Romanov Jr says Anderton had to go

DARRYL BROADFOOT November 02 2005

ROMAN Romanov yesterday swept into power as chairman and acting chief executive of Hearts and immediately attributed Phil Anderton's sacking the day before to a lack of business acumen.

The 30-year-old son of the club's major shareholder, Vladimir, made a bold attempt to convince an increasingly disenchanted support that the latest high-profile dismissal, nine days after the departure of the manager, George Burley, would be for the long-term benefit of the club.

Anderton, the former chief executive of the Scottish Rugby Union, was deemed to be deficient in the sphere of big business and, despite his commercial success, his sacking was voted through by the Hearts board, which also prompted the resignation of the dissenting chairman, George Foulkes.

"When we hired him, he was the best man for the job, but to progress we need a person with a strong financial and business background," said Romanov Jr of the man who replaced the roundly detested Chris Robinson in March. "Phil Anderton ticked many boxes but not all of them. I don't want to criticise former employees but this is a very important time for the club.

"We felt that if we had to make changes, we had to make them now. In turbulent times, you see who is who. We have to continue to fight and struggle for the good of this club."

In an bid to restore dwindling faith in the Lithuanian revolution at Hearts, the club's legal advisor, Iain Young, of Brodie's, revealed the extent of Romanov Sr's commitment to the club.

He estimated that Vladimir has spent £6m from his personal fortune since taking control in February, with another £20m guaranteed to assume control of the existing debt.

"Vladimir Romanov has made a significant investment," said Young. "It would be foolish to put in that amount of money to walk away."

Taken from the Herald