Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo dismisses problem over wages

He may only be a matter of weeks into the Clydesdale Bank Premier League season, but Csaba Laszlo is already painfully aware of the regular furore that surrounds Heart of Midlothian.

Laszlo, the Hearts manager, most likely accepted that his paymaster, Vladimir Romanov, was a controversial figure at the time of signing on the dotted line at Tynecastle in July this year. Hearts sit third in the Premier League, yet controversy over the demotion of Steve Banks from first-team goalkeeper to youth coach had already prompted headlines of the wrong kind for their amiable Hungarian manager before this week's machinations over the non-payment of wages broke out.

The Hearts squad, who failed to receive their weekly pay packets last Friday, were finally reimbursed for their efforts yesterday. Off-field staff, who receive monthly salaries, also finally saw an influx of cash into their bank accounts, two days late.

The reasons behind the delay remain largely unknown, with Laszlo unwilling to admit whether he either understands the problem or if he has sought clarification on it happening again in the future. What is certain, though, is that scrutiny of Romanov and his motivations for involvement in Scottish football has seldom been so intense.

Laszlo, nonetheless, remains content to focus on today's important trip to face Dundee United. “It is not a big problem,” the manager said of the wages situation. “Everyone watching my team can see young guys, whose priority is to play football. I do not see that there has been a problem with their attitude.

“I have no influence on this [the wages] and the players have no influence either. I have looked in my bank account, a lot of the players have as well, and now we can concentrate on football. It is my job to keep to football and the job of a coach to get results.”

Seeking to emphasise that the events of the last seven days are unlikely to diminish his appetite for the job in hand, Laszlo even admitted he only received money due to him from Ferencvaros, his former club, four months ago, three years after leaving the Hungarian club.

“They had been in the Uefa Cup and Champions League but dropped to the second division and their finances collapsed,” Laszlo said. “I was still due one year's salary because of their debts.”

Laszlo apparently derives more interest from the fact that two of his potentially key players, Bruno Aguiar and Mike Tullberg, return to the squad for the visit to Tannadice. Neither has kicked a first-team ball in anger this season because of injury; Aguiar also missed all of the last campaign with a serious ankle problem.

“It is important to have headlines about sport,” the Hearts manager emphasised. “The rest, anything else, is not my job.”

Like his manager, Tullberg is familiar with the concept of wages not arriving on time. The Danish striker, who is on loan in Edinburgh from Reggina, claims he once waited four months for his salary when he was playing in Italy.

“This is not an issue to me,” Tullberg said, sticking firmly to the Tynecastle party line. “Down there, in the south of Italy, such things are normal. They have a different culture to what we are used to. But, as is the case here, it is not something I would think about. I'll leave it to people who deal with money and banks.

“We, as players, concentrate on things we can do something about and that means the game in Dundee. It's not as if I am always checking my bank account.”

Tullberg is aware that, with Hearts lacking in attacking spark, plenty is expected of him. The Danish forward has been handed the No9 shirt by Laszlo - a clear vote of confidence after the 22-year-old endured a troubled time in Italy.

“I have only trained fully for one week,” Tullberg, who has been nursing a groin complaint, said. “And I am still only a young player but of course it is normal that strikers are under pressure and I am aware of that.

“I will do my best to help the team, that is all I can say; I am not solely going to think about myself.”

Andrew Driver, Deividas Cesnauskis and David Obua will not feature for Hearts today because of injury. “Driver not being fit is my biggest problem,” Laszlo said. Who says money is all that matters?

Taken from timesonline.co.uk