[The Judge]

Talk is cheap but if this guy is serious it could be the best thing to happen to Scottish football in years (well, except for Hibs fans ).
Plans for Hearts

 

[The Exiled Heretic]

Not sure about this guy. He'll try to keep Tynecastle but also wants to build a stadium better than any of the 3 big ones in Glasgow- I really can't see that and if it were possible it would be a long term development. That goes for the fan base too which won't just change over night. Brining in better players sounds good but how much is he really willing to spend and can Hearts attract better players than Rangers and Celtic?
Any kind of development which has the potential to provide a league challenge outwith the Old firm has got to be a good thing for the game but I really have my doubts. Scottish football is weak but people think it's weaker than it really is. You have a guy like Anelka who promises to be the third force in Scottish football and thinks he can do it by bringing in players from around the globe who had mostly been playing amatuer football. I just wonder how much Romanov knows about the Scottish game. Isn't this the same guy that was going to be building a stadium for the Dundee clubs and wanted to bring in Lithuanian players?

 

[King_Henrik]

Sounds like the next Giovanni Di Stefano to me.

Sorry for being so cynical, but there have been so many guys in the past who have promised to finally provide the finances that would allow there to be a serious 3rd challenger to Celtic and Rangers and it has always turned out to be nothing more than hot air, so far.

This Lithuanian guy should provide the action first, and words second.

 

[Angle_eyes]

The guy obviously has no clue about Scottish football. It's going to take some amount of investment to make them serious challengers. SMG put in a fair few million the other year and it got them nowhere. Edinburgh's the home of rugby and Glasgow's the home of football. Can't see that changing in my lifetime.

He may improve Hearts on and off the pitch, but i'm guessing both Old Firm clubs are going to make serious improvements to the business side in the coming years. Hearts will only have a chance of becoming the biggest team in Scotland if we move to the English league.

 

[Angle_eyes]

What about the situation Hearts find themselves in now? I think they're in serious danger of becoming another SPL also-ran. They've got rid of their best player De Vries as well as competent full-back Alan Maybury. Their contracts were up in the summer, so Hearts received the princely combined sum of £60,000!! What kind of mess is the club in if they are willing to let 2 of their best players go for that kind of money?

I hear Ramon Pereira (sp?) is also likely to go to Nottingham Forest. To replace these important first-team players Hearts have drafted in 20 trialists to look at. Even before these players left Hearts had declined since Levein left, so what can they realistically aim for in the remainder of the season? A European place is looking highly unlikely, and this dodgy Romanov guy has yet to commit his money to the club despite all his tough talking. All in all, I think Hearts are going into decline.

 

[kicker]

One of those "trialists" is Lukasz Madej who is a player of my club, Lech Poznan. He's a good prospect (U-18 European champion from 2000) but he's definitely not a guy born to play in Britain (for the sake of his physical abilities). Yet, as his contract expires in June, we will be pleased to see him go.

 

[Angle_eyes]

I don't doubt that some of the trialists have ability, but it seems a pretty stupid way to go about things. Firstly, sell your best players for hardly any money. Then, watch a group of less well-known players (to put it politely) for a few days with a view to replacing what you've got rid of. Hibs are looking like the dominant Edinburgh team for this season at least.

 

[The Judge]

Angle, regardless of what's been written about Romanov's finances, Hearts are still very heavily in debt and it's possible that where your last comment says "best players" it may also have fitted in with the title "highest paid players" who are out of contract at the end of May and will leave (probably to the same destination) for absolutely nothing. There will always be debate about whether players who are scheduled to leave will give you 100% or will protect themselves through fear of injury (witness Boumsong's "muscle strain" prior to the Motherwell match) and sometimes you just have to take what you can get.

What you say about Hibs appears true and they deserve credit for building a young side that's playing good football (remember Jim Jeffries once did this at Hearts and the paradox is that the better they play the more chance they have of being picked of by bigger clubs and you have to start all over again).

 

[cam]

Thanks to the Old Firm who seem unable to get their own kids coming through

 

[Angle_eyes]

I know what you're saying Judge, and I guess it's pretty difficult for a lot of Old Firm fans to comprehend the finances of the smaller clubs. For instance, you cite De Vries and Maybury as high earners at the club. What does this mean? £5,000 a week maybe? Not a lot by our (inflated) standards. I just find it incredible that the so-called 3rd force of Scottish football cannot hold on to these players for a few months in order to attain the still realistic goal of European football. It's gotten to the stage where Stevie Crawford has opted for Dundee United over Hearts, although that decision may not have had footballing reasons at the core.

As for questioning player commitment, you're probably correct. But i'm sure just as many players have been just as committed in their last few months as not. Maybury is definately not the type of guy who would lessen his (ahem) commitment. I would put a question mark over De Vries, perhaps unfairly in light of him playing through injury for the club before.

I'd be interested in the views of Heartsfan, who seems to only post on Lithuanian threads. By the way, i'm not just criticising teams for the sake of it and i'm well aware of the problems of my own club. I just get a bit fed up of talking up the same old stuff all the time .

 

[The Judge]

You're right that it would be nice to hear from some Hearts fans because there is a big story going on. We can't forget that prior to the "arrival" of the potential benefactor from Lithuania (who incidentally had previously cast an eye over Dundee, Dundee Utd and Dunfermline) that Hearts are in big trouble financially, they were facing the prospect of selling their stadium and leasing Murrayfield, that would have cleared the debt but they would have no home stadium (Hibs have made it clear that they have no interest in a joint share) and for a club of their size that's a rather worrying state of affairs. Clydebank selling Kilbowie park was the first step towards the end of the club in the professional leagues and although there is no comparison in the fan base of the 2 clubs, Hearts previous attempt at a share issue has more or less ruled out another one as an option to raise finance and finally before anyone says Hearts are too big for this to happen to, remember Leeds United :scared:.

There's definitely more to this whole situation than meets the eye. :eyepatch:

 

[The Exiled Heretic]

20 Lithuanians on trial in Edinburgh- what's going on there? Read today that Hearts have taken 4 of them on so it will be interesting to see what they are like.

 

[Ignas]

3 of them are very young (19-20yrs one is 17 i think), the fourth one is 26 year old, plays sometimes for national Lithuanian team. Not the stars by anymeans, even in Lithuania. :eekani:

 

[The Exiled Heretic]

3 of them are very young (19-20yrs one is 17 i think), the fourth one is 26 year old, plays sometimes for national Lithuanian team. Not the stars by anymeans, even in Lithuania. :eekani:

Since Lithuania beat Scotland not that long ago any players from the NT might do OK in the SPL

 

[Ignas]

thats not a doubt. SKerla of Dunfermline just manages to get to main NT Lithuanian team squad, although he is a very regular in the staring line up of Dunfermline.

 

[Carson35]

Silva out on trial

By Simon Yeowart
Date: 18/1/2005

Young Spurs striker Edson Silva has joined SPL side Hearts on trial. The former PSV Eindhoven player, signed in the summer has failed to make...

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Silva out on trial
By Simon Yeowart for THEspursweb.com

Young Spurs striker Edson Silva has joined SPL side Hearts on trial.

The former PSV Eindhoven player, signed in the summer has failed to make an impact on the Tottenham first team squad with the likes of Keane, Kanoute, Defoe and Yeates ahead of him in the pecking order.

The 21-year old will now have the opportunity to impress north of the border with the Edinburgh club.