Ranieri believes Hearts are a 'good project'

STUART BATHGATE

CLAUDIO Ranieri described the prospect of working at Hearts alongside Vladimir Romanov as "a good project" yesterday as it emerged the club had also spoken to Ottmar Hitzfeld.

The German is the latest high-profile name to be linked with the managerial vacancy at Tynecastle. The 56-year-old, who won the Champions League with Borussia Dortmund in 1997 and with Bayern Munich four years later, has spoken to the league leaders about the possibility of taking over from George Burley, who left last weekend because of "irreconcilable differences".

Hitzfeld parted company with Bayern last year, and has since been enjoying a sabbatical from football. His interest in the post, no matter how tentative it may turn out to be, has provided further confirmation of Hearts' claim that the controversial circumstances of Burley's departure would not deter a number of high-calibre applications.

While Burley took the title 'manager' and performed the role normally associated with that moniker, it has now become clear that Hearts will take the opportunity of the change of personnel to change the structure of their footballing set-up as well. Their intention is to appoint a director of football and then invite the successful candidate to select a coach to work under him, the aim of such an arrangement being to bridge the gulf which Romanov has said inevitably exists between the football management and the board of directors in the traditional British model.

Club sources indicated last night that it will be the middle of next week at the earliest before an appointment is made. Sir Bobby Robson and Ranieri remain in contention, with both men having spoken to Hearts on Thursday.

Ranieri, the former Chelsea manager, was apparently very impressed by his meetings with Romanov, the majority shareholder, and Phil Anderton, the chief executive. "I think that could be a good project," he told the BBC yesterday.

"The first meeting is important and it was good. I think Vladimir Romanov wants to do something very important and I'm looking for a good project."

What has been dismissed, however, is the speculation, rife on Thursday, that both the former Newcastle United manager and the ex-Chelsea boss would form a joint management team at Tynecastle. A set-up which worked in the 1980s, when Alex MacDonald and Sandy Jardine, shared managerial responsibilities holds little appeal for Romanov, who is keen to have a firmly defined line of command.

Nor is it likely that Ranieri, Robson or Hitzfeld might become hands-on coach with another, more business-minded man in the role of director of football. Either the Italian or the Englishman would, if appointed, be the overall boss and would appoint a more junior coach to work alongside him.

When interviewed for the vacancy in the summer, Robson tried to dispel the presumption that, at 72, he would be involved only as a senior statesman, with the day-to-day training of the first-team squad left to a younger, more active man. Whatever his own preference, however, he is now aware of how Hearts envisage using his expertise, and must either come to terms with that or possibly end his hopes of being appointed.

Ranieri and Hitzfeld, too, though both are somewhat younger, would be asked to take charge of such areas as overall strategy and player development, leaving the daily minutiae to whoever takes the role of coach. And, although one of the first tasks of the director of football or senior figure would be to recruit someone to fill that latter role, he would have to convince Romanov he had made the right choice rather than simply being given the right to select a No2. Particularly if either foreigner were given the top job, priority would surely be given to a second in command who, if not necessarily Scottish, would at least have a thorough grounding in the British game.

Although matters seemed to be moving quickly in midweek, Hearts have since made it clear that they will not be rushed into making an appointment. Having taken their time before choosing Burley only to find out that for whatever reason he was not going to be suitable in the long term, they are doubly adamant that they will not appoint in haste only to repent at leisure.

Once this afternoon's Edinburgh derby is over, the interim manager John McGlynn will in any case have more of a breathing space. After three games in eight days he will have a whole week off before the match against Dundee United, and then, with the following weekend being an international date, he will have a full fortnight to work with the team.

When they have identified a first choice for the job, the board of directors will meet formally to agree to make an offer. Although several directors are normally based outside of Britain, they will be able to convene at short notice.

Lord Foulkes, the club chairman, last night refused to comment on the chances of any individual's being offered the job, preferring to celebrate the calibre of the people who had applied for it, especially after some of Burley's associates in the game had predicted that no-one of repute would want to go near it.

"The quality and the number of top-level people who have applied has impressed me," the Labour peer said.

"It just shows how big a job and how attractive a job it is. We've been looking at household names, names that take your breath away."

Ranieri's erratic English led to his being treated as a figure of fun in some quarters, but the fact remains he took Chelsea to the semi-finals of the Champions League and to second in the Premiership. His last spell in management, a return to Valencia, lasted only eight months, but his pedigree would still impress Romanov.

Hitzfeld's record is even more impressive. His English - like Romanov's - is no more than rudimentary, but Hearts already employ an English teacher to work with their recent recruits from abroad. Both in Dortmund and Munich, Hitzfeld's assistant coach was Michael Henke, who is now head coach in his own right at Kaiserslautern.

'No bid' for Vilnius stake, says Romanov spokesman

CLAIMS that Vladimir Romanov is seeking to secure a controlling stake in a fourth football club have been dismissed by the Lithuanian banker's spokesman, writes Stephen Halliday.

In an article on UEFA's official website, it was reported that Romanov had expressed an interest in taking over Zalgiris Vilnius in his homeland to add to his portfolio which currently comprises Hearts, Kaunas and Belarussian outfit MTZ-RIPO Minsk.

According to Romanov's spokesman Charlie Mann, however, the Hearts majority shareholder has made no approach to Zalgiris.

"Mr Romanov, through his UBIG company, is part of a consortium who are building a new Lithuanian national stadium in Vilnius," said Mann. "Perhaps Zalgiris will benefit by playing at the new stadium, but there has been no bid by Mr Romanov to take the club over. In any case, all of the clubs in Lithuania are municipally-owned."

Meanwhile, Romanov's club Kaunas have failed to win the domestic title for the first time in six years. They lost out to Ekranas who clinched the championship on Wednesday. Kaunas, who have employed three first-team coaches in the course of the season, must settle for UEFA Cup football next season after winning the Lithuanian Cup final last Saturday.

Taken from the Scotsman