Former Hearts star recalls incredible moment where Vladimir Romanov tried to pick 12 players

Former Hearts majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov once tried to pick a team involving 12 players - and no goalkeeper.

That's the claim made by ex-Tynecastle defender Jose Goncalves as he remembered one of the many unusual moments in Gorgie working under the Russian.

Goncalves signed for the SPL side in January 2006 and would remain until the summer of 2010, though made only 68 appearances due to a combination of injuries, a loan spell at Nuremberg and laterally a contract dispute with the controversial Hearts leader.

And he recalled one game where Romanov envisioned the team that was going to lead the club to success, only for a couple of issues to become immediately evident.

He told the Daily Record: "I remember a game against, I think, Inverness. Romanov told us, via interpreter, he’d had a dream of victory the night before and the team was to be changed to accommodate the players in his vision.

“There was a list of 12 to start – and that didn’t include the keeper. Romanov ordered the interpreter to scratch off a couple of names at random.

“We eventually lost. He told us we were a disaster and didn’t deserve to be paid. Typical Romanov. He planted the bomb and removed the pin – then blamed everybody else when it exploded in his face.”