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| <-Page | <-Team | Sat 21 Oct 2006 Hearts 0 Kilmarnock 2 | Team-> | Page-> |
| <-Srce | <-Type | Herald ------ Top | Type-> | Srce-> |
| Valdas Ivanauskas | <-auth | ROB ROBERTSON | auth-> | Kenny Clark |
| 49 | of 067 | ----- Invincible 28 ;Wales 35 | L SPL | H |
Sick leave for Hearts ManagerROB ROBERTSON October 24 2006 Valdas Ivanauskas, the Hearts manager, is taking two weeks' leave for health reasons and fully intends to resume his role on his return. Eduard Malofeev, the club's sporting director, will work with coach John McGlynn for Hearts' next two matches against Dunfermline and Celtic. In a statement issued by the club last night, Ivanauskas said he did not want to give any further details about his health problems but was confident he would return to his post at the end of his fortnight's break. Details of Ivanauskas' time away from the club were revealed after a meeting between the Hearts manager and club owner, Vladimir Romanov, in Lithuania yesterday afternoon. It had been expected the meeting would be a head to head, with the future of the manager on the line because of a string of bad results. However, it appears to have been more like a heart to heart, with Romanov accepting that Ivanauskas needs time away from the pressures of managing the Tynecastle outfit. While Romanov has parted company with three managers, John Robertson, George Burley and Graham Rix, since taking a controlling interest at Tynecastle, he insisted yesterday that he was fully behind his manager. "Valdas asked me for the meeting and I was naturally happy to see him," said Romanov. "He explained to me why he required this time away and I understood what he told me. During his absence the rest of the coaching staff will perform the necessary duties for our upcoming games. "Eduard Malofeev will take the leading role and I ask all our fans and those associated with the club to give their fullest support to the team at this time. I have full confidence in Valdas and look forward to his return." Ivanauskas said he wanted the break to help himself get back into top physical and mental condition so he could give his all as Hearts manager. "It was my initiative to ask Vladimir for the meeting and he immediately said yes to it. He listened to all I said and it was great to feel his support and understanding. Despite how it may seem, the meeting was not connected to the defeat to Kilmarnock on Saturday. I had been having some health problems earlier but now it is at the point where I cannot ignore them. "I want to be, and must be, at the top of my physical and mental state. Therefore, with Vladimir's agreement, I am taking two weeks' leave which I will spend on getting my health back. I will return in two weeks to my position as head coach. I hope our fans will understand my need for this." Derek Watson, secretary of the Hearts Supporters' Trust, believes most fans will be relieved to hear Ivanauskas is remaining as head coach. "For the last six months or so, everyone has been calling for consistency and another change of manager would not help. I don't think people want to see him either resign or sacked. The outcome is probably acceptable to most fans. "I do understand his need for privacy but I think what we do need to know is the exact nature of the set-up at Hearts and what the roles are of the various people on the coaching staff. "I think Valdas is well regarded and nobody really knows how much interference he has to put up with, not just from Romanov but also from the sporting director [Malofeev] and director of football [Anatoly Korobochka]." Ivanauskas guided Hearts to the Tennent's Scottish Cup triumph over Gretna in May and a Champions League qualifying berth with a second-place finish in the SPL. But they were knocked out of the Champions League at the final qualifying stage by AEK Athens before hopes of a spot in the UEFA Cup group phase were ended by Sparta Prague last month. Romanov has admitted he meddles, and will continue to interfere, in team affairs, an involvement which has not made Ivanauskas' life easy. Although the details of Ivanauskas' health problems have not been revealed many managers have taken a break from football and come back the stronger for it. In general terms stress is a major problem for football managers to deal with. Cynthia McVey, a chartered health psychologist and senior lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian University, said: "I cannot speak about individual cases but, generally speaking, people who are stressed can alleviate it by having control. They can make choices and make a difference. "Having time out does take away the pressure. It is time out from a situation where you are being held responsible for something which you have no control. In some cases people blame themselves for not making a stand and when somebody is being overpowered it is difficult to deal with. "Decisions that are being taken out of your control make the type of stress you get very powerful and demoralising and can lead to low self-esteem, a loss of confidence and feeling physically unwell."  Taken from the Herald |
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