VLADIMIR ROMANOV has broken silence on his bonkers stint in charge of Hearts as he spoke up for his first time in a decade.
The eccentric Hearts owner has made a string of allegations, many of which were REFUTED by other main figures around the club at the time.
George Burley has had a great career in management[/caption]
First of all, Romanov has revealed that he wrote Craig Gordon a ‘blank cheque’ to stop him moving to Celtic in 2006 before he joined Sunderland for £9m.
In an in-depth interview for the BBC Czar of Hearts podcast, Romanov said: “I told him ‘your contract is running out and I know Celtic has made you an offer, but you’ll end up being their second-choice goalkeeper, not the first.’
“‘If you stay and sign with us, I promise you’ll play in the English league.’ He laughed, not taking me seriously.
“So, I said, ‘If you don’t believe me, here’s a blank contract. Write down the amount you want.’
“Gordon wrote down a very large sum – something unheard of at Hearts and all of Scottish football. I looked at it, signed it, and handed it back. That’s how we managed to keep him.
“Gordon had incredible abilities, but he required a very careful approach. If things didn’t go well, he’d get physically sick, sometimes even vomit.
“He needed delicate handling. Despite all that, he was an exceptionally talented player. Ultimately, I sold him for £9m – at the time, it was the highest fee ever paid for a goalkeeper in Britain.”
Gordon – who eventually went to Celtic in any case – declined to comment on the podcast, and of course is still performing at the highest level for both Hearts and Scotland.
Other allegations made by Romanov in his bizarre rant included the claim that Hearts boss George Burley had a “heavy drinking problem”.
The BBC say they spoke to Burley, who has had a recent cancer diagnosis, who declined to take part in the programme but the claim was denied on his behalf by his No 2 Simon Hunt.
The 68-year-old, of course, has an illustrious CV as manager including stints with Ipswich, Southampton and Scotland.
And when it comes to the sudden sacking of Burley in October 2020, Romanov claims the manager walked of his own volition.
He said: ‘I didn’t fire him, it wasn’t easy to come to an understanding with him, I even offered him a contract. But he acted like he was stepping out for a smoke then disappeared altogether.
“The contract situation with Burley was complicated. During a meeting with Burley, his agent and myself I directly told Burley that his behaviour was damaging the team. He was given the option to leave directly without compensation but instead of addressing the room he left the room as if going for a smoke and ran away.”
Again this is an allegation Hunt – who wasn’t in the room at the time – denies vehemently, claiming the decision to sack Burley was merely motivated by Romanov’s jealousy and ego.
Craig Gordon seems to be doing okay despite Romanov’s ‘mentally weak’ claim[/caption]
Graham Rix during his short time as manager[/caption]
His replacement was Graham Rix, the Englishman who only lasted four months in the role.
Back in 1999, the former Hearts manager was convicted of having underage sex with a 15-year-old girl and sentenced to 12 months in prison but Romanov says he thinks Rix was “framed”
As for Scottish referees, Romanov says: “During my time I also unravalled how referees were recruited.
“Let me reveal a secret, every player and referee in Scottish football, was recruited as as fan either of Celtic or Rangers, this created immense pressure because if they made bad calls they could face backlash or even be beaten by fans.”
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