Lithuanians in limelight as Hearts revolution hits home

THE PRESIDENT of the Lithuanian FA today revealed that Vladimir Romanov's Hearts revolution has sparked a flood of interest in players from the country.

Liutauras Varanavicius, a former Hearts director, disclosed that clubs in Lithuania have been inundated by inquiries from Scotland, each one keen to emulate the success the Gorgie side have enjoyed this season.

The Tynecastle club have drafted in four Lithuanian players - Edgaras Jankauskas, Saulius Mikoliunas, Deividas Cesnauskis and Nerijus Barasa - over the past 18 months as part of a major overhaul under Romanov and went on to win their first piece of silverware in eight years and clinch a place in the Champions League qualifiers. That, coupled with the fact that Valdas Ivanauskas, the man at the helm when Hearts lifted the Scottish Cup, also hails from the same country has convinced a number of SPL and First Division clubs that they too should try to tap into the Lithuanian market.

Varanavicius is delighted to finally see the message getting through. He said: "Hearts really started the interest in Lithuanian players and the club have had a very big influence on the market.

"We have already had a lot of interest, not only from the Premier League but also from the First Division.

"We started to speak with Celtic in 2002 to make them aware that there were a lot of good players in the Lithuanian league, but they didn't take it up, they didn't seem to believe in that. It was very difficult to prove to them, but Mr Romanov has now done that and has showed that these players can play at the top level."

Varanavicius hopes that the Lithuanian-led success story at Tynecastle will also help put football top of the agenda in a country which, unlike Scotland, is obsessed by basketball, and he added: "What has happened at Hearts has definitely raised the profile of football in Lithuania. Football is still not the number one sport in this country, basketball is the most popular and they get very big crowds for that but Hearts winning a place in the Champions League and winning the cup has got people talking about football.

"That hopefully will increase the profile of football in Lithuania but of course, it will also raise the profile of Scottish football and the ratings already show that it is the third most popular world league in Lithuania. Before Mr Romanov became involved with Hearts, the only clubs people in Lithuania would have known were Rangers and Celtic, they didn't know much about the other teams in Scotland.

"Now, everyone is very proud of what Hearts are achieving and of course, it is also an opening for Lithuanian players. Everyone is really very supportive because there is generally a feeling that they are a Lithuanian team playing abroad. It is good for the fans who like to watch foreign football and everyone is very interested in how Hearts are doing."

While Varanavicius is happy to see his fellow countrymen steal the limelight at Tynecastle though, he admits that it is also important to retain the club's Scottish identity.

Varanavicius believes the secret to continued success lies in the club's state-of-the-art training facilities at Riccarton and says they must concentrate on producing the Craig Gordons and Steven Pressleys of the future.

"I think his ultimate goal would be to always have a team that is playing at the top European championships, so a place in the last 16 of the Champions League would be a constant target. He is already spending a lot of money - but I don't think it is only a question of money. One of the most important things is to be able to raise your own players from inside the club.

"Young players are important and Hearts have a good academy. A lot of those people who are currently playing in the first team, like Craig Gordon, came through the youth ranks and are now top-level players, so there is really no need to bring them in from abroad. I'm really pleased to see the Scottish players in the team because I believe that you need to have your roots inside the country, not outside of it."

Taken from the Scotsman