© EuroFootball.com
Former Edinburgh "Hearts" player and Lithuanian national team player Saulius Mikoliūnas openly spoke to the British newspaper "Daily Record" about the former owner of the Scottish club Vladimir Romanov and his eccentricities.
The Lithuanian, who recently signed a contract with the Ukrainian club "PFC Sevastopol," stated that V. Romanov fired "Hearts" coach George Burley in 2005 out of jealousy, bought too many Lithuanian players for the Scottish team, and fancied himself as a great footballer.
"He was a very funny guy - V. Romanov would come to the training field and try to play football with us. He imagined himself as a good footballer who could play for Barcelona. He really amused the whole team," Mikoliūnas said.
In 2004, V. Romanov acquired about 20% of the club's shares, increased his share to 55% in October 2005, and later to 82%. The 2005-06 season started impressively for "Hearts" - eight consecutive wins and a strong position at the top of the table. Nevertheless, V. Romanov soon shocked the whole of Scotland by firing the team's coach G. Burley.
"V. Romanov has a big ego. When we were leading the league under G. Burley, he fired the coach because he felt jealous that the fans loved the coach more than him. V. Romanov liked to always be the center of attention," Mikoliūnas said.
During the seven years V. Romanov managed the club, nine coaches were replaced. Some of them worked very briefly, and the current Lithuanian national team coach Csaba Laszlo - even for two years.
"I think he invited too many Lithuanian players to the team, which people started to dislike. It is understandable why he did it, but the fans didn't like it - they wanted to see good acquisitions, not unknown Lithuanians. Later, problems started arising in the locker room because of this," Mikoliūnas said.
The former banker invited Lithuanians to the club's board - his son Romanas is the team's president, and high positions are also held by Vitalijus Vasiliauskas and Sergejus Fedotovas.
Having spent four years in the "Hearts" club and playing over a hundred matches, the 29-year-old footballer left the Scottish club in 2009. Currently, "Hearts" is facing bankruptcy, and V. Romanov no longer cares about the club. According to the British media, the team is burdened with at least £25 million in debt.
"V. Romanov paid good money, but perhaps it was necessary to spend it on trying to keep players like Paul Hartley or Rudi Skacel. We were competing for a place in the Champions League, but we couldn't keep the best players. We needed to buy more good footballers, but we were a group of different players. When I arrived here, I didn't have high hopes to get into the team because there were too many players and the competition was enormous," Mikoliūnas spoke about the drawbacks of forming the team.
However, the Lithuanian stated that he will never forget the victory in the 2006 Scottish Cup and expressed a strong desire for the club to get out of debt and become a powerful force again.
"I think at the beginning he did not do badly, and we won the Scottish Cup. V. Romanov gave money because he wanted the club to become powerful, but when everything turned bad - everyone was to blame, except him. He always blamed others.
I hope that someone will buy the team and revive it. I would like "Hearts" to become a powerful club again, because the fans are amazing," Mikoliūnas said.
