Rix new favourite for Hearts job but fans unimpressed

STUART BATHGATE
CHIEF SPORTS WRITER

GRAHAM Rix has leapt to the front of the queue to become the next head coach of Hearts, but there is some way to go before the appointment is confirmed. The former Chelsea first-team coach was at Tynecastle on Saturday to see Hearts defeat Dundee United 3-0, and although neither he nor the club would confirm they had had talks about the vacancy, it is understood that discussions have taken place.

The key question now is how Vladimir Romanov and his son Roman react to the backlash against the appointment of a man who was sentenced to 12 months in jail in 1999 for having sex with a 15-year-old girl. It is unclear when the club's majority shareholder and chairman became aware of Rix's criminal record, but what is certain is that his appointment would be another public-relations disaster for the club.

Last night a poll on a Hearts supporters' internet site had 86 per cent of respondents voting 'No' to Rix's appointment. His conviction is just one element of that resistance, the other being the fact that he hardly has the stature in the game to compare with some of the names previously linked with the vacancy.

If they were to appoint Rix, Hearts would also be doing things the wrong way round. Previous briefings from the club have stressed that the aim is to appoint a director of football first, and then have him involved in the appointment of a coach to work under him. Romanov senior has concluded that such a structure is the best way of minimising misunderstandings between the football side of the club and the board of directors, and it had been previously envisaged that someone such as Sir Bobby Robson or Claudio Ranieri would take the senior post. Ranieri has been ruled out, while Sir Bobby admitted that he had hoped to be appointed by now.

Increasingly beleaguered by bad publicity following the departures in recent weeks of manager George Burley, chief executive Phil Anderton and chairman George Foulkes, Hearts attempted to shut up shop yesterday, their only comment being a 'no comment'. "The club has no comment to make regarding the managerial position at this time," a spokesperson said. Rix, too, declined to comment.

Opposition from the club's supporters is sure to grow in the coming days, but it remains to be seen whether anyone within Tynecastle or Riccarton will dare to offer the Romanovs any unsolicited advice on the matter. Club employees had hoped that the next managerial appointment would trump that of Burley, putting an end to the disappointment at his departure, just as the arrival of the former Scotland international mollified many who had complained about the treatment of his predecessor, John Robertson.

Rix, 48, has not had a staff post in football since leaving Oxford in March and is currently a scout for Wolves. He made his reputation as a player with Arsenal, where he spent 14 seasons. He moved on to Le Havre and Caen then to Dundee, where he made just 14 league appearances, in the 1992-93 season, before retiring.

The England international briefly came out of retirement to play for Chelsea, and was appointed assistant manager at Stamford Bridge in 1996. Imprisoned in March 1999, he served six months and then resumed his job at Chelsea, moving on two years later to become manager of Portsmouth.

"Graham was - and is - the most successful English coach at Chelsea," his friend Jim Duffy said on Radio Scotland yesterday. "He won FA Cups, the European Cup Winners' Cup, a Charity Shield and the League Cup while he was first-team coach at Stamford Bridge.

"Graham has gained fantastic experience throughout his career. He didn't do well at Oxford, but in a relative sense he did well at Portsmouth, who had struggled for several years. He bought Peter Crouch for £1million [and] sold him for £5m, and he went to join Liverpool and play for England. Sometimes people look at the negative side of a career and he didn't do well at Oxford, but I think that was the wrong job for him.

"But it may be a case of Hearts throwing a carrot to take us in one direction and then they announce someone else completely. It wouldn't surprise me with Hearts."

Vialli also backed Rix to take over at Tynecastle, although added that he had received no approach himself from the Edinburgh club. "I really hope my good friend, Graham Rix, is going to take it, because he really deserves the opportunity," Vialli told Sky TV.

"That would be great for him, so, hopefully, by tomorrow, he will be appointed." Such an early resolution, however, is now improbable.

Sir Bobby, meanwhile, admitted yesterday that if things had gone smoothly he would have been a Hearts employee by now. "I was hoping to have been the new manager by now," the former England manager said.

"Negotiations were progressing splendidly with chief executive Phil Anderton and chairman George Foulkes until the day of drama on Monday when both men left.

"I'm in limbo now, with the ball very much in the court of the owner Vladimir Romanov and his son, Roman. Mr Romanov knows the terms under which I would become manager, both financial and the way I would run the first team, but, of course he may prefer a less experienced manager who would work with the players hand-picked by the owner.

"I expressed my disappointment last week at Phil and George leaving the club, but I honestly don't believe that will affect Mr Romanov's decision. I think if he sees me as the man to take Hearts forward, he will appoint me. If he wants a yes-man as a manager, he won't."

Taken from the Scotsman