Rix faces the music

What should not be forgotten about the turmoil at Hearts in recent weeks is that it has been self-inflicted. They are in a state of flux solely because they have placed themselves there. George Burley never lost a Premierleague game as Hearts manager and, plainly, should never have lost his job either. Rix should not be in the position he is now. Nobody but Burley should be. Vladimir Romanov’s reported plea to Burley to come back after all, barely a week after his departure suggests the club’s owner might even agree with that assessment.

Why spend so much on severing ties with Burley? And is that related to how little they have spent on his replacement? Perhaps there were better managers than Burley to take Hearts on even further, that theory made some kind of sense, but was Rix really among them? It sounds unfair to judge that before Rix has begun, but the very fact he was applying for a vacant position at non-league Crawley Town demonstrates how low his managerial stock had fallen after recent failure at Oxford.

Much has been said about the negative publicity afforded to Rix’s off-field history on arrival. So much, in fact, that it has been overlooked that there was also scepticism based on strictly football terms. When asked whether it concerned him that Hearts supporters doubted his football credentials, Rix was dismissive. “Oh, did they?” he said, in a tone, part incredulous, part sarcastic, wholly unpleasant. “Does it worry me? Not really. I’m confident in me own ability. Obviously this is a massive club with a lot of ambition, but I’ve got a good squad of players.”

This was the first line of questioning that Rix took exception to. The second was a query as to whether his first real test will be his first setback when it comes. “Too many negative questions, pal,” he snarled in response. Nothing like as negative, though, as what will be asked if the results prior to his arrival are not maintained.

In many respects, Rix has what you might call an enviable task. The new Hearts head coach takes over a team with momentum, a realistic title chance, players of genuine quality impressing in a settled formation; plus the promise both of nobody being sold and a few more being introduced in January. These are the positives and Rix is only willing to deal in these. That is his prerogative, but there are some things which will have to be asked in the weeks and months ahead whether he wants to answer them or not. Before the month is out he should prepare for: how much interference is he having to tolerate? How much authority does his new director of football have? What does he need to do to extend his stay beyond the end of the season when his chairman, bizarrely talking in Champions League terms already, presumably is taking domestic success as read? Negative questions? Necessary ones, more like. If anything the Hearts support are not being questioning enough just now. Sure the team are flying, but the higher you go, the nastier the crash. There is something troubling about this Hearts revolution under the Romanovs, and that is that the club could yet end up precisely back where it started.

On Friday, Rix was full of how many people have contacted him wishing him well, but rather quieter on the fact he himself hasn’t done the obvious and contacted Burley. There is a lot he doesn’t know yet his predecessor could have told him. Rix insists “not a word has been said” on specific selections, but plenty will be. If he plays Saulius Mikoliunas.

If he doesn’t play Julien Brellier. These are, respectively, Vladimir Romanov’s hero and villain. “I’ve said to all the players, ‘Whatever happened before has nothing to do with me, if I think you should be in the team you’re in it, if I don’t, you’re not’. Can’t be any fairer than that I don’t think. It’s down to me to pick the team,” claimed Rix. Much as Burley did once, too.

Defeat today and Rix’s first decision will be whether to change anything. The more it becomes his side, the more vulnerable he is to criticism. Right now, sensibly, he is doing as little as he can. Having watched from the stands as Hearts beat Dundee United at Tynecastle with glorious assurance, he knows all his leading players, notably Rudi Skacel, Paul Hartley, Andy Webster and Craig Gordon, are in prime form. “I’m going to change very little, how can I? I’d be stupid to do that,” said Rix. “I’d be setting myself up for a big fall.”

What would represent success and failure for Rix from here? Well, sadly for him, we know who is doing the interpreting of that. In reasonable terms, second or even a close third would be laudable, but that might not translate into what a certain Lithuanian-based Russian is after. “What me and Mr Romanov speak about has nothing to do with you,” said Rix when this was mentioned, his wearing chirpiness vanishing at the hint of being asked something demanding.

His attire said a lot about the relaxed image he was trying to convey, an open-necked black shirt with a glimpse of a goldchain. Certainly, the public mood has softened, the same Hearts fans who vilified him are now defending him against what they started. “The reception I’ve had from people in Edinburgh, Hearts fans and a few Hibs fans I have to say, has been nothing but positive after the initial reaction,” said Rix. “Hibs fans have shaken my hand in the street and said, ‘I’m a Hibs fan, but I wish you all the best’. Doesn’t mean they won’t boo me when we play them, but it’s nice.”

Rix recalls playing at Pittodrie once. “It was Clive Allen’s only ever game for Arsenal, 45 minutes in a pre-season friendly at Aberdeen in August 1980, then a few days later he got swapped for Kenny Sansom.”

A very Romanov sounding affair that one. Rix should get a little longer to prove himself. Well, you would think so. You wouldn’t put a half-time change of manager past this unpredictable Hearts regime.

Taken from timesonline.co.uk