No Euro return to Tynecastle for Ivanauskas

VALDAS Ivanauskas, the Hearts head coach, was forced to absorb a double dose of disappointing news last night after the UEFA Cup first-round draw paired his Champions League dropouts with Sparta Prague.

In giving his immediate reaction to the hurdle which stands between Hearts and the group stage of the UEFA Cup, Ivanauskas welcomed the fact his club were scheduled to play the first leg in the Czech Republic. The Lithuanian also expressed the hope that the second leg could be switched from Murrayfield to Tynecastle in order to give Hearts a more favourable chance of making progress.
To seal a miserable week for Ivanauskas, however, UEFA subsequently announced that the first leg of the tie on 14 September would be switched to Edinburgh to avoid a clash with the Slavia Prague-Tottenham Hotspur fixture the same evening. It was then confirmed that the home leg will go ahead at Murrayfield. Campbell Ogilvie, who attended yesterday's draw in Monaco for the first round of a tournament that will culminate at Hampden in May, said: "We have made an agreement to play all of our European ties at Murrayfield this season and that is the stadium registered with UEFA."

While Ivanauskas was obviously keen for Sparta to face the more intimidating atmosphere of a sold-out Tynecastle, those above him remain content to maximise the financial gains of playing at the home of Scottish rugby despite the comparatively soulless feel it generates. Tickets for the match went on sale five hours after the draw was made yesterday, indicating the head coach's request stood no chance of being considered.

If Ivanauskas was seeking any consolation, he would find it in the fact Hearts could have landed a more daunting assignment. Unseeded for the draw, the Gorgie club found themselves in a pot where their other four possible seeded opponents were Schalke 04 of Germany, Turkish side Fenerbahce, Lokomotiv Moscow and Blackburn Rovers.

The intriguing return to Edinburgh of former Hibs striker Garry O'Connor with his Russian team failed to materialise and Ivanauskas was happy to settle for a Sparta Prague side which endured one of the poorest seasons in their club's history last season. The most decorated outfit in Czech football could only finish fifth in the Gambrinus Liga, 14 points behind champions Slovan Liberec.

Their campaign was salvaged only by victory in the Czech Cup final, where they required a penalty shoot-out to defeat Banik Ostrava after a goalless draw, thus claiming a UEFA Cup place and avoiding the ignominy of failure to qualify for Europe for the first time in 24 years. "I don't know if it is the best draw we could have got," said Ivanauskas. "We will only know that after the second leg on 28 September. Sparta have a strong tradition and Czech football is technically very good. I think the draw is okay."

The happiest man in the Hearts camp yesterday when news of the draw filtered through to their Riccarton training ground was Czech striker Michal Pospisil who will be returning home to face his former club.

The 27-year-old, who had two spells with Sparta, is savouring the prospect of his father, Antonio, seeing him in action for Hearts for the first time. "He is terrified of flying," revealed Pospisil, "so although I have been telling him for a long time to come to Scotland for a match, he has never done so. My mother and brother have been here a few times, but never my father. It will be a great night for him, although I must make sure he sits among the Hearts supporters.

"I think it's a good draw for Hearts and the tie will start with a 50-50 chance for both teams. I have already had the Czech newspapers phoning me to ask me about Hearts. Sparta did not have a good time last season, but I think they have a better team this year. I think there were more difficult teams in the pot, so for Hearts this is probably the best chance for us to go through.

"When I looked at the pot this morning, I first wanted to play Blackburn because I have never played at an English Premiership ground, but it is special for me to go back to Sparta. I was actually a Slavia Prague supporter when I was a young boy, but I signed for Sparta when I was 14 so they became my team."

Among the familiar figures in the current Sparta squad are former West Ham United defender Tomas Repka and left-back Michal Kadlec who was a transfer target for Celtic this year. The main striking threat comes from Swiss forward Mauro Lustrinelli who was part of Thun's fairytale progress to the Champions League group stage last season.

They are coached by former player Stanislav Griga who bizarrely quit football two years ago to travel to India for "a period of meditation." He was persuaded to return by Sparta in their hour of need last season and they have made an unbeaten start to the current campaign with two wins and two draws from their first four league games.

Hearts will turn their attention back to domestic matters today, with Ivanauskas making no attempt to minimise the importance of victory over Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Tynecastle in the SPL.

"Three points from this game is absolutely vital for the future," he said. "It does not matter how we get them, even if it's not a beautiful game, we just have to win. It is crucial psychologically."

Ivanauskas also promised to address the disciplinary problems which have blighted his team in recent weeks with four players sent off in their last four games.

"It has been happening and it will not continue to happen," he said. "I know it is not beautiful and it will not continue. It is important for the players to play with emotion, but it must be positive emotion. Yes, there will be provocation, but it is up to each player to be more controlled."

Ivanauskas refused to comment on the future of striker Calum Elliot but Motherwell claimed last night that a deal had been done to take the player on loan until the end of the year.

Taken from the Scotsman