ANYTHING'S POSPISIL

Coach Valdas Ivanauskas has a lot to live up to this season as he prepares for a campaign on two fronts, but owner Vladimir Romanov’s third managerial appointment is already setting his own targets, finds Stewart Fisher

GEORGE Burley may have set Hearts on course for the Champions League last season, but he hasn’t made Valdas Ivanauskas’s life much easier. Not only does the Lithuanian coach have to live with the exacting demands and whims of his employer, Vladimir Romanov, a man who has already sacked him at FBK Kaunas, but he may feel inadequate if he cannot replicate the 12-game unbeaten run which saw the Tynecastle club generate such early momentum under Burley last season.

On top of all that, Ivanauskas could probably have done without Burley’s Southampton side so actively taking an interest in Rudi Skacel, the man whose 18 goals from midfield were one of the keystones to Hearts’ SPL challenge.

Hearts generated 32 of their final tally of 74 points in Burley’s storming start, but in the end pipped Rangers to second place by a solitary point. The same 12-game period saw the Ibrox club record nine points fewer, but then last season Rangers also had the Champions League to contend with. Not only are they likely to be revitalised under Paul Le Guen this time around, but it’s Hearts who will find themselves fighting hard on two fronts.

However, such excuses will cut little ice with an owner for whom failure to win the league or take the club into the Champions League group stages could well represent grounds for dismissal.

No wonder then that Ivanauskas, who will be deprived of Paul Hartley to begin with due to a hamstring injury, was playing down hopes of another equally fast start . “Every day we have targets,” he said. “The last season was a good season for Hearts, so just to stay on the same level is a big task. But it’s also our aim to strive for bigger targets.

“Every time you reach the top level you think you are at the top but you are not because there is another higher level,” the coach added. “It is the same for the players, they have targets and they reach their targets but then another target appears before them. That is how life works.

“With a good start you can get to your target quicker,” he said, “but take Celtic last season. They did not make a good start but they had a target to improve and did it. The target at the end of the season is to be on top.”

That it will be a challenging season down Gorgie way is unmistakeable, but it would be wrong to paint things in a gloomy light. The Scottish Cup holders, after all, have developed a winning mentality, the fans who travelled to Preston last week remain optimistic, and the introduction of the impressive Christophe Berra or Ibrahim Tall for Wigan-bound Andy Webster is the only alteration to the most solid rearguard in the SPL last season, conceding just 31 goals. Hearts also won more home games than anyone else, and Tynecastle will remain something of a fortress.

The midweek friendly against Osasuna saw the usual influx of Lithuanian trialists. Of them, goalscorer Andrius Velicka made the biggest contribution, but there have been no positive developments regarding him or Hristos Karipidis and Mauricio Pinilla. Yet the club clearly realise that some strengthening would go a long way to helping them through a long season.

So, according to Ivanauskas at least, should the presence of Eduard Malofeev, the mysterious former Lithuania manager who has joined the club as sporting director.

“The season is going to be a long season – especially with the European games which bring a lot of experience to everyone,” Ivanauskas said. “So I am hoping this person can bring that experience to share with me. I think it will be a mixture of youth and experience coming together and hopefully it will be a good thing.”

Two things Ivanauskas does have Burley to thank for are the club’s deadly Czech strikers Roman Bednar and Michal Pospisil. Although Edgaras Jankauskas often gets the nod up front, Pospisil has laid a strong claim in pre-season and may have a crucial role to play.

“I feel fitter now than last season, because I have done the whole pre-season,” said Pospisil, who featured in the Champions League as a youngster with Sparta Prague. “Now it all depends how many chances I get because I need to play regularly to keep in good shape. We will see who starts the season. I think me and Roman have a good understanding, but it will depend on the manager.”

Young Andrew Driver, Bosnian Mirsad Beslija – whose £850,000 fee to Racing Genk remains a source of confusion – and Neil McCann are three others who will be relied upon sporadically.

A place in the Champions League group stage is an enticing goal, but one that could leave them struggling in the short term. As far as the SPL title race is concerned, Ivanauskas is most worried about the emergence of a resurgent Rangers under Le Guen.

“Celtic and Rangers are the biggest teams in Scotland and they are going to be our opponents but there are other teams like Dundee United and Aberdeen that also have strong teams. Especially Rangers, though, as they have a new manager and I think it will be a big season for them.”

Hearts will learn in the coming weeks and months if this is another breakthrough season or merely the year where they reach breaking point.

Taken from the Sunday Herald