The national team has performed valiantly in the qualifying rounds of Euro 2008; our club sides performed as well as can be expected in European competitions, one team even reaching a final. We had a First Division side in the final of a domestic cup competition, and the league went down to the wire with an exciting final day that left everyone breathless.
It's a shame then, that the ongoing drama at Heart of Midlothian football club is continuing to drag the profile of Scottish football down with it. Stephen Frail, caretaker-manager at the Edinburgh side was turned away from the Riccerton training facilities and told to go on 'garden leave'. Without any further explanation as to the reasons for his - lets face it - imminent dismissal and without any further insight into the plans that owner Vladimir Romanov has for the future of the club, Hearts fans are left wondering what the Russian-born Lithuanian banker has in store for them next.
Without a manager since the start of 2008, and after a poor season with players leaving like rats off a sinking ship, the feeling that Hearts are on course for a collision with a very big iceberg remains. Unable to attract a manager of the calibre needed to steer the club to safety (Vladimir Weiss has opted to remain in Slovakia), expectations for the new season must be low.
On paper, Romanov was the ideal candidate to take Hearts to the next level. Wealthy (he's worth an estimated £200m according to the Times 2008 Rich List) and a football lover, you could have forgiven the Hearts faithful for thinking that good times where on the way. And for a while they certainly where. A second place finish in 2006 and victory in the Scottish Cup was followed by a fourth place finish in 2007.
But off the field, trouble was brewing as Romanov began exercising the power that club ownership invariably brings. And Romanov has cracked down particularly hard on those not willing to accept his way of working. Craig Gordon, Paul Hartley, Stephen Pressley left the club after expressing concern at Romanov's hands-on running of Hearts. Chief Executive Phil Anderton and George Burley, the manager Anderton had brought in where sacked the day after Romanov gained complete control over the club; chairman George Foulkes resigned in protest. Not surprisingly, Romanov brought people into the club, yes-men, who would accept the reality of life at Hearts. He shut up shop and sent a clear message to the fans: I'm the owner and I will do what I like.
Dundee United, Dundee and Dunfermline shareholders must surely be glad that they turned down Vladimir Romanov's initial approaches to take over their clubs, if the situation at Hearts is any indication what life for them would have been like under Romanov rule. But while Inside Left sympathises with the plight of the club, we are beginning to see the fruits of a marriage that had problems right from the start, namely Vladimir Romanov's unwillingness to delegate management of the day-to-day running of Heart of Midlothian Football Club.
But then again, why should he?
If you invest as much into a business as Romanov has done, you'd think he'd be entitled to do as he pleases. He is the owner after all, welcomed with open arms back in 2005 on the back of promises of heavy investment, growth and success. But where Romanov is wrong is his position that Hearts is a business, first and foremost, one that must be successful, no matter what the cost. But Hearts is more than a business - it's an institution in Edinburgh and in Scotland. It's a living, breathing thing onto which the hopes and dreams of fans are pinned, fans who want to see the club be successful but with pride, dignity and respect, not with lurid headlines, ignominious sackings and the disgraceful treatment given out to the likes of Stephen Frail who have had nothing but the best interest at heart for Hearts.
It is possible to have an owner who invests, but who does not interfere. Stewart Milne at Aberdeen, Eddie Thompson at Dundee United and David Murray at Rangers are examples of (rich) owners who leave the running of the club to someone else. It can be done, but is it too late for Hearts?
The Edinburgh team are in a precarious position. With debts of £30m, underwritten by Ukio Bankas Investment Group, the investment group that Romanov owns, Hearts need him more than he needs them. In the simplest terms: without him, they're sunk, with him, they're stuck. At the end of the day, Hearts only have themselves to blame.
After all, if you pay the piper, you dance to his tunes.
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