NOW WE'RE READY FOR CHAMPERS LEAGUE

HEARTS broke out the champagne and threw a party that did justice to the jetset of St Tropez.

News that Valdas Ivanauskas' appointment as head coach had been made permanent reached Vladimir Romanov's luxury yacht cruising off the South of France and the players spliced the mainbrace.

Permanent and Hearts are words which haven't gone together since the Lithuanian millionaire dropped anchor at Tynecastle 18 months ago - John Robertson, George Burley and Graham Rix all went down, albeit without the ship.

But last night captain and dressing room diplomat Steven Pressley threw his weight behind the move to leave Ivanauskas in charge of team affairs while veteran Lithuanian Eduard Malofeev assumes the role of director of football.

Elvis said: "I insisted last season all of the players were behind Valdas and that's why we're delighted with this news.Stability has returned to the club and let's hope it lasts.

"I went to Mr Romanov and told him on behalf of the other players we believed Valdas was the man for the job.

"I could only express to him the feelings of the players who had won the Scottish Cup and split the Old Firm to make it into the Champions League qualifiers.

"I told Mr Romanov I thought Valdas was a highly qualified coach with a great knowledge of the game. And I added that I liked a manager with presence and authority.

"I know from experience there's a line you don't cross with a top-drawer manager and it would be a brave man who would cross Valdas' line. He has all of the credentials to be a very good manager for this club.

"His English is improving all the time and I believe, 100 per cent, the right decision has been made. Mr Romanov has his own thoughts on everything and he has made his own decision on this matter.

"We were made aware of that decision and allowed to quaff some champagne on the yacht's deck while we were looking at St Tropez."

Pressley enjoyed the good times last season and, with Ivanauskas at the helm, he predicts even better lies ahead.

He said: "When Valdas took over after Graham's departure, our performances were extremely positive and we played a brand of football that satisfied the fans.

"That's why it was right to give him the job and end speculation about other people.

"The position of the backroom staff as a whole has been clarified.

John McGlynn is very important to this club and so are Stevie Frail and Tom Ritchie."

Malofeev, 64, is one of eastern Europe's silver foxes. He is not known to the Jambos players but Pressley doesn't believe this is a problem.

He said: "I don't know much about him other than he's done exceptionally well with Kaunas this season. They won 19 out of 20 matches and drew the other.

"That's remarkable. Eduard has also coached the Soviet Union's national team, so he carries a great deal of knowledge. I just hope we can develop a solid rapport with him. He will oversee the entire football operation and should be a shoulder for Valdas to lean on.

"Having said that stability has returned to the club and the last thing I'd want to see would be a knee jerk reaction if there was any kind of blip along the way.

"Mr Romanov has made a decision and hopefully, he'll stand by it for some time.

"This season will be a big test for us. Celtic and Rangers have made additions to their squads. Rangers have also appointed a new manager and they'll be looking to put the disappointments of last season behind them.

"Also we have to deal with increased expectation levels of our own supporters."

Defender Andy Webster has handed in his notice and can go south for £200,000, the equivalent of his last year's salary at Hearts.

Pressley said: "I'd love Andy to stay but there's no chance of him changing his mind.

"It'll take a helluva player to fill the void and another one to fill Rudi Skacel's shoes if he goes but big clubs are never built around one or two players."

Taken from the Daily Record