I Kello the shots on my Hearts side claims Laszlo

Published on Saturday 16 August 2008 11:31

CSABA LASZLO has moved to defend Hearts' recruitment of Slovakian goalkeeper Marian Kello, insisting the decision to procure the FBK Kaunas No.1 was taken jointly between himself and majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov.

Kello flew into Edinburgh yesterday on a season-long loan from the Lithuanian champions, who, like Hearts, are financed by Romanov's Ukio Bankas Investment Group. Laszlo is irked by suggestions that he was forced to abandon plans to sign Hungarian international goalkeeper Janos Balogh on loan from Debrecen because Kello's arrival was being dictated from above.

The Hearts manager said: "Kello is a very talented goalkeeper and before the question comes about Mr Romanov I will tell something. I was the person who said: 'If the time is right and maybe Kaunas don't have any chance in the Champions League, I need this guy here'.

"We need goalkeepers and now he (Kello] is here, so don't ask me about Mr Romanov. This was the decision between me and Mr Romanov but I saw the game against Rangers and I had a lot of information.

"We need quality and this guy is a good guy. The coach from Kaunas had the possibility to make history, to go to the Champions League groups, but they lost 2-0 (against Aalborg on Wednesday] and I think now is the time to bring the goalkeeper here. We have the advantage of having two teams where, if we see somebody, he can come. If you don't use this, you are crazy."

On Balogh, Laszlo added: "He is a very good, very talented goalkeeper but this is not a decision between me, the goalkeeper and the club. He told me he would fly home, we made an offer and he told me he must think about this. He said he must fly to Hungary and after we must come together, everybody must be happy. You cannot force anyone to come here. After the Rangers game we will come back to this question and I hope we can make a good decision."

Romanov and his network of contacts have previously furnished Hearts with some worthwhile signings. The Russian businessman identified Ruben Palazuelos, the Spanish midfielder, personally whilst attending a Greek Super League match in April 2007, whilst Larry Kingston was recruited through the Moscow-based Pro Sports management company owned by German Tkachenko and Alexander Fedoseev, both Romanov confidants.

Laszlo also pointed out that current Kaunas loanees Saulius Mikoliunas, Audrius Ksanavicius and Deividas Cesnauskis have responded positively to his leadership. "Miko had a good game last week and scored a fine goal, Shammy (Ksanavicius] had a good game and Cesny has been working hard in training," he said.

"Maybe in two or three positions, we need more (players]. I don't tell which positions. This is not a big secret. We have, for example, two young players on the left and the right who need guidance. Young players can lose confidence and need to come out of the team for a couple of weeks when that happens. Also, I have another candidate who I think can be a quality candidate for us in the future but I don't like to talk just now about his name.

"This is also someone who is a really good player, a goalkeeper who I saw in Germany. I saw two games and he convinced me.

"The best possibility is to know that we look for quality. Also, the owner would like quality and not quantity. If you look at what we do in the transfer market, we are not hurried and we don't have too many transfers.

"We have David Obua, we have Marian Kello and we have Mike Tullberg, no more.

"Everybody knows Steve Banks before was a goalkeeper coach and also a goalkeeper here. We must have a structure, we must have a goalkeeper coach and also goalkeepers. At the moment, we are building a platform for the future."

Asked if Kello would be first-choice keeper, Laszlo replied: "If he plays good and trains well, the chance is there."