Rix handed six months to justify appointment as Hearts head coach

STUART BATHGATE
CHIEF SPORTS WRITER

GRAHAM Rix will have just six months to prove his worth as Hearts' first-team coach, having signed a contract only until the end of the season. The 48-year-old will work under a director of football, a position the club hope to fill within the next two weeks, but will be responsible for training and selecting the team, according to Hearts' chairman and acting chief executive, Roman Romanov.

Rix, who had been scouting for Wolves after being sacked as the manager of Oxford United, called his new job "an unbelievable opportunity". Many Hearts fans reacted with similar disbelief to the appointment of a man who is on the Sex Offenders Register after being convicted in 1999 of sex with a 15-year-old girl, although last night it appeared the majority were willing to accept the appointment as a fait accompli.

The patience of the club's supporters has been tested in recent weeks by the sacking of the manager, George Burley, and the chief executive, Phil Anderton, as well as the departure of the chairman, George Foulkes. The credibility of Vladimir Romanov, Hearts' majority shareholder, has been damaged by those events and by the recruitment of Rix, but last night Roman Romanov, Vladimir's son, insisted that the Doncaster-born coach had the right qualities to succeed in the post.

"We would like to ask the fans to give Graham Rix a chance and judge him on results," Romanov said. "We talked to him about his conviction and he is an honest and open man.

"In Russia, we have a saying that a man beaten by life is worth two men who are unbeaten. If a person who has made a mistake can go through that, he is capable of becoming a better man.

"He made a mistake, he was punished for it and the man deserves another chance. I don't think he should be punished for it for the rest of his life. He's smart enough not to make this mistake again and can only become a better man."

Romanov admitted that he had been counselled against giving Rix the job, but insisted the advice came from people who were not looking at the full picture. "A lot of people advised us not to make this appointment, because they only saw it from the perspective of Graham's problem in 1999. We looked at his knowledge."

The acting chairman also said that he had been surprised by the hostility of fans to the appointment. "We didn't expect this kind of reaction, because after he got out of jail in 1999 he worked for Chelsea for two years, then for Portsmouth and Oxford and there was no such reaction.

"It feels to me that there is maybe too much attention when somebody comes to Hearts. We try to bury the guy before he even has a chance to prove himself. When we met him he showed great desire to be involved, and if you put all that together with ability and skill I think you have a good coach."

Having been in the running to manage the English Conference side Crawley Town up until last weekend, Rix admitted he thought the first approach from Hearts was actually a hoax call by his old friend, the former Dundee manager Jim Duffy. He asked Hearts supporters to give him the chance to prove himself, and, echoing the words of Romanov, insisted he had been punished for what he called his mistake and did not deserve to be vilified for the rest of his life.

"I will say this only once. Seven years ago, I made a mistake. Once I realised I had made a mistake, I held my hands up and I was punished.

"I accepted that punishment, and it was a tough time for me and my family. But does that mean I have to be punished for the rest of my life? I don't really think so. I have tried my best to rebuild my life and career and this is a fantastic opportunity to do that.

"I know the true story that I've never ever said. I've tried to deal with it in a dignified manner. It's tough - probably tougher for my family.

"My forte is working with the players, getting the best out of them. This morning was such a relief, working on the training pitch. It was a whole new me. I felt born again. I've got qualities that these players need at the moment."

Rix's legal status as a sex offender means he is not allowed to work unaccompanied with under-18s until he is taken off the register in four years. He knows that during matches he will be on the receiving end of insulting chants, but said he had adequate experience of coping with that.

"I've been to Old Trafford and Tottenham with Chelsea. People shout abuse at anybody. They don't know the full story."

Rix is aware that only success on the pitch will win the supporters over and give him the chance of staying beyond the end of the season. If he fails, his time at the club could be written off as nothing more than a brief, unhappy chapter.

Taken from the Scotsman