CSABA LASZLO is in the process of overhauling Hearts' coaching structure and says he wants youth coaches to act as father figures to the club's burgeoning talent.
With Vladimir Romanov, the club's majority shareholder, placing increasing emphasis on home-reared players, Laszlo is re-organising various levels of football operations to nurture youngsters thoroughly.
He wants greater involvement of under-19s
in reserve fixtures but particularly wishes to generate a family atmosphere at Riccarton, with youth and reserve coaches Darren Murray and Angel Chervenkov parenting young players as they would their own sons.
"If a father has responsibility for his children he must take the responsibility. I want the youth coaches to be fathers and help the younger players grow," said Laszlo.
"Angel has responsibility for the reserve team at the moment and Darren has the under-19s. I am building a structure but, believe me, this is not easy. The reserve team and the academy team are the main points for us to build talent. I am beginning to build this structure for the coaches. We have a very good harmony at the moment with the coaches and everybody has the same target. The players see that the coaches have harmony, it is key for success."
An entire team of graduates has emerged from Hearts' highly regarded youth academy in recent years to attain first-team recognition. Captain Christophe Berra, Andy Driver, Eggert Jonsson, Lee Wallace, Ryan McGowan, Calum Elliot, Jamie Mole, Jason Thomson, Gary Glen, Scott Robinson and Jamie MacDonald all passed through the club's development programme, overseen by academy director John Murray.
"If we talk about Berra, Driver, Wallace, Thomson and the others, Heart of Midlothian has one of the youngest teams in the Premier League. This is fantastic," said Laszlo. "I want to see people back in the stadium so they can see we don't just have old people on the field.
"I am not unhappy with the kind of football we play. We had a bad season last year, the target point is to be better together. We are working together very well to be successful for Hearts." Laszlo cites the appointment of Werner Burger, his assistant, as central to his aspirations for the future. The German forged a solid managerial reputation in Switzerland with FC Schaffhausen, Red Star Zurich and FC Kreuzlingen before joining Hearts, but his time spent with the German Football Association could be of most use in Edinburgh.
Burger worked with Germany's international coaches from under-15 level through to under-19 and will offer insightful knowledge into youth development. "It was necessary to take a coach with experience and I know I can trust Werner," said Laszlo. "He is a guy with huge experience. He coached in the Swiss Premier League with Schaffhausen and he has very good ideas about structures.
"I know we can work together because I have known Werner for a very long time. He has a good knowledge of football and I know his personality, it will work very well for this club.
"The structure must be complete. We must have goalkeeper coaches, for example. The youth team must have a goalkeeper coach.
"We have a new goalkeeper coach with the first team (Arturas Ramoska] who is a nice guy who understands his job. I need these people, I need professional people.
"I don't like quantity. I want people who like to work and you have a lot of professional people who don't like to work but these people do.
"I make my way, I don't look right or left or back. I don't copy nobody. I make my way and that's it finished.
"Steven Banks can begin to work with the young goalkeepers. I would also like to change the structure a little within the club with the under-19 team and the reserve team. I have spoken about a new structure with the owner, Mr Romanov.
"I don't like to put first-team players who don't play on a Saturday in the reserve team. I want to give the chance to more under-19 players. These are our young players and they are our future."
The full article contains 701 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
