WHEN George Burley stood face to face with Vladimir Romanov and defied the Russian's orders, Phil Anderton looked on knowing this was a man with the required steel to run a major football outfit.
And it's now clear that those qualities make Burley an ideal man to be Scotland manager.
Burley's unyielding principles ultimately cost him his job as Hearts manager in 2005 when he refused to acquiesce with Romanov's team selection demands. But
Anderton, chief executive at the time, admires his gumption to this day.
Gordon Smith and the SFA board are about to officially declare themselves members of the George Burley fan club by naming him Scotland's new national coach. In doing so, the Blazerati would be well advised never to breach that fine line between football administration and interference.
In the end, it was refusing to play Saulius Mikoliunas and other eastern European imports to suit Vlad's "fantasy football" that was a major part of Burley's downfall.
Anderton's attitude to Romanov was betrayed by the fact that, during this interview, he wouldn't refer to him by name, calling him "the so-called owner" or "fantasy football manager".
And watching 51-year-old Burley glare obstinately into Romanov's eyes in a Balmoral Hotel room, Anderton recognised the ruthless determination that denotes a top-class manager and he believes Hearts' loss two-and-a-half years ago will be Scotland's gain.
"George looks happy-go-lucky but there's a steely character under there," said Anderton. "At Hearts, he wanted to win the league and Scottish Cup, the CIS Cup really wasn't a priority. He played a young team against Livingston and got knocked out in the early rounds of the CIS and I remember the so-called owner getting very upset about that. But Burley stood his ground.
"We also had the so-called owner coming in and berating George constantly about team selection. I'll never forget a meeting we had at the Balmoral Hotel. We were summoned to meet the Russian crew first thing in the morning after drawing 1-1 with Celtic at Parkhead.
"Instead of people being pleased about a good result, the Russian crew were going ballistic. It was, 'you should have played Mikoliunas instead of Skacel. If you had done that we would have won the game 5-1'. The pressure was being put on to play the players that the 'fantasy football manager' thought were right, but Burley was absolutely adamant about playing the players he felt would win matches for Hearts.
"He didn't buy into this rotation policy for the sake of it. He believed in playing players who were playing well because it builds confidence. That will be great for Scotland, he won't be swayed by anyone."
Romanov sacked Anderton just two weeks after dismissing Burley but, despite reports to the contrary, he never signed a confidentiality clause.
Aside from Burley's mental courage, Anderton noted his invigorating effect on players at Tynecastle and expects a continuance with the Scotland squad. He added: "I'm not a football expert and would never claim to be, but I saw his impact on the Hearts team. I'll never forget his first day at Riccarton. He gathered the team and gave a speech, saying simply, 'Look guys, let's go and have some fun and get smiles back on our faces. You're all great footballers, just go and enjoy it and get moving in the league to challenge Celtic and Rangers'. I bumped into Jamie McAllister a few weeks after that.
"I think the season before that he'd come in for criticism from the fans and wasn't really performing. Burley played him during the rebuilding phase and I asked Jamie what the difference was. He said two words: 'George Burley.' He said George had made him believe in himself again.
"Burley just has this uncanny ability to make people feel they are better than perhaps even they believe they are. Kevin Keegan is similar and I don't think it's something you can learn, you just have it.
"Look at George's work with Roman Bednar. He arrived at Hearts primed, keen and ready to play. Then you see what happens when the fantasy football manager thinks he can run the team.
"Bednar was totally dispirited, not scoring goals and lost his touch. Then he goes to West Brom under a good manager (Tony Mowbray] and he's knocking the goals in. The management techniques speak for themselves.
"George will do a great job of motivating the Scotland players, just like Walter Smith and Ally McCoist did. He has both Smith's man-management skills and McCoist's feel-good factor."
Indeed, man-management is Burley's forte.
"When he arrived at Hearts players were unsettled. Paul Hartley was interesting Celtic and Rangers wanted Andy Webster. We had a threadbare squad and no-one really knew what would happen got Hartley fully focused and told Webster not to come on a pre-season trip to Dublin.
"He wanted him to stay at home to get his head sorted. When we came back, Webster was there giving everything for the jersey. Contrast that with what subsequently happened to Andy when a confrontational style of management just didn't work."
Rumpuses aren't Burley's style, but that doesn't mean he won't be able to handle himself in the international arena.
