Fans demand to know what is going on at Tynecastle

HEARTS fans have demanded the club break their self-imposed media silence and let them know what's going on over the managerial shambles at Tynecastle.

The Gorgie faithful have been kept in the dark over recent goings-on at the club and were left scratching their heads yesterday when it emerged that interim head coach Eduard Malofeev has not been replaced by FBK Kaunas boss Eugenijus Riabovas on a temporary basis as expected.

The club claim that the 55-year-old Lithuanian was always due to take over at the end of this month yet, in an exclusive interview with the Evening News last week, Riabovas insisted he would attend the Rangers match on Sunday before beginning work the following day.

Incredibly, there now appears to be more confusion, which is sure to worry increasingly disgruntled supporters.

A club spokesperson admitted that, with a crucial trip to face Inverness Caley Thistle in the Highlands on Saturday, it's too early to say who will be in the dug-out this weekend.

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

"It is too early to say who will be in charge this weekend."

But worried Hearts fans are determined not to be fobbed off and want answers about what is happening behind the scenes at the club.

"There must be some reason behind it [Riabovas not starting on Monday] but it would be nice to know what that is," said Derek Watson, secretary of the Hearts Supporters' Trust.

"It's better if these things are explained otherwise it just causes rumours and conjecture and that's something we could do with a bit less of just now."

The specifics of the role that Riabovas will eventually occupy also remain unclear with the Lithuanian telling the media in his homeland that he will be installed as an interim head coach on a six-month trial basis at the start of December.

If this is to be the case it would cast serious doubts over the futures of Valdas Ivanauskas and Malofeev, who has the worst managerial record of any Hearts boss since the start of last century.

Ivanauskas, who led Hearts to the Tennent's Scottish Cup in May this year, is currently in Lithuania on sick leave, although it's beginning to look increasingly unlikely that he will ever return to Tynecastle with the media there reporting he could be being lined up for a return to FBK Kaunas.

Meanwhile, the Evening News has learned that under-19 coach Stevie Frail is being considered as a replacement for John McGlynn, who has been appointed as the new manager of Raith Rovers, on the first-team staff. McGlynn is due to take his final coaching session on Friday before being in the dug-out for Rovers against Stranraer this weekend.

His decision to quit Tynecastle will leave the club without a single English-speaking senior coach, which is why they are understood to be considering promoting Frail.

Hearts refused to comment when contacted by the Evening News.

Taken from the Scotsman