Ranieri and Robson in talks over Hearts vacancy

Ewan Murray
Friday October 28, 2005
The Guardian

Claudio Ranieri has entered the running for the vacant managerial position at Hearts after meeting the club's owner Vladimir Romanov and the chief executive Phil Anderton. Sir Bobby Robson, sacked by Newcastle United last year, was also believed to be in talks with Romanov last night.

Hearts confirmed that Ranieri, who has been out of work since being sacked by Valencia in February after only eight months in charge, travelled north from London yesterday and met Romanov in an Edinburgh hotel. The Lithuanian arrived in Britain on Tuesday to oversee his club's moves to replace George Burley, who left last weekend. The former Chelsea manager, who took in Crystal Palace's win over Liverpool on Tuesday and then met Anderton in London on Wednesday before being invited to the Scottish capital to meet the owner, has also been reportedly interested in the Republic of Ireland job.

"I want to get back into football - it's my life," the 53-year-old Italian said recently. Although his adviser Jon Smith was abroad yesterday, Ranieri met Romanov while much attention was being given to Robson's arrival in the city to attend the funeral of Johnny Haynes.

Ranieri took Chelsea to second place in the Premiership in 2003-4 and also to the semi-finals of the European Cup. His arrival in Edinburgh confirms Hearts' comment that the job has attracted fresh applications from the last time they were without a manager, in May. While the Tynecastle chairman George Foulkes said on Tuesday there were "no favourites" for the post, bookmakers had Robson as short as 6-4 yesterday morning.


Taken from the Guardian/Observer