2005–06 Heart of Midlothian F.C. season

Season Overview

Main article: Vladimir Romanov's ownership of Heart of Midlothian F.C.

Following his takeover of the club, Vladimir Romanov stated that his ultimate aim is for Hearts to win the Champions League. His early actions included bringing in former Rugby Union chief Phil Anderton as CEO on 3 March 2005. On 9 May 2005, manager John Robertson resigned, a move which was greeted with much dismay among supporters because Robertson had been a great player for Hearts. Former Ipswich Town and Derby County manager George Burley was hired on 30 June 2005 to replace him.

As the season began, the combination of Romanov's financial backing and the appointment of Burley led many Hearts fans to believe that they could win the SPL championship in 2005–06. Signings such as Edgaras Jankauskas, Rudi Skácel and Takis Fyssas, allied to existing players Andy Webster, Steven Pressley, Craig Gordon, and Paul Hartley meant that Hearts built a team which made an outstanding start to the season. Hearts won their first eight SPL games, including a 1–0 win over reigning champions Rangers.

After leading the Jambos through ten undefeated SPL appearances, and guiding them to the top of the league table, Hearts and Burley parted ways on 22 October 2005, just hours before their Premier League match with Dunfermline Athletic. A club statement after the game declared that the departure of Burley had been mutually agreed and that there were "irreconcilable differences" between Burley and the Hearts board. Throughout his short spell in charge rumours had persisted that the relationship between Burley and Romanov was uneasy. It had also been reported that Romanov had signed players without Burley's consent.

John McGlynn was put in temporary charge of the team following Burley's abrupt departure. Chief executive Phil Anderton was dismissed on 31 October 2005. The chairman, George Foulkes resigned in protest at Anderton's dismissal. Romanov's son, Roman Romanov, was appointed as chairman and acting chief executive.

Vladimir Romanov's concerns with the fairness of refereeing developed during this period. This started after Hearts made complaints after a match with Rangers in the 2004–05 season during which the referee Hugh Dallas controversially awarded a decisive penalty kick late in the match on the basis of advice from his linesman Andy Davis. There were also complaints after the dismissals of Craig Gordon against Falkirk, Edgaras Jankauskas against Hibs and Saulius Mikoliūnas against Rangers. Romanov called for a replay of each of these matches, but this was refused and Romanov was rebuked by the SFA.

On 7 November, Graham Rix was appointed as head coach. Hearts' title ambitions suffered a major setback when they lost 3–2 to Celtic on 1 January 2006. On 7 February 2006, reports were made indicating that Rix had told players who were apparently disgruntled at being left out of the team before a match against Dundee United that Romanov himself was picking the team and was "pulling the strings". While it was well known that Rix was not in charge of player transfer policy, it had not previously been confirmed that he was not in charge of selecting the team either.

Part of the fallout from this match was that the agent of Andy Webster indicated that Webster would not extend his contract with Hearts, which was due to expire at the end of 2006–07 season. During April 2006, Vladimir Romanov put Andy Webster on the transfer list, claiming that he could not trust the player.

Graham Rix was sacked as Hearts manager on 22 March 2006 along with the club's Director of Football, Jim Duffy, who had only been appointed one month previously. Shortly afterwards, former FBK Kaunas coach Valdas Ivanauskas was appointed interim head coach of the first team until the end of the season.

Nonetheless, on 2 April 2006 Hearts eased into the Scottish Cup Final. A 1–0 win over Aberdeen on 3 May at Tynecastle guaranteed second place in the SPL behind Celtic and a place in the Champions League qualifying rounds for the following season. It also meant that Hearts were the first club to break the total dominance of the Scottish Premier League by the Old Firm since Motherwell in 1995. Hearts then won the Scottish Cup by beating Scottish Second Division side Gretna in a penalty shootout after the final had finished 1–1.

Results and fixtures

Pre-season / Friendlies

Simmons Elliot Kizys Hartley Cesnauskis Thorarinsson Pressley

Scottish Premier League

Main article: 2005–06 Scottish Premier League

Greer Bednář Mikoliūnas Hartley Hartley Simmons Mikoliūnas Bednář Skácel Pospíšil Jankauskas Webster Hartley Pressley Pospíšil O'Connor Skácel Pospíšil Skácel Elliot Pospíšil Pressley McManus Pospíšil Skácel Skácel Elliot Clark Elliot David Mackay Jankauskas Bednář Jankauskas Bednář Mikoliūnas Makela Berra Benjelloun Hartley Bednář

Scottish League Cup

Main article: 2005–06 Scottish League Cup

Scottish Cup

Main article: 2005–06 Scottish Cup

McAllister Elliot Pressley Česnauskis Jankauskas

First team player statistics

Squad information

:Last updated 13 May 2006 During the 2005–06 campaign, Hearts used thirty-nine players in competitive games. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.

Team statistics

League table

Management statistics

:Last updated 13 May 2006

Transfers

In

Players out

References

References

1. Hay, Phil. (7 March 2023). "Inside Vladimir Romanov's Hearts – Mowgli, tartan shorts and a nuclear submarine".
2. (24 September 2005). "Hearts 1–0 Rangers". BBC Sport.
3. (22 October 2005). "Burley in shock exit from Hearts". BBC Sport.
4. "Romanov demand rejected by angry SFA". The Scotsman.
5. (7 February 2006). "Rix not picking team, say players". BBC Sport.
6. Webster made football transfer history when he invoked a loophole in FIFA-adopted EU law, enabling him to cancel his contract with Hearts in the third year of a four-year deal with the proviso that he join a club in a foreign country and that sufficient notice is given to his former employers. Webster's transfer to Wigan Athletic was ratified by FIFA on 4 September 2006.[https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/4944890.stm "Webster on his way out at Hearts" (BBC SPORT, Wednesday 26 April 2006 07:57 GMT.)] . Retrieved 27 April 2006.
7. (22 March 2006). "Rix sacked as Hearts head coach". BBC Sport.
8. "Soccerbase Hearts Squad Stats 2005/06".
9. (19 July 2005). "Hearts complete capture of Skacel". BBC Sport.
10. (25 July 2005). "Jankauskas completes Hearts move". BBC Sport.
11. (27 July 2005). "Czech strikers join up at Hearts". BBC Sport.
12. (1 August 2005). "Hearts parade 4th new signing". BBC Sport.
13. (2 August 2005). "Hearts move to capture Brellier". BBC Sport.
14. (9 August 2005). "Hearts add Gills' keeper to squad". BBC Sport.
15. (10 August 2005). "Fyssas ends up with Hearts". ekathimerini.com.
16. (1 September 2005). "Tall becomes ninth Hearts signing". BBC Sport.
17. (1 September 2005). "Tall becomes ninth Hearts signing". BBC Sport.
18. (11 January 2006). "Johnson completes Hearts switch".
19. (17 January 2006). "McCann wraps up return to Hearts". BBC Sport.
20. (24 January 2006). "Hearts sign Hibs target Hackett". BBC Sport.
21. (1 February 2006). "Hearts add seven more new players". BBC Sport.
22. (16 June 2006). "Genk threaten Hearts over Beslija". BBC Sport.
23. "McKenna seals Cottbus deal". BBC Sport.
24. (12 June 2005). "Transfer Talk". The Herald.
25. (6 July 2005). "Dunfermline sign striker Burchill". BBC Sport.
26. (22 July 2005). "Livingston secure double signing".
27. (11 August 2005). "Hamill swaps Hearts for Leicester". BBC Sport.
28. (22 August 2005). "Wyness' high hopes in Highlands". BBC Sport.
29. (13 January 2006). "Three new players for Palmerston". [[BBC Sport]].
30. (26 January 2006). "MacFarlane completes Dons switch". [[BBC Sport]].
31. (28 January 2006). "Dunfermline sign quartet". [[BBC Sport]].