Winning Hearts lose voice on Rix

Ewan Murray at Tynecastle
Monday November 7, 2005
The Guardian

Graham Rix has held talks with Vladimir Romanov, but sources at Tynecastle last night denied his appointment as head coach was imminent. The former Chelsea assistant manager met with the club's majority shareholder in London last week and spent Saturday at Hearts' SPL match.

Rix yesterday refused to deny he had been offered a position by Romanov, but supporters have already expressed concern over the courting of a man who has been out of football since leaving Oxford United 12 months ago. Hearts officials have publicly refused to elaborate on the approach for Rix, in protest at what they perceive as unfair coverage of events at the club over the past two weeks.

The decision over whether to pursue Rix, apparently before a director of football has been chosen, rests with Romanov, who must either opt for a quick appointment or attempt to find the high-profile figure promised to supporters after George Burley's surprise departure.

Though some reports yesterday suggested Rix had "beaten" Sir Bobby Robson and Claudio Ranieri to the position, the former Portsmouth manager is not competing for the same post that Robson and Ranieri have been interviewed for.

Rix has already experienced Scottish football at close quarters, having played for and coached Dundee, and retains close links with Jim Duffy, the former Chelsea coach sacked by Dundee last month.

Saturday's events proved that Romanov's best hope of regaining public support is if his team keep on winning. Goals from Paul Hartley, Rudi Skacel and Michal Pospisil did the damage against a brow-beaten Dundee United, as Hearts returned briefly to the top of the SPL.

Hartley and Skacel ensured the match was over as a contest within the opening half-hour, and within seconds of the impressive Pospisil rounding off a well-deserved victory the home fans dusted off their chant of "Vladimir Romanov".

The caretaker manager John McGlynn, who has recorded three wins in four matches in charge, and his players therefore took the pressure off the Lithuanian banker. "John is a very good guy and a good coach," said the club's Greek defender Takis Fyssas. "He deserves to stay, but that is not my business."

Man of the match: Saulius Mikoliunas (Hearts)

Taken from the Guardian/Observer