FOULKES SAYS FANS CONGRATULATE HIM WHEN HE'S OUT WALKING. MIGHT BE BETTER IF HE GOT A TAXI FROM NOW ON
By Hugh Keevins

HEARTS chairman George Foulkes will sell his shares to Vladimir Romanov and buy into the Tynecastle owner's vision of the club without George Burley.

But Foulkes knows if Hearts' assault on the SPL title is ultimately proved to have been sabotaged by the sacking of the manager, he'll be in the firing line for blame along with the Lithuanian.

The former MP, now Lord Foulkes of Cumnock,admitted as much during a Saturday night press conference inside Tynecastle that did nothing to inform the supporters and shareholders of the real reason why the club had axed the manager who had taken them to the top of the league.

Twenty-four hours earlier, at a media briefing to outline Romanov's plans to obtain100 per cent control of the club and make an assault on the Champions League, Foulkes described Burley as the best manager in Scotland.

Now he was sitting there in the same room attempting to explain why it was right to relieve him of his duties.

Foulkes was left exposed by the non-appearance of the owner and chief executive Phil Anderton, who only does good news apparently.

And Foulkes said: "Of course I'll take the blame if anything goes wrong.

"If you get praised for success then you should accept the blame for failure."

It's hard to imagine Foulkes as anything other than a puppet chairman.

He conducts the choir in the stands but he's not really allowed to spell out anything that goes on behind the scenes.

When Foulkes was asked if he had been in agreement with the decision to oust Burley,he said: "My preferences don't come into this."

Why not? He is the chairman after all.

And there was a hollow ring to Foulkes' spin on the difference 24hours had made to his view of the future.

He said: "I did say on Friday it was a great day for the club when Mr Romanov increased his shareholding to 55 per cent. This, on the other hand, hasn't been a great day. But we have to put this behind us because Hearts is greater than any one person."

But that is clearly not the case, because one person decided Burley should go and created a massive disruption in the background at a club that was headed for their first championship in 45 years.

And nobody is brave enough to tell Romanov he might not be doing the right thing. Foulkes believes today will bring a flood of applications for Burley's job and he's probably right but only because management attracts a lot of masochists.

Foulkes added: "Mr Romanov has pledged the kind of resources to the club that will lead to a queue of people wanting to take over the manager's job.

"This is one of the plum jobs in British football butwe won't rush in and make a hasty appointment In the meantime, Lord Cumnock will show his comradeship with Romanov by selling him some more shares towards outright ownership of the club.

He said: "I can understand the fans' bewilderment.

"But my pledge to them is that this club will continue to go from strength to strength.

"We have a vacancy that will attract the highest calibre of applicant from Europe and beyond." Foulkes confirmed no disciplinary action will be taken against Rudi Skacel or Paul Hartley for wearing T-shirts underneath their club jerseys which came with the message, For the gaffer.

He said: "I have no objection to that.There will be no action because the players are entitled to their views."

Unlike the previous manager when it came to team selection and transfer policy, it would seem. A confidentiality agreement is now in place that prevents Burley or any associated parties - from commenting further on the developments.

This means silence has been bought and the fans will be kept in the dark over the reasons why their team has been thrown into turmoil.

But Foulkes said: "I am trying to give them an explanation and showing my support for Mr Romanov by selling my shares." Foulkes' match programme notes on Saturday began, "Some of my friends who are fans keep pinching themselves, unable to believe the tremendous start to the season.

"Every time I walk down the street in Edinburgh people give me congratulations on our success."

Maybe it would be better to get about in a taxi for a wee while, George

Taken from the Daily Record