Littbarski latest to be linked to Hearts

PIERRE Littbarski, the former Germany winger who played in three World Cup finals and lifted the trophy in 1990, has emerged as a possible contender for the head coaching role at Hearts.

Littbarski, 45, is currently manager of Sydney FC, whom he guided to Australia's inaugural A-League title this year. A poor financial performance has forced the club to make cutbacks and Littbarski has been offered a 30 per cent pay cut to stay for a second year.

Hearts refused to comment on reports in Australia which state that the German is in contention for the vacancy at Tynecastle, where Valdas Ivanauskas is overseeing coaching on a temporary basis. "The club does not comment on any names of potential managers," said spokesman David Southern. "We will only comment when we do eventually appoint someone."

However, Littbarski fits the mould of owner Vladimir Romanov in that he is relatively young, speaks good English and carries a high profile. He also appears to be available, having asked for almost a month to consider Sydney's new contract offer, reportedly worth an annual £200,000 as opposed to his initial salary of £300,000.

Littbarski has asked Sydney for a deadline of 2 May to decide. Given that such a schedule roughly coincides with the winding up of the European season, it is not unreasonable to observe that the coach wanted to wait and see which vacancies on his home continent might emerge.

Formerly an assistant manager at Bayer Leverkusen and Duisburg, Littbarski has also had two stints in Japan in charge of Yokohama. But he remains unproven, his CV barely any stronger than that of Graham Rix, who was sacked by Romanov last month after eight months in charge. Sydney are considered Australia's glamour club in the new regional competition, and they are certainly the wealthiest. Their title success was not a revelation.

Littbarski's most recent press comments suggested he was reluctantly coming round to the idea of staying in Sydney on reduced terms. But these came before his request for an unusually large chunk of time to consider his options.

Sydney's patience has grown thin. "It's very disappointing to hear that Pierre has taken that stance," said co-owner Peter Turnbull. "If he wants to consider his options, then so will the club."

Commenting on the 2 May deadline introduced by the coach, chairman Walter Bugno added: "I would hope we have a coach in place before then."

Last week Littbarski said he was waiting for assurances over a new training ground for the club, rather than for good news about his remittance.

"It's a big step back for me financially," he told Sydney's Daily Telegraph.

"I must be the only coach in history who has won a title and been asked to take a pay cut and a short contract and ends up accepting the offer.

"But it's not fully resolved yet. There are other issues which I want to be looked at. I don't want to give up everything and get nothing back.

"If I have to take a 30 per cent cut in pay I can understand that because the club is not in the same financial position as it was before.

"That's not a big problem for me. I enjoy it here. I want to help build this club up and and keep the team together. Winning the title was good but it will be harder to defend."

• Celtic youngsters will have home advantage when they meet Hearts in this season's SFA Youth cup final. The SFA yesterday decided that the tie will go ahead at Celtic Park on Wednesday 10 May.

Taken from the Scotsman