Give Valdas free rein and he'll do the job, say fans

VALDAS IVANAUSKAS was due to meet Vladimir Romanov in Kaunas this afternoon harbouring the persistent suspicion that he still has the ability to lead a title challenge at Tynecastle. What's more, Hearts supporters appear to agree with him. The problem for Ivanauskas is reaching a compromise with the club's majority shareholder that will allow the head coach to do his job properly. Indeed, Romanov may have already decided to call time on Ivanauskas' four-month reign in Gorgie.

The squad rotation policy, which Ivanauskas has spent so much time publicly defending, may ultimately prove his downfall. Romanov enjoys a strong influence on team selection at Hearts and it is that issue which has brought the current situation to a head as senior players begin to voice their concerns over the continual disruption to the side.

A total of 59 personnel alterations have been made by Hearts this season, and Saturday's insipid defeat by Kilmarnock only served to further infuriate the home support. Their method for getting the point across was to blast the name of Julien Brellier from all four corners of Tynecastle whilst Ibrahim Tall, a competent defender, ambled around in the Frenchman's holding midfield position.

Romanov may not favour Brellier's style of play, or the fact that he has refused to sign a contract extension with Hearts, but by continually undermining Ivanauskas on such issues he is also damaging his club's tilt at the SPL title. At no other club in western Europe does the manager constantly find himself overruled by the owner.

With Ivanauskas in Lithuania, Eduard Malofeev has been placed in temporary charge of team affairs at the club's Riccarton training base. Officially only involved with Hearts as a consultant to sporting director Anatoli Korobochka, Malofeev will communicate with the squad through a Russian interpreter.

It is a situation which solves only a few of the questions raised by the controversy that followed Kilmarnock's victory in Edinburgh at the weekend. At a club where upheaval has become run of the mill, supporters are especially keen for the roles of Malofeev and Korobochka to be clarified.

"You have to ask the question of what their roles are exactly?" said Martin Laidlaw, chairman of the Heart of Midlothian Supporters' Trust. "There is definitely some thinking that says Valdas isn't able to be entirely his own person with these two overseers that were brought in.

"On the face of it, it seems that since their appearance the team selections have become even more erratic, I don't think there is any doubt about that.

"What the outcome of this meeting today will be is pretty much speculation. But there is a body of thinking that says Valdas is going there to say 'look, I'm not happy with the situation'.

"We have to be realistic that when Valdas was considered for the job pretty much all the fans and all the players wanted to give him a chance. Is he being allowed to do that job?

"John McGlynn and Valdas did a pretty decent job at the end of last season and there seemed to be an element of togetherness which is a key component at any club.

"We as the fans have never been told what Malofeev and Korobochka actually do and I think we need to know that."

There's been a growing feeling of unease building among the Hearts support this season at the constant chopping and changing of the first team often to the detriment of performances on the pitch.

And Laidlaw believes that it was last weekend's Edinburgh derby and the omission of Roman Bednar, Julien Brellier, Mirsad Beslija and Bruno Aguiar against Hibs that proved the final straw for many fans.

"The reaction that I saw from the supporters was that the team against Hibs was a step too far for many people. People were very, very surprised at the whole tactical outlay of that," revealed the Hearts fans' chief.

"It just seems on the face of it that the team selections are bizarre and incredulous. I think, in particular, everyone was concerned by the team selection against Hibs which was very, very strange.

"We're not convinced that is Valdas decision. What is the role of these other two people? It just doesn't seem very clever when we have got better players. I would never advocate for supporters to pick a team, however, if you look on websites and talk to fans there is a team that you can pick from 14 or so players and it's a strong team.

"As far as the trust is concerned we don't think that Vladimir Romanov is picking the team, we genuinely don't, but there does seem to be influence played out from somewhere.

"We have got far too many players at the club and I just don't feel that some of them see their future as being with Heart of Midlothian. There are some players who definitely do want to stay but on the whole it just doesn't seem to be a happy ship. We had a great feel-good factor last year and that seems to have just disappeared."

Laidlaw, however, and the Supporters' Trust believe that a feel-good factor and a return to winning ways on the park can be achieved if the constant tinkering with the team is stopped. Laidlaw is calling for a return to the situation at the start of last term where a core group of players were retained in every game and he is worried the number of changes at present is causing unrest within the squad.

"Everyone backs Steven Pressley when he says that success comes from an element of consistency. We appreciate that there are going to be suspensions and injuries, they are part and parcel of football but wholesale changes like we have experienced this season have been hard to understand.

"If you want a decent comparison with how the rotation system doesn't really work you only have to look at Liverpool who have made wholesale changes and aren't performing.

"We could probably put out two or three teams of a similar standard but what we want is one really good side and I feel we have the players to do this.

"People need a genuine chance to prove themselves though and not to be dropped the game after they perform really well."

Taken from the Scotsman