NEW BOY VAL WAS A HOME TOWN FLOP

VLADIMIR ROMANOV has handed the Hearts job to a coach who proved a failure with FBK Kaunas.

Valdas Ivanauskas, in charge at Tynecastle until the end of the season, resigned under pressure in April last year after less than seven months in charge of Romanov's home town team, which the Jambos owner also supports financially.

Ivanauskas, 39, a former Soviet Union striker, arrived at Kaunas in September 2004, less than two months after leading FK Vetra to a surprise Inter Toto Cup aggregate win over Hibs in Tony Mowbray's first games in charge.

Ivanauskas had resigned from Vetra in August, citing personal problems and the demands of his part-time job as assistant manager with the Lithuanian national team, a post he still holds today. But he was paraded as Kaunas boss a fortnight later and helped his new club to their sixth straight title success and the Lithuanian Cup.

But it all went wrong at the start of the following season in March when Kaunas won only two of their opening five matches, prompting a resignation and a statement from the club that spookily echoed yesterday's announcement regarding Rix.

Kaunas president Gintaras Ugianskis said: "We had to do something because the results and the team play were inadequate."

However, Ivanauskas' relationship with Romanov survived unscathed as he was seconded to the Hearts coaching team under George Burley.

It was suggested he was studying for his UEFA licence but it's believed he is already accredited at that level through the German FA.

Ivanauskas, a shadowy figure around Riccarton, has broken his silence only once, soon after the appointment of Rix, to deny he was ever in the frame to take over. He said: "I had to smile when people talked about becoming manager as that's not why I'm here.

"I'm only at Tynecastle to continue my football education. How long will I b e here? I don't know."

Ivanauskas was also born in Kaunas and was one of the first players from the eastern bloc to play in the west when he moved to Austria Vienna in 1990. He switched to Hamburg and played more than 100 games, including a UEFA Cup win over Celtic.

Taken from the Daily Record