Hearts offered Burley his job back

Vladimir Romanov asked George Burley to return to take charge of Hearts - and was refused - only days after he sacked the manager who had steered the Edinburgh side to the top of the Scottish Premier League, The Daily Telegraph understands.

The extraordinary news will shock Hearts fans, who have struggled to make sense of the turbulence which has enveloped the club since Oct 21.

It was then that Romanov, the biggest single shareholder, announced that he would make a bid for outright control of the Hearts in order to de-list the club from the Stock Market. Later that afternoon, however, Romanov and Burley had a heated row during which there were shouted exchanges.

The following morning Burley was sacked - although the Hearts chairman, George Foulkes, insisted that the manager had departed because of "irreconcilable differences". Phil Anderton, the chief executive, was then told to assemble a list of likely candidates for the positions of coach and football director, under the new structure envisaged by Roamnov.

However, after Sir Bobby Robson emerged as favourite for the coaching job, following an interview, Anderton himself was dismissed at a board meeting on Oct 31 and replaced as chief executive by Roman Romanov, Vladimir's son, who also took over as chairman from Foulkes.

Offered the lesser post of non-executive director, Foulkes declined. Like Burley, Anderton agreed to observe a confidentiality agreement on the understanding that he be paid for the outstanding portion of his contract.

Foulkes, however, was under no such restraints and, in the days that followed, the veteran Labour politician insisted that he had been ''bounced'' into going along with Burley's sacking and denounced Romanov as "an autocrat".

It was during this period, at the start of November, that Burley was asked to come back. It is thought that the Romanovs had become alarmed by the loss of Hearts' unbeaten league record, in a 2-0 derby defeat by Hibernian on Oct 29, and by the sheer volume of criticism directed at them for their peremptory behaviour in ejecting three figures who were popular with the support.

When Foulkes was told of the Romanovs' U-turn, he was at first incredulous, then burst out laughing and told friends that he believed that the move was designed to discredit him and Anderton in the eyes of Hearts supporters. With no prospect of Burley returning, Romanov interviewed the former Chelsea coach, Graham Rix - who regarded himself as a rank outsider for the job - on Nov 3.

Rix's appointment plunged the Romanovs and Hearts into another furore, principally because of his conviction and imprisonment in 1999 for having sex with a 15-year-old girl. When Rix met the media a week ago, Roman Romanov was asked why the new coach deserved a second chance but not Burley, Anderton or Foulkes.

The younger Romanov replied that there was a distinction between "personal life and performance at work", a response which angered Anderton, who had kept to his side of the confidentiality bargain. The former chief executive, already unhappy about previous statements from Vladimir Romanov, which disparaged his accomplishments while at Tynecastle, learned at the end of last week that he was not to be paid for the balance of his contract, at which point Anderton instructed his lawyers to begin action against Hearts for £112,000.

Anderton is currently in Dubai and was unavailable for comment last night, but the Telegraph understands that if there is no settlement of his claim by the time he returns to Scotland later this week, he is likely to make trenchant comment on the Romanov regime and their methods.

The seemingly endless stream of contentious news emanating from Tynecastle continued yesterday when it was learned that Stewart Fraser, the only remaining non-Lithianian director, will quit when Romanov achieves full control of the club.

Fraser is regarded by Hearts fans with distaste because of his association with the much- disliked Chris Robinson, who was the principal shareholder and chief executive until Romanov took over. Nevertheless, in a four-page letter to shareholders which advised them to accept Romanov's 35p a share offer, Fraser - who voted with Foulkes against Anderton's dismissal - stated that he had been unhappy with the treatment of Burley.

He added: "The current working capital needs of the business are being met, but only through the provision by UBIG [an offshoot of the Lithuanian bank owned by Vladimir Romanov] of additional short-term facilities, currently amounting to £2.3 million, which are repayable not later than Jan 31 2006.''

However, he warned that a need for additional, short-term working capital - in excess of £4 million - before that date, could have have a severe impact on the playing squad.

''In the absence, therefore, of continuing support from UBIG and its associates, or from any third party source, the Hearts Board will need to take radical action which may include, amongst other things, the sale of player contracts. It is essential we have certainty as to the availability of resources to meet this requirement as soon as is practicably possible."

Fraser added that UBIG would continue to underwrite Hearts, providing Romanov achieved his aim of owning 75 per cent of Hearts shares. He revealed also that UBIG had allowed Hearts £2.3 million of unsecured loans in September and November, and that 10 per cent default interest applies if they are not repaid by Jan 31.

If the loans are unpaid, wrote Fraser, "UBIG will claim as repayment the proceeds of any player sales the Company may decide to pursue, to enable the debt to be repaid".

Taken from telegraph.co.uk