Dismissal was the only way club could shake off SFA

ON TOP of the grim reality of being out of work, Graham Rix can only be distraught this morning that his time in Scotland did not allow him to shake off the stigma of being a convicted sex offender.

Rix was imprisoned for 12 months in 1999 for indecent assault and having sex with a 15-year-old, and served six months of his term. It was a background that alarmed many Hearts followers when the former Arsenal captain was appointed head coach by the Romanovs on 8 November last year.

Chairman Roman Romanov said at the time: "I understand how the fans feel. I would ask them to look at his professional career. He achieved a lot [as a coach] with Chelsea. He had problems. I think it's in the past, and every man deserves a second chance."

As Rix grew comfortable in Edinburgh, Edinburgh seemed to grow comfortable with him. Many of the sceptics recognised that he was a hard worker who had made a mistake he would always regret, and therefore should be allowed to prove himself.

However, the issue of his criminal record reared its head again when East Fife chairman Derrick Brown raised the issue of Rix's background at the SFA, which put the wheels in motion to make Hearts prove Rix was a "fit and proper" person to work in the Scottish game.

The club had already stated, in an effort to avoid controversy, that Rix would not work with the youth teams at Riccarton. It would later emerge that Hearts had no legal obligation to take such a step.

Earlier this month, as the SFA inquiry rumbled slowly onwards, Rix had some heartening news. The FA, in response to a written appeal from the coach, had annulled a ban on him working unsupervised with under-18s in England.

It was speculated that the ongoing probe might lead the SFA, with appalling timing, to impose on Rix a similar ban in Scotland to that which had just been rescinded down south. But the Hampden inquiry was continued three times due to lack of information provided by Hearts, with Rix's attendance at one lengthy meeting not enough to persuade the SFA to drop the matter.

On Monday this week, the investigation was delayed until the end of the season, at the club's request, by which time Rix's short-term contract would have expired. A cynic might say that the request was made in the knowledge that Rix would no longer be an employee of the club when the SFA next convened.

After yesterday's news, the inquiry is now redundant unless Rix should seek further employment in Scotland.

Rix might have benefited from a positive outcome. Instead, the question mark remains, as his appointment was never ratified by the SFA.

Hearts insisted that the axing of Rix had nothing to do with his struggle to shake off the conviction baggage. But nobody could deny that Rix's reputation had created a subplot that would always lie just beneath the surface.

Taken from the Scotsman