VALDAS Ivanauskas acclaimed Paul Hartley as the best player in Scotland last week, and it was therefore no surprise yesterday when the Lithuanian said that as long as he had anything to do with it, the midfielder would remain a Hearts player. Responding to a claim by the BBC that Celtic would again bid for Hartley should Stilian Petrov leave Parkhead, Ivanauskas made his own position resoundingly clear.

"If I am the manager here, Paul Hartley plays for Hearts," the caretaker boss said. "No chance to go."

The Hearts board voiced a similar belief in January of last year when Celtic first came calling for the playmaker. The then chairman, George Foulkes, said the Edinburgh side were no longer a selling club, and, under the ownership of Vladimir Romanov, that claim has proven correct, with a Celtic offer of £300,000 for Hartley having been dismissed as derisory.

The 29-year-old's stock has risen since then, not least because of his hat-trick in the Scottish Cup semi-final win against Hibs three weeks ago. He signed a new three-year deal with Hearts at the start of this season and his employers, buttressed by Romanov's riches, have no intention of parting company with him any time soon.

Their intentions regarding Ivanauskas, however, are less obvious. The problem for the former Hamburg player whenever he looks ahead and says "If I am Hearts manager..." is he knows that it is a sizeable if.

When he takes his team across the city to Easter Road this afternoon for the fourth and final Edinburgh league derby of the season, Ivanauskas will do so as the fourth man in charge of Hearts in that quartet of fixtures. George Burley was at the helm when Hearts won 4-0 back in August, John McGlynn was caretaker for the 2-0 away defeat in October, and Graham Rix was the head coach for the 4-1 win at the end of January. Ivanauskas may feel that he has been around long enough to prove his worth as a coach to Romanov, but the businessman has said he wants someone with more experience to be head coach. Given that situation, there has to be a fair chance of a fifth man being in charge for the first derby of next season.

Such uncertainty has destabilised many managers in the past, but Ivanauskas appears unperturbed. An intelligent man whose dour facade conceals a genuinely genial interior, he has become more outgoing in recent weeks as he has settled into his current post. The fact that results have generally gone his way and players including Hartley have spoken up on his behalf has also surely helped, but he is well aware that his future role with the club will not be decided by popular vote.

"It's good if the players understand my work," he said. "It's good, it's nice for me if players, not only Paul, know how I work. But the last word, after the Scottish Cup final, is Mr Romanov's. I enjoy it here now, and I enjoyed it when I was assistant coach as well. If Mr Romanov says 'You take the job', I'm ready. But there have been so many managers now, it's not a big problem for me."

Something else which has so far not been a big problem for Ivanauskas is the situation with Andy Webster, who has been omitted from the team recently. The Scotland centre-back's refusal to negotiate a new contract is widely believed to have had something to do with this, but Ivanauskas denied this.

"Andy is in the squad [for the Hibs game]. He has one year to go. He stays next season, so there is no contract situation, no. Andy's a big player. He has had very good games for Hearts and for Scotland this season. He is a very good player and has a big future. But tomorrow is just another game."

Ivanauskas went on to explain, however, that today's match against Hibs is the most important of the season so far. In that light - and especially with Steven Pressley and Jose Goncalves both out because of injury - it remains to be seen what the interim boss is most willing to risk: the wrath of his own boss, if Romanov has indeed put pressure on him to omit Webster; or the strength of his central defence.

Christophe Berra and Ibrahim Tall were an adequate pairing at centre-back for most of last week's win against Kilmarnock, but neither comes close to Webster. Especially if the left-back Takis Fyssas fails a fitness test, leaving Webster out would be a substantial gamble.

"Pressley has a problem with his back so he is not in the squad," Ivanauskas explained. "It is a big loss for the team. He is our captain, has experience and we need him for the important games, but we can't risk his back.

"I have watched Andy and he has done very well in training. He has shown a very professional attitude. I spoke to him and he understands we have played well in the last two games.

"Andy is a big player, but Christophe has done well and Ibrahim can play at right-back and in the middle without problem."

The absence of Goncalves with a hamstring strain - almost certainly for the rest of the season - has narrowed Ivanauskas's options. Jamie McAllister could fit in at left-back if Fyssas, who is rated 50-50, does not get the go-ahead to play, but Ivanauskas knows his defence will be tested far more sternly than they were at Hampden.

"This is the biggest game of the season for us," he said. "The semi-final was important, but this is very, very important. The semi-final was a good game for us - very hard but we did very well. Tomorrow we will see another Hibs team.

"I hope players understand the situation we are in and they are ready for the game.

"The semi-final was good, but we need three points at Easter Road because it is a big chance for us to get a Champions League spot.

"We know it will be a hard game. We lost last time at Easter Road and we remember that game. We have a lot of respect for Hibs, but we know the football we can play and are looking forward to it."

Taken from the Scotsman