Hearts leave Ibrox pondering point

Rangers 0
Hearts 0

JUST when it appeared everything was nearing, dare we say it, tranquility at Hearts. On the face of it, garnering a point from a visit to Ibrox is a satisfactory achievement, but the suspicion that will nag Valdas Ivanauskas this week is whether it could have been more had he been allowed to select his strongest available team.

Instructing the exclusion of both captain Craig Gordon and talismanic midfielder Paul Hartley was a gamble worth taking in the eyes of Vladimir Romanov, Hearts' majority shareholder, who had evidently curbed his team meddling in recent weeks with results having taken an upturn. That was merely the calm before yet another tumultuous storm. Romanov is determined to avoid injuries being sustained by either Gordon or Hartley which could destabilise their prospective transfers out of Edinburgh, therefore both were denied the opportunity to perform at Ibrox on a day when Rangers were, unquestionably, there for the taking.

Making money may be a fundamental way of life for Romanov and, remembering his intention to reconstruct Tynecastle in the near future, any financial injection from player sales is always going to be openly welcomed. However, there is another chain of thought to this scenario which follows the speculate to accumulate approach. Gordon and Hartley would, undoubtedly, have critical contributions to make to Hearts' quest for second place in the SPL this season, and therefore could help facilitate even greater income to Tynecastle through Champions League qualification.

On Saturday, the latter scenario was overlooked by Romanov following increased offers for two of his biggest assets the previous evening. Fulham covet Gordon's signature, whilst Walter Smith and his associates in the home dugout believe Hartley will be under their command by Wednesday. Hearts head coach Ivanauskas - not for the first time and certainly not the last - was subsequently left to prepare with a team significantly weakened by what he later termed "football politics".

For stand-in captain Christophe Berra, there is a certain resignation to the unpredictability of life at Tynecastle. "When the team was named, Craig and Paul weren't playing so we had to get on with it," he said. "When you come to the stadium your mind is on the game, maybe afterwards you might think about it.

"Craig and Paul have done well for Hearts but, as with any club, quality players move on sometimes and you just have to replace them. Of course it could weaken us for the rest of the season, but we have also signed two players who have looked really good in training [Laryea Kingston and Gogita Gogua]. They look like high standard replacements if people are moving on.

"There has been a lot of change here and Craig and Paul are very experienced, but we have a big squad with a lot of quality players. Some of these players stepped in and did a good job against Rangers so we can't really complain. Every top club - Man United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Rangers, Celtic - has a conveyor belt so that people can come in. That's football for you, people move on and before long those who have left are out of the mind and everyone is talking about a new player."

Should Gordon decant from Tynecastle before the closure of the transfer window, his replacement as captain would appear to be ready-made. Berra, pictured below right, continued: "I'm still young and a lot of things have happened at this club which can make me stronger and more experienced. I think I've handled it well so far and I will learn from this. I hope it holds me in good stead for the future."

Hearts Chairman Roman Romanov was in the directors' box at Ibrox, with Steve Banks again deputising for Gordon and Hartley's midfield berth filled by Neil McCann with Andy Driver wide on the left. Rangers began with a new central defensive pairing in David Weir and Ugo Ehiogu, which gave Hearts cause for optimism in attack on a surface which could only be described as threadbare. There were early exchanges at both ends before Kris Boyd struck Banks' post from Alan Hutton's headed knockdown. The visitors then had Berra's intervention to thank for keeping the scores blank as Rangers conducted the majority of the probing. That said, the occasional visiting break was made dangerous by the pace and movement of wingers Saulius Mikoliunas and Driver.

Rangers' principal goal threat, Boyd, came under heavy physical opposition during the game from Marius Zaliukas in particular, but Smith attempted to combat this by instructing his midfielders to keep the ball grounded and seek space with any forward passes. Ivanauskas, by contrast, was content for a procession of high balls to drop upon an imposing Hearts attack containing Andrius Velicka and Roman Bednar. But when possession was being contested the unorthodox midfield pairing of Bruno Aguiar and McCann combined well against Barry Ferguson and Brahim Hemdani.

Hearts fashioned one of their best opportunities shortly after the restart as Velicka teed up Driver on the edge of the Rangers penalty area, but the young Englishman was over anxious in lifting the ball high into the Broomloan Road stand. Ferguson then glanced an inviting cross by Charlie Adam wide as the hosts increased the tempo.

The tendency to cede possession as quickly as they received it undermined Ivanauskas' side for large portions of the second period. This almost had serious consequences for the visitors in the 77th minute when Driver played a weak pass which Nacho Novo easily intercepted on the halfway line. The Spaniard ran for the opposition box and released substitute Chris Burke on the right flank. His cross was converted by Barry Ferguson from five yards but the standside assistant referee, Keith Sorbie, judged the Rangers captain offside and the goal was disallowed. Crosses continued to rain in at Berra and Ibrahim Tall, who had replaced Zaliukas, during the closing stages and Ferguson was again caught in an offside position when he dived to nod another Adam cross goalwards. In any case, Banks was equal to the header. As frustration within the Rangers camp was betrayed by Ferguson and Novo, Hearts were forced ever deeper towards their own goal line. Their ventures forward had exposed Weir and Ehiogu as less than watertight, as may have been expected, and the suspicion persisted that a little more adventure from the Edinburgh side may have brought even greater reward. Hartley's dynamism in midfield could certainly have been utilised.

But the two-year tenure of Vladimir Romanov has taught the employees of Tynecastle nothing if not to be resilient, and a hard-fought point was gratefully accepted by Ivanauskas. "I think we deserved the draw," said the Lithuanian. "It wasn't an easy game for either side, the pitch was terrible and in the second half we were under big pressure. But Rangers did not have many real chances and, when they did, Steve Banks' saves were perfect."

For so long, Ivanauskas has been relaying similar compliments on the abilities of Gordon. He will hope to do so again in the future, but it is abundantly clear that the head coach has little influence over his goalkeeper's destiny, or that of Hartley

Taken from the Scotsman