In the 2010 season, Romanov soon became unpopular with Žalgiris fans. After the departures of Jonas Mačiulis and Paulius Jankūnas, the team extended the contract of Marcus Brown and also signed Martynas Pocius, who quickly became one of the best players for the team. The team also re-signed point guard Mantas Kalnietis, who turned down an offer from Benneton Treviso. The team started the season by winning the new BBL Cup against Lietuvos Rytas. However, subsequent poor performances led to head coach Krapikas being replaced by former Lithuanian National team coach Ramūnas Butautas, who lead the team to the EuroLeague Top 16 phase with a 3–7 regular season record. After the team entered a slump, Romanov controversially fired Butautas, replacing him with assistant coach and former captain Darius Maskoliūnas. Under Maskoliūnas, Žalgiris came its closest to the EuroLeague Top 8 phase, finishing with a 2–4 record. Žalgiris won back the BBL title by beating Lietuvos Rytas in the finals, but lost the LKL finals to Rytas by 4–3. Romanov had fired coach Maskoliūnas during this series, leading to speculation that Romanov had intentionally lost the finals to allow Lietuvos Rytas to qualify for the EuroLeague season. The season is widely considered as the most controversial in club history.