Insults turn to silence as Rix shows more weakness

Hearts 1 - 2 Aberdeen
Michael Grant at Tynecastle

SOME first-class insults were exchanged in the course of a rousing clash at Tynecastle. When Hearts supporters taunted the visitors about their fading glories with “you’re not famous anymore”, the away section responded with an equally disparaging “one cup in 40 years” in reference to a trophy haul totally at odds with Tynecastle’s current aspirations.

If only name-calling was all that Hearts had to worry about. Their first home defeat against Aberdeen in seven years amounted to a twisting of the knife after another spell of typical Tynecastle turbulence. A team which is second in the SPL and in the Tennent’s Scottish Cup quarter-finals can hardly be said to be in crisis, but Hearts, temporarily at least, are in a state.

The side has dropped five points out of six in the two matches since it emerged that Graham Rix did not have solitary control of team selection, and players were either unavailable to meet the media last night or wary of saying anything incriminating about an issue which clearly upset them.

Yesterday Rix’s team – let’s give him the benefit of the doubt – was flat, uninspired and defensive, and so was he in a weak post-match attempt to downplay all off-field issues. As a delegation of players left for a meeting with owner and interferer-in-chief Vladimir Romanov, Rix’s comment that their agenda had “nothing to do with me” defied belief. His players have been far more convincing in standing up to Romanov than Rix himself.

Even the usually irresistible impetus Hearts get from playing at home could not see them through against an Aberdeen side who built on their midweek win against Rangers with a performance which grew in stature as the home team’s timidity and vulnerability became apparent.

Jimmy Calderwood was denied full acclaim for defeating Rangers because of the ramifications that had at Ibrox, and Aberdeen’s breezy performance here also deserved recognition regardless of the damage it did to Hearts’ championship challenge.

After six midweek changes which served as the catalyst for the latest Tynecastle drama there were another four to contemplate yesterday. The most noteworthy was an immediate return for Andy Webster, despite the cracks in his relationship with the club which led to him terminating talks on a new contract, and the inclusion of Bruno Aguiar. The Portuguese midfielder was this week’s debutant from the 11 signed in January, and the latest who will have to be pretty sure of himself to maintain morale given the unforgiving competition he will face for a place in the centre of the Hearts team.

Aguiar was alongside Martin Petras, a duo which highlighted the relentless turnover of the team given that neither had played against Hibs a fortnight ago.

Two essentially defensive players protecting a back four seemed more conservative than was strictly necessary for a home match, and, again, Elliot was a solitary forward. Aguair and Petras lasted only until half-time, and then some more midfielders tumbled off the conveyor belt. Ludek Straceny and Lee Wallace came on.

Given that they were not facing an onslaught, Aberdeen had only themselves to blame for conceding the early goal which gave Hearts’ defensive shape a far more daunting look.

As they had when losing two of the three goals in last weekend’s 3-0 defeat on the same pitch, Aberdeen’s inability to deal with Hearts’ wide players allowed a cross to come and be converted at the near post. This time it was Skacel who was allowed too much time to recover after apparently mis-controlling the ball, and he dug out a cross which Elliot converted.

Aberdeen were always liable to find Hearts a far more difficult defence to penetrate than Rangers’ back four, which they punctured twice in midweek with the kind of constructive penalty box moves which they simply did not have the space to execute here.

That left them with little alternative but to try to exploit the advantage of having the wind behind them in the first half, which they did with a series of long-range shots which required Craig Gordon to display his concentration and agility in the Hearts goal.

The Scotland keeper was a match for Aberdeen’s attempts, producing an athletic diving save to push away a fine Barry Nicholson free-kick and then showing similarly sharp reactions to block a Jamie Smith attempt.

Aberdeen came closest of all with another free-kick, this time from Danny Griffin, which curled around the wall and forced Gordon to save low at his post. Webster was enough of a presence to prevent Zander Diamond racing in to convert the rebound.

Whoever picks the Hearts team, trying to fathom the next move of the man occupying the opposite dug-out was always going to be a hopeless task.

Scott Severin is a familiar face at Tynecastle but he was rarely seen here as a forward. Calderwood’s decision to use him there in the second half coincided with a period in which Aberdeen were able to build on their positive response to going behind.

With four up front – Ferne Snoyl having also been introduced to support Severin, Steve Lovell and Smith – and with heavy rain making the conditions treacherous for defenders, Hearts’ discomfort was obvious.

Kyle MacAulay, 19, had a thankless task playing between Hearts’ centre halves and holding midfielders and his replacement, Snoyl, built on his impressive midweek display against Rangers with an even more persuasive display.

Aberdeen finally got in behind their opponents with 21 minutes left. Kevin McNaughton and Snoyl exchanged passes before the Dutchman’s low shot was parried away by Gordon. Severin seized on the loose ball, firing it back across goal and leaving Pressley powerless to prevent himself deflecting it past his own goalkeeper at the near post for Aberdeen’s first Tynecastle goal in 12 hours and 24 minutes of play.

Hearts responded with a little more urgency, which was not difficult given their lifelessness before the equaliser, and claimed a handball against Griffin when the ball actually struck him high on the shoulder.

Fate had another cruel twist for them, although it gave Aberdeen a deserved winner. Snoyl slipped past a couple of defenders on the right and his cross reached Chris Clark, who took the ball on to his left foot and struck a low shot which deflected off Paul Hartley and spun away inside Gordon’s far post.

12 February 2006

Taken from the Sunday Herald