Vlad's new job for Hearts flop

EDUARD MALOFEEV will not return to Hearts with his UEFA Pro licence in the New Year after Vladimir Romanov appointed him head coach of the Belarussian club MTZ Ripo.

Romanov has shuffled his coaching pack once again by installing Malofeev, a "consultant" to the Tynecastle board and former acting head coach, to replace Yuri Puntus at MTZ.
Click to learn more...

The Minsk outfit are heavily financed by Romanov's Ukio Bankas Investment Group, similar to Lithuanian side FBK Kaunas, and Puntus had been combining his MTZ role with coaching the Belarus national team. However, last week he intimated to Romanov a desire to concentrate full-time on international football and has severed his ties with the club.

Russian-born Malofeev was head of MTZ Ripo's youth academy during 2005 and became head coach at Kaunas a year ago. He arrived at Tynecastle in June this year as an "advisor to the board on sporting matters". He was then placed in control of team affairs for a period between October and November after Valdas Ivanauskas was granted temporary leave due to ill-health.

Malofeev will begin work immediately with MTZ, which stands for Minsk Tractor Plant, but is still expected to attain his Pro licence as the Belarussian season does not restart until April.

His relegation to the third club in Romanov's footballing empire, behind Hearts and Kaunas, comes after he attained just three league points from a possible 15 during his brief tenure in Gorgie.

Malofeev also presided over the CIS Cup quarter-final defeat to Hibs and his methods were widely frowned upon by the Hearts players. His team talk prior to the Hibs match saw him tell the players, "Gentlemen, if you dive deep into the ocean you will find a pearl. The deeper you dive, the better pearl you will find. Reap what you sow."

Taken from the Scotsman