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Hearts to talk to Slovak boss
Hearts will hand Slovakian Vladimir Weiss one last chance to prove he's a better bet for Tynecastle than iceman Gudjon Thordarson.
But Icelandic gaffer Thordarson remains favourite for the job, with Scotland No 2 Terry Butcher as his assistant - as wet told you yesterday.[>
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Hearts will also go through the formal process of interviewing the remaining candidate on their short list, Belarussian Andrei Zygmantovich.[>
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Akranes boss Thordarson relaxed with a round of golf in the Icelandic sun yesterday before taking his players for an evening training session.[>
I regard this opportunity as a big step-up in my coaching career, so I am very interested
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He is prepared to jet to Lithuania at any time to seal the deal with Jambo owner Vladmimir Romanov, as he has a get-out clause in his contract.[>
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Weiss enhanced his Euro reputation when he masterminded Artmedia Bratislava's 5-0 humbling of Celtic – in Gordon Strachan's first outing as boss – and completed the Champions League KO job on the Hoops.[>
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Zygmantovich has had previous experience of Romanov, having coached at both of the Russian banker's eastern European clubs, MTZ Ripo and FBK Kaunas. [>
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Russian-speaking Weiss fancies his chances of impressing Romanov at this weekend's meeting in Edinburgh to pip Thordarson and Butcher at the post.[>
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"I regard this opportunity as a big step-up in my coaching career, so I am very interested," said 43-year-old Weiss. [>
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"Hearts are a great club, a big team with a big history."[>
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As a player, Weiss claimed 19 caps for Czechoslovakia, 12 for Slovenia and featured in the 1990 World Cup. [>
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His reward for shaming the Celts and leading Artmedia into the group stages of the Champions League was a managerial move to Russian club FC Saturn.[>
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After two years in Russia he moved back to Bratislava, where he steered the club to a league and cup double last season, winning the championship by 11 points.[>
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Artmedia general manager Petr Kaspar last night confirmed, "Hearts are interested in our manager and we have already had some talks with them.[>