Frail's time at Tynecastle appears to be over

Stephen Frail is expected to sever his ties with Hearts after being asked to stay away from the Edinburgh club's pre-season preparations.

Frail, a former defender at Tynecastle, has been the caretaker manager since January and has been on the coaching staff since October 2004.

Frail declined to comment and Hearts may make a statement next week.

Meanwhile, Hearts target Vladimir Weiss is the favourite to land the manager's job with Slovakia.

The Slovak football federation has announced that Jan Kocian's contract will be terminated on 30 June.

And Artmedia Bratislava coach Weiss, who has had talks with the Tynecastle club, is being strongly tipped to take over.

Motherwell's Mark McGhee turned down an approach from Hearts in May.

Former France manager Jacques Santini and German legend Lothar Matthaus have emerged as possible candidates for Hearts.

Icelander Gudjon Thordarson has also been linked with the manager's position, along with Andrei Zygmantovich.

MY SPORT: DEBATE What do Hearts fans make of Frail's 'gardening leave'?

A former Russian international, Zygmantovich has coached Belarussian side MTZ Ripo and is now assisting at Kaunas, both clubs with strong connections with Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov.

Frail took charge of team matters in January after Anatoly Korobochka returned to his role as director of football at Tynecastle.

But he could only steer Hearts to a disappointing eighth-placed finish in the SPL.

Korobochka and Frail had been co-managing the side following the departure of Valdas Ivanauskas in March 2007.

Weiss held talks with the Edinburgh club two weeks ago and told BBC Sport: "It would be an honour to manage Hearts.

"I'm very interested as the Scottish league would be a step up from the Slovakian league."

However, the lure of international management may keep Weiss in his homeland.

Slovakia have been drawn in a World Cup qualifying group with Czech Republic, Poland, Northern Ireland, Slovenia and San Marino.