Players earn Rix some breathing space

IT WAS a rocky ride at times, but after two unconvincing draws on the road Hearts are back on track. They ran the risk late on of losing their 100 per cent home record in the SPL, and should really have put the issue beyond doubt by half-time, yet in the end the only thing which really mattered was that they had won for the first time under Graham Rix. The three points took them back to the top of the SPL, albeit temporarily, and have given the first-team coach some breathing space.

Rix has claimed that the games at Pittodrie and Fir Park were always going to be difficult, but it was how those draws came about rather than the dropped points in themselves which were of concern to the Edinburgh club's supporters. A woefully lacklustre first half against Aberdeen was followed by something similar at Motherwell, where the problem of fighting back from a goal down was exacerbated by Rix's decision to play with just one man up front.

The former England player's preference for a more considered build-up had appeared to sow some confusion in his team's ranks, as they have shown themselves more than capable of killing off opponents speedily and directly. Rix would be right to contend that the SPL is often too frenetic, but Hearts at their best have been able to combine a high tempo with intelligent football, as the first 15 minutes on Saturday showed.

Rudi Skacel, who had looked out of sorts recently, took little time in showing he had regained both his fitness and his hunger for goal. In the eighth minute the midfielder gained possession some 35 yards out. The fact he had team-mates available divided the attention of the Livingston defence, and he twisted his way round three of them before blasting home a left-foot shot from just inside the box.

Skacel's second effort was simpler but no less deadly. Picking up a ball from the left by Calum Elliot, he made space for himself with his first touch, then slammed the ball past Ludovic Roy with his second. The visiting goalkeeper had a double save from Elliot and Saulius Mikoliunas a minute later, and if he had not made that the contest would have been over there and then.

But Livingston are far more resilient now than they were when Hearts ripped them apart at Almondvale earlier in the season, and they gradually clawed their way back into contention. Rix told the home team at half-time that a third goal would kill off the game, and its failure to materialise from several decent chances spurred on the SPL's bottom club. Just after the hour, Allan Walker's shot from outside the box eluded Craig Gordon and ended up in the corner of the net, and suddenly Hearts had a game on their hands.

Their response was immediate, with Roman Bednar hitting a post, Skacel just shooting past and then Elliot heading over. Michal Pospisil, back in favour with his coach, then came on as a substitute for the tiring Bednar, and with almost his first touch latched on to a through ball and turned and shot in one movement, only to see his snapshot go wide. Shortly afterwards, the Czech striker saw a magnificent effort from out on the right touchline come back off the post with Roy well beaten.

Hearts nearly paid for their profligacy when Gabor Vincze's throw-in found its way into the net, but referee Alan Freeland ruled that the ball had not touched anyone else and it was therefore a goal-kick rather than a goal.

Paul Lambert claimed later that the official would have needed "the eyesight of Clark Kent" to see that the ball had gone straight in, but that was tantamount to asking for a decision on the balance of probability. The referee cannot presume there was a touch: whether he has X-ray eyes or not, he has to see it before awarding a goal. Gordon for one was convinced the decision had been correct. "I knew no-one had touched it and only I could put it in," the goalkeeper said. "So I pulled out at the last minute and let it go for a bye-kick. You've got to be calm in those situations."

There was time in the few moments remaining for Hartley and Pospisil to miss further chances to put the issue beyond doubt, but 2-1 it stayed. Although by no means the complete performance from Hearts, this was, to Rix's relief, a substantial improvement on his previous two games in charge. Although he has assistant coaches to work with, Rix has been very much in the spotlight since his arrival, and invariably looks like he is under pressure. The arrival of a director of football should help in that respect, but it remains unclear when that will happen.

In his programme notes, the club chairman Roman Romanov assured fans that "our efforts continue to secure the services of a top-quality director of football and we are making positive progress with this matter". This is the same Roman Romanov who nine days earlier assured a meeting of supporters that the club already had a director of football working "incognito".

Spin doctors with a nice grasp of semantics might suggest that someone can start working for you informally before his services are secured. Others may conclude that the club's owners are unsure how best to save face after failing to attract some of European football's biggest names to Edinburgh.

Taken from the Scotsman