Life at the top is getting much harder, says Smith Jefferies sets out battling Hearts' rearguard tactical stall to perfection

Ian Paul

3 Feb 1997

IT MIGHT have been one of the more bizarre weekends of his season, when his team dropped two points but gained a point in the great race, but Rangers manager Walter Smith used the combined fate of his team's draw and Celtic's defeat at Tannadice to illustrate his conviction that the premier division is a lot tougher to win than many people believe.

Knowing that his remarks will inevitably be seen by some as a back-handed compliment to himself, Smith still took the gamble to say: ''I have always felt that it is wrong to think of this as a soft league.

The fact that Rangers have won eight titles in a row has devalued it, but ask the teams who have challenegd us over the years, Aberdeen, Hearts, Motherwell and Celtic, how easy it is to win it.

''The results this weekend show that it is anything but easy.

Rangers and Celtic have to be at their best to overcome the opposition in this division.'' The Ibrox manager rails against the assumption, mostly by their own fans, that Rangers only have to turn up to be champions these days, and went on to instance why the title is not something you collect as of right.

''The nature of this league where teams meet each other four times allows clubs to adjust their tactics and make it difficult for us.

Hearts had played us three times for instance, and today, they made it very hard for us to beat them.

''You have to be on top of your game to win these matches.'' Smith also pointed out that teams lower down than Hearts can be equally tough to overcome.

''The amount of effort teams put in against Rangers and Celtic to bridge the gap in quality can belie their position.'' None of this should be interpreted as reducing any credit due to Hearts for a fine performance which could have ended in a victory but for the remarkable goalkeeping talents of Andy Goram.

His save in the last minute from a fierce Neil Pointon volley will be as good as I will see this or any other season.

In fact, Smith felt Hearts did their work well.

''We had the bulk of the play but Hearts defended well and restricted us to few real opportunities.'' The manager was not for making much of the point gained as a result of Celtic's defeat.

''We have still to go to Tannadice.'' My guess is that there is still some drama left in the race, especially as both contenders will be coming up against teams fighting for their premier survival and, despite those who believe a bigger league would be an improvement, it is that factor which will inject serious competition into every match the big two play.

For Hearts, the satisfaction of doing well and getting something out of a game against Rangers was considerable.

Manager Jim Jefferies readily admitted he had set out the tactical stall to halt the champions and hope his team could snatch a win on the counter-attack.

''We played the way we wanted to play and got the result we deserved,'' he said, ''and I was particularly pleased with the outstanding display of Paul Ritchie.'' Jefferies had left out Ritchie last week after speaking to him about his form.

''The lad felt he had not been at the top of his form.

I had told him after his great season last year that things would be harder this year.

However, it is the test of a good player to come back and do what he did today.'' Stefano Salvatori was another star turn for Hearts but so, too, was John Robertson, who showed there is more to his game than goal scoring, however adept he is at that.

Rangers were not as threatening without injured Paul Gascoigne and Jorg Albertz, a flu victim, but that was hardly a surprise and Alan McLaren had a hard day's work keeping tabs on his old team mate at Tynecastle, Robertson.

Jefferies left out Jim Hamilton in favour of Neil McCann because he felt the pace of the ex-Dundee man would be more of a threat to Rangers.

He was probably right, but it was one of those decisions by which managers sink or swim.

Jefferies is still afloat.

McCann was the man who brought out the first of two memorable saves from Goram in the late minutes.

He cut in from the right and hit a fine shot, which the keeper saw in time to throw himself into a breathtaking save.

McCann put his hands to his head in a gesture of disbelief and a little later Pointon found himself applauding the keeper when he touched away his volley.

It might be that the title will be decided by the goalie, rather than the goalscorers.

Next League games: Hearts - Kilmarnock (h) Rangers - Dunfermline (a).

Taken from the Herald