Never been first to post before! Another "manager with experience of British football"??? Um....

This is going to be a long, hard season...

So what, neither did Wim Jansen, Dick Advocaat, Jose Mourinho or Arsne Wenger. And they all did OK. Steve MacLaren had bags of experience in English football when England decided that was a requirement for the post. He turned out to be rubbish so they got someone with no experience of England at all instead. At this stage all I want is a manager who's managed at a semi-decent level. I'd take Cowdenbeath's again right now even though I've no idea who it is.

#1 - I know Forest are pretty tam kite, but they are a British football team.

If it is Jurgen ( big IF ) then let's give him a chance, we have to move quickly and recruit some quality players at Tynecastle.

C'mon the Gorgie !!!

I like to think that Vlad will now show some good judgement, and put a MANAGER in place, who knows what he's doing.
That is something we have not had since Burley was in charge.
Valdas..nice guy, but not up to it.
Rix...Plank
Madofeef...spaceman
Korobotchup...Choob
Shaggy...same as Valdas
Jurgen Rober, or whoever; we need it to be right this time.

It seems as though Rober has turned us down!

Out of work since March and still turned us down due to interferance in team matters by Romanov, as quoted directly here http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/sport-news/scottish-football/2008/06/29/german-jurger-rober-turns-down-hearts-job-over-vladimir-romanov-fears-78057-20625562/ .

I think Vlad should ammend his inteviewing technique.
the opening remark should just go along the lines of..
Vlad to candidate..."Look gadge, I bring in the players, I rubber stamp the team line up,
Are you in or oot?
Forget all the pontificating and sweetening up.
It will save time Vlad.

Vlad will be on Plan Z soon as no one is going to take this job (apart from the very needy ala Rix)due to Vlads interfering, it aint gonna change until Vlad either goes or sees sense (unlikely) story below from Sunday Mail.

GERMAN gaffer Jurgen Rober has become the latest coach to snub Hearts - after admitting he feared Vladimir Romanov would interfere in team affairs.

The man who took Hertha Berlin from the Bundesliga's Second Division into the Champions League spent all day Friday in Lithuania meeting the Jambos' owner.

But the 54-year-old - who also had spells in charge of Stuttgart, Partizan Belgrade, Wolfsburg and Borussia Dortmund - last night revealed he had knocked back the move to Edinburgh.

He's the third boss in a row after Mark McGhee and Vladimir Weiss to refuse Romanov.

And in a frank interview with MailSport, Rober revealed uncertainty over signing his own players set alarm bells ringing.

He said: "We had a really interesting meeting and I was impressed by Mr Romanov. He has some good ideas for his club.

"But the trouble was I have my opinions on how to coach and he has his ideas.

"Unfortunately these ideas would not come together.

"Romanov has a different thought on how to move a club forward.

"He's a businessman and I understand why he wants what he wants.

"But I have been 35 years as a professional in football.

"Don't get me wrong, I am not saying anything bad about Mr Romanov.

"He seemed like a nice guy, he treated me well and I was impressed by him during our meeting.

"Wespoke most of the day and went to watch the Kaunas second team at night.

"But I had this feeling we couldn't come together."

Rober's pedigree for the job was mixed.

His success with Hertha peaked when he led them to third place in the Bundesliga in 1999 and into the Champions League.

But his most recent job with Dortmund last year lasted just three months and he resigned saying he wasn't able "to reach the tea

Continued.

But his most recent job with Dortmund last year lasted just three months and he resigned saying he wasn't able "to reach the team".

In Germany his methods are viewed as old fashioned but he is hugely respected for his ability to build a team.

Rober admits that's where his strength lies and where the biggest clash of cultures came with Romanov.

He said: "I have strong ideas on how to build teams and build players.

"I did it with Hertha over many years when we came from the Second Division to the Champions League.

"I like to work with the players and build a team together. I like to bring young players up.

"I know Romanov's idea is to take players from Kaunas and his other club in Minsk (MTZ Ripo).

"Some of this I liked but some of it I was not so sure about. Listen, I know Hearts is a good club and Edinburgh is a great city.

"I have been to the ground to watch games as a coach before and I enjoyed it.

"However, this offer was just not for me."

Rober's revelations will confirm Jambo fans' worst fears about the search for a new boss.

Despite Romanov's pledge in January to opt for a "British-style" manager, his six-month quest has still been hampered by his reputation for interfering.

The Russian-born multi-millionaire put caretaker head coach Stevie Frail on gardening leave last week.

And he will now have to move on to Plan D with his squad in the middle of pre-season training.

Hope a manager is appointed this week, despite the article in the Mail from Rober rejecting the job.
At the end of the day McGhee was lined up, Weiss who has since been appointed coach of his country and i'm now prepared to welcome a decent manager with a good pedgree and won't take any cr ap from anybody.
I find it very peculiar how the Edinburgh Evening News so called reporters don't get ANY first hand information out of Tynecastle and yet a red top in Glasgow has an interview with a stooge who has supposedly kb'd Vlad due to no interference in the background, call me sceptical if you like!!!!!!!!!!!

well this guy seems to have a good CV of clubs and isn't from the usual source of puppet managers so would be most welc.... oh hang on, no he's not interested after all, oh dear.

it's got to the stage where potential candidates are virtually ruling themselves out before the speculation is even made. christ this is torturous.

rober would have been a boon for the many hobo comedians out there. rober in the dugout, robber in the boardroom, and all that.

i'm also a bit intrigued by the suggestion that romanov plans to bring in players from minsk. belarus not being part of the EU would limit that particular plan to regular international players only, unlike the situation with lithuanian players who are all free to come to scotland.

#15 I think you're wasting you're time there, mate!

Biley doesn't do logic. He's too interested in trying to slag Hearts for any logic or reason to appear in his "comments"...

#12 - wish I shared your understanding nature. You say "at end of day McGhee was lined up" - was he??? Any more lined up than any of the others who have knocked us back?

It's 6 months now since said a manager - never mind a plan B, a plan Z should have been lined up given number of people likely to want to manage a club but have interferance about who is signed, how they are signed etc.

*17* GrahamH - McGhee was checked in at the airport ready to put his seal on the contract. What annoys me is that Romanov didn't come to Scotland to get his man, instead expecting the new man to leave friends and family behind for a whole week after a long,hard season. Enough to put anybody off and have second thoughts.
Difficult then for Romanov to have a plan B as McGhee was in place so no need for a backup plan.

Don't get me wrong it's ridiculous the length of time it's taken, since Valdas left really or you could say Burley but that's taking away the fact Valdas won the Scottish Cup for us after the rocky spell when George departed, and has cost us making any progress the last couple of years.
This will be rectified with the new appointment so we can look to the future, no point in dwelling on the past IF he has learned his lesson.

#19 I fear you're correct.

I believe Romanov could easily have hired a high-calibre manager by now if he had entrusted the appointment to "football" people. I wonder if Ogilvie will now feel the need to "walk" as a result of this shambles?

The fact that Romanov takes a hands-on interest in the shortlisted candidates surely proves that hiring a new manager will not be a purely "football" decision.

The quality of any new candidate seems not to be how good a coach they are, or how they can improve the on-field performance. They will be appointed because Romanov thinks he can influence them.

I've asked this question before: if Romanov doesn't see a successful team - competing each year for domestic honours and regularly playing in European competitions - as the means of making a profit from his investment in HMFC, then how does he plan to profit from it?

Even a f***wit like Romanov must see that since he sacked Burley, his interference in the football side of the operation has been an abject failure. So, why doesn't he leave the football side to the professionals and leave well alone?

Is Romanov simply out of his depth here? Is his paranoia and distrust of people so bad that he CANNOT delegate executive powers?

If Romanov can't, or won't, give HMFC his near full-time attention then he MUST delegate real executive power to an on-site Chief Executive and let him get on with it.

The new season is weeks away and the club is rudderless because of Romanov's intransigence and unwillingness to recognise his own faults.

The current situation of remote control coupled with a refusal to communicate with his customers is, in my view, unsustainable. Something has to give...

#10/11
This story was in the Sunday Mail today word for word.
Easy to copy and paste aint it?

Quote: Vincent Vega..."story below from Sunday Mail."

...Maybe that's why it's word for word

Apologies
Missed the start
Why not say try the Sunday Mail and see the report on Hearts?

#21 BH, great comments. something does have to give. some will say that not buying season tickets would have forced a paradigm shift in romanov thinking but i'm afraid i don't subscribe to it. we have all been thinking about other ways to engage romanov and not one person has yet found the way.

this is very much a hostage scenario where we simply have to go with the flow, without the predictable shouts of stockholm syndrome.

#25 Thanks, victorian. I know your position on the season tickets debate, and I respect your viewpoint.

To be fair, I don't know if it would have any effect either. I do think however, it's a reasonable response to Romanov's disgraceful treatment of his customers. Something has to be tried, that's for sure.

The statement from Charlie Mann that Romanov wanted LESS communication beggars belief! How can you get less than zilch?

I realise that fotball supporters aren't typical "customers": but they are customers nonetheless and, as such, can choose to retaliate if the product on offer isn't good enough. Particularly if the quality of that product has been deliberately cheapened...

#26 BH, well one thing seems to be transpiring, that romanov seems to be 'clinging to power', perhaps robert mugabe-esque.

despite sound-bytes that there would be full autonomy on team selection, there appears to be an insistence that there is no full signing policy autonomy on offer. it also appears to me that this has been represented in the press as the potential candidate not having full team selection autonomy. these are two different things but they are easily taken as the same. in any case, most candidates would want both.

after so many 'knock-backs', romanov can go either of two ways, to relax his conditions or to revert-to-type and appoint zig-a-zig-aaaaah as we have all suspected was the fait acompli all along.

Another c--k up by the editor?