VLADIMIR ROMANOV AXES JIM JEFFERIES AND BILLY BROWN

Tuesday August 2,2011
By Scott Burns

HEARTS owner Vladimir Romanov brutally axed Jim Jefferies and Billy Brown and then told their stunned players that they had to go because recent performances and results hadn't been good enough.

Hearts majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov sacked his legendary Scottish Cup-winning management team just three days before their Europa League return against Paksi, with the game evenly balanced after the 1-1 draw out in Hungary.

Romanov and Sergejus Fedotovas dragged the playing staff into a meeting yesterday afternoon to tell them of the shock news.

At that point assistant Brown had been removed from his post and Jefferies had been offered the post of Tynecastle director of football, an invitiation which he turned down flat.

The Hearts players, who have all been told they aren't allowed to speak to the press, have all been left stunned and shocked by the news.

A Hearts player said: "We can't believe what has happened. We just couldn't believe what we were hearing.

"All the players are in a state of shock.

"We were told by Billy Brown in the morning that Vladimir Romanov wanted to see us.

"We thought he just wanted to have a general chat ahead of our European game but by the time we went in to see him the news filtered through that Billy Brown had been sacked.

"That was confirmed by Romanov and his translator.

"Then one of the players asked if Jim Jefferies had also left and he said no."

It was at the stage that, Jefferies was told he was no longer being kept on as manager and the club wanted him to move upstairs to become director of football.

It comes after Jefferies and Brown led Hearts to third spot in the league and back into Europe again.

But Romanov was unhappy with the end to last season, as the Jambos tailed off and the final straw came on Sunday when they lost at home to rivals Dundee United.

It meant Hearts hadn't won a game in 10 SPL games and that in Romanov's book meant time for change, despite the opening day draw with Rangers at Ibrox.

The player added: "Romanov told us that recent results and performances hadn't been good enough and that was why he was making the change just now.

"He also confirmed that he had lined up a top European coach that he felt could take the club forward, although he didn't name him.

"We just couldn't believe what we were hearing.

"After everything that Jim and Billy had done for the club.

"We thought they had brought a bit of stability back to the club but now that has been undone again by what has happened."

The top European coach is believed to be Spartak Moscow coach Jose Couceiro, who has managed Porto, Kaunas and the Lithuanian national team.

The move is even more surprising as Romanov allowed Jefferies to reshape his squad over the summer and just three games in he has shown them the door. Jefferies moved to slash the wage bill and brought in the likes of John Sutton, Mehdi Taouil, Jamie Hamill and Danny Grainger all in on free transfers from their SPL rivals over the summer.

That was after emptying the big-earners Ruben Palazuelos, Ismael Bouzid and also selling star asset Lee Wallace to Rangers for £1.5 million.

The Tynecastle star admitted: "Everybody is gutted for Jim and Billy and the club. "We just don't know what is going to happen next. "Billy has brought most of the guys in and there are boys who only arrived in the summer. "Nobody knows what is going to happen next and some of them have been left wondering what they have signed up for."

Jefferies was appointed as Csaba Lazlo's successor at the end of season 2009/10. He steadied the ship kept them up and then turned them into the SPL's third force.

However, the cracks began to appear between Jefferies and Romanov. There were issues when Marius Zaliukas was frozen out be the club over his refusal to sign a new contract.

That was resolved and the Lithuanian was allowed to play again although a similar incident blew up with keeper Marian Kello at the end of the season. Romanov demanded he be dropped because of his performances and displays. Also there were a number of incidents where Romanov took matters of team selection out of his manager's hands.

It was the same on the transfer front as he gave the green light to make some signings but then brought in other new faces of his own like Rudi Skacel.