NO HIDING FACT RIX'S SQUAD HAS QUANTITY NOT QUALITY
26 February 2006

THE switch-on in Lithuania must have put a smile on the face of Vladimir Romanov as he put his feet up at home in Kaunas and watched his Hearts team take another step towards possible Scottish Cup glory.

But the switch-off at Tynecastle furrowed the features of coach Graham Rix as his expensively-assembled side stuttered into the semifinals after being given a major scare by Second Division Partick Thistle.

Operation Tango and Cash saw the first of the quarterfinals beamed to the Baltic.

Controversial club owner Romanov wanted to see the match so much that he bought the television rights so it could be screened in his homeland on the quaintly-named Tango TV channel.

The man who likes to pick the team must have scripted this small screen cup classic himself with two Lithuanians scoring the goals which saw off those little menaces from Maryhill.

Two touches of class saw Hearts home.

First a flick of the head from Edgaras Jankauskas glanced home Paul Hartley's whipped cross inside six minutes as the Jambos yet again roared out of the starting blocks.

And - after the Tynecastle team had gone from sprightly to sloppy, Deividas Cesnauskas stepped in off the touchline, meandered into the penalty box and crashed an angled drive behind Kenny Arthur.

But, while armchair fan Romanov must have lapped up those two Made in Lithuania moments, the controlling shareholder will have enjoyed little else about the match apart from the outcome.

Despite the dream start, Hearts lived dangerously throughout against a team from two leagues below the SPL.

It would have been 1-1 had Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon not produced a save out of the top drawer to keep out Billy Gibson's shot after it took a wicked deflection off Jankauskas.

It was 2-1 when the impressive Mark Roberts capitalised on some dodgy defending to curl in the goal which lifted Thistle hopes.

And it should have been 2-2 when Thistle's Darren Brady had a late chance to play the part of super-sub but blasted his close-range effort over the top.

Add to that earlier chances for Stephen McConalogue and man-of-the-match Scott Boyd and you begin to understand why manager Dick Campbell had steam coming out of his ears after-match.

And Glasgow's last chance at cup success has vanished with the supporting cast of Celtic and Rangers already gone.

It was a big opportunity missed by the Jags. Not just for a replay back at Firhill but to kick Hearts out of the tournament good and proper.

That was acknowledged by Rix after the dust had settled. He was frustrated and bemused at yet another performance from his team which started so well then crumbled.

The goalscoring return of Jankauskas after injury has taken some striking pressure off teenage talent Calum Elliot but they still lack the killer instinct up front.

With Rudi Skacel clearly less than fully fit and eventually taken off, Hearts were depending too much yesterday on Paul Hartley to make everything happen.

Cesnauskas is a frustrating figure. His undoubted ability was clearly demonstrated in the panache with which he scored his goal but all too often there's no end product to his play.

Fellow countryman Saulis Mikoliunas is equally talented at times - but more often equally unreliable.

What didn't help Hearts against Thistle - and won't help them in the semi-finals when he'll be suspended - was the ridiculous sending-off of back-after-injury Roman Bednar.

Encroachment and then simulation, in the space of his 10 minutes on the pitch, saw the Czech substitute shown two yellow cards. Almost as irresponsible was Julien Brellier whose avoidable booking will see him ruled out of the semi-final as well.

Brellier's been so good as midfield protector he's almost irreplaceable. Rix wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry in his post-match analysis.

But the coach certainly seems to be a much more relaxed person since the hiring of his pal Jim Duffy.

There are those who see the former Dundee and Hibs manager as a threat to the head coach's job but Rix obviously prefers to see Duffy as valued coaching support and a crucial buffer between himself and Romanov.

Duffy's been given the title of director of football until the end of the season and, with that, has wide-ranging responsibilities.

But I can't help thinking Hearts will be making a major mistake - not their first - if they don't have him working directly with the players.

It was interesting to note that none of the 11 players signed during last month's transfer window made it into yesterday's starting line-up. Bruno Aguiar was an unused sub.

We'll find out in time whether these players are not yet fit enough - or simply not good enough.

Fact is, at the moment there's more quantity than quality at Hearts on the back of the latest spending spree and the squad still looks lacking in real depth.

That's a point that surely won't have been missed by a certain VIP viewer in downtown Kaunas.

Taken from the Sunday Mail