Hearts trio 'harmed club every day'

VLADIMIR Romanov has spoken for the first time about his concerns over the roles played by George Burley, George Foulkes and Phil Anderton at Hearts.

On the BBC's Frontline Scotland programme, to be shown tonight, Romanov responds to a question over whether he regrets the trio's departure from Tynecastle by claiming each man's presence was harming and damaging the club.

"I gave these people full control to direct the club and in one year there was no result, not even a thought as to where we were going," said the Lithuanian banker. "They cannot answer me. Why do you need such management? Maybe I could have coped going with the management till the end of the season but they didn't have the elementary human qualities. Each day they turned up at the club it was doing it harm.

"I have already said and I repeat. I have not set any high demands. I simply waited for the answer to the question: what can people do? And they did not answer. If that had been answered with one step forward I would have believed in them, but they could not even say that. I fear that if we had continued with these people all my ideas would have been buried."

Pressed whether that meant the potential death of Hearts, Romanov added: "We would have got to the burial of the club quickly and every day these people were present at the club, was damaging it."

The comments from Hearts' majority shareholder come despite the fact that Burley had taken Hearts to the summit of the SPL during his brief stint as manager, and had received two manager-of-the- month awards for his efforts.

His representative was unwilling to comment on Romanov's words last night, but former chief executive Anderton is understood to be taking legal advice, while Foulkes dismissed the verbal attack. "These words are manifestly nonsense," the former chairman said. "They are beyond contempt, and not even worthy of comment."

Last Thursday night, Romanov's son, Roman, told a meeting of the club's Shareholders' Association that Anderton had produced "no results", with specific mention to negotiations with Edinburgh City Council over plans to expand Tynecastle.

Neither Burley nor Anderton have agreed a settlement fee with Hearts over the ending of their contracts, while Foulkes worked for the club as an unpaid non-executive director. Romanov has also hailed the club's new first-team coach, Graham Rix, as a "hero".

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Romanov last night denied claims the title deeds to Tynecastle Stadium are being held by Halifax Bank of Scotland. Romanov joked that the document was in his pocket during the television interview, but the BBC claimed to have documentary evidence to the contrary. "Ukio Bank has the title. It has security over the ground," said the spokesman, who added the deeds were transferred in February and also that Hearts maintain an overdraft facility with HBOS of up to £3 million.

British Linen Advisers, who are financial advisors to the Lithuanian regime, also confirmed for the first time yesterday that the working capital "in excess of £4 million" which the club's finance director, Stewart Fraser, has estimated will be required by Hearts before 31 July next year is necessary for basic running costs relating to a vast increase in the club's wage bill.

The firm's Robert Fraser also said he believed the deeds for Tynecastle were in the hands of HBOS, and clarified that Ubig's £1.8million purchase of the Scottish Media Group's loan stock is repayable by Hearts, along with existing short-term loans totalling £2.3 million.

"It is not an ideal situation for any company that a series of short-term loans are in place," said Robert Fraser. "One of the Romanovs' aims if the club becomes a private company is to group all of these debts together."

Taken from the Scotsman