Time for Ivanauskas to step out of the shadows

MARTIN GREIG March 24 2006

Depending on your point of view, Valdas Ivanauskas has either been handed a golden opportunity or a ticking bomb. With the success of Hearts' season balanced precariously on the outcome of their next nine matches, it is the Lithuanian who has been entrusted with the task of attempting to finish what George Burley started. No pressure, then.

It was Graham Rix's failure to consolidate second spot in the Bank of Scotland Premierleague which had Vladimir Romanov, the club's owner, breaking out in cold sweats and ultimately led to the

Englishman's dismissal.

It is no secret that the Lithuanian's ambitious plans rest on the club's ability to achieve sustained European involvement, so what makes the Hearts owner think that Ivanauskas is the man to hold off the challenge of third-placed Rangers?

His appointment is only until the end of the season and there are no indications that he will considered as a long-term successor to Rix. If that is the case, we can only surmise that he has been brought in to provide a short-term boost.

Liutauras Varanavicius, the former Hearts director and president of the Lithuanan Football Federation, claims Hearts will be getting a hands-on coach who communicates well with players.

"He's very passionate about what he does," he said. "I know with the national team that he did a lot of work on the training field. The young players, in particular, who he worked with were eager to follow his example. It was not so long ago that he was a player himself so he can help the players come together on the field."

Passion is a recurring theme when Ivanauskas' name is mentioned. As a player, he was a rugged, powerful attacker who possessed enough finesse to make it at the top level in Europe. He became the first Lithuanian to play in the Bundesliga, with SV Hamburg, and his heart-on-the-sleeve style won him more than 30 caps for the Soviet Union, and then Lithuania.

Nerius Kesmanis, a Lithuanian journalist, believes his ebullience could provide the Tynecastle club with a welcome boost. "He is a very emotional coach and when you watch him sometimes it seems that his emotions get the better of him. Having said that, it could work well in this situation because Hearts may need an emotional boost between now and the end of the season."

The 39-year-old managed to maintain FBK Kaunas' progress when he took over the Lithuanian side, whom Romanov's bank sponsors, in September 2004. Under his charge,

they closed out the remaining couple of months of the domestic season by completing the league and cup double, an encouraging portent for Hearts.

It was during the following season, however, that things started to go wrong. A poor start to the campaign soon led to his sacking. "He should take responsibility for Kaunas losing the championship," added Kesmanis. "At the start of the season his side weren't properly prepared, psychologically or physically."

Soon after his dismissal, he arrived in Scotland to play a role in the Romanov revolution. His initial brief was

to help the influx of Lithuanian players, such as Saulius Mikoliunas and Deividas Cesnauskis, settle into their new surroundings.

In fact, it wasn't until Rix was appointed, in November of last year, that Ivanauskas was handed his first official role, as his assistant. Even then, he was content to stay in the background, restricting his involvement to the training ground where he functioned as Romanov's eyes and ears.

The lack of a language barrier, and the existing bond between himself and Romanov, should ensure a more harmonious relationship than that which existed between the owner and previous managers.

The experience of the next couple of months will be another important step in his coaching education. "He is very ambitious and he has said that he wants to be the coach of the national team one day," said Kesmanis. "He is 39 now, and wants to learn and gain experience in Scotland."

Ivanauskas will trade in his anonymity this afternoon when he holds his first official press conference. The real learning curve starts now.

Taken from the Herald