WE'RE left to wonder if there is any sense of genuine identity within football. Do those with allegiances to clubs care a whit about nationalities and backgrounds of the people plundering the rights of control?

That's the thing about supporters. They follow the jersey and their grumbles are short-term and are deemed to be an irrelevance by the owners.

In this land Hearts are a classic case in point. Vladimir Romanov has stopped short of the tactics of old Uncle Joe Stalin and has resisted any temptation to send the likes of Steven Pressley and Paul Hartley to the Gulags. But dispatched they have been, with Craig Gordon likely to follow, leaving behind a team comprised mostly of Eastern Europeans.

Romanov's strategy continues to be the stuff of guesswork. But a long-game there surely is. It is unlikely to take into consideration the traditions of one of Scotland's most famous clubs.

He has to confront, but only occasionally, the tiniest of spats of resistance from a support which would back an interplanetary select so long as they turned up wearing maroon.

They are not alone, because supporters are now easy marks. The wise men of globalised capitalism recognise them and the football business for what it is - a cash cow to be milked courtesy of the incredible weight of finance it attracts.

Romanov's investment in Hearts - wherever it leads - wouldn't allow him through the ropes at the table occupied by the major gamblers but within Scotland it is significant. The fact the club's debt has risen by some £7m over the past year won't keep him awake at night.

Any analysis of the hugely increased interest in football provides the one conclusion: there are grand if long-term profits to be made nowadays. Why else would Romanov, previously interested in Dundee, toss his hat into the ring in Edinburgh?

Similarly, what was the reasoning behind Roman Abramovich's takeover at Chelsea? Had he been brought up listening to the anthem Blue is the Colour and, sitting on his father's knee, hearing tales of the skills of Charlie Cooke, Peter Osgood, and Alan Hudson?

There's the Glazer family, too, who punted the guts of £800m to acquire Manchester United a couple of years back, adding soccer to their American football portfolio which features the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Include Randy Lerner's buy-out of Aston Villa's old fox, Doug Ellis, for £65m and it was almost possible to hear the rustle of the greenbacks from the other side of the Atlantic. Again there was a commonality of interests, Lerner owning another NFL team, the Cleveland Browns.

So, it should come as no surprise Liverpool are the latest high-profile English club to be bought by the dollar bill.

George Gillett and Tom Hicks came across as enthusiasts during their interviews, but was there a tremor within the statue of the late Bill Shankly, which nudges Anfield, when Gillett spoke of acquiring a "franchise"?

Have no doubts, the likes of Gillett and Hicks and Lerner and the Glazers have had a peek at the Old Firm because that is the way in which they conduct their business.

Indeed, but for a quirk of geography Celtic and Rangers would have been high on their short list of takeover targets. Problem is they play in Scotland and as such do not attract the finance on offer in the South.

So, for the time being, we have to put up with Romanov alone.