Former Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov has made some remarkable claims about Craig Gordon’s contract renewal and his character.
Romanov has been in the news as a result of the BBC’s new podcast series ‘Romanov: Czar of Hearts‘ delivering a wide range of interviews with people involved with the Jambos at the time.
Romanov was Hearts owner between 2004 and 2013 and his reign got off to an exciting start. George Burley was appointed manager and his side looked like genuine title challengers at the start of the 2005/06 season.
But the madcap Russian-Lithuanian businessman’s mind-boggling decisions started to come to the fore when he decided to sack Burley when Hearts were top of the SPL.
Romanov was also known to be handing out massive bonuses to Hearts players as rewards for their performances. Ex-midfielder Paul Hartley claimed he was being paid as much as £2,500 per victory.
Now, the BBC have released an episode interviewing the man himself and he wasted no time in making some incredible comments about Craig Gordon.
Romanov signed Gordon a ‘blank’ Hearts cheque
Romanov has claimed that he offered Gordon a blank cheque to remain at Hearts and prevent the youngster going to Celtic in 2006.
He alleges that Gordon asked for an unprecedented rise to stay at Tynecastle , which Romanov accepted and claims that’s how the goalkeeper was kept on for another year.
Romanov said: “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 (Gordon) 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.”
Romanov went on to deliver a polarising assessment of Gordon and claimed while he was a terrific goalkeeper, he was also “psychologically weak.”
He continued: “Gordon had incredible abilities, but he required a very careful approach. Psychologically, he was weak – 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.”
It should be stressed that the BBC asked Hearts if Gordon wished to reply to Romanov’s comments, but the Gorgie legend declined.
Craig Gordon’s Hearts contract situation now
Of course, Gordon is back at Hearts and still their No.1 goalkeeper at the age of 42, despite a double leg break a couple of years ago.
His contract runs out in the summer, but has admitted he still doesn’t know what the future holds for him and that several factors will be considered – one being whether he continues to play for Scotland and how his body feels in the summer.
Gordon said recently: “I think everything will shape it (future). Not just that (Scotland duty), but that will be a very small part of it.
“What my thinking will be, it will be my body and what I think I can achieve going forward. It’s more to do with me than any sort of results base or performance base.
“It is what I feel capable of and continue to feel capable of going forward.”