How the weekend drama unfolded

IT has been a dreich, dark, weekend in Edinburgh, which pretty much sums up the mood of the Hearts supporters at the moment despite the fact their team are top of the Bank of Scotland Premierleague.

They had gathered early on Saturday afternoon in the bars near Tynecastle in upbeat mood. Then at one o'clock, when Radio Scotland announced on their news bulletin that George Burley was leaving, their mood changed. The place became full of supporters standing around in stunned silence with their ears to their radios.

Near the players' entrance there was a small group of boys with their dads looking shell-shocked. Back in 1919 a little boy famously asked baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson: "Say it ain't so, Joe?" when he was accused of throwing the World Series. At Tynecastle on Saturday there were schoolkids proudly kitted out in their Hearts scarves who were asking the same question of their dads.

Unfortunately for them it was true that Burley had gone and once again Hearts were facing a managerial crisis. Even after their 2-0 win over Dunfermline, the fans trudged out of the ground, not sure whether to laugh or cry.

In truth, the parting of the ways between Burley and Hearts came as no surprise but the timing shocked everybody. The pair had fallen out time and time again over what players should come to the club. Romanov, as the man who signed the cheques, had a big interest and wanted consulted over who came in. Burley, as coach, felt he should identify them and be left alone to his own devices. With two such diametrically opposed views it was clear the pair were always on a collision course.

On Friday morning, there were two incidents which gave the impression Burley was prepared to paper over the cracks in his relationship with the Lithuanian. At 9am, Romanov announced he was planning to become the sole owner of the club, a fact Burley applauded.

"One of the reasons I came to Hearts was Mr Romanov," said Burley, in a statement which now has a hollow ring to it. "Hopefully we can keep things progressing and be stronger and stronger."

At lunch-time, he held his normal Friday press conference to discuss the impending game against Dunfermline. He was so upbeat he talked about how to improve Scottish football from the grassroots up, which indicated he was here for the long haul and wanted to improve the game nationally.

On Friday afternoon, after training, he had a meeting with Romanov at the club's youth academy, which centred on his long-term plans and their fractured relationship. Burley felt his role as manager was being compromised while Romanov was worried his manager might leave, possibly for Aston Villa.

One thing led to another and voices were raised. A stand-up row it was not considering Romanov does not have a good command of English and had to use Sergejus Fedotovas, a club director, as his interpreter. When the meeting was over, it was clear both sides realised Burley's short love affair with Hearts was over.

The board of the club talked informally on Friday night about putting out a mutual statement announcing Burley was leaving the club. They reconvened on Saturday morning when the proposal was rubber-stamped.

After the meeting at around noon, Charlie Mann, Romanov's own public relations adviser, who was on his way to St Mirren Park to cover the visit of Dundee for BBC Radio Scotland, was asked to change his plans and head to Tynecastle.

At the same time, a Hearts official phoned John McGlynn, one of the club's coaches, to tell him that Burley was leaving and that he would be in temporary charge of the team against Dunfermline. As the players sat down for their pre-match meal at Dalmahoy Country Club at around 12.45pm, Romanov walked in to tell them Burley was no longer their manager.

The squad were shell-shocked and wanted to have their say on the matter. To that end Rudi Skacel and Paul Hartley wrote: "For the gaffer" on the vests they wore under their strips and displayed them to the fans at the end of the match.

McGlynn is one of the few people to have spoken to Burley since, and contacted him after the match on Saturday. "He was dignified and congratulated us on winning the game," said McGlynn yesterday. "He did not divulge much about what went on apart from that."

So what happens now? Burley is a sought-after manager and is likely to return to the game sooner rather than later. Romanov flew out of Edinburgh yesterday on an early flight which took him back to his home in Lithuania, many miles away from the controversy he has left behind. The fact that the multi-millionaire can make such crucial decisions and then leave the country and not deal with the fall-out is a dangerous precedent.

Being an absentee landlord of such a Scottish institution as Hearts is not an ideal situation and the club falling out of local control has its drawbacks, as events at Tynecastle over the past few days clearly illustrates. Indeed, if Romanov gets his way and becomes sole owner, the lack of accountability could be a serious cause for concern.

George Foulkes, the club chairman, is trusted implicitly by the Hearts supporters and will have a huge role to play at the club in the coming weeks.

As one Hearts supporter said at the Tynecastle Arms, a pub near the ground on Saturday evening: "What alternative do we have but trust Romanov? He came in and saved the club as we were nearly £20m in debt and about to have to sell Tynecastle. We have to trust him to make the right decisions for the club.

"Nobody wanted George Burley to leave but we have put our faith in Romanov. The club and its future is in his hands."

Next up?

Bobby Robson Approached by Vladimir Romanov to take over after John Robertson's departure. Has yet to return to football since being sacked by Newcastle and may consider the job this time, though he would have to have down-scaled his ambitions.

Speaking to The Herald in August, he said of being offered the Hearts job: "If I'd been 15 years younger with a couple of kids and a mortgage, I would have been tempted and got stuck in. There's a job there to be done.

"I left Newcastle and – I'm not saying Hearts are down there [moving his hand to the floor] – but, if I'm going to go back in, then I'll go back in at the top. If I don't go back into it, then I'll have finished where I did [at Newcastle]."

Ottmar Hitzfeld (pictured) Would be an incredible coup. Won the Champions League with both Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich and has stated his desire to return to football next season after a two-year break from the game. England, Italy and Germany are his preferred destinations, though Romanov's millions may prove persuasive

Lothar Matthaus Would satisfy Romanov's desire for a big name. Failed to take Hungary to the World Cup and could be set for a fresh challenge. Was linked with the post during the summer

Valdas Ivanauskas Winner of six consecutive titles with FBK Kaunas, but was sacked after a bad start to this year's Lithuanian championship. He was linked with the job during the summer months, has been spotted at Tynecastle, and fits the profile of a 'yes' man who could work alongside Romanov and, quite possibly, a higher profile director of football

Nevio Scala Courted by Romanov in the summer but is unlikely to be attracted by the interference of Romanov. After meeting with Phil Anderton, Hearts chief executive, in the summer, Scala wanted time to learn English, bring in three Italian coaches and, significantly, have freedom over transfer activities.

Scala's version of the feud with Leonid Fedun, the Spartak Moscow president, which led to his acrimonious departure in August 2004, would effectively rule him out.

He said: "I think that you must always have the same mind with the president and the club. At Moscow, I said I needed this player, say Andriy Shevchenko, then the president of Spartak signed other players with completely different characteristics.

"That is not my responsibility, so it is no wonder we didn't arrive at the same results. After this I say that in future, everything I do has got to be together with the president of the club. He must believe on my word and must trust my judgment and my person and this for me is very important."

Graeme Souness and Mick McCarthy The Newcastle and Sunderland managers attended Hearts' 2-0 victory over Dunfermline at Tynecastle on Saturday, but were believed to be checking out Rudi Skacel

Written by Martin Greig

Taken from the Herald