Rix's players talk tough off the field

IT SEEMS that there was more purpose shown in the Hearts dressing room during the post match debriefing than the team had demonstrated on the Ibrox pitch. With Graham Rix digesting his first defeat as head coach - in a disturbing five-match run with one solitary victory, and that a slender home win over Livingston - some of the Hearts players spoke their minds to the manager in the aftermath of their dispiriting 1-0 concession to Rangers.

The man in charge maintains that he has the confidence of his men but as Hearts stumble from one disheartening display to the next, the frustration of the players is beginning to mirror that of the supporters.

Goalkeeper Craig Gordon was not explicit about what was uttered in the changing area after the final whistle but a downcast demeanour and the suggestion inherent in some of his comments would indicate that a few leading lights in the Hearts squad are either frustrated or disillusioned as they pine for a return to their previous form.

There is nothing unhealthy about a frank debate but the doubts grow over whether Rix can match, never mind surpass, what George Burley managed to do in his curtailed tenure as manager.

Hearts keeper Gordon seemed rather depressed that his team could concede one goal and not look remotely like netting one themselves to motor on back into this match. "We could have played all day and not scored," lamented a soft-spoken Gordon. Indeed Hearts might have struggled for a fortnight without piercing the Rangers net.

"Something has to get sorted out," sighed Gordon. "Everyone said their piece. The coach started it off. He had his say and some of the internationalists had their say too. It's not an unusual thing for players to get involved in discussions. I think it's natural not to be happy when you get beat but a few of the boys were very unhappy with the way we played. Nobody was having a go at each other - but we have addressed a few situations.

"It's figuring out where we go from here," expanded the Hearts No.1. "We have to get back the spirit that got us to the top of the league. We started the season on fire but we lacked a wee bit of self-belief out there today. We have to play to our strengths."

The Hearts team was approaching full-strength here, so is it Rix that is restricting them, or, as Rix implied, are the players struggling to cope with the pressure of being in the title race?

Meanwhile, the Rangers players are atoning for the blame apportioned to them for some sorry performances.

The hosts were not imperious yesterday but could still have won by a bigger margin such was the relative impotence of their opponents. The fact is Hearts have deteriorated since seeing off Rangers at Tynecastle in September. While Alex McLeish's side has hardly come on leaps and bounds since then, the improvement has been adequate to achieve revenge, even if Rangers still trail Hearts by a whopping 11 points in the table.

Undoubtedly Chris Burke was Rangers' most effervescent and best performer, the young Scottish winger flummoxing Hearts defenders on more than one occasion and setting up Lovenkrands a few times. Burke talked of his own rich vein of form and the restoration of Lovenkrands in the hearts of the Rangers fans. He considers the enigmatic Dane a close friend and they room together on trips.

As far as Lovenkrands remaining at Rangers is concerned, Burke said: "I'm confident he'll stay and I think he is too. Peter is a great asset. He offers so much pace and he's putting the ball in the net. Defenders don't know how to handle him."

In Burke, Lovenkrands and Thomas Buffel, Rangers currently have a forward trio that is reaping dividends for McLeish, compensating well for the absent Dado Prso and Nacho Novo.

With Villarreal next up in the Champions League, Burke still likes to look back at Inter Milan as his personal watershed and the game that got Rangers back on their feet and believing in themselves again.

"That match gave us confidence and we took it into the win over Kilmarnock," he said. "I'm not giving up the title. Whoever wins this season will have the least amount of points in a while. We have just got to look after our performances."

Some despondent Hearts players, after an Ibrox display that lacked purpose and imagination, are analysing their own performances and wondering where exactly they go from here and perhaps whether the unproven Rix can take them there.

Taken from the Scotsman