky foundations.
