Hearts u-turn on head coach Valdas

VALDAS IVANAUSKAS is still in the frame to be appointed head coach of Hearts following the breakdown of negotiations between Vladimir Romanov and Alexei Mikhailichenko.

The appointment of 64-year-old Eduard Malofeev as director of football at Tynecastle appears imminent when Romanov announces Hearts' new coaching structure over the weekend and supporters' favourite Ivanauskas has now returned as the leading candidate for the head coach's role.

Romanov, the club's majority shareholder, has taken Malofeev, head coach of the Romanov-financed Lithuanian club FBK Kaunas, as his guest to the squad's luxury liner off the south coast of France this week to integrate him with the staff ahead of next week's training camp in Austria.

The move for Malofeev comes as a result of talks with Mikhailichenko stalling. The Ukrainian's arrival in Edinburgh would have seen him cast the ultimate judgment on team matters with Ivanauskas earmarked for a general coaching position but the Evening News understands that Malofeev desires more of a supervisory role and is keen to allow Ivanauskas to continue his hands-on work with the players at Riccarton.

The Hearts support voted overwhelmingly in favour of Ivanauskas being appointed head coach for next season in an Evening News poll last month, returning a 98 per cent verdict in favour of him. Now they look likely to get their wish.

Romanov said today: "I will make an announcement on June 30. I intend to say nothing further before."

Malofeev is a former Belarussian national coach who will also be able to provide Hearts with vital information on Shakhtyor Soligorsk should the sides meet in the Champions League qualifiers next month. He also coached MTZ Ripo of Minsk, also sponsored by Romanov. Malofeev's greatest management achievement was leading Dinamo Minsk to the title in the former Soviet Union championship in 1982.

Meanwhile, Hearts' teenage Bulgarian prospect Branimir Kostadinov will be forced to wait until January to sign professional terms with the club.

Kostadinov will register as an amateur for the coming season as he awaits his country becoming an official member of the European Union.

Hearts' academy director John Murray said today: "Until now he has been mostly just training with us and we hope to get a visa for him to play in certain games between now and January. Once Bulgaria join the EU, he can become professional with us.

"He won't be able to play in competitive games - i.e. the first team - until he gets the work permit, but I wouldn't have thought he'd be in contention for a place in the first team in the coming season. He's more of a long-term prospect.

"He'll primarily play in the youth team and possibly the reserves if required next season. He's played a lot of international youth games and gained good experience in that environment. He played against Russia and England at the European Championships, which Russia won in the end, so he has played at a decent level.

"He's a boy we saw playing for his country in the European Youth Championships and decided to bring in on trial. He did well so we wanted to invite him in for next year but the problem was that he is non-EU and therefore couldn't get a work permit.

"He's like any other 17-year-old boy in that he needs to develop physically.

"There are very few 17-year-olds who play in the SPL because of that. There is a big squad at Hearts now so Branimir can expect to push himself in further down the line.

"The boy is a good player, he's somebody we took a shine to because we saw in him some attributes that we were looking for. We will give him a platform to play on and it's up to him how far he can take it."

Taken from the Scotsman