Hearts fans stunned and angry at appointment of Rix

ALAN PATTULLO AND EWAN MURRAY

A FURIOUS reaction from fans met the news yesterday that Hearts had appointed the former Arsenal midfielder and convicted sex offender Graham Rix as first-team coach.

Martin Laidlaw, chairman of Hearts Supporters Trust, described his members as mostly "gob-smacked" as they learned news of the appointment before a fans' meeting last night.

In contrast, former team-mates and work colleagues of Rix, among them Ray Wilkins, pleaded for him to be given a chance in his first job since being sacked by Oxford United in March. The Englishman is viewed as a controversial choice because of a 12-month jail sentence he was given in 1999 for having unlawful sex with a 15-year old girl.

Hearts fans had already voiced their concerns about the plan to install Rix as George Burley's successor but were further incensed when the Tynecastle club confirmed the appointment at just after 7pm yesterday. Laidlaw stated that his opinion had not altered to that given when reports of Hearts' interest in Rix first surfaced. He spoke before a Trust meeting at Tynecastle last night and was damning of the decision to bring Rix in.

"My view is the same as it was before the appointment, which was the overriding view of the trust members," said Laidlaw. "We are all gobsmacked.

"We are extremely unhappy with the news, and pretty disappointed. I can see from the faces of the guys that this will be a difficult decision to accept. I appreciate Rix was once a highly-regarded first-team coach but his star and credibility have diminished after what happened outside the game. Hearts are trying to promote decent public relations at the club and they should not put themselves in the position that they now have."

One Hearts shareholder, Ronald Watt, contacted The Scotsman last night and expressed his fears. "The Lithuanian farce goes on with the appointment of Graham Rix," he said. "I am sure supporters and shareholders alike are unsympathetic to his appointment. Mr Rix's track record both privately and as a top-class manager/coach lacks credence.

"So much for the Claudio Ranieri and Sir Bobby Robson publicity stunts. I wish Vladimir Romanov and his lackies would seek a reality check."

However, Wilkins, who coached alongside Rix at Chelsea as well as played with him for England, has assured Tynecastle fans that the new coach has the right mentality to maintain the momentum built up under George Burley.

"I have no idea what Graham's brief will be," said Wilkins. "He is probably extremely pleased to be back involved. I don't know the situation, I don't know if there will be someone coming over the top of him or what. But, if that is the case and Graham has taken on board what Mr Romanov has said, then he is obviously delighted to be taking the job.

"He has the mentality most certainly because he did it with Chelsea. But it is whether the players have the mentality at the end of the day. The players have to go out and play and it is the Old Firm that have governed Scottish football for many a year."

Lee Bradbury, who worked under Rix at Oxford, said Hearts fans must give Rix a chance to prove himself. Former Manchester City, Portsmouth and Crystal Palace player Bradbury has been signed twice by Rix and was made captain of Oxford United when Rix took charge last year.

Bradbury, who has cost a combined total of £5 million in the transfer market, advised Hearts supporters to give Rix time.

"Graham is a brilliant coach and, if he gets the Hearts job, it will be a great appointment," he said. "He is well respected in the game and if the fans give him a bit of time, they will find out how good he is. He likes his teams to play football and he is very good at man-management. It didn't really work out for him here at Oxford, but this is not the sort of level where teams can actually play the ball on the deck. At Hearts, the standard will be better and the players will respond to the way he wants them to play, which is to entertain. He has some excellent contacts in Europe and will get the best out of the players. He will do a good job."

Further backing the judgment of the Romanov regime at Tynecastle was the former Hearts chairman Leslie Deans. He re-iterated his support for Vladimir Romanov and urged fans to get behind the club in a bid to end the recent turmoil.

He said: "My own view is that if he is the man that Vladimir has chosen, then the club must support him," said Deans. "The club cannot be allowed to self-destruct. We must pull together, because if we don't, then Hearts will implode. Others are desperate to see the club de-stabilised, but we should give Graham Rix a chance.

"I said on Saturday that I believe Vladimir is the man to take Hearts forward, and many supporters have contacted me to thank me for agreeing to sell my shares to him, and also to the Supporters' Trust. My thoughts have not changed, and my trust is in Vladimir and has plans. All Hearts supporters must continue to unite behind him, this club has had too much instability in the past."

Rix was at Hearts' training centre at Riccarton last night, where the final talks had been conducted. He had held a brief meeting with the players he will take into competitive action for the first time against Aberdeen a week on Sunday. The team has no home game until 3 December, which might help defuse the controversy surrounding his appointment.

"I've heard Graham is a good coach and will be good for this club," said club skipper Steven Pressley. Striker Edgar Jankauskas added: "We had a two-minute meeting tonight, it was short but it went well. There is nothing more I can say at the moment."

Taken from the Scotsman