Laszlo has drawn up his plan A, plan B, plan C ..

BARRY ANDERSON
CSABA LASZLO, the Hearts manager, stressed today that he is prepared for all eventualities that may transpire at Tynecastle during the final few days of the January transfer window.
The Hungarian is in the dark over who may enter or leave his dressing room before 5.00pm on Monday, when the window officially closes, but he is keen to recruit a forward to accord his team more of a cutting edge.

In addition, the prospect of losing Christophe Berra remains alive as Hearts officials try to negotiate an acceptable fee with Wolverhampton Wanderers, who so far have submitted a £2million bid for the club captain.

Laszlo surmised on all possibilities ahead of this afternoon's SPL visit to Hamilton and insisted that, whatever materialises for Hearts, he will cope.

"My plan is definitely to bring this team to a higher level. Maybe, if it's possible, to sell a player and get a new player. This is the normal job of a manager," he said.

"I gave my proposal (to the board] and then we look at what is possible for the board to do.

"There are two situations. One is that I have one player, a very talented player, who is an international with his country, played Champions League and UEFA Cup and is 23 years old. If Berra moves, this is the first option I would like to have. I spoke with the player and his agent and he would like to come.

"If that doesn't work, plan B is to find a player internally here who can take his position.

"We have Eggert Jonsson who has played in Berra's position.

"We also have Karipidis but this would mean a different tactical structure because there are possibilities with Michael Stewart and Ruben Palazuelos in midfield. I have two or three possibilities. I try to have possibilities for every step, the striker situation is the same.

"There is definitely a place for a striker here. We only have Christian Nade and two young people. Maybe we can play 4-4-2 if we have more possibilities. If nothing happens, we will try to score goals like before but maybe from other positions."

Laszlo held a meeting with Sergejus Fedotovas at Riccarton yesterday but did not reveal much detail on the outcome. The Lithuanian is a director of both Hearts and their parent company, Ukio Bankas Investment Group, and deals with many projects within UBIG's sports division. Laszlo was also hopeful that majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov would arrive in Edinburgh last night for further transfer-related discussions.

Asked about Berra's commitment to Hearts amid speculation on his future, the manager praised his captain's diligence. "Berra is one of the most professional players here and his heart is always with Heart of Midlothian," he said.

"I had a meeting with Sergey and he did not give me any answers about this. Only that we don't have anything and that I must prepare the team for Hamilton. I told him my opinion, I gave all the information and we now have four days. I am an employee of the club and, if they inform me, I must accept this."

Laszlo also underlined Hearts' willingness to promote from within and utilise the talent produced by their highly-successful youth academy.

Although he has scoured Europe in an effort to unearth a new striker, the former Ferencvaros coach does not want to discard the potential sitting under his nose at Riccarton.

"For us it is very important to show everybody that we must not always go shopping outside (for players]," he continued. "We must look internally. (Ryan] McGowan has been training with my team for the last four weeks. He is no more a part of the reserve team. He is not the new Christophe Berra but he is one option for that position, behind Eggert and Karipidis.

"(David] Templeton has also trained with my team for the last four weeks. If Kingston is out of the right midfield position, we talked about it and I know I have Templeton.

"These are the plans I have. I know what is outside and what is inside and I always have a plan. I prepare myself for every situation."

Taken from the Scotsman