Mr Vladimir Romanov today issued the following statement after recent revelations that have had a hugely damaging affect on the game in this country. Mr Romanov, who has been consistent in his views since investing in Scottish football in 2005, said: "The opinion of Heart of Midlothian FC in regards to the current situation of Scottish football is clear and robust. "The football mafia represented by former owners of Rangers FC and Rupert Murdoch's media are to blame for some of the worst problems to hit Scottish football and must not be allowed back in under any circumstances. "As regards the club itself, we can only express our deepest condolences to its supporters, who have been lied to for so many years. "It had to happen sooner or later. Victories were achieved not by sporting merits, but through slander, conspiracies amongst players and their poaching via third parties, unfair pressuring of referees, who in themselves are as valuable to the fabric of football as the football stars themselves. "All of this brought hollow victories and destroyed football. We can also mention the attempts to eliminate Hearts with the help of the tax petitions, through false accusations and threats to revoke the club license. There is a saying about digging a grave for someone: you get it for yourself ⦠"Without these people football will become cleaner and stronger. Without Murdoch the whole of society will improve, in particular sport and culture. "Supporters deserve a new beginning and have to accept the fact that their club has to start from the lower league, keeping order in the SPL and without creating unfair competition with other clubs. "As regards the pitiful state of Scottish football finances, a lot of the blame should be placed at the doors of Murdoch's media. They pay huge sums to English clubs, whilst in Scotland, where football is better supported per capita than anywhere else in Europe and there are more cable or Sky subscribers per capita than in England, clubs receive peanuts for their broadcasting rights. "At the very least this is discrimination and protectionism for the English football product, which at the same time stunts the development of the game in Scotland, that is regarded as the cradle of football. "I feel that it is absolutely realistic to create a company that would bring to Scottish clubs at least the same broadcasting income, and even grow it by 50-100% over the next two to three years. This company should be in the hands of Scottish clubs and work with those who want to earn money the honest way, instead of conducting business the Murdoch way. "They have lived beyond law and all morals, and should now be declared beyond the pale. A society that allows the destruction of integrity in sport, which is a crucial part of Scottish culture, is destroying itself - and all for the benefit of a media aborigine." http://www.heartsfc.co.uk/articles/20120621/vr-statement_2241384_2818454
What a belter of a statement. The language may be incautious, true, but it's still pretty funny and the general gist of what he's saying is rather hard not to sympathise with - especially the stuff about Rupert Murdoch, perhaps. I would love to see Scottish football sever any and all remaining links with that man. There would maybe be chaos if everybody chose to express themselves in the way that Vladimir Romanov has just done, but it's still pretty enjoyable to witness as a spectacle. Edit: Ah, I see we are to be deleted. Oh well, that was a waste of my time. Not to worry.
Nah, this one's better than mine. Could not agree more about the Murdoch stuff -but Vlad's a ****ing loonball, man
It had to happen sooner or later. Victories were achieved not by sporting merits, but through slander, conspiracies amongst players and their poaching via third parties, unfair pressuring of referees, who in themselves are as valuable to the fabric of football as the football stars themselves. "All of this brought hollow victories and destroyed football. We can also mention the attempts to eliminate Hearts with the help of the tax petitions, through false accusations and threats to revoke the club license. There is a saying about digging a grave for someone: you get it for yourself … best bit for me See rangers this is called kicking you when you are down
Well they should split the tv money equally amongst the 12 clubs and not what they do the now. You need an opposition to play. It might not be fair but neither is the NFL's draft system but it keeps it competitive.
Forgot about that. Stewart Milne gets pelters off most Aberdeen fans but the boy isn't daft. The SPL is a ****ey wee league, we should get control of our own TV rights so we can market it ourselves instead of coming in at whatever priority level Sky/ESPN put us at.
He certainly knows how to get attention. "At the very least this is discrimination and protectionism for the English football product, which at the same time stunts the development of the game in Scotland, that is regarded as the cradle of football. That is pretty much on the button. Sky were ready to ditch the Spanish league because it was becoming bigger than the premiership a few years back. The premiership actually gets more exposure in Scotland than the SPL and we are starting to lose young football fans to the "glitz and glamour."
Too true, I remember when the top English teams were at the top only because they had Scottish players. At the same time the game was reasonably strong in Scotland with various different teams finishing second to Celtic. It is all changed now, very few good young Scottish players coming through and playing numbers seem to get smaller and smaller. Vlad gets criticised and sneered at often because he adopts a different stance. Celtic fans should have a better regard for him because through the years spokesmen and players from Celtic have similarly been vilified. In many quarters our manager seems to be fair game for any sort of abuse and misquotes that they delight to make.
Like it or not rangers are the talking point of Scottish football. Sticking your head in the sand hoping it will go away isn't going to work.