Hearts deny any problems with bringing in Riabovas as caretaker

It had been expected that Riabovas would take over this week but reports on Monday suggested that there were doubts over whether Riabovas would ever become the seventh man in two years to take control of the side.

“We did not say that Riabovas was starting on Monday,” a Hearts spokesman said yesterday. “We said that he would be here before the end of the month and we have still got nine days or so to go.”

Riabovas has told the media in his homeland that he has been given a six-month trial and will return to Hearts on December 1.

Malofeev, the veteran Russian coach who stepped into the dugout after Valdas Ivanauskas sought sick leave last month, was expected to leave this week to attend a coaching clinic in Europe. Hearts stated last week that he would be leaving “to progress with the attainment of his Uefa pro licence”.

The former Belarus national coach was already on the payroll of Vladimir Romanov, the Hearts owner, and had been at Tynecastle as a consultant since August before substituting for Ivanauskas, who is suffering from stress.

Riabovas has just led FBK Kaunas, the other club owned by Romanov, to the Lithuanian title. He suggested last week that he would be taking over after Sunday’s match against Rangers. A 1-0 defeat led to angry protests from fans unhappy not only at the result but at the treatment of the captain, Steven Pressley, who has been jettisoned from the team after leading a players’ revolt against Romanov’s running of the club.

Hearts’ situation is made even worse if Riabovas does not arrive because John McGlynn, the coach who has stepped into the caretaker’s shoes three times since Romanov came — after the sackings of John Robertson, George Burley and Graham Rix — has now left to become manager of Raith Rovers in the Scottish League second division.

McGlynn had been asked to remain at Tynecastle for a couple more weeks but will leave on Friday. He could understand why Pressley and fellow Scotland internationals Craig Gordon and Paul Hartley had spoken out about the constant changes of head coach.

“Something happened that broke the camel’s back,” McGlynn said on the BBC Sport website. “The statement that Steven came out with, the issues have not been addressed. If Mr Romanov wants to fix it, he could fix it very easily and I think the club could go back to where they were and go even further. He needs to address the situation very very quickly. He needs to be big and brave and sort it out. Good can come out of these situations if the problems are addressed.”

Hearts stated that Malofeev remains in charge of first-team affairs for the moment though they gave no indication as to when he would now take his coaching badges, which he is required to have to work in Britain on a long-term basis.

Malofeev has the worst record of any Hearts manager since the start of the last century. During his five games in charge, Hearts have drawn twice and suffered three defeats, whereas all the other managers, including caretakers, were able to win at least one of their first five games.

Taken from the Scotsman