JUST a fortnight after joining the club as a temporary coach, Jim Duffy's promotion to the role of director of football at Hearts was announced yesterday.

Duffy started this season being sacked as manager of First Division club Dundee and will finish it in control of the development of a side seeking to claim a Champions League place. He takes on a position which the club said "encompasses all player contractual, development and communication matters" and includes identifying potential signings. He has been appointed until the end of the season.

The former Hibernian manager was offered the role at a meeting attended by major shareholder Vladimir Romanov and his son Roman on Saturday night.

During a discussion that covered topics including the disappointing nature of Hearts' performance against Aberdeen that afternoon, Romanov asked Duffy to step into a position that was created but never filled after George Burley's surprise sacking as manager in October.

At that time Romanov declared that the management position at Hearts was too onerous for just one man, and required a figure-head.

Names mentioned in connection with this more general role had included such high-profile characters as Gianluca Vialli, Nevio Scala and Ottmar Hitzfeld. A spokesman for Hearts last night said that no-one from the Tynecastle club ever claimed these were potential recruits.

"I can't remember anyone at the club forwarding high-profile names for director of football," said the club spokesman. "That's become myth and legend. I doubt anyone finding a quote from Mr Romanov himself saying it will be a big name in football. The most important thing is that we have someone in place. Three to four months is a long time to wait and in that time Graham [Rix] was being pulled apart."

Duffy has signed a contract until the end of the season, when the position will be reviewed. He said the important thing is that it allows Rix to concentrate fully on the first team. Recent events have led to it being questioned whether Rix will ever be allowed to bring his authority to bear on a squad that appears beholden to the whims of the club owner.

Last Tuesday's match against Dundee United was framed by an extraordinary claim that Romanov had told Rix what team to pick. Duffy will now become the middle-man between Romanov and Rix and will report directly to the Lithuanian-based Russian. They already seem to have struck up a decent working relationship. Duffy was sent in to speak with Romanov after Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Aberdeen and came out with a new job title.

This was directly after a five-player delegation had held a meeting with Romanov that led to a solution to issues raised by the events prior to the Dundee United match being found.

"I have no idea whether any of the players mentioned this idea," said Duffy yesterday. "All I know is that I was called to a meeting on Saturday night with Mr Romanov and Roman Romanov and we talked about a variety of football matters. They asked my views and I gave them.

"Three-quarters of the way through they said that at this moment they felt it would be good to have a director of football on board to allow Graham to focus on team matters. They asked if I'd like to take the job and I was delighted to say yes."

Rix declared himself "delighted" with the appointment of his friend and also colleague at a variety of clubs, including Chelsea and Portsmouth.

The new director of football was adamant that the head coach retains full control of the first team. Duffy stressed there had been no discussion regarding who would pick the side since it was clear who had final say - Rix.

"There was no need to discuss that," said Duffy. "Graham has 100 per cent responsibility for the first-team. He is the gaffer - that's what Graham wanted to be."

Duffy is alert to the feelings of some fans who regard him as some way short of the major name expected. "It is a critical stage of the season and if you brought someone in who was a complete stranger and from another culture then it might upset the harmony of the team," he said. "I won't be spending Hearts' money, I will be making proposals and suggestions and trying to alleviate some of the work-load for Graham.

"I have as much experience as anyone in football matters that don't just involve the first team. Vladimir can tell me: Jim, I am not happy with such and such department, and I can go into that and let Graham get on with the football."

Taken from the Scotsman