Hearts pay price for Romanov’s meddling

These are not the old days, though. This is the brave new world of Vladimir Romanov, the Lithuanian white knight who led them to believe that the title was a possibility, before denying them the means to that end. Not only do setbacks like these look worse in the light of what happened early in the season, they are caused by it. Graham Rix, their head coach, admitted as much when he tried to explain how the bottom had fallen out of so promising a side. “After their great start, the boys found themselves at the top of the league, with a big club, and there was pressure in that,” he said. “We have to be able to handle that pressure.”

The implication was that they hadn’t so far. By sacking George Burley, under whom Hearts were almost invincible a few months ago, the very forces that made possible the dream have reduced it to pulp. If there is a morbid mood about a team still second in the league, the club have only themselves to blame.

The title was always a tall order, but now it looks out of reach. While the three points by which they trail Celtic is far from an impossible mission, their uncertainty at Ibrox did not bode well. Rix’s controversial appointment is expected to be ratified at a meeting of the SFA’s general purpose committee this week, but after gleaning just six points from his five matches in charge, he cannot be confident about his future.

It’s sad actually. Even were Hearts to have the resources in future years for another challenge, it is unlikely to coincide with a period of such transition for either half of the Old Firm. This season has been a priceless opportunity, lost in almost criminal fashion, although the players can hardly be blamed for that.

Given their starring role in what has been an enthralling campaign, the hope must be that the names of these pioneers from eastern Europe are not allowed to fade before we have even grown familiar with them. When Rix made a double substitution late on, the announcer managed perfectly well with Edgaras Jankauskas and Deividas Cesnauskis, but was so alarmed by the prospect of Saulius Mikoliunas that he resorted to mumbling it. He must have wondered if it had been worth the trouble when the same player was sent off with five minutes left.

There was an odd sense of dislocation about the fixture, as though the action was in another place, or in Hearts’ case, another time. While Romanov’s eccentric operation of the Tynecastle club continues to be the subject of widespread fascination, his team’s remarkable start to the season has taken on the hazy qualities of childhood fantasy.

Rangers, too, are wrestling with standards they have set elsewhere. The Ibrox club will remain box office for as long David Murray is pulling their strings, but however serious they are about closing the gap on the Edinburgh clubs, never mind Celtic, the challenge can only play second fiddle to the symphony that is their European campaign.

Which is not to say that the prospect of next year’s showdown with Villarreal cannot imbue them with the sort of confidence they have been without for much of this season. Rangers and their supporters were certainly perky enough here, although the early stages betrayed the fragility of their confidence, with a jittery Ian Murray not so much taking his eye from the ball as forgetting to fix it there in the first place. “Champions League, you’re having a laugh” was a predictable chant from the visitors’ enclosure, but when the first word was replaced with “premier”, the context of this encounter was clear.

Rangers, though, would not allow the rot to set in, and within half an hour, they were regaining the momentum they had established against Kilmarnock the previous week. Had it not been for a series of missed chances, the most ridiculous of which was Marvin Andrews’ sliding effort at the back post, the home side would have been in front long before Peter Lovenkrands’ opener. Coming to terms with this Rangers team competing in the knockout stages of the Champions League may be something of a rib-tickler for those who have witnessed their domestic form, but the joke now is on Hearts. They did manage to produce one moment of inspiration, when Jankauskas was the architect of a balletic scissors-kick, but the only target he found was Andrews’ face.

Craig Gordon, a busy goalkeeper, said that there had been a heated team meeting afterwards, when all analysed their performances. “We have to keep believing,” he said, but the impression was that that they had already stopped.

Taken from timesonline.co.uk