Malofeev in control at Hearts

EDUARD MALOFEEV has been given licence to overhaul Hearts' training programme and match tactics despite Valdas Ivanauskas being due for return in a week's time.

The 64-year-old Russian coach has restructured the footballing practices at Tynecastle with the approval of majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov. He has implemented many of the philosophies he used in previous guises as national coach of the Soviet Union and Belarus, however, the Hearts players remain deeply concerned by his training methods.

Ivanauskas is scheduled to return to his job as head coach next week after taking a sabbatical due to health problems but, with Malofeev exercising more and more authority, the Lithuanian's future appears increasingly forlorn.

Romanov flew out of the country yesterday after a tumultuous few days in Edinburgh. He remained silent despite senior players stating their disgruntlement in an impromptu media address at Riccarton on Friday.

The Russian banker watched his team draw 1-1 with Dunfermline on Saturday in their first match under Malofeev's command. An unusual 3-4-3 formation was deployed for the game, with defenders Robbie Neilson, Ibrahim Tall and Lee Wallace in midfield, and Hearts adopted a long-ball policy for the afternoon - under instruction to do so by Malofeev.

"These are his methods," assistant coach John McGlynn told the Evening News. "He is a very experienced coach and what he is doing now has worked for him at previous clubs and countries he has managed. It worked for him over a number of years and he has total confidence that this will also work at Hearts.

"We played in a very attack-minded way against Dunfermline with a 3-4-3 formation.

"The idea was to play in our opponents' half, put them under a lot of pressure and try to capitalise on the opportunities we created. There was nothing unusual in that but it was a bit different to what we have been doing this season, where we would normally have a slower build-up from the back. Eduard wanted us to get the ball forward quicker and push up."

Malofeev has come out in defence of his approach and is adamant that he will have the final say on all footballing matters. He refused to comment on whether or not Ivanauskas will return to the club.

"I am the manager and I am making the decisions," he said. "I can take advice from people but my word is the last word. People have different tastes and different opinions. Sometimes it takes a long time to get to know each other. I talk with Vladimir but I also talk with the assistant coach and others to gather information, but the last decision is mine.

"We are striving to score more goals and that's why we are doing high and long passes. If we aim them towards the goal then we are going to score more goals. In my opinion it is better to win 10-9 than 1-0."

Taken from the Scotsman