Latest news with #RiccartonThree
BBC News
22-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Romanov on 'not firing' Burley, 'psychologically weak' Gordon & appointing Rix
After a press conference from Neil Critchley, we bring you key points on this page. Today, however, there's someone else who has been speaking to BBC Scotland for you to hear Romanov sat down for an interview with the Romanov: Czar of Hearts podcast, with his contribution published as a special bonus episode after the nine-part goes without saying that much of what Romanov said should be taken with a heavy pinch of are the key points from the former Hearts owner's interview:Romanov claims he "did not fire" George Burley, saying he offered him a contract before the then manager "disappeared altogether" after stepping out for a he does concede he should have "focused on finishing the season instead of getting caught up in scandals".Although, according to Vlad, Burley was not the real leader of the side, rather it was his assistant and scout Simon Hunt. Burley and Hunt, he adds, were "two thieves within the team".Despite giving Craig Gordon a supposed blank cheque to stay at the club, Romanov accuses him of having a poor mentality: "Psychologically, he was weak - if things didn't go well, he'd get physically sick, sometimes even vomit."In his first season at Hearts, Romanov "unravelled how referees were recruited" and says "every player and referee in Scottish football was recruited as a fan, either of Celtic or Rangers", leading to those sides being viewed favourably by the Gordon, Paul Hartley and Steven Pressley all wanted to leave for Celtic, as did manager Burley, according to Romanov, who says Roman Bednar and Rudi Skacel also wanted to move to Celtic Park. Vlad adds: "I was dealing with a revolution right under my nose... the club was almost left without all these key players."On appointing Graham Rix as manager, he hoped they could "stand strong and take on the mafia" and also the one to doubt his own footballing acumen, he states: "I can work with any coach, even a children's coach, and still achieve great results."On the accusation he, not Rix, picked the team, he says: "It's not Rix who's picking the players - I'm the one buying them."When asked for his initial reaction to the Riccarton Three incident, he says it was a "betrayal," adding: "And then there's the question: 'How do I go to Celtic for more money?' It was just an excuse - a cover for betrayal."You may remember Vlad's famous boxing match with Bednar, where he now claims the towering Czech forward "ran off, and that's how it all played out".For much, much more from Romanov you can listen to the bonus episode here on BBC people discussed by Romanov were given a right to reply. These can be found in the bonus episode.
BBC News
01-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Romanov: Czar of Hearts episode 7 now available
This was nothing to do with the revolving door of managers, a door which kept turning despite league was a dressing room revolution, exposed and laid bare by the most powerful among the squad, against the man at the top."Chaps, just to make you aware that I'm going to make a statement and we'll answer no questions," captain Steven Pressley told the assembled journalists as he walked in beside midfielder Paul Hartley and goalkeeper Craig they took their seats behind a little table, busy with microphones and cables, and cameras flashing just inches from their noses, the Riccarton Three had their seven of Romanov: Czar of Hearts is now available on BBC Sounds - listen and subscribe here
BBC News
27-02-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
When Hearts' Riccarton Three took on owner Romanov
Ask any Hearts fan when the wheels started to truly fall off the Vladimir Romanov wagon, and they'd most likely point to a cold October morning in was nothing to do with the revolving door of managers, a door which kept turning despite league was a dressing room revolution, exposed and laid bare by the most powerful among the squad, against the man at the top."Chaps, just to make you aware that I'm going to make a statement and we'll answer no questions," captain Steven Pressley told the assembled journalists as he walked in beside midfielder Paul Hartley and goalkeeper Craig they took their seats behind a little table, busy with microphones and cables, and cameras flashing just inches from their noses, the Riccarton Three had their was not going to be your run of the mill news conference. It took almost all gathered there, including those working for the club, by complete everyone except BBC Scotland's Brian McLauchlin..."That morning, I received a text from a player asking me if I was attending the media conference," McLauchlin remembers. "I said 'yes'. He said 'get there early, get a front seat, this'll be fun.' "It was dynamite." The usual press corps trooped out to Hearts' training base at Riccarton unaware they were about to witness one of the defining incidents of the Romanov is a soap opera, and this was Hearts' "Happy Christmas, Ange!" Eastenders moment. The divorce papers served up by captain to chairman."In walked the three of them," recalls Mark Donaldson, then head of sport for Radio Forth. "Normally you'd get a 'hey, how are you?' or whatever. But it was a pre-conceived idea that this what they were going to do."Pressley would read out a prepared statement that eviscerated any notion of a happy playing squad at Hearts - a squad that had won the Scottish Cup just a few months prior."I have tried along with the coaching staff and certain colleagues to implement the correct values and disciplines but it has become an impossible task," the captain, affectionately dubbed 'Elvis' by fans and colleagues, continued."There is only so much a coaching staff, a captain, and certain colleagues can do without the full backing, direction, and coherence of the manager and those running the football club."This was not an attack on fellow players, on a particular manager - they were onto their fifth in just over a year - or backroom staff. The delicately-selected lexicon that Pressley used was squarely aimed at one man - Romanov. What caused such public airing of dirty laundry? Hartley, who alongside Gordon didn't actually utter a word during the news conference, explains that standards had dropped physio department had been joined by a mysterious woman who, with some sort of divination stick, claimed to be able to identify injuries before they happened. Training continued until late into the evening as interim manager Eduard Malofeev's bawling was translated to English. Wheelbarrow races and other seemingly juvenile activities took centre stage."We were training at silly o'clock," Hartley said. "It was five o'clock at night, pitch black, training. It was shocking, I hated it. "It was a bad time for a club the size of Hearts - we all started getting fed up."The final straw arrived when Romanov started to deliver his own motivational team talks. "He told all the players if they weren't going to deliver against Dunfermline, they'd be sold to Kilmarnock or anyone who would have them," added game ended 1-1. "I was probably seen as the figurehead of the club at the time," Pressley later said. "Everybody leaned on me to try and get things done, or get answers within the club."The treatment of some individuals was horrendous. The honesty, the transparency, all the things that I think are really important in the foundations of a club - they were being disregarded."Pressley and Romanov would never meet face to face after that, but the Lithuanian owner found a way of communicating with the club captain.'Elvis' was dropped from starting XI, then the entire squad, and stripped of the captaincy. He left the building a little over a month later. He would sign for Celtic, but not before a bizarre twist in the tale."The amazing thing was, the day I was told I no longer had a future at Hearts, I was also offered the assistant manager's job," Pressley a fan favourite and perhaps the best player in the squad at the time, soon followed him, signing for Celtic on New Year's Day in 2007. Only Gordon remained after the winter first seven episodes of Romanov: Czar of Hearts are available on BBC Sounds, with two more to be released weekly on Saturdays.
