Foulkes backs new set-up for Hearts

GEORGE Foulkes, the Hearts chairman, has set aside his own reservations over the controversial dismissal of John Robertson as head coach to express his support for major shareholder Vladimir Romanov’s plans for a revamped management structure at the club.

Foulkes confirmed yesterday that Hearts will recruit both a high-profile director of football operations and a new head coach as they seek to put in place the machinery Lithuanian banker Romanov believes is required to fulfil his aim of posting a genuine challenge to the Old Firm’s current dominance of Scottish football.

While he remains of the belief Robertson should have been given longer than six months to prove he was the man to take Hearts forward on the pitch, Foulkes insists the determination of Romanov and his like-minded compatriots on the Tynecastle board to look elsewhere must be viewed as powerful evidence of their ambitions for the club.

"I’m still very optimistic about the future for Hearts," said Foulkes. "From a personal standpoint, I was disappointed to see John leave and my own view was that he deserved another year to show what he was capable of. In the end, however, that was not the consensus of the board and the decision was made. We are now looking for two top-class people to progress the team next season and beyond. While I understand many supporters will be upset at John’s departure, they should also see the new moves as an exciting sign. It shows the level of commitment and ambition Vladimir Romanov has for Hearts."

Foulkes also believes Hearts will be able to avoid the kind of failures which have consistently characterised the continental model of a director of football-head coach structure whenever it has been employed in the past at British clubs.

The most notable such fiasco came at Celtic when Kenny Dalglish was handed the director of football role with his former Liverpool team-mate John Barnes installed as head coach in 1999, the fateful experiment causing the Parkhead club to endure one of the most ignominious seasons in their history.

In varied and differing circumstances, little success was enjoyed by Rangers, Aberdeen or Hibs when they had Dick Advocaat, Keith Burkinshaw and Billy McNeill engaged in a director of football position in recent times. There are equally foreboding examples in England where David Pleat and Glenn Hoddle clashed damagingly in the respective jobs of director of football and manager at Spurs and, earlier this season, Harry Redknapp resigned as manager of Portsmouth because of his unwillingness to work under a director of football in Velimir Zajec.

"In most of the cases where the system has not worked, it has been where someone has been brought in with the structure unclear," says Foulkes. "Personalities have perhaps clashed because there is not a clear enough definition of each role. If you start from scratch and bring in people who understand their responsibilities, then there is absolutely no reason why it should not work for a club like Hearts.

"Our director of football operations will be in overall charge of the footballing structure of the club, including the running of the academy and all of the teams down to youth level. The head coach will have principal responsibility for the preparation of the first team, coaching the players and picking a side to win matches. That’s the kind of continental model Vladimir Romanov and his colleagues feel will be best for Hearts."

According to Foulkes, the new director of football operations and head coach will "not necessarily" already know each other. British-based candidates will be considered, although speculation is understandably focusing on foreign names, specifically from Eastern Europe.

Alexei Mikhailichenko, the former Rangers midfielder who was sacked as coach of Dynamo Kiev last August, now in charge of the Ukrainian Under-21 international side with a contract to 2008, has been linked with the coaching post. His previous experience of Scottish football and knowledge of the language would be an advantage.

Another contender is Yuri Puntus, the highly-rated coach of MTZ-Ripo Minsk, the club in Belarus where Vladimir Romanov is also a major shareholder. Puntus has been named Coach of the Year four times in his homeland. Also in charge of the Belarus Under-21 international side, Puntus took them to last summer’s European Championship finals, where they defeated eventual winners Italy in the group stage. He was headhunted by Romanov earlier this year and has steered MTZ-Ripo into next week’s Belarus Cup final, where victory will take the club into Europe for the first time in their history.

"Everyone is in the frame at the moment," said Foulkes. "No-one has been ruled out and no-one has been ruled in. Vladimir knows a lot of people throughout the footballing world but no-one has yet been recommended to the board."

Foulkes also revealed that Steven Pressley, the Hearts captain, will be involved with the temporary coaching team for the remaining two games of the season against Celtic and Aberdeen. "When Craig Levein left us last year, John McGlynn looked after the team," said Foulkes. "John can do so again, along with Stephen Frail, and Steven Pressley will also have a more enhanced role in then preparation of the team for Sunday’s game against Celtic."

• Nick Peel, the former retail director of Rangers, has joined Hearts in a part-time consultancy role aimed at improving the club’s merchandising and commercial revenue. Peel, who resigned from his post at Ibrox earlier this season, will work for two days a week preparing a set of proposals for Hearts chief executive Phil Anderton.

Peel said: "It is true to say that in terms of retail offers, product range, promotional activities and merchandising activities, there is scope for improvement."

Taken from the Scotsman