Robson may try to come up trumps with Hearts

George Burley and Vladimir Romanov did not come close to breaking the “confidentiality” clauses that all parties had signed after Burley’s dramatic exit from Tynecastle on Saturday, by offering any insight as to why the manager who had guided Hearts to the top of the Bank of Scotland Premierleague suddenly quit.

However, Burley defended his contribution at Tynecastle and asked his former players to go on and win the club’s first title in 45 years. Romanov, the majority shareholder at Hearts, later issued a statement to register publicly his gratitude for the job that Burley had done in his mere 114 days in charge.

The Lithuanian millionaire also stated that Burley’s successor will be of the “highest possible quality” — which would rule in Sir Bobby Robson, who was offered the job before Burley during the summer. However, Romanov ruled out his compatriot, Valdas Ivanauskas, who took Romanov’s other club, FBK Kaunas, to five Lithuanian titles and has been working at Hearts’ training academy recently.

In a fresh twist, Burley’s predecessor, John Robertson, who became the first victim of Romanov’s thirst for success, also quit his job yesterday by resigning from Ross County. Robertson has an iconic status with Hearts supporters as the club’s record goalscorer but will not be returning to Tynecastle. If anything, he had an even more tempestuous relationship with Romanov than Burley, before Romanov sacked him in April after just six months in the post.

Despite the “confidentiality” clauses, Burley did talk, albeit guardedly, to his closest point of media contact, the local newspaper. “I thought I did very well for the club, but nothing surprises you in football,” he told the Edinburgh Evening News. “That’s life. Who knows what the future holds for me? I left the club in as good a position as it ever has been in. I thoroughly enjoyed my time and would like to thank the supporters for their backing during my time there. They turned out in their droves almost from day one and we had sell-outs for virtually every game.”

Despite the rancour of his exit, Burley hopes that Hearts, who lead Celtic by three points at the top of the league, can now become champions for the first time since 1960.

“I have left a smashing group of players who have a fantastic spirit and there was a great camaraderie between them and myself which I think everyone could see,” Burley said. “Hopefully, they can remain together and go from strength to strength. I have not managed to catch up with any of them but, hopefully, I will be able to do that soon.”

The issue of Romanov’s reported interference on team matters remains a closed subject. In his statement, Hearts’ majority shareholder expressed disappointment that a way could not be found to continue with Burley at Tynecastle and added that the search for a new manager, being led by Phil Anderton, the chief executive, was already making significant progress.

“I would like to place on record my thanks to George Burley for his input over the past four months,” Romanov said. “However, we will not be derailed from our ambition to deliver to the fans a club which is regularly competing at the highest levels of football in Scotland and Europe.

“I want the club to be winning the Premierleague title on a regular basis as well as playing top-quality football in the Champions League.

“I have kept all my promises to Hearts fans and want them to know that they and the club can look forward to further investment on and off the field. Funds will be available during both the January and summer transfer windows to further strengthen what is already a top-quality group of players.

“However, we will not be rushed into a decision on a new manager. I have always said we will pay for quality and professionalism, and that does not mean taking the first individual available.

“Can I also state quite categorically that, despite rumours to the contrary, Valdas Ivanauskas will not be a candidate to replace George Burley. He has been working at the club on a regular basis assisting with the coaching duties and this may continue if the new manager feels it appropriate.

“Our minds are not closed to any candidate or approach to the job, but the person will be of the highest possible quality and able to deliver the success that the club and all Hearts fans deserve.”

Anderton has admitted that the club will “revisit” the people interviewed before appointing Burley. It would be ironic, given that Robson endorsed Burley’s candidacy to Hearts after rejecting their offer, if he then succeeded the man who was one of his players at Ipswich Town in the side that won the Uefa Cup in 1981.

“We will revisit names on the original list because we are in a different situation now,” Anderton said yesterday. “Football moves quickly and Sir Bobby Robson was definitely one who was right at the top of the list. Vladimir and I met with him in the summer and he impressed us so much. The debate about his age is not relevant for me.

“He impressed Vladimir with his knowledge and standing and I think he would put far younger men to shame. Now we are looking for proven, world-class managers and he comes into that category.”

Agents around Europe will also be faxing the names of prominent coaches who are out of work, though it is debatable how many would be prepared to take a step down in status by moving to Scottish football, or how many would be comfortable with the ultimate say that Romanov now clearly has on all football matters.

Those looking for a job include Ottmar Hitzfeld, the former Bayern Munich manager, who says that he has “recharged his batteries” after a year out the game, Claudio Ranieri, the former Chelsea manager, and Evgeniy Kucherevsky, whose Dnipro team eliminated Hibernian from the Uefa Cup last month. He resigned from the Ukrainian club on Sunday.

Closer to home, another of Robson’s Ipswich protégés, Terry Butcher, has attracted plaudits for the job he is doing at Motherwell.

Robertson, though, would surely represent the most unlikely comeback, even for a man who always produced dramatic match-winners as a Hearts striker. He resigned from Ross County yesterday, after a meeting with the board, with the first division side citing “differences of opinion on a number of fundamental issues”.

Asked about a return to Tynecastle, Robertson said: “I would never say never but my resignation is nothing to do with any interest from other clubs. It must have been difficult for George. He had done fantastically well, brought in some quality players and taken them to the top of the league.”

Taken from timesonline.co.uk