Hearts 0 - 0 Inverness CT

ROB ROBERTSON at Tynecastle December 12 2005

The Rix revolution at Hearts is slowly beginning to appear as successful as a failed uprising in a banana republic. Three draws and only one win since he took over is not a record that makes league champions.

Hearts take on Rangers next Saturday and a defeat at Ibrox will lead to further questions as to why club owner Vladimir Romanov sacked George Burley and appointed a man who was not even first choice for Crawley Town.

They have also drawn a potentially difficult Scottish Cup home tie against Kilmarnock and it will be ironic if Jim Jefferies, still a hero at Hearts, helps to kill their season stone-dead when the sides meet in January.

At the end of their turgid encounter with Inverness the home supporters turned on the manager with a chorus of jeers ringing round Tynecastle. The anger and frustration among the sell-out crowd was justified. For all the talk of Inverness' magnificent away record, surely so far into a season the opposition can work out a plan to break them down? Certainly Hearts could not do it.

Indeed, this was their worst home performance of the season by a long way and, with a little bit of luck, Inverness could have stolen all three points.

What will worry Romanov is that Rix was out-thought tactically by Craig Brewster, the Inverness manager. They packed the midfield, mostly with defensive-minded players, and allowed Hearts no width. Rix did his cause no good by deciding to start with Paul Hartley, an attacking midfielder, in a holding role to replace the much-maligned but badly missed Julien Breiller, who was suspended.

It was a mystery even to Hartley. "With Julien not playing, the gaffer asked me to sit deeper to give us protection at the back. Obviously, my game is going forward but if the manager asks me to do the job, I'll do my best."

Samuel Camazzola, who was signed as a defensive midfielder, was sitting on the bench while Stephen Simmons, who had a dreadful game, could also have played the holding role.

The lack of midfield inspiration cost Hearts dear and even the usually magnificent Rudi Skacel looked a pale shadow of his usual self.

Up front Hearts were dreadful. Calum Elliot and Michal Pospisil had no understanding whatsoever and the young Scot's first touch let him down too often.

Inverness, who have now lost only once in their past 17 away matches, will cause problems to any club away from home. There is an argument for any side which comes up against them to play 4-5-1 to try to counteract their style of play.

Over the 90 minutes the Highland side had the better chances. A David Proctor effort was cleared off the line by Robbie Neilson, and Brewster missed an easy first-half chance. Craig Gordon pulled off a great second-half save from the veteran Inverness captain and there were numerous other opportunities.

Hearts can look on the home draw as a point gained rather than two dropped, considering the fact the away side played the better football.

Rix admitted that he knew beating Inverness at home was always going to be difficult. "I felt it was a very frustrating afternoon for us," said Rix. "They are well-drilled and difficult to break down. As for the Scottish Cup draw against Kilmarnock, all you can ask for at this stage of the competition is a home draw and that is what we have got."

Inverness players jumped on a train to Newcastle on Saturday evening for their Christmas night out and they also were celebrating a home Scottish Cup tie against Ayr United, which they will expect to win.

Their other reason for celebration was the return to first-team duty of Stuart McCaffrey. The big defender needed an operation on his back which kept him out for around a year and he returned on Saturday to replace the suspended Darren Dods.

"It is good to be back in the side after such a long time," he said. "It has been a long time out and it was good to be part of a team which played so well."

Brewster was equally pleased with his side's performance. Indeed, they might even have had two penalties. The ball clearly struck Neilson on the arm with six minutes left but referee Calum Murray waved away appeals, judging ball played man.

Although that was the correct call, his decision to disallow a Ross Tokely strike because Craig Dargo was offside was less clear-cut, and Inverness player Barry Wilson for one felt they were denied victory by the referee.

Such a result would have put even more pressure on Rix, whom the Hearts supporters have still not accepted completely. The next few weeks are crucial for the Hearts manager and any more slip-ups will increase the anger.

Romanov was in the stands for Saturday's game and would not have liked what he saw. His patience ran out with Burley despite the fact his team had not lost a league game.

A couple of performances like the one against Inverness and the man from Lithuania may once again be thinking of getting rid of his manager, but this time with some justification.

Taken from the Herald