Rix struggling to come up with right answers

WHEN a football manager peppers his post-match media conference with as many questions as answers, he cannot reasonably complain if it is interpreted as the signs of someone struggling to cope with the job in hand.

Worryingly from a Hearts perspective, that was the impression delivered by first-team coach Graham Rix at Ibrox on Saturday after his team had lamely succumbed to only their second Bank of Scotland Premierleague defeat of the season.

Just five games into Rix's tenure, which has brought a return of just six points from a possible 15, the vibrancy and ambition which characterised Hearts' surge to the top of the SPL earlier in the season is a distant memory for the club's supporters who are growing increasingly restless towards the former England international.

It was Alex McLeish, happy for once to leave the crisis management firmly in the opposition technical area, who made perhaps the most telling observation about the Hearts side who were fortunate not to suffer a heavier loss in Govan.

"Basically, it's the same Hearts team who have been together all season," said the contented Rangers manager as he reflected on a victory which maintained the momentum of his own outfit's mini-revival.

Despite that relative continuity in personnel and selection, however, Hearts are now a pale shadow of the side which defeated Rangers more convincingly at Tynecastle three months ago than the 1-0 scoreline then suggested.

If just one defeat in his five games in charge cannot reasonably be construed as a crisis, there is nonetheless little doubt that Hearts have gone backwards under Rix. His post-match analysis did nothing to suggest he can recover that forward momentum as he admitted he is at a loss to understand the reasons for the slump in form.

"We seem to have lost a little bit of self-belief and confidence," said Rix. "If they don't have confidence when they are near the top of the league, when are they going to have it? That's a big disappointment to me, that we didn't do ourselves justice on a stage like this. The players showed good spirit and worked hard, but we have better quality than we showed today.

"I don't know what it is, we have to get together and have a little chat about it. I spoke to them before the game about being positive, but we never really came out of the traps. That has happened a few times and I have to speak to the players about it. Am I doing the right things or saying the right things? The one game that we did win [against Livingston], we got off to a flier in the first 20 minutes and the things I said before that game were the same things I have before the other games."

The trigger finger of Vladimir Romanov, a stern-faced figure as he trooped out of the Ibrox directors' box at full-time on Saturday, may already be getting itchy. If the club's owner considered George Burley had under-achieved at Hearts, he can hardly believe the present incumbent is meeting his demands. Rix, however, does not believe he is under pressure.

"Not really," he said. "I'm confident I will get time. None of us are happy with the results. You don't always win games you deserve to win, or lose when you deserve to lose but today we got what we deserved.

"We are in it together and have to come through it together. We will."

Paul Hartley's struggle to influence games as insistently and positively as he did earlier in the season is indicative of Hearts' recession. The midfielder's brooding frustration at the general drop in performance level of the team was evident throughout and he offered no defence in conversation afterwards.

"We could have played all day today and not scored," said the Scotland international. "We just huffed and puffed. Fair play to Rangers, they were better than us and deserved to win.

"For the first 12 to 14 games of this season, it was free-flowing football from us but now it looks like we are a wee bit short of confidence. We were blitzing teams in the first 20 minutes of games in those earlier games, but we don't have the same style now. The next two games against Falkirk and Celtic are very important for us, we have got to sort it out.

"We have got good attacking players in the team and we have got to try and work on that. The training is basically the same [under Rix], so I can't put my finger on why it's not working at the moment.

"You are always fearful of Celtic disappearing over the horizon at the top of the table. We are playing catch-up now and the game on New Year's Day against them is a huge one. We are still 11 points clear of Rangers, so we still have a good chance of finishing above them, but we don't want to blow this opportunity of going for the title."

Rangers, who displayed a far greater sense of urgency throughout the 90 minutes without ever scaling any great heights, had already missed three premium scoring chances before they deservedly took the lead ten minutes before half-time.

Peter Lovenkrands, whose resurgence continues in tandem with his contract negotiations, stabbed home his 11th goal of the season from close range after Hamed Namouchi had headed Bob Malcolm's left-wing free-kick back across the penalty area.

With the impish Chris Burke rediscovering his dynamism down the right, Rangers always carried a greater threat than a Hearts side who failed to force a single save of significance from home goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus. McLeish was understandably satisfied with Rangers' first clean sheet in eight games and the achievement of back-to-back victories for the first time since September.

"The edge to our performance was excellent today, it was organised and disciplined," said the Rangers manager. "I said it was time to get the Champions League mentality and concentration back for the SPL games and the players gave it back today. They are gathering confidence again and I'm glad they have reacted to the criticism they have received by showing a tough mentality."

While Hearts' physical approach to the game often bordered on the petty and reckless, they were right to be aggrieved at the dismissal of substitute Saulius Mikoliunas five minutes from time. The Lithuanian winger has clearly been a marked man in the eyes of Scotland's match officials since his infamous clash with linesman Andy Davis last season. Despite having served his sentence, he is still paying the price and it is patently unfair.

Mikoliunas' challenge on Rangers captain Barry Ferguson was injudicious and ill-timed, but in no way malicious and certainly not worthy of the straight red card administered by referee Mike McCurry, who had a wretched afternoon at Ibrox.

"I don't think it was a sending off," observed Hartley, "and I don't know if referees have just got it in for him."

It was, however, the only thing Hearts could complain about with any justification on a day when they otherwise had only themselves to blame.

Taken from the Scotsman