Hearts in no rush for new coach as Ivanauskas takes over

STUART BATHGATE

VALDAS Ivanauskas will act as Hearts' assistant manager against Kilmarnock tomorrow night and possibly for some time thereafter, but has been ruled out of the running to succeed George Burley. Vladimir Romanov, the Edinburgh club's majority shareholder, said last night that his fellow-Lithuanian would not be included on a list which currently includes Sir Bobby Robson.

"Can I state quite categorically that, despite rumours to the contrary, Valdas Ivanauskas will not be a candidate to replace George Burley," Romanov said of the former FBK Kaunas head coach who was sacked by the Lithuanian banker. "He has been working at the club on a regular basis assisting with the coaching duties and this may continue in the future if the new manager feels it appropriate.

"The new manager can expect to arrive at a club which has a structure and facilities that are the envy of many others in the UK and abroad. Our minds are not closed to any candidate or approach to the job, but the person will be of the highest possible quality and able to deliver the success that the club and all Hearts fans deserve."

Phil Anderton, the club's chief executive, will take charge of the search for a new manager. He said last night that, while it was clearly going to be one of his main tasks, a hasty appointment would not be made. "It's a priority for us and we're going to pull out all the stops," Anderton said. "It's encouraging that a number of top-quality names have been brought forward.

"One of the names which has come up is Sir Bobby Robson, who we spoke to at length before and I will certainly be in touch with him - at the minimum to say 'hello' - and we will take it from there. We were delighted when we had the opportunity to talk at length to Sir Bobby last time around.

"He decided he could not join at that time and we understood that. We have kept in touch since then and he is somebody we respect for obvious reasons. I would be delighted to have a chat even just to say 'hello' because, who knows whether, in reality, this is something he would consider."

Nevio Scala, the former Parma and Borussia Dortmund head coach who also held talks with Hearts in the summer, said he would be willing to hold further discussions with the club. "I will be very glad to talk if Mr Romanov picks up the phone," said the 57-year-old Italian.

Despite the fact that a row between Romanov and Burley led to the latter's leaving the club at the weekend, the businessman also praised the former manager, whose record in competitive matches with Hearts was nine wins and two draws from 12 matches. "I would like to place on record my thanks to George Burley for his input over the past four months," he said. "However, we will not be derailed from our ambition to deliver to the fans and the city of Edinburgh a club which is regularly competing at the highest levels of football in Scotland and Europe. I want the club to be winning the Scottish Premier League title on a regular basis as well as playing top quality football in the Champions League.

"I have kept all my promises to Hearts fans and want them to know that they and the club can look forward to further investment on and off the field. We will be staying at Tynecastle for the foreseeable future, we will be redeveloping the stadium to accommodate more and more people, and there will be funds available during both the January and summer transfer windows to further strengthen what is already a top quality group of players. However, we will not be rushed into a decision on a new manager. I have always said we will pay for quality and professionalism, and that does not mean taking the first individual available."

While Burley is bound by a confidentiality agreement from discussing the background to his departure from Hearts, friends of his have let it be known he is annoyed by suggestions that contact with an English club were behind the Friday afternoon row with Romanov which precipitated his departure. Burley will surely not be unemployed for long, but his friends insist it was disagreement over player recruitment and selection that caused him to part company with Hearts.

Simon Hunt, the chief scout cum assistant manager, and Malcolm Webster, the goalkeeping coach, have also left the club in the wake of Burley's departure.

In their absence, training at Riccarton yesterday was taken by the interim manager, John McGlynn, along with Ivanauskas, who has returned to Edinburgh after working with the Lithuanian national team. "Valdas was here and played a big part in the summer," McGlynn explained. "He was a big help to George with regards to translating things back and forward when we were trying to bring players in in the summer. He was in Ireland as well. Valdas could interpret over the phone between George and Mr Romanov at that time when it was vital that we got players in. He's helped in a number of ways."

In common with the players now in his charge, McGlynn was very impressed by Burley, and spoke yesterday of the dignity with which the former Scotland international handled his going. "I spoke to George on Saturday night. I left a message on his voicemail and later on that night he came back to me. He was very dignified in the way he went. He congratulated us on the victory and the performance.

"It was just a matter of things not working out.

The timing was the thing. I think everyone in football and in the media realised there was something not correct, something wasn't clicking. It wasn't totally hidden. I think we knew they weren't quite hitting it off. But we never knew it was to this extreme and certainly not on the morning of a match.

"Everyone is sad to see him go because he was a very likeable guy and a very knowledgeable coach. He was doing a great job and he had a great rapport with the staff and the players alike."

Taken from the Scotsman