Hearts were thrown into fresh turmoil last night after Vladimir Romanov, the club owner, removed Valdas Ivanauskas from his position as head coach.

Ivanauskas received the news at a meeting with Romanov in Turkey over the weekend and has reluctantly accepted a move upstairs. He has told Hearts staff members that he will no longer be head coach when he returns to the club later this week.

George Burley, Graham Rix and now Ivanauskas have all been removed from their posts since Romanov became officially involved in Hearts.

Romanov, who declined to comment last night, has been talking to several foreign coaches about replacing Ivanauskas and an appointment is expected to be made within the next few days.

One of the frontrunners is Kestutis Lataza, former coach of Lithuania's national team who was also once in charge of FS Vagar, in the Faroe Islands, and the Lithuanian sides FC Vilnius and Zalgiris Vilnius.

Lataza knows Romanov and Ivanauskas very well and Hearts insiders suggested last night that he was the club owner's first choice to take over. Lataza has had an insight into Scottish football as he was the Lithuania national coach for Euro 2000 when they were in the same group as Scotland.

Ivanauskas has been under growing pressure after a string of poor results but the timing of his removal - it came on the eve of the Hearts annual general meeting - was unexpected. He led the club to a Scottish Cup victory last season but has failed to build on that.

Hearts have been eliminated from both cup competitions and sit in fourth position in the league, with the dream of beating Rangers to second spot and qualifying for the Champions League now a forlorn one.

During his time in charge, Ivanauskas was caught in the middle of dressing-room unrest, with Lithuanian and Scottish players splitting into factions. Supporters were also furious when Steven Pressley and Paul Hartley were allowed to leave Tynecastle after speaking out about the way the club was being run. Craig Gordon, the Scotland international goalkeeper, was dropped to the bench for his role in the affair and he is likely to leave at the end of the season.

Ivanauskas suffered under the pressure and took a break to recover from stress. He returned to the club, pledging to bring them success. Romanov told Ivanauskas he would be given time to turn things around, making his removal as head coach a bitter pill for him to swallow.

News of Ivanauskas's move upstairs and the possibility of another foreign coach being appointed will be seized upon by Hearts fans at the annual meeting today.

Supporters have become increasingly embarrassed by their owner's website postings which have criticised the media, referees and former players. Some fans are also concerned at Romanov's desire to raise the club's borrowing to £40m in a bid to redevelop the main stand at Tynecastle. Hearts' debt stands at £28.4m.

Martin Laidlaw, chairman of the Hearts of Midlothian Supporters Trust, said: "There has to be a recognition that Vladimir Romanov has brought a lot of good things to Hearts, but we will be seeking clarification from the football club today on player matters.

"We will also be asking for details about their stadium development plans, the club debt of around £28.4m and the continually deteriorating relationship with the Scottish media."

A spokesman for Romanov said he would not be attending today's meeting even though he is the majority shareholder.

"Mr Romanov does not need to attend the agm as he is not a club director," said the spokesman. "He has no requirement to be at it. He is on business abroad all this week and is travelling between different places. As chairman, his son Roman will take the agm."

Hearts last night failed in their appeal against a £10,000 SFA fine imposed on them in October after the club's official website criticised referees. Romanov accused officials of attempting to undermine his club's Scottish Cup- winning campaign last season.

The Lithuania-based banker said at the time: "Last season, you didn't manage to protect the Scottish Cup and gave it to Hearts, despite all the referees' efforts and intrigues."

A spokesman for the SFA said: "A decision was taken by the general purposes committee last October to fine Hearts £10,000 for an article on their website last September.

"Hearts appealed this but an independent tribunal met last Monday and the news came through yesterday that the appeal should be dismissed."

Romanov incurred a separate £10,000 fine for the comments and his appeal against that individual penalty is to be heard in April.

He is also in trouble over comments he made two weeks ago, posted on the club website, which kept up his tirade against referees.