Only the lonely

A verbal battering awaits Graham Rix at Pittodrie today. But tactics rather than morals should ultimately decide his fate, writes Alan Campbell

THE talking, much of it excruc iating for Graham Rix, is over. At a bitingly cold Pittodrie this afternoon, Hearts’ new head coach will come under intense scrutiny for his coaching ability and not his morals.

The latter, no doubt, will be the subject of chants from Aberdeen supporters, but the vast majority watching the live Setanta match will be less concerned with the sideshow than the main act. Namely, can Rix, and Hearts, continue the remarkable start to the season conjured up by former manager George Burley?

The portents, despite the personal abuse he will have to suffer today, are good for Rix. If the extraordinary events since October 22, when Burley abruptly departed the club, have proved anything, it is that while the Hearts’ squad may not be the deepest in Scotland, it is the most resilient.

Informed of Burley’s removal from Tynecastle less than four hours before kick off against Dunfermline, Steven Pressley and his team-mates responded by securing victory in the opening 23 minutes. Four nights later, Kilmarnock were beaten 1-0. The only bad result, at the end of a mentally and physically draining week, was the 2-0 derby defeat to Hibs; even then, the goals only arrived after striker Edgaras Jankauskas had been dismissed.

That single league defeat of the season was followed, 48 hours later, by the astonishing news that chief executive Phil Anderton and chairman George Foulkes had also left the Lithuanian yoke. No matter. Five days on, Hearts trounced Dundee United 3-0 in one of their most convincing displays of the season.

Caretaker manager John McGlynn played an important role in the garnering of nine points, but the impression remains that this is a Hearts side with the collective will that is the hallmark of champions.

Rix, in short, is not inheriting an Oxford United or even Portsmouth. The wisest thing he can do, as he has acknowledged, is tinker as little as possible in the seven games which remain before January and the opening of the next transfer window.

“I’ve said all along, ‘If it ain’t broke don’t fix it’,” he confirmed. “I’m going to change very little. I’d be setting myself up for a big fall if I did. Since I’ve arrived here the main thing has been to give the guys self-belief and confidence.”

It may seem incredible that a group of players could be relatively unscathed by the events of the last four weeks, but the reality is that only Burley’s sacking would have left a mark. The evidence is that they have not only accepted Rix as his replacement, but have been thriving since his introduction to the Riccarton training complex.

That’s not to say that a twelfth win out of 15 is a foregone conclusion against an Aberdeen side that has only won four league games, but equally there is nothing to suggest that Hearts are going to collapse under their new coach. Rix, the obvious jokes about his namesake Brian of comedy fame aside, is not responsible for the farcical events of the last month which, we have learned, included a botched attempt to lure Burley back to Tynecastle.

Today’s game at Pittodrie is highly important for the head coach, whose life would be made much easier by a winning start – but more pertinent to Hearts’ title aspirations will be Vladimir Romanov’s actions in the transfer window.

Until very recently, it had been assumed that Hearts’ new owner would sanction the new signings which Burley had continually insisted (perhaps to Romanov’s chagrin) were essential in January. Were the opposite to happen, and players such as Craig Gordon and Andy Webster sold to reduce mounting debts, Rix’s task would become impossible.

Roman Romanov, the chairman and acting chief executive, last week vehemently denied there would be January sales. In the interim it will be the head coach’s job to win the bulk of the 21 points that are available up to and including the December 31 game against Celtic.

“I want as many good players here as we can get,” Rix said, while not elaborating on whether a budget is being made available for January. “We’ve got a really good squad, but if certain key players were injured we would struggle to maintain the quality. That’s something we have to work on.”

There is no immediate sign of a sporting director being appointed, and sources close to the club said there was no rush to fill the post. While true, Rix – understandably given the ordeal he has faced since being appointed – is not yet relaxed in his media dealings. Detailed discussions with the new director about the January signings will also need to start soon.

As far as today’s game is concerned, Rix’s only memory of Pittodrie is a pre-season friendly there when he played for Arsenal.

“I know it’s a hard place to go to, but I’d be a liar if I said I knew a lot about them,” he admitted. “I’ve watched videos, read match reports and spoken to John McGlynn and people like Jim Duffy. I’m aware they’re not having as good a season as last, but we have to concentrate on our own performance and keep this momentum going.

“The players are up at the top of the league for a reason, and my job is to maintain the tremendous spirit, determination and drive that they’ve shown.”

Mention of Duffy, a former Hibs manager, is guaranteed to raise the temperature of some Hearts supporters, but Rix reiterated his previous pledge that it would not be politic to employ his former Chelsea, Portsmouth and Dundee colleague at Tynecastle.

A feature of Hearts’ performances this season has been their high tempo start to matches and Rix said he didn’t intend to discourage that. “It’s a massive thing these days scoring the first goal,” he pointed out.

Roman Bedner, who hasn’t played since being injured against Rangers at Tynecastle, is not quite ready for his comeback, but otherwise Rix has a full squad to choose from on a day when he embarks on another, and he hopes final, rehabilitation.

20 November 2005

Taken from the Sunday Herald