Burley linked with move to Birmingham

Furious row with owner leads to Hearts break-up Tynecastle club could try to recruit Bobby Robson

Ewan Murray
Monday October 24, 2005
The Guardian

Birmingham City yesterday emerged as a possible destination for George Burley after he was sacked by the Scottish Premierleague leaders Hearts on Saturday. Senior sources at St Andrew's have confirmed that, should there be a vacancy, the 49-year-old would top their short list. Insiders at Hearts, however, were concentrating on a different Midlands destination. They were suggesting that Aston Villa had twice made contact with Burley, a move which resulted in a furious response from the Tynecastle club's majority shareholder, Vladimir Romanov, on Friday afternoon

That led to Burley's departure from the club before Saturday's 2-0 win over Dunfermline and a statement from the Hearts chairman, George Foulkes, in which it was claimed the split was "by mutual agreement".

But, while the club were suggesting that the contact with Villa had been the spark that led to Burley's departure, sources close to the man himself indicated there had been an irreconcilable personality clash between the owner and the manager.

The Hearts players were not informed of the situation until hours before Saturday's match and their captain, Steven Pressley, described the move as a "bolt from the blue" after the defeat of Dunfermline. His team-mates even wore T-shirt messages of support for Burley.

Hearts now head towards November in turmoil despite being unbeaten in the league. Burley was in his post for just 12 matches, nine of which were won, but the bubbling undercurrent of a dispute with Romanov was never far away. Burley was obviously unhappy at not having full control of team affairs, a point that he was happy to make to other SPL managers.

Romanov announced on Friday that he had agreed a deal to raise his stake in Hearts to 55%, a move which brought approval from the club's supporters, board members and even Burley. It has now transpired that a matter of hours later Burley was leaving Tynecastle for the last time after a massive argument with Romanov.

While the two parties are poles apart in terms of an explanation of events, it is clear there was a major difference of opinion at that meeting. Romanov's unwillingness to leave Burley alone to handle team matters would appear to have led ultimately to the parting of the ways, despite the club's attempts yesterday to steer opinion towards a "tapping up" situation involving a Premiership club.

"I can understand the bewilderment of the club's supporters but we can't give a full explanation of the circumstances" said Foulkes. "This is a plum job in British football and I'm sure there will be a queue of people lining up to hand in their applications."

Burley, whose wife remained in Ipswich throughout his spell in Edinburgh, walked out on Derby County in similar circumstances in June but, unlike then, he will now have no shortage of offers as he looks to continue his career.

For the club's part the Tynecastle directors will look to bodyswerve any allegations of boardroom interference, in order to find a high-profile coach to Tynecastle, and Sir Bobby Robson has already been linked with the vacancy.

Robson was interviewed for the job before Burley was appointed in the summer and it may be that he is offered it again. The former Newcastle and England manager is expected to be in Edinburgh on Thursday to attend the funeral of Johnny Haynes. The interim Hearts manager John McGlynn expects to be in charge of affairs for Wednesday's match with Kilmarnock.

Player purchases

George Burley's recruits

Michal Pospisil, Rudi Skacel (on loan from Marseille), Roman Bednar (on loan from Kaunas), Julien Brellier, Steve Banks.

Vladimir Romanov's imports

Takis Fyssas A member of Greece's Euro 2004-winning squad, recruited at an estimated annual salary of £500,000 from Benfica.

Edgaras Jankauskas A Champions League winner with Porto and member of the Lithuanian national team. Recruited on loan from Kaunas.

Samuel Camazzola Arrived from the Brazilian side Juventude, after Burley failed to sign Radoslaw Sobolewski before the August deadline.

Ibrihim Tall The Senegalese full-back was brought in despite being rejected by Burley after an earlier trial. Yet to play for Hearts. Romanov previously funded Saulius Mikoliunas, Deividas Cesnauskas and Mariuz Kizys from Kaunas in January, initially against the will of the former manager John Robertson. Kizys has left.

Taken from the Guardian/Observer