Lothar Matthaus In Running For Hearts Job
March 27th, 2006 by Alan Hylands
Just when Hearts fans think things can’t take any more unexpected twists and turns, former Hungary coach and Germany legend Lothar Matthaus once again throws his hat into the ring for a chance to coach the Edinburgh club under the most trigger happy club owner in European football, Vladimir Romanov.
Matthaus has been overlooked twice for the Hearts job this season, firstly with George Burley’s appointment and then that of Graham Rix but with Matthaus now a free agent after being sacked from the Hungary national coach’s job and a short spell as coach of Brazilian side Atletico Paranaense, he would represent a low cost option with no need for compensation.
Matthaus’ agent John Inglis has been touting his client as being the experienced stager that Hearts need and says that Matthaus would be delighted to speak to Romanov to discuss the position.
Whether Matthaus could resurrect his sinking reputation as a coach capable of working at the top level is another matter, whether he could last six months in a job that has seen three previous incumbents in ten months is the biggest question of all.
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March 28th, 2006 at 11:58 am
The Matthaeus agent is right when he says that Hearts needs an experienced manager but I wonder if he read Matthaeus resume.
The former Hungary manager did well with Partizan (one mid-season) but that’s all. Besides he has already resigned abruptly twice (he managed three teams) and I do wonder if he would leave all of a sudden Hearts too if some Premier League team offered him a job.
Lastly he has zero experience with scottish football and while I do agree that some stereotypes are not true anymore that is a big problem.
March 28th, 2006 at 6:20 pm
Fantastic player, pretty abysmal coach. Sadly it happens and a few clubs/associations get sucked in by the playing reputation in the coach’s early days. I would have thought that Matthaus’ reputation as a coach would have made people forget about his playing days already and left him to go get some media work while he still wasn’t a complete laughing stock.
How many top class coaches go to Scotland to work and of that small number, how many go outside Glasgow?
March 29th, 2006 at 9:22 am
It is certainly hard to find a manager for Hearts but I would not exclude some (relatively) big name.
There is always someone willing to give it a try when the owner (in this case Romanov) has a fortune to spend.
March 29th, 2006 at 2:17 pm
Sorry for adding another comment but I just wanted to report a rumor that is circulating in Italy regarding Hearts new manager. According to the press they contacted Tardelli, former Inter Milan and Egypt manager.
I hope for them it’s not true
March 30th, 2006 at 6:24 pm
From bad to worse, Tardelli’s another legend as a player who hasn’t been able to translate that success to the coaching arena.