Hibs fans rally round Robinson

STUART BATHGATE

AT LAST, after months of fruitless toil by Chris Robinson and his allies, supporters are getting behind the embattled chief executive of Hearts. Unfortunately for him, the supporters in question are those of other clubs.

At yesterday’s 1-1 draw at Easter Road, the Hibs fans threw their weight behind the previous efforts of the Aberdeen and Celtic support to praise Robinson and his proposed move to Murrayfield. They did so not only with the predictably banal chants of "Robinson, Robinson, Robinson" heard from the away end at recent Tynecastle matches, but also with a touch of humour.

"There’s only one Gavin Hastings," was the chant at one point of the second half from the East Stand - a chant which Big Gav never heard from the more sedate audience at Murrayfield. In the first half, Craig Gordon was lining up to take a free-kick when, from the same stand, a rugby ball was thrown on to the pitch. The Hearts goalkeeper good-naturedly threw the oval object - two-handed, rugby style - back to a ballboy.

It was the most surreal moment of an afternoon which was otherwise standard derby fare, with both sides showing unstinting effort but little real art, Derek Riordan’s opening goal being the clear exception. But of course, the past couple of months have been pretty surreal for Hearts fans, in the sense that they have felt like a nightmare from which, surely, they would have seen awake.

After all, when the fans of your fiercest rivals start singing in praise of your club’s chief executive, you know these are not normal times. When the Aberdeen support come down midweek and taunt you with chants of "Out by the summer", you look to your club for a bit of reassurance - only then you remember that it is your club itself, or at least its current leadership, which wants you out by the summer.

After initially being slow to appreciate the enormity of what Robinson is attempting, the Hearts support are now fully awakened to the danger, to the extent that, in the words of one banner on display yesterday, they are prepared to proclaim him as "Pieman Hibee in disguise". This is a complete about-turn from the days when Robinson could convince a section of the support that anyone who criticised him had an anti-Hearts agenda, and, while no-one seriously thinks he is a Hibs supporter, the majority certainly believe he is acting against the interests of his own club.

For long enough, he tried to shrug off any opposition, and appeared to be more interested in attracting corporate clients and Old Firm fans to Murrayfield than he was in convincing the Hearts support of the merits of the move. Now, though, even a man as thick-skinned as he is has begun to understand that you cannot simply presume that the ordinary supporters will make a herd-like migration from Tynecastle to Murrayfield, which is why over the past few days he has attempted to sound more conciliatory.

The statements to BBC radio and television yesterday about having his eye on a potential new site were evidence of that: although they were risibly unconvincing, they were an attempt by Robinson to suggest that, if the fans only put up with Murrayfield for two or three years, everything might turn up all right in the end.

Friday’s announcement had a similar purpose. The formation of four working groups, including supporters, to discuss details of the proposed move to the rugby ground, is designed to co-opt the fans, to involve them, essentially, in working against themselves. As such, it is all too reminiscent of those old-school primary teachers who, when you had committed some supposed offence, would ask what punishment you thought you deserved.

Robinson’s supposed "consultation" with the fans is nothing more than a presentational stunt. He and his spin doctors ask the supporters to be open-minded, when they themselves have long since closed their minds.

Of course, there is one way in which Robinson can prove he is sincere about listening to the vast majority of fans, and that is by turning up at the ground this morning, clearing his desk, then tendering his resignation.

Similarly, it was curious to see Eric Milligan turn up at Tynecastle on Friday and plead for a show of unity in these troubled times. Eric old boy, over 90 per cent of supporters are already united - against a move to Murrayfield. Recognise reality, and accept that you would be better off working with the people rather than with a self-seeking businessman who is desperately out of his depth.

Regime change is coming at Hearts. The timing of it is the only remaining uncertainty. The Dundee United supporters may be the next to have a chance to gloat when they come visiting on Saturday. They could also be the last.

Taken from the Scotsman