VALDAS: I FEARED IT WAS OVER

HEARTS boss Valdas Ivanauskas has admitted for the first time he thought his Jambos career was OVER during his month-long sabbatical for stress.

But the born-again boss reckons he'll never let the pressure get to him again after learning to take time out to appreciate the beauty of life. His fresh perspective on the demands of top level management under intense scrutiny from hard-to-please owner Vladimir Romanov has convinced him to let off steam with regular gym work-outs.

However, Ivanauskas revealed it's the new-found appreciation for his health and the simple joys of life he learned during a health spa holiday that give him the strength to cope with daily stress.

The Lithuanian said: "It crossed my mind I might never come back to Scotland.

"It was a hard situation but the break came at the perfect time and now I have had the benefit of that I am able to look at management through other eyes.

"I know I MUST change for the sake of my health.

"I have had a lot of time to think about how I was last season and how I coped with pressure and realised I had to change how I manage my life.

"Every day since the break has been an experience, a positive one, when I have tried to learn from the mistakes I made in similar situations.

"It's not easy finding the time to relax but I try to work out in the gym or go running because it is a good way to forget your problems and gives you the breathing space to deal with pressure.

"I try to do it every day and just think about how beautiful life is instead of worrying about football."

It's this new attitude that makes Ivanauskas believe he would savour the joy even more if Hearts were to repeat last season's feat of finishing second in the SPL and winning the Scottish Cup.

They are still in with a shout of doing both after recovering from the nightmare run that threatened to wreck their season while the manager was away wrestling with his personal crisis.

The next hurdle in the cup comes at East End Park on Saturday against a Dunfermline side who have already ripped up the form book to knock Rangers out in the previous round.

Jambos fans snapped up 5200 tickets in two days and the club are set to request the allocation be raised to 6000.

That leaves Ivanauskas in no doubt there is now an unprecedented expectation from the fans to get back to Hampden after last year's triumph.

He added: "In Germany, Austria and Russia I played in many cup games and some finals but it never meant as much to the fans.

"Here it is special and I only fully realised that on the day after the final when we paraded the trophy through Edinburgh.

"Perhaps if we were to win it again I would enjoy it even more this time now I realise exactly what it means to people here.

"The level of expectation now puts pressure on us to play in a final every year.

"As cup holders other teams will play hard against us and it is up to us to play to a standard worthy of defending champions.

"I expect a difficult game because Dunfermline beat Rangers and played really well. And this is their last chance of winning something."

Taken from the Sunday Mail