Uganda's national coach Csaba poised to say 'yes' to taking on Hearts job

Target: Csaba leaves Tynecastle yesterday

Hearts edged closer to appointing Laszlo Csaba as manager last night after the Uganda coach spent the day in Edinburgh locked in negotiations.

The Romanian-born coach watched the squad train at Riccarton after being granted permission by the Federation of Uganda Football Associations to enter into talks with the club.

And, after meeting weeks of speculation with a wall of silence, Hearts last night officially confirmed the negotiations were ongoing.

A statement said: 'Heart of Midlothian confirmed today that the club was in talks with Laszlo Csaba regarding the vacant managerial position at Tynecastle.

'Csaba was granted permission to speak with Hearts by the Ugandan FA.' 

The deal is expected to be tied up once contract terms and compensation can be agreed.

It is understood Hearts will quadruple Csaba's salary by offering him £4,000 per week, while a figure of £120,000 in compensation will be due as he is contracted to Uganda until the end of 2010.

Csaba has already lined up his assistant, Uganda Under-20 manager Jackson Mayanja, along with three Uganda international players to join him in Gorgie.

Left-back David Obua from South African giants Kaizer Chiefs, defender Hassan Wasswa from Ethiopian club St George and striker Geoffrey Massa, who plays for Egypt's Al Masra, are all on their way to Edinburgh, according to reports in Africa.

Csaba is already well known to Hearts fans - as Ferencvaros boss he was kicked by then-manager John Robertson after a stormy UEFA Cup match at Murrayfield in 2004, which the Hungarians won 1-0.

Motherwell manager Mark McGhee was first to be offered the post in May but opted to stay at Fir Park to oversee the club's adventures in the UEFA Cup.

Also linked to the vacant Tynecastle post have been Artmedia Bratislava coach Vladimir Weiss, Akranes manager Gudjon Thordarson, the current FKB Kaunas coach, Belarusian Andrei Zygmantovich, and German Jurgen Rober.

Under Csaba's tutelage, Uganda rose through the FIFA rankings from 167th to 91st. Ugandan FA general secretary Charles Masembe said: 'We know he will leave, but what can we do? He has done a very good job here and we wish him well in Scotland.'

But there was also criticism of Csaba's willingness to be seduced by money.

Uganda FA president Lawrence Mulindwa said: 'I told Csaba that it would be a wrong move for him, but you could see his heart is elsewhere.

'His heart is not fully with us now and I cannot force him to stay. Maybe it is the money factor.'

Ugandan FA media chief Rogers Mulindwa added: 'In football, coaches are like players - they want to leave for the most money.

'We can't block him but, in my opinion, he is making a mistake because he is one game away from qualifying for the African Nations Cup with us.

'If he stayed and got us through, he would be worth even more money.' Former interim head coach Steven Frail, meanwhile, has been talking about the pain he felt when he parted company with Hearts.

'It has been difficult to leave the club, it's still a bit raw,' he said. 'It's my club now and I've got a lot of friends there, people working away at the Academy and at Tynecastle.

'It might be a while before I go back but I know that when I do, I can walk in with my head held high.'