Robertson is king of penalty box

JAMES TRAYNOR

7 May 1990

Hearts 1, Rangers 1

JOHN Robertson trudged from the pitch knowing he will not be going to the World Cup finals with Scotland.

He is entitled to wonder why.

The Hearts striker ended the season as the leading scorer in the premier division, with 22 goals to his credit, even though he was late in starting the campaign because of injury.

Once or twice he might have allowed his gaze to cross the centre line on Saturday and examine the opposition's strikers, Johnston and McCoist, to see what it is they have that he does not.

On Saturday they did little, although Johnston was as industrious as ever, a quality which gives him undoubted appeal.

McCoist, however, finished the league campaign without making much of a contribution.

He looks spent, and that does not augur well for the finals in Italy.

Of the three strikers Johnston is the one who puts more into his 90 minutes, but during the second part of the season there can be little doubt that Robertson has outshone McCoist.

He even did what neither of the Rangers front players could do on Saturday.

He scored.

Gough, who was strangely hesitant, made a poor pass-back after 13 minutes, allowing Colquhoun to take possession inside the box and when he was brought down by Woods there could be only one decision.

Robertson stepped forward to take the penalty and seconds later the Rangers keeper was fumbling around in the back of his net.

The calm manner which Robertson had displayed in scoring typified his confidence in front of goal.

In fact, right now there is no better finisher in the premier division.

Unlike most of the others he usually manages to find the time to place the ball rather than just swipe at it as soon as he sees the whites of a keeper's eyes.

Souness might want another striker, and so, too, might Andy Roxburgh, yet Robertson is unlikely to be named when the international manager lists his squad for the games against Egypt and Poland.

Robertson must look forward to the next challenge, the European championships, and if he can bring himself to do a little more work outside the opposition's penalty area he might just win Roxburgh's approval.

But, then, he is in the old-fashioned mould, a striker who knows instinctively where he should be -- and that is somewhere in the penalty box.

Most of the players stamping the Tynecastle turf looked as though they could not be bothered.

It is the footballer's holiday time after all, and it showed.

Perhaps the Rangers players were still feeling the effects of their hangovers following the previous week's celebrations as they played out their last fixture in a subdued manner.

Both sets of players were living proof that the premier division does drag on a bit, and no-one appeared capable of reaching any great heights.

There were one or two occasions in a rather drab, error-strewn match when the teams would have reared up at one another, as has been their wont, had they not been so fatigued.

They didn't even have the energy to snarl at one another and the game looked exactly what it was.

One final chore for both clubs.

It was noticeable that at the end of the game the teams left the pitch separately.

They have been known to react wildly to one another when squeezed into tight areas, such as the tunnels between dressing rooms and pitch.

The only person who looked as fresh as he had been on day one was Wallace Mercer.

The Hearts chairman can't resist an audience and there he was on the pitch before the start handing over a memento to the club's most famous fan, Stephen Hendry.

The cameras clicked and the Hearts' fans roared while the Rangers loyalists jeered.

It all sounded the same to Mercer.

He loved it and was wearing a wide grin when he walked from the pitch.

Rangers this morning have sent their players to Spain, while Hearts have gone to Portugal, and all of their players will sit by swimming pools reflecting on what has been achieved.

The Ibrox side are bound to be the more content, although Hearts are entitled to feel pleased that they will be playing in Europe next season.

The European arena is one which holds great appeal for Rangers, and manager Graeme Souness, who has not gone with the players to Marbella, will sign reinforcements before the time comes to start the ball rolling again.

He needs a midfield visionary to assist Trevor Steven and he requires also another top-class striker.

One of Rangers' home-grown players, Sandy Robertson, was supposed to sample the rigours of premier-division play at Tynecastle, but he felt unwell before the game and was left out.

Maybe his illness was a blessing in disguise, since it would have been hard to perform in such a low-key affair.

Hearts' plans also were upset early on when Colqhoun hobbled from the pitch after a tackle by Stevens.

Scott Crabbe took over, but he was another who looked jaded by an interminably long season.

It might just be that the whole thing has ended in time for Craig Levein, who was alarmingly unsure at the centre of Hearts' defence.

The defender has pushed himself into the reckoning for the World Cup finals and he would have been relieved to learn that Roxburgh, who was in Brazil, did not see his error which led to Rangers' goal in 16 minutes.

Levein swung a leg at a high ball and missed completely, leaving Stuart Munro running free.

The full back scored and that was the day's play over.

HEARTS -- Smith, McLaren, Levein, McPherson, McKinlay, McCreery, Mackay, Berry, Robertson, Foster, Colquhoun.

Substitutes -- Crabbe, Wright.

RANGERS -- Woods, Stevens, Gough, Butcher, Munro, Walters, Spackman, Dodds, Brown, Johnston, McCoist.

Substitutes -- Vinnicombe, Cooper.

Referee -- D Hope (Erskine).