Paulo Sergio turned down Gulf job while at Hearts

PAULO Sergio last night revealed he’s mulling over job offers after admitting he turned down a lucrative manager’s post in the Middle East when he was in charge at Hearts.

The Portuguese coach walked out on the Tynecastle club just weeks after he led Hearts to a Scottish Cup triumph over Hibs at Hampden. He is contemplating his next move and revealed he already knocked back a money-spinning job in the Gulf when he was in charge of Hearts.

He said: “I have had some contact with other clubs and there are some things moving for me. There are no vacancies in Portugal for new coaches, so it will be outside of my country.

“Money is not everything for me. Last season I refused an offer from a club in the Middle East that was financially superior to the British market.

“My next club doesn’t have to be a big one. I need to see they are ambitious and if they have good working conditions, I would be interested.”

Former Sporting Lisbon manager Sergio looked back in pride at his time in Edinburgh.

He said: “Winning the Scottish Cup was a fantastic achievement for a club that has not won a major trophy for a long time. It wasn’t my first trophy though, because that was winning promotion with Olhanense.

“We had a good season, although the league could have been better since we finished in fifth place.”