MEMORY LANE
Hampden return stirs the mind of Jankauskas
ACHAMPIONS League winner with Jose Mourinho’s Porto, Edgaras Jankauskas does not pretend that winning the Scottish Cup with Hearts represents the pinnacle of his career. The memories of that 2006 success, coupled with those of his goalscoring role in the semi-final routing of Hibernian, do though enhance his sense of anticipation at returning to Scotland’s national stadium with Lithuania next weekend.
Jankauskas was promoted to the role of national coach in January, by which time the draw for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers had already pitched Lithuania into competition with Scotland for a fifth time since the dissolution of the Soviet Union allowed the Baltic nation to compete under its own flag.
Now 41, the five-times crowned Lithuanian Footballer of the Year speaks warmly of his time in Scotland, even if he never quite shook off the suspicions which stemmed from his status as an on-loan FBK Kaunas player during the most volatile period of Vladimir Romanov’s stewardship of the club.
‘I wouldn’t say my time at Hearts was perfect or brilliant all the time but I enjoyed it,’ said Jankauskas. ‘We challenged for the title and won the Cup, so I have some very good memories. The second year was not so good but my memories of Hampden, and all the Hearts supporters celebrating, stay with me.’
Long before the trophy was hoisted at the end of a penalty shoot-out victory over Gretna, Tynecastle was in a state of tumult that barely subsided until the club exited administration in 2014.
The first couple of years under Romanov may have been a thrilling ride, which saw exciting players such as Jankauskas, Rudi Skacel and Euro 2004 champion Takis Fyssas arrive in Edinburgh, but there were uglier moments, some of which bordered on plain lunacy.
Jankauskas confesses to feeling sore at landing on the wrong side of a dressing-room suffering ‘significant unrest’ as described by Steven Pressley in the infamous Riccarton Three address which saw the club captain flanked by senior Scottish team-mates Paul Hartley and Craig Gordon.
What may be more of a surprise is Jankauskas’ insistence that he vocally disapproved of and, indeed, challenged Romanov’s constant changing of managers, starting with the decision to remove George Burley while the team was top of the SPL in October 2005.
His assertion that Romanov’s principal failing was to surround himself with too many fawning yes men certainly rings true but there is a part of him that remains loyal to the man who not only brought him to Scotland in the first instance, but employed him for a second time in 2012 when he was appointed assistant to John McGlynn.
‘It’s sad that it all ended the way it did but I think we all have to say thanks to him,’ said Jankauskas. ‘He was the one who shook up Scottish football and raised its profile abroad.
‘I don’t say that everything he did was right, and I don’t know all the details about how the club went into administration, but I can say clearly that, for a time at least, he did put a lot of his own money into that club.
‘He spent it on players and hiring managers. There were times when I didn’t agree with him and I would speak to him frankly about that.’
Whatever Jankauskas said would appear to have fallen on deaf ears. Apparently bored with his regular fall-outs with coaches, media and the Scottish football authorities, Romanov eventually lost interest and stopped funding the club, leading to its eventual insolvency.
Thanks to club chair Ann Budge and supporters group The Foundation of Hearts, the club has been restored to financial health and its reputation repaired. Jankauskas believes Romanov’s refusal to entertain an opposing voice prevented the prudence which might have made his investment work.
‘People can buy a club but sometimes they lack the knowledge and experience to make good decisions,’ he said. ‘The people around him were not competent enough. And many of them just wanted to say yes.
‘That wasn’t good for Hearts. What happened with George Burley was weird. We were top after nine games, so it was inexplicable that the manager should go.
‘I tried to speak out. I remember in the second year telling him that all the changes in management were hurting the team. The stability of the club was under threat. For him that was difficult to understand.’
The day Pressley led his two teammates into an ante-room at the club’s training base at Heriot-Watt University marked a watershed moment in Romanov’s tenure.
For Jankauskas it marked the beginning of the end of his playing stint at the club as he left at the end of the 2006-07 season.
‘I remember that time clearly,’ he said. ‘The team split. There was a lack of clear information from the club to the supporters and they had no avenue to express their own feelings to the board, either.
‘We, the foreign players, were the guilty parties. The Lithuanians, Portuguese, we were the ones who took the heat. It affected us. I wouldn’t say it was unfair. It’s just the unwritten rule — the foreigners will always be to blame.
‘The issue was already there before that and the constant change of manager was a big symptom.
‘But I would say that if you have a problem, then you should try to resolve it within your own house. I don’t want to blame them for going public because if they did that, then it is because they thought it was the right thing to do.
‘And Steven, Paul and Craig were all good servants for Hearts.’
Jankauskas intends to greet Gordon warmly when the pair meet again next weekend but his link with the Scotland squad extends further still.
Lee Wallace, another of his ex-team-mates, has been handed a recall by Gordon Strachan, while Jankauskas also expresses pride at the promotion of Callum Paterson and Jack Hamilton to senior international status, having worked with both during his year on the coaching staff.
‘Callum and Jack were just young guys when I was back at Hearts,’ said Jankauskas. ‘To have those two alongside Lee Wallace and Craig says a lot for the youth policy at Hearts. I will try to speak to them all, for sure.’
I wouldn’t say that my time at Hearts was perfect — but I enjoyed it