Pressley's future on line at Hearts

THE looming crisis at Hearts took a serious turn for the worse last night when Steven Pressley was omitted from the team for the 1-1 draw at Falkirk in the Bank of Scotland Premierleague. Hearts would not confirm if the Scotland international had either resigned from the captaincy or been stripped of it, but Pressley was said by a club source to be "not mentally prepared" to play.

Paul Hartley, who has deputised as skipper for Pressley on the odd occasion lately, was dropped to the bench and did not appear on the pitch until the third minute of added-on time. Christophe Berra was thus asked to captain the side.

For all the official statements of unity - most of which have been voiced by Lithuanian players or the interpreter Alex Kozlovski - the situation at Hearts has grown steadily worse since Pressley issued a statement criticising the way certain aspects of the club were being run. Although the majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov did not react at first, it is now evident that he will tolerate no criticism of his methods.

Meanwhile, as if matters at Tynecastle were not muddled enough, Hearts are about to get yet another new head coach. The man in question this time, who will be the seventh to take charge of the team in Romanov's 21 months at the helm, is Eugenijus Riabovas, who is to take over from Eduard Malofeev on a temporary basis.

Malofeev, who himself was placed in caretaker charge last month when Valdas Ivanauskas departed on sick leave, is leaving to take his UEFA pro coaching licence. It is not clear when he will return. To add further drama to the occasion, he was sent to the stand last night after a protest which involved physical contact with the fourth official, and will face a touchline ban if he does end up back at Hearts. A spokesman for the club said Malofeev had thought the fourth official was a Falkirk employee and was illegally preventing Andrius Velicka from returning to the pitch following treatment for a cut.

Riabovas, 55, the head coach of FBK Kaunas, is able to take up the post at Tynecastle because the Lithuanian season has ended. Romanov, Hearts' owner, also controls Kaunas.

When Riabovas arrived in Edinburgh last week Hearts insisted he was in the city to observe training methods and denied he was here to join the staff. There was no official confirmation from the club yesterday but a senior source indicated the Lithuanian would be taking over on a temporary basis.

When Riabovas' appointment is confirmed he will become the third former Kaunas coach to take charge of Hearts and the seventh man at the helm since Romanov took effective control of the club early last year. John Robertson, appointed to succeed Craig Levein shortly before the takeover, parted company with the club near the end of the 2004-05 season after refusing to accept a demoted coaching post.

Since then, George Burley, Graham Rix and Ivanauskas have come and gone, and the assistant coach John McGlynn has taken charge for a handful of matches before stepping back again. Jim Duffy, briefly director of football during Rix's time in charge, was sacked at the same time as the manager. Ivanauskas is still officially Hearts' head coach but is currently signed off indefinitely.

Speaking after watching Hearts' Under-19 side defeat Inverurie Locos at Tynecastle on Sunday, Riabovas said: "At this time I don't know if I will be the new coach. I came to Edinburgh because Malofeev was the head coach at FK Kaunas. I came to see Hearts. Romanov can say 'Go back to Kaunas' tomorrow and I will go. I am Kaunas coach at the moment."

Malofeev, the former Soviet Union coach whose official role at Hearts is "advisor to the board on football matters", has been caretaker coach with the Tynecastle club only for the past three weeks while Ivanauskas has been recuperating back home in Lithuania. Hearts have now failed to win any of Malofeev's four games in charge. They drew with Dunfermline and lost to Celtic in the league, and were beaten by Hibs last week in the CIS Cup.

While Romanov has uttered no public criticism of the veteran coach, he issued an edict last week ordering minimal cooperation with the media. One effect of that was that the colourful figure of Malofeev stopped attending press conferences before and after matches, being replaced by the monochrome Kozlovski, the interpreter cum "sport director".

In accordance with Romanov's policy, a spokesman for Hearts declined to comment on the situation regarding the head coach's post yesterday. The only on-the-record statement from the club about Riabovas therefore remains the words uttered by Kozlovski last Wednesday, when he was asked what role the Kaunas coach was to have with the Edinburgh club.

"There is no role [for Riabovas]," Kozlovski said. "He came to see us training to improve for his team in Lithuania. He did not get involved in coaching, he was just observing. He has no link with Hearts."

Meanwhile, Hearts have released right-back Tiago Costa "for personal reasons".

Taken from the Scotsman