Unlikely ally for Vladamir Romanov as Phil Anderton joins in attack on council

Published on Saturday 13 November 2010 15:38

VLADIMIR Romanov, the Hearts owner who has threatened to withdraw his backing for the Edinburgh club unless there is more support from the local authorities, has found an unlikely ally in the shape of Phil Anderton, the chief executive he sacked five years ago.

• Romanov and Anderton whilst they were still colleagues at Hearts Picture: Phil Wilkinson

Sergejus Fedotovas, the Hearts director, revealed in yesterday's Scotsman that Romanov, who claims to have invested 60 million in the Edinburgh economy, is becoming so fed-up of jumping through the city's bureaucratic hoops that he is considering pulling out of the Tynecastle club. Fedotovas said: "Selling the club is an option. If no-one cares and no-one is interested it could be an option."

Anderton, now the chief executive of Al Jazira FC in Abu Dhabi, called Romanov "pathetic" after they parted company in 2005, but since moving to the Middle East - where he says public bodies are much more enthusiastic in their support of sports clubs - he has developed a degree of sympathy for his former employer.

"I've obviously been critical a lot about what's happened since he came over but what I would say is that at least he has been trying to make a difference, trying to take things forward. He has been talking about how to improve the facilities. I think what he has probably come up against are the frustrations of bureaucracy, a no-can-do attitude."

Romanov has been unable to make any progress in his plans to redevelop the main stand at Tynecastle. He is also frustrated by the refusal to grant his bank, Ukio Bankas, a licence to operate in the capital.

Anderton is also doubtful that plans for a new stadium on the western outskirts of Edinburgh will ever come to fruition. "I think the local government people should be making these types of schemes as simple and as doable as possible instead of putting up hurdles. When you look at a place like Abu Dhabi, the government buys into sport as an important thing to have for the good of the country. Australia does the same thing. It seems to me that in places such as Scotland, it's a battle to try to promote sport. You would have thought that the Edinburgh council would love nothing better than having a prestigious state-of-the-art stadium, something to encourage more people to get active in sport. But sometimes it can feel the other way.

"My personal view of the Tynecastle situation is that I think that the ideal scenario - easy to say, very difficult to actually implement - would be a purpose-built, state-of-the-art facility on the outskirts of Edinburgh with great access to it. You utilise the money that you could get from the Tynecastle site. The critical part of that is taking the supporters along with you. There have been many botched attempts at moving stadium and obviously the biggest one was the whole Tynecastle-to-Murrayfield situation."But there's also been some really good examples where clubs with fantastic heritage have moved location and they have done it with the vast backing of their support. Look at someone like Arsenal."

Asked if he felt Hearts could still go forward under Romanov, Anderton said: "Of course they can. It's a great club. As long as the owners feel that they're getting the support of the powers that be in Edinburgh then there's no reason why they can't progress under Vladimir Romanov, no reason at all."