Foulkes insists Burley exit won't see stars leave Hearts

Paul Kiddie

THE shock departure of George Burley as Hearts manager will not spark the break-up of the league leaders' squad, chairman George Foulkes insisted today.

Burley had guided the Jambos to the top of the SPL with an unbeaten ten-game run before stunning the club with his exit just hours before the clash with Dunfermline on Saturday.

With the former Ipswich and Derby County boss having left the Gorgie outfit along with his popular backroom staff of assistant Simon Hunt and goalkeeping coach Malcolm Webster, the hunt is already well under way for a replacement. The players were sent reeling by the news but rallied to record a comfortable 2-0 win over the Pars.

However, there are concerns among fans that the axing of Burley could prompt a number of his recruits to reconsider their own long-term futures with the club.

Rudi Skacel has set the SPL alight with his goalscoring exploits this season, his opening strike against the Fifers his ninth league goal of the campaign from midfield.

The 26-year-old is on a year's loan from French club Marseille and while he has been making positive noises about signing a permanent deal, his form has attracted a lot of interest from down south - Newcastle boss Graeme Souness and Sunderland chief Mick McCarthy were at the Dunfermline game - as well as the Continent.

Compatriot Roman Bednar has also been linked with interest from the Bundesliga, while rumours of possible suitors are forever following Scotland keeper Craig Gordon around at the moment.

There is also the scenario whereby the highly-rated Burley could take a new post in England and come back to try to plunder some of his most successful signings at Tynecastle.

Foulkes, though, is confident the players will want to build on the remarkable success they have achieved in such a short space of time this season.

"I am sure they now see the potential of the club and I'm confident they'll want to sustain that as long as possible.

"As far as the future of the club is concerned, the board and the players want us to be fighting for a Champions League place at the end of the season and we will be putting all our efforts into achieving that goal."

Chief Executive Phil Anderton is working towards a short list for the vacancy, with Sir Bobby Robson among the candidates he is keen to speak to.

As we reported yesterday, Tynecastle owner Vladimir Romanov has stressed that Lithuanian Valdas Ivanausaks will not be considered for the post, the former FBK Kaunas coach currently assisting caretaker manager John McGlynn.

Robson was spoken to in the wake of John Robertson's exit in May but decided against the move for personal reasons. It is understood, however, that he could be more responsive to an approach this time round and Anderton said: "We are drawing up a short list of people we want to talk to. One of the names which has come up is Sir Bobby Robson, who we spoke to at length before and I'll certainly be in touch with him. He is someone we respect for obvious reasons but we are not getting carried away about speculation on that one."

Romanov, meanwhile, has assured supporters the club won't allow the controversy over Burley's departure to derail them from sustaining the title challenge.

"I would like to place on record my thanks to George Burley for his input over the past four months. But we will not be derailed from our ambition to deliver to fans and the city of Edinburgh a club which regularly competes at the highest levels in Scotland and Europe.

"I want the club to be winning the SPL title on a regular basis. I have kept all my promises to the Hearts fans and want them to know that they and the club can look forward to further investment both on and off the field."

Taken from the Scotsman