Former Chelsea coach Claudio Ranieri on Monday ruled himself out of the running for the vacant Hearts job on the day that the Scottish club were left reeling by two more high level departures.
Hearts chief executive Phil Anderton and chairman George Foulkes have quit the Tyneside team just over one week after the shock departure of manager George Burley.
Both Anderton and Foulkes' roles will be taken over by Roman Romanov, son of majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov.
A statement issued to the Stock Exchange reported that Anderton had "ceased to be" a director and the chief executive, while Foulkes had resigned.
The statement confirmed Roman Romanov as Foulkes' replacement as chairman.
He will also assume the title of chief executive "on a temporary basis... pending a further appointment".
Hearts have been searching for a new boss since Burley walked out just before the Scottish Premier league match with Dunfermline last weekend.
Ranieri, who along with Sir Bobby Robson was tipped to take over, flew to Edinburgh for talks with Vladimir Romanov at the end of last week.
It was reported that the Italian's salary demands were too high but Ranieri told the Daily Record: "I want to thank the club but Hearts is not the right job for me at the moment."
Robson is now considered to be the front runner for the post, although whoever gets the job will have to accept a level of involvement from Romanov.
He has insisted he will continue to wield a certain amount of influence over the running of the team no matter who the next manager is.
The hands-on approach of the Lithuanian banker - who was responsible for the signings of Samuel Camazzola and Ibrahim Tall - is thought to be the reason for Burley's shock departure.
"I don't think there is one manager or head coach out there who can be given a free hand to do the job on his own," Romanov told the Sunday Times.
"That applies generally to people, the way forward is to work as a team."
Attempting to offer an explanation for Burley's surprise exit, Romanov added: "If there is no means of agreement between two parties then a parting of the ways is the best way forward."
Hearts, who suffered their first defeat of the season on Saturday, to city rivals Hibernian, lost the league lead a day later when Celtic beat Dundee United 4-2.
