Valdas hits out at critics

VALDAS IVANAUSKAS today rejected suggestions that the colony of Lithuanians at Hearts are harming the club's future, insisting his team can only prosper with their eastern European influence.

The head coach has been irked by negative reactions from underwhelmed supporters to the signing of midfielder Marius Zaliukas earlier this week. Zaliukas' arrival on loan saw the number of Lithuanians in Ivanauskas' squad rise to five, with the possibility of a sixth on the way in Andrius Bartkus.

Ivanauskas has moved to defend both the ability and application of his compatriots and says he will happily welcome new players to Tynecastle via FBK Kaunas, the Lithuanian club which is heavily financed by Hearts' majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov.

Kaunas officially hold the contracts of eight Hearts players - Edgaras Jankauskas, Deividas Cesnauskis, Saulius Mikoliunas, Nerijus Barasa, Roman Bednar, Bruno Aguiar, Jose Goncalves and now Zaliukas. However Ivanauskas remains unperturbed about the loan deals between the clubs, or the number of players arriving from his homeland.

"This question always arises when there are a group of players at a club from a particular country," he said. "Last season it was Czechs, now it is Lithuanians. I know the Lithuanian mentality very well and there is no danger because their mentality will work well here.

"I have grown up through this mentality, it comes from Lithuania, from Russia, from the old socialist era. I'm not going to say it's better than another country because every country has its own mentality," Ivanauskas went on.

"Hearts is a very special team. We have in our squad very big characters, Scottish characters with high quality. The appearance of Lithuanians will only add to that. For me, there are two different sides to this. I have to combine the big stars' outlook with that of the lesser-known players. That is the work a manager has to do."

Zaliukas admitted his surprise at being motioned back to Edinburgh after playing as a trialist in last month's friendly with Osasuna.

"I didn't expect to be invited back to join Hearts for the season and I was very nervous about it," said the 22-year-old. "I am happy because this is a big chance for me in my career. I'm not sure what impact I can make but time will let me show what I can do. All I want is to play, and perform well."

Taken from the Scotsman