Hearts in talks with former Borussia Dortmund coach Röber

Published on Saturday 28 June 2008 19:45

GERMAN coach Jürgen Röber has emerged as a candidate for the vacant managerial position at Hearts, with the 54-year-old understood to have held discussions with club owner Vladimir Romanov on Friday.

Speculation has suggested Hearts' next manager will be German and, while club officials insist there remain "three or four" names in the frame, Rber is instantly available, having been out of work since March last year. Hearts plan to formalise an appointment this week, possibly as early as Wednesday.

Rber started his management career at Rott-Weiss Essen in 1991, before moving to Stuttgart three years later. His most successful time arrived at Hertha Berlin, who he guided back into the Bundesliga, where they finished third and qualified for the Champions League in 1999. Subsequent and brief spells in charge of Wolfsburg and Partizan Belgrade were followed by an ill-fated time at Borussia Dortmund, Rber's last job in football.

As a player, Rber was part of the Bayern Munich team that won the German championship in 1981. He turned out almost 200 times for Werder Bremen and spent part of season 1981-82 at Nottingham Forest where he was signed as a replacement for former Scotland captain Archie Gemmill. His spell in England was short and unsuccessful.

Romanov has taken personal control of Hearts' search for a new management team after being stung by rebuffs from Mark McGhee and Vladimir Weiss. Negotiations with Rber are understood to have taken place in the club owner's home town of Kaunas.

McGhee was close to accepting the Hearts job but changed his mind at the last moment and opted to stay with Motherwell, who have qualified for Europe. Weiss, who was in charge of Artmedia Bratislava was courted by Romanov but has just been appointed manager of the Slovakian national team.