Burley leaves Hearts

Alan Campbell reports on a day of high drama as the differences between the Tynecastle manager and Vladimir Romanov reached breaking point

HEARTS will today start the painful process of searching for their fourth manager in 11 months. The news that George Burley had left the club, announced yesterday but agreed on Friday night, shattered the euphoria which has engulfed the Premierleague leaders this season.

Their lead over Celtic was extended to six points as the Hearts players put professionalism ahead of empathy for Burley in a routine 2-0 home win over Dunfermline – but one of the many questions raised by the manager’s sudden exit is just how it will affect the Edinburgh club’s unexpected league challenge.

Burley lasted for just 13 competitive games, winning 10, drawing two, and losing only one, when he fielded an understrength side against Livingston in the CIS Cup. No reasons for his departure were forthcoming last night, but whatever the problem, it wasn’t his record.

Vladimir Romanov, who only 24 hours earlier had triumphantly revealed his plans to take full control of the club, and his fellow board members refused to elaborate. It was left to chairman George Foulkes, just as it had when Craig Levein and John Robertson departed, to try to explain the circumstances.

“I can understand people’s bewilderment but these things happen in football,” he said. “Nobody would be happier than me if the circumstances were such that I could go into it in great detail. It is absolutely the truth that we have parted company by mutual agreement because of irreconcilable differences.”

All of which is a way of saying that a severance package is being negotiated with Burley, who was on a two-year contract believed to be worth £500,000 a year. Initial reports suggested he had resigned, but there were also indications that he may have been sacked by Romanov. Either way, there was growing anger amongst supporters last night that they were being left in the dark.

The friction between Romanov and Burley over the signing of players and other forms of interference by the majority shareholder was never resolved, but while Hearts were performing so well in front of full houses at Tynecastle the cracks appeared to have been papered over. It can only be surmised that there was a confrontation between Romanov and Burley on Friday afternoon. That morning the Lithuanian had announced his plans to delist Hearts from the Stock Exchange and had even talked about the Edinburgh club “ultimately” winning the Champions League.

Burley, meanwhile, had conducted his usual morning training session and given no indication either to his players, or journalists who attended a subsequent press conference, that anything was amiss. On the contrary, he had left the impression that he was as excited as everybody else at the club at the prospect of further funds being available to sign new players in the transfer window.

Instead, as Foulkes later acknowledged, an informal agreement was reached later on Friday for the two sides to part. That was firmed up to a formal agreement yesterday morning.

On home matchdays the Hearts players and manager meet up at the Dalmahoy Country Club for lunch, but Burley was not present yesterday. First team coach John McGlynn was summoned to meet Romanov at 11am and told of the manager’s departure. Forty-five minutes later, the Lithuanian broke the news to the stunned players.

Neither McGlynn nor club captain Steven Pressley, who had been made aware of the news ahead of the other players at 10am, had spoken to Burley. Pressley, who was sent off near the end of yesterday’s match and will miss Wednesday night’s game against Kilmarnock, was clearly distraught at the departure.

“It was a shock to us all and we’re bitterly disappointed because he was a great coach and a great man,” said Pressley. “The sessions he put on were fantastic and I can’t stress enough how badly the players feel about this.

“All I’ll say as captain is I’ll do my utmost to ensure we’re not derailed in our challenge for the title. Supporters pay their hard-earned money to watch this football team, and we as players have responsibilities to get results. That’s what we’ll continue to do.

“The last time we saw George was at training on Friday. Everything was normal and seemed fine. I can only assume something happened that night which changed the course of events.”

Two Hearts players, Paul Hartley and Rudi Skacel, took off their tops at the end of yesterday’s match to reveal white vests with “For the Gaffer” written on them. Pressley said: “That was a clear indication of the feeling towards the manager.

“Nothing surprises you in football. I’m old enough to know that things change quickly.”

Behind the diplomatic words, though, the Hearts captain’s face illustrated how badly shaken he was by the loss of Burley.

McGlynn, for the third time within a year, now finds himself the caretaker manager. The 49-year-old former youth coach filled in when Levein left last November, and also when Robertson became Romanov’s first managerial casualty this year.

The caretaker will almost certainly be in charge on Wednesday, when Hearts will be without their manager and suspended captain, and also possibly on Saturday when the Edinburgh derby is staged at Easter Road. Although the fate of Robertson and Burley may deter possible candidates for the Hearts job, Foulkes was bullish about the prospect of getting a top calibre replacement.

“I believe we will have a queue of people at our door seeking to come and work here,” he said. “This is a plum job in British football.

“We are not going to rush it, because we don’t want to appoint the wrong person in haste, but we’re also not going to have undue delay.”

Burley’s nephew, former Scottish international and now pundit Craig, said last night: “George wasn’t happy with the interference as he’s always been his own man. He realised the axe was going to come down on him. I’m just astonished by the timing – it’s inexplicable. I thought Romanov would wait until the team lost a few games so he would have good reason to get rid of George.”

On a day when conspiracy theorists were in their element, many had earmarked Burley for Ibrox. Indeed, Rangers manager Alex McLeish admitted he had sought assurances from chairman David Murray that his job was not under threat from the departed Hearts manager.

“I heard what was said, and I spoke to the chairman before the game [against Motherwell],” he said. “He had been bombarded with calls and we can’t help the speculation but it’s a load of rubbish. I’m comfortable with what he told me.”

23 October 2005

Taken from the Sunday Herald