MFA eyeing another foreign coach to succeed Heese

The reins of the Maltese national team will almost certainly be handed to a foreign coach, The Times has learnt.

The appointment of a successor to Horst Heese, the German who wrapped up his tenure as Malta coach by steering the team to a commendable 1-1 draw against Bulgaria in their final World Cup qualifier on October 12, has been discussed at MFA Executive Committee level in recent weeks.

Initially, the debate on the next national coach yielded diverging opinions, with a considerable number of Executive Committee members proposing that Heese's successor be chosen from a narrow pool of local coaches.

Other prominent officials want the MFA to stick with its tradition of having a foreign coach at the helm of the national team.

Sources have told The Times that further discussions on the national coach's issue recently led Executive Committee members to issue the green light to Joe Mifsud to pursue negotiations with a foreign coach who is the preferred candidate of the MFA president.

The appointment of a new coach has also been one of the principal topics addressed by the MFA Bureau, composed of the president, three vice-presidents, treasurer and general secretary.

The bureau will be kept informed about the progress of talks with the leading candidate - said to be from a top European football nation - and possibly others before a final decision on Heese's successor is made.

Dr Mifsud and his closest collaborators have so far kept mum on the identity of the leading contender to succeed Heese.

Heese had also been invited by the Executive Committee to give his views on the national coach's issue but it looks like his recommendation that Mark Miller, the U-21 coach, be promoted to senior coach to ensure continuity has been shelved.

Berti Vogts, the former Germany coach, and Pietro Ghedin, who was coach of Malta in the early 90s, have been mentioned as potential candidates to replace Heese but according to our information, both are out of the running.

News that the MFA are eyeing a foreigner will come as a disappointment to those who believe that the time is ripe for a Maltese to become national coach.

Calls for the Malta FA to award the top coaching job to a Maltese have grown in intensity over the past few years, especially in the wake of generally disappointing qualifying campaigns under the likes of Milorad Kosanovic, Josif Ilic and Siegfried Held.

Change in plans

When the MFA announced two years ago that Heese had agreed to return for a second spell (his first stint was between 1988 and 1991), Carmel Busuttil, the former Malta captain and one of the most decorated players in the history of the local game, was unveiled as Heese's new assistant.

Dr Mifsud said at the time that the MFA's plan was for Busuttil to gain more coaching experience through his working association with Heese before taking sole charge of the team after the end of the World Cup qualifying campaign in 2005.

This arrangement fell through, however, when Busuttil, who runs the Buzu Soccer School, gave up his post as assistant to Heese last summer after failing to reach an agreement with the MFA over the terms of his contract.