Smith takes to the dug-out as his charges ease up against Hearts

IAN PAUL

1 Mar 1993

NO DOUBT there are people who believe that, away from the glare of publicity, Rangers know they have the premier division title well and truly captured.

They should have seen the antics of the Ibrox manager on Saturday as his team held on for a 2-1 win over Hearts.

This was not a man who privately acknowledges the job has been done.

In the second half Smith appeared in the dug-out, often an indication that he is concerned about the way things are going, but he did more, springing out to the edge of the touchline at regular intervals, sending frantic signals to the workers, and getting quite animated in the process.

Perhaps it was a classic cameo of the impossibility of the job.

Whatever standard is set, the demand to maintain it is overpowering.

Smith now knows what his team can do and is intent on letting them know when it is not being done.

He had good reason to get excited after the interval because his team, who had looked so comfortable in setting up a two-goal lead by half-time, became second-best very quickly in the second period and had to put in a lot of hard graft to prevent their lead disappearing.

Much of the credit for that must go to Hearts, of course.

The Edinburgh side had been very unimpressive in the opening spell but were not helped by slack defensive work which was bound to be severely punished by the sharp Rangers attack.

Peter van de Ven, who is an excellent, classy defender, made his one mistake of the afternoon when he tried to be a bit too smart just outside his own penalty area.

He allowed Dale Gordon to slide in and push the ball forward, where the predator, in the shape of Ally McCoist, was waiting.

That was one up in 11 minutes and when Hearts were caught off guard 20 minutes later, they knew they were in for a tough afternoon.

They were so busy protesting that an Ian Ferguson tackle on David Robertson was not a foul that when Stuart McCall delivered a quick free kick to the full back, they were in complete disarray.

Robertson took full advantage to shoot home, although Nicky Walker might feel he could have stopped it.

Most of the 42,128 in attendance, including a healthy representation from the capital, reckoned that would be that.

Not many teams come back from 2-0 down at Ibrox (Dundee United did a few weeks ago but lost 3-2 in the end) and in general would be likely to suffer worse damage.

But Joe Jordan clearly had some home (or away) truths to put before his men at the break and they emerged in far more determined mood.

Not only that, but they seemed confident that they could get themselves back into the game.

Maybe Rangers helped them along by easing off the pedal but Smith would not accept that his players may have been thinking ahead to Europe.

Whatever the cause, Hearts had a superb second half and, had John Robertson's snap-shot which crashed off a post been a couple of inches more accurate, the outcome might have been different.

Hearts did score 11 minutes from the end, when John Millar volleyed the ball home after Alexei Mikhailichenko had conveniently nodded the ball into his path.

It was just about the Ukrainian player's first touch after having replaced John Brown five minutes earlier.

Rangers had already used their other sub, Neil Murray, who replaced an injured Ian Ferguson in 17 minutes.

The goal came a bit late for Hearts but, even so, Smith was not the only Rangers man relieved to hear the final whistle.

The Ibrox manager, who has now steered his club to an astonishing 39 unbeaten games, beating the club record established by Jock Wallace's treble-winning side, seemed calm and assured at the end, a contrast with the gesticulating figure that popped in and out of the dug-out during the second half.

"When you start as well as we did -- I thought we played very well in the first half -- you are bound to get a response from a team like Hearts.

They put us under a lot of pressure, but overall I was very pleased with the result."

Rangers are now 11 points clear at the top of the table, although Aberdeen could reduce that to nine again if the weather relents enough to give them the chance to beat Partick Thistle in their rearranged game at Pittodrie tomorrow.

Hearts had hoped to keep their challenge for third place in good order but they, too, have suffered from injuries.

Their manager, Joe Jordan, felt that his side's defensive failings at the two goals made their job very difficult.

"We got some fluent play in the second half but obviously I am disappointed we made things so hard for ourselves."

Taken from the Herald