Laszlo has been involved in a game of brinkmanship with the club's Lithuanian owner over the past week, expressing his frustration at an enforced transfer embargo and hinting that he would be prepared to walk away from Tynecastle should he be prevented from strengthening his squad.
That threat - idle or otherwise - was treated with the kind of supercilious disdain Romanov, the Hearts owner, reserves for such matters. The silence was deafening and the message clear: Romanov would have no problem seeking manager No.6 should he have to.
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Which is precisely why Laszlo announced yesterday that he would he would not be adding any new faces to his squad in the remaining days of the summer transfer window.
"We won't get any more players," said Laszlo, who has been stalling on signing a new contract. "We must play with the people that we have and we must introduce more and more young players in the team. If the club decides this, I also accept it. I don't have any problem with it."
The diktat comes as Laszlo's injury problems intensified. Calum Elliot has been ruled out for eight weeks with a knee problem, while full-back Eggert Jonsson was yesterday diagnosed with a hernia problem that will rule him out for the next six weeks.
Their manager confirmed the pair would be replaced by two 18-year-olds in the squad for tonight's Europa League play-off round second leg against Dinamo Zagreb.
Craig Thompson is set to make his debut at right-back while Gordon Smith will also be included in the squad for what will be a damage limitation exercise.
However, while accepting the restrictions placed on him, Laszlo has told Romanov he cannot expect miracles with the squad available to him.
He said: "If the club give me the time, I am happy to do this. If the club don't give me the time, I can't do anything. The club have told me, This is what we want', and I hope the club give me the time to finish my work with these young people. I don't have any problem if we are together. But I don't like this. You work, you work, you work and afterwards maybe some results are not okay."
Laszlo insisted his targets for the season - a top-six finish in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League and two good cup runs - remain the same. But he warned Hearts, who finished third last season, could end up as low as 10th with the players he has at his disposal.
"I know what it is to work with a young team, you have a lot of up and down, up and down, you don't have the stability. I don't know if we will be second, third, eighth, ninth or 10th. Our target is to come within the best six."
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When cycling, you are an easy target and there are few, if any, effective responses.
On Sunday, my partner and I were returning home from a long(ish) cycle ride. We were significantly less than a mile from home and I was pedalling almost unconsciously and thinking only of how glad I would be to get off the bicycle and have a nice, hot shower. Startled out of my reverie by a swerve from my partner amid a flurry of stones, I looked right to see a group of about 7 or so teenagers, laughing. A few of them were throwing things and I knew some projectiles were headed in my direction. Luckily for me (I guess), their aim was poor and nothing hit, but I wondered about what I would do if anything did hit. Stop? Call the police? My partner had sped off and I put my head down and chased him, thinking, “What a charming town we live in.”
Later, we compared notes. I mused about what I would have done if a stone had hit me. “I could stop and pull out my phone, call the police and report them for assault. Or anti-social behaviour.” My partner countered with a sensible, “But there are only two of us and however many of them.“ I responded, “Actually, there was only me. You were almost home already. How funny would that be? I’d be dinging my bell to get your attention while trying to call the police, who probably couldn’t give a rats.“
(Dinging my bell is how I get my partner’s attention as we cycle at least 50 metres apart, because I am slow, and my voice, though loud, cannot carry that far.)
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