Romanov men easy pickings

NEVER mind who is picking the Hearts team. Aberdeen picked them off in a manner that put a tin lid on a week to make the Tynecastle faithful weep. Yet, though the temptation is to attribute everything that goes wrong to owner Vladimir Romanov's capacity for conflict and coaching, it was what Jimmy Calderwood's team did right that condemned Hearts to only their second home defeat of the season.

The Pittodrie men may have required two second-half deflections to overturn an early opener from Calum Elliot, but they were the better side for all but the first half hour and, were it not for Craig Gordon pulling off enough stops to fill a CD compilation, the victory would have been even more comfortable for the visitors.

The discomfiture felt by all those of a Hearts disposition will be married to frustration that five points have now been dropped in the two games since it emerged Romanov was undermining his head coach's authority over the matter of team selection - assuming control of this for Tuesday's 1-1 draw away to Dundee United.

Any lingering hopes of title success must now surely have gone, but the central issue with the Tynecastle club last night remained the level of the owner's interference in Graham Rix's domain. The Englishman insisted it was non-existent for Aberdeen's visit.

"He didn't try to have any say. I picked the team and accept full responsibility," he said. Later, as Rix faced a barrage of questions about the why and wherefores of alterations made to the team in the course of the afternoon, he jokingly asked the assembled press if they wanted him to be responsible because his team "were crap today". He was dismissive of any suggestion that could be attributed to any off-field distractions. "We can't use that as an excuse," he said. "That would be feeble. We are professionals who have to do our jobs whatever the circumstances and we have five, six, seven players off the pace."

To an enquiry as to whether he had discussed the situation with Romanov, Rix revealed that he had met the Lithuanian the night before. "We had a very good meeting but who picks the team wasn't discussed much. What's gone is gone and what concerns me is the way we performed," said the head coach, who also gave an unequivocal "yes" when asked if he was confident of being in charge for next week's home encounter with Motherwell.

Rix, meanwhile, washed his hands of the meeting that some Hearts players had held with the Romanovs, even though they had sought assurances all week that their head coach would be the sole arbiter of team affairs. "It is nowt to do with me, not worth worrying about for me," he said, later insisting: "I don't think my credibility is in doubt at all".

Steven Pressley, Rudi Skacel, Takis Fyssas, and Edgaras Jankauskas are believed to have been in attendance in discussions that produced the blandest of club statements: "We had a meeting and have found a solution to the issues raised this week. We feel the result will be positive for the club. All other matters will be kept in the club."

Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon talked post-match of the problems facing some among the squad. "Some people are in difficult situations," he said. "You have people on loan from Kaunas and nobody wants to upset the apple cart. We want to keep this as settled as possible and if we can resolve this smoothly and easily that is the way we will do it."

Gordon would welcome something similar within the team. "It is no secret every manager likes to keep a settled team as much as he can. There are only a few clubs who can afford to rotate a squad as much as we have."

Hearts' championship challenge ended in unlikely circumstances yesterday. Only a week ago, they ruthlessly dispatched Aberdeen from the Scottish Cup, even if they were helped to their 3-0 victory by dubious refereeing decisions. More, the Pittodrie men entered their latest Tynecastle fixture without a victory at the ground in seven years.

The introduction of Ferne Snoyl at the interval brought a directness to Aberdeen's approach that had Hearts constantly on their heels. As did slinging Scott Severin up front. Feyenoord loan-signing Snoyl, who had impressed in the 2-0 victory over Rangers in midweek, softened up the home backline from the left and it was from his shot that the equaliser resulted.

Gordon palmed the low effort away, but when the ball was then turned back into the box by Severin it struck the thigh of Steven Pressley to send it goalwards. And an unexpected change of direction was central to Aberdeen's winner two minutes from time, a 25-yard effort from Chris Clark taking a deflection off Paul Hartley at the edge of the area before spinning into the net.

It was an encounter that spun on its axis and Hearts enjoyed a start that was head-turning and created several openings even before Skacel drove the ball across the six-yard box from close to the left touchline for Elliot to turn it in. But as the period wore on, Hearts seemed to turn off, though perhaps this had much to do with Aberdeen having gradually switched on to their tasks.

If not for Gordon, Calderwood's men would have gone into the break ahead, with the keeper equal to free-kicks from Barry Nicholson and Danny Griffin and a measured drive from Jamie Smith. And for all that he finished on the losing side, the performance of the Hearts No.1 demonstrated that concern over what is going on behind the scenes at Tynecastle doesn't mean the players at the club need be affected when they are stage front.

Taken from the Scotsman