Hearts in turmoil as chief executive and chairman depart

Ewan Murray
Tuesday November 1, 2005
The Guardian

The turbulence at Hearts continued yesterday when the chief executive Phil Anderton was sacked and the chairman George Foulkes followed him out of the door in protest. Vladimir Romanov's son Roman takes over both roles.

The news came after a hastily arranged board meeting yesterday lunchtime, when the club's Lithuanian board members, who had called the meeting, voted to relieve Anderton of his duties. Foulkes, who disagreed strongly with the decision, subsequently handed in his notice.

Anderton, who was appointed in March, was heading the club's hunt for a new manager following George Burley's surprise departure 11 days ago, and Sir Bobby Robson, the choice of the chairman and chief executive, was believed to be close to being appointed. That now seems unlikely.

Fans gathered at Tynecastle last night to voice their concerns. Hearts suffered their first defeat of the Scottish Premierleague campaign on Saturday to their local rivals Hibernian and now sit second in the table behind Celtic. "They've had over one year and have not been able to do the things I wanted for Hearts, despite my resources and energy," Vladimir Romanov, the club's majority shareholder, said in a statement last night.

There have been growing rumours of discontent surrounding Anderton's position for weeks, and the decision to relieve Burley of his duties is known to have been a particular problem with the chairman and chief executive, who spent much time and effort in attracting the former Derby and Ipswich manager to Edinburgh. Foulkes had earlier hailed Anderton and Burley as "the two best signings this club has ever made" and Anderton voiced his personal "disappointment" at Burley's removal. There has also been a growing sense that a number of important club decisions were being taken without consultation with the club's chief executive.

Vladimir Romanov was expected to return to Lithuania after Saturday's match but remained in Scotland as other members arrived to attend the board meeting.

The sympathies of Jim Jefferies, the Kilmarnock manager formerly in charge of Hearts, are with the club's fans. "The supporters must wonder what's going on at the club," he said. "They've had a great start to the league. They had a good manager in place. Then in a space of a week there's mayhem."

The club has four Lithuanian directors. Foulkes and Anderton also served on the board until yesterday, when the number of Scottish directors was reduced to one - Stewart Fraser.

Vladimir Romanov announced on the same day that Burley was sacked that he had agreed share deals to raise his stake in Hearts to 55%, and wanted to de-list the company from the Stock Exchange. Then Foulkes backed the Lithuanian banker and handled much of the media inquiries but it is now apparent that the chairman was not completely behind Romanov's decision.

Foulkes, a life-long follower of the club, was made chairman in April 2004 and set about and achieved his immediate aim of saving the club's stadium from demolition after the former chief executive, Chris Robinson, had agreed to sell Tynecastle to cover spiralling debts.

He hailed the arrival of Romanov, but their relationship has deteriorated rapidly this season, as shown by the fact a board meeting was called yesterday against his wishes.

Taken from the Guardian/Observer