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President of the Edinburgh club, the vice-champion of Scotland, Roman Romanov, has spoken seriously for the first time about the possibility that Lithuanian Valdas Ivanauskas, who currently holds the position of head coach temporarily, may remain in that role until the end of this season.
The legendary Lithuanian national team player, who has been working as an assistant coach at the club since last year, took over the reins of "Hearts" in March from the sacked Englishman Graham Rix. Under the leadership of the 39-year-old Lithuanian, the Scottish team managed to secure second place in the championship and for the first time in the club's history, earned a spot in the Champions League. Additionally, the capital team is also awaiting the cup final against "Gretna".
"I can now say that Valdas has a good chance. Currently, he is bringing us success and working very well. Granted, a more experienced person would be preferable for the Champions League, but we will see how Valdas performs. His experience is growing and he has also learned new things," said Roman, the son of the club owner Vladimir Romanov. "We are not interested in famous names. That is not the most important thing, we just want the right person for 'Hearts,' and that is why Valdas will stay here."
According to "Hearts" leader Paul Hartley, Valdas Ivanauskas' candidacy for the position for a longer period is supported by the players as well: "Having led us to the Champions League, he now has good chances. I hope we will win the cup final, and Mr. Romanov will appoint him as the head coach. He did not talk about it with the players, but everyone wants him to get this job."
If V. Ivanauskas were to stay in the head coach position, another experienced strategist should be invited to assist him for the next season, to fill the remaining vacant football director position left after Jim Duffy's departure. Romanov himself mentioned such a possibility: "We are thinking about bringing more experience into the coaching staff because we will now move to a higher level. Perhaps we will invite Sir Bobby Robson as a consultant. He is not too old, has an incredible amount of knowledge, so maybe a combination of a young and older person would work. This is the strategy we are aiming for."
Meanwhile, in a recent interview with BBC, Romanov also unexpectedly revealed that Czech player Rudi Skacel, who recently signed a permanent contract with the club, wishes to leave the team: "Skacel is thinking about moving to England, to the Premier League. His agent asked to terminate the contract and allow him to move to another club for 1 million pounds."
"I asked Rudi why he is not playing as well as before and not scoring goals, and he said he is thinking about England. I told him to play well because it would be mutually beneficial, as we would get more money and he would get a better contract. But he replied that he is afraid of getting injured," said the businessman from Lithuania, whose UKIO Bankas investment group also owns the vice-champion of the A League, FBK "Kaunas."
