Rix eager to stop talking and start winning

STUART BATHGATE

THE waiting is nearly over for Graham Rix. After a fraught couple of weeks, after all the talk about him, by him, for and against him, he is itching to begin his reign as Hearts' first-team coach in earnest.

No matter that he may be subjected to hostile chanting at Pittodrie tomorrow, he is looking forward to the match against Aberdeen, and relishing the chance to take charge. He arrived at the club in a bit of a limbo - with two weeks before the next game, and no sign of the expected director of football - and is now relieved that real life in the SPL is ready to resume.

That relief was evident at Riccarton yesterday, when he was visibly more relaxed than he had been at previous meetings with the media. In part that was because he has answered the most difficult questions several times over, but it was also because he has settled into his environment now and feels more secure.

That much was evident, most of all, in his willingness to engage in one-liners in reply to some inquiries. When asked, for instance, whether he had spoken to his predecessor, George Burley, since assuming his new post 12 days ago, he joked: "No. Not since he kicked me 25 years ago."

Rix has of course crossed paths with Burley from time to time over the last quarter-century, but the reply was his way of saying he would be his own man, unwilling to seek the advice of others. "I trust my own eyes best," as he told The Scotsman earlier in the week.

While he has not gone out of his way to seek advice, however, Rix has been grateful for the moral support from within his peer group. "You wouldn't believe the people within football who have been phoning me," he said. "I have spoken to managers, coaches, players, ex-players and some people I haven't spoken to for 30 years.

"I was expecting Eamonn Andrews to walk through the door with the red book. It has been fantastic."

One of those who contacted him was his former Arsenal team-mate Liam Brady, who was manager of Celtic when Rix was playing for Dundee. "I spent a weekend with Liam [then] and I don't think he realised at the time what a big job he had let himself in for at Celtic. But he phoned me up to wish me luck. He told me to make a great go of it and said he was sure that I would be successful."

Did the Irish international offer any advice? "Don't cross the road when a bus is coming. No, he never gave me any advice, but he's a great mate of mine and he trusts me. He just offered me his support and told me that I could phone him, as did another great name, Glenn Hoddle."

It is clearly important to Rix - indeed, perhaps vital to his continued presence in football - that such names have stuck with him since his 1999 imprisonment for sex with a 15-year-old girl. He is all too aware that those who do not know him may not have so forgiving an attitude, but is adamant his focus on tomorrow's match will not be affected by the extra security measures which have been put in place by Aberdeen.

"It doesn't really affect me in any way. I appreciate Aberdeen are trying to do everything they can, but every weekend somebody has abuse shouted at them and this weekend it's my turn.

"At least they won't be having a go at my lads, and they can concentrate on the game. And I just hope that if we are winning then it might stop them shouting a little bit. If people keep bringing my past up then they won't talk about football, but hopefully after the game I'm talking about what a great performance the lads put in and what a good result it was. That's the type of press conference I would like to have.

"But that's not the reason I want to get the result. I want to get the result because I want Hearts to be successful. It's not about me, it's about Hearts as a club, the staff, the players and the supporters."

Almost all those players are available for selection, the Czech striker Roman Bednar being the only regular first-team member who is ruled out by injury. The absence of Bednar means his compatriot Michal Pospisil should partner Edgaras Jankauskas up front.

Those recent recruits to Hearts may well have been more unsettled by the upheaval of the last few weeks than their Scottish colleagues were, but Pospisil explained that everyone had now adapted to life after George Burley. "It was very hard," he said. "It was a shock. I did worry [when] we changed the manager and the co-trainer and the goalkeeping trainer. But the board explained the situation and I must respect it. Life continues."

Pospisil added that he did not yet know Rix well enough to offer a thorough assessment of his character or methods, but felt encouraged by the former England player's approach to the game.

"It is a short time for some words about the coach. I don't know him so good - I know only he was an excellent player in England.

"My first view is very good. He wants to play excellent football on the pitch, with good technique. I like this football. We will continue in a similar style [to Burley's]. I think we were successful with this style."

Rix himself decided the same thing after seeing the team's last game, a 3-0 home win against Dundee United. "In that game against Dundee United I could not believe how hard they worked," he said of his players. "Obviously I want to retain that - and add a couple of subtleties."

One such subtlety is the ability to change the tempo of a match, and in particular to close it down once a decent lead has been established. Hearts have already shown this season they can do that against some opponents, but Rix thinks there is a tendency to play at too high a tempo in the SPL, and wants to strengthen his players' resistance to that trend.

His general message is 'be calm, be self-possessed', and that message now appears to be spreading through the club. The outbreak of rash acts, which saw the departure of chief executive Phil Anderton and chairman George Foulkes in the wake of Burley's loss, is now over, for the time being at least, to be replaced by a mood of detente.

That mood was most evident at The Scottish Politician of the Year Awards on Thursday night, when Foulkes was seen in convivial conversation with Hearts' major shareholder Vladimir Romanov. With the infighting at an end, it will be a happier Hearts squad and support who make the trek north tomorrow seeking the result which could, depending on how the Old Firm game ends today, take them back to the top of the SPL. The signs are that they will make the return journey in a similar frame of mind.

Taken from the Scotsman