A Rix that didn't pay off for Hearts

ON 15 November 2005, it was reported that Vladimir Romanov offered George Burley his old job back just ten days after his acrimonious departure - on the Tuesday after the 2-0 loss to Hibs at Easter Road on 29 October.

However bizarre and implausible that may sound, former Hearts director Liutauras Varanavicius confirmed that Romanov did indeed get in touch with his former boss and his representatives. "Romanov's proposal was a sincere one [but] both parties have now moved on, and I think the chances of Vladimir Romanov wanting to work with George Burley again are very slim. Burley depended too much on agents, and that is the problem in football in both Scotland and England- most of the teams are run by agents, not coaches or managers."

So why, exactly, did Romanov offer Burley his job back? A confidant of Phil Anderton claims the former chief executive believed there were three reasons:

1. Vladimir Romanov was not expecting such a vociferous reaction from fans. Anderton stood beside Romanov at the Dunfermline game and thought that the majority shareholder's ego was bruised when supporters angrily gesticulated in his direction.

2. Once Phil Anderton was gone, Romanov could get George Burley back and blame his initial departure on the former chief executive. Vladimir would then be seen as the saviour.

3. Romanov looked at their flimsy legal case concerning the dismissal of Burley and came to the conclusion that it would be cheaper to reinstate the head coach instead of paying compensation.

Burley point-blank refused to return to Tynecastle, and after nearly three weeks without a permanent Hearts head coach, Graham Rix - a candidate for the vacant managerial position at English non-league side Crawley Town - was chosen as his unlikely replacement.

"Romanov believed that, because of his past, Graham Rix would not be influenced by agents as much as other coaches," said Varanavicius. "Romanov looked for someone who would be loyal to him and loyal to the team - that is why he appointed Graham Rix."

The appointment of Rix on 8 November 2005 was a huge surprise, especially after club officials had held talks with, among others, Claudio Ranieri and Bobby Robson. The lack of a big name was a concern for some fans, and Rix's past was clearly an issue for others, but it was the nationwide television coverage showing a small minority of supporters shouting abuse at the former England international and kicking Cossack hats in disgust that made former chairman Doug Smith cringe. " It got a lot of publicity in England and surprised a lot of people," said Smith. "Graham Rix was starting off on the back foot - it was never going to be easy for him after that. In my opinion, choosing Rix seemed to be more of a stopgap appointment."

Graham Rix arrived at Tynecastle without bringing any backroom staff with him but quickly settled into his role with the help of John McGlynn, Valdas Ivanauskas and the rest of the coaching staff who had remained at Riccarton following the departure of George Burley.

"Working with Graham Rix was different from working with George Burley. Graham had to rely on me, Valdas, Stephen Frail and John Murray at first to help him settle in and provide him with background knowledge of the way the club worked.

Rix demanded quality and complete professionalism from his players both on the training ground and on the pitch, as you would expect from someone who played for Arsenal and had a coaching role at Chelsea.

It's been suggested that the use of different training methods was one of the reasons why Graham Rix was unable to replicate the success of George Burley. Without being critical of his former boss, Steven Pressley confirmed that the training became "more technical than intense". The players, having been used to Burley's high-tempo approach, suddenly had to change mid-season, and Rix won just one of his first five games in charge of Hearts as the squad struggled to adapt to the new regime.

"Graham's training methods were different from George's," said John McGlynn. "Burley had particularly high demands; Rix's demands were possibly not quite at that level. I would say the players were more relaxed under Graham. Once things were finished with George, they were done and dusted. Graham would pull players aside and talk to them on their way off the training ground, in the changing-room or even his office."

Graham Rix, Valdas Ivanauskas and John McGlynn regularly discussed possible signing targets. With Roman Bednar on the sidelines for a few months after sustaining ligament damage, the need for a new striker was more pressing than any other position.

"Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's name cropped up after his agent enquired if we would be interested," said John McGlynn.

"Graham was unsure how our tightly-knit squad would react to the arrival of that kind of high-profile player. We decided not to take things any further because we did not want to risk disrupting harmony and morale in the dressing-room. We were keen to sign a striker when both Edgaras and Roman were out injured. Graham made an unsuccessful attempt to get Carlton Cole on loan from Chelsea. He also made an enquiry to see if Mikael Forsell was available, but when we realised he was on £30,000 per week, we quickly dropped our interest!'

Vladimir Romanov promised to splash the cashwhen the January transfer window eventually opened. Hearts fans were expecting one or two new faces, but no one, least of all John McGlynn, could believe it when the month ended with a total of eleven new players being brought to the club. "It was remarkable," he said. "They just seemed to keep bringing players in before the transfer deadline at the end of January. Far too many new signings came in. In my opinion, three or four quality players would have been ideal. Training the players became an overnight problem. To have more than 30 players meant there was no easy way to train everyone properly.

"We ended up with a very basic, harsh way of deciding who trained where. Graham decided which players he wanted to work with, and I was left with the others. A list was pinned

to the wall each morning. Names in yellow would be on pitch one, names in red on pitch two.

"The new signings all came from clubs where they were playing regular first-team football, so it must have been hard for them if they were not involved in the main squad."

Prior to the arrival of the 11 new signings, Hearts entertained Celtic in a league match on New Year's Day. The tall dark strangers from Parkhead brought their lump of coal and slice of black bun to Tynecastle and then disappeared with all three points thanks to two late goals that earned them a 3-2 win!

A Hearts win that day would have taken them to within one point of their opponents at the top of the table - the defeat meant they trailed the Parkhead side by seven points. According to Gary Mackay, that was when Hearts' chances of winning the title evaporated. "Going into the game against the league leaders, we all believed that a win could reignite our title challenge," he said. "At half-time, and leading 2-0, it looked like this could be the case. Unfortunately, three things caused a complete transformation: the introduction of Celtic sub Stephen Pearson; the ridiculous red card shown to Takis Fyssas; and also something much more deep-rooted. The third reason, in my opinion, was that the team as a whole did not have the requisite level of fitness required to maintain a title challenge. None of the summer signings, of whom most were regular starters, took part in a full pre-season training schedule with Hearts, and I think that was the first game where this problem was evident. With the 3-2 reverse, the league title had slipped completely from our grasp."

There was a touch of irony as Hearts began their 2006 Scottish Cup campaign against Kilmarnock at Tynecastle the week after the dramatic Celtic match. The man who helped bring the trophy back to Gorgie in 1998 for the first time in 42 years - Jim Jefferies - was given the chance to knock out his boyhood heroes at the first hurdle.

Steven Pressley nodded home a long throw from Robbie Neilson in the first half before substitute Jamie McAllister added a second after 75 minutes. Colin Nish pulled one back for Killie with five minutes to go, but Hearts held on to secure a place in the fourth round.

The month ended with a very pleasing 4-1 victory over Hibs at Tynecastle. February began with the fourth-round Scottish Cup tie against Aberdeen at Tynecastle. Another fast start and first-half goals from Michal Pospisil, Calum Elliot and Steven Pressley (penalty) wrapped up a comfortable 3-0 victory and a place in the last eight.

The Jambos were drawn against Partick Thistle.

The major talking point of the Graham Rix era occurred in early February 2006 prior to a league match against Dundee United at Tannadice. Six changes were made to the team that had beaten Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup three days earlier: new signings Ludek Straceny and Martin Petras were handed their debuts, stalwarts Robbie Neilson and Andy Webster were demoted to the bench, and Christophe Berra and Rudi Skacel returned to the side at the expense of Jose Goncalves and Lee Johnson. But it transpired that Rix had not had an input into team selection - Vladimir Romanov had selected the starting line-up.

"Let's face it,' said John McGlynn, "Mr Romanov had a big influence on which players came to the club during the January transfer window. He has a theory that players who play many games in a short period of time cannot perform to the best of their ability. I think he wanted to freshen things up.

"Jim Duffy [pictured left, who had been brought in as director of football] had discussions with Mr Romanov, which he relayed to Graham. Due to the interference, the gaffer felt the need to hold a meeting to inform the players that he had not selected the team and that there might be times during the game when substitutions would be made, not necessarily because someone was playing badly but because the changes had already been prearranged. Informing the players at that meeting, ultimately, may have cost Graham Rix his job."

It's no secret that Vladimir Romanov had a large input into which players were bought and sold, but the revelation that he had also picked the team should have been the final straw for Rix, according to Gary Mackay. "The moment Rix was forced to tell the players that Mr Romanov had picked the team was when he should have contemplated resigning," he said. "It disappointed me greatly that the club became a laughing stock due to people not being able to deal with the circumstances. I think if Rix wanted to retain respect among his squad, then he should have quit."

Sky cameras were at Tynecastle at the end of February to see if they could capture yet another cup shock. A sixth-minute header from Edgaras Jankauskas from a Paul Hartley cross helped settle the early nerves, but Partick belied their lower-league status and more than matched Hearts for long periods of the game. but were caught by a sucker punch Deividas Cesnauskis cut inside from the main-stand touchline and unleashed a tremendous left-foot shot that left goalkeeper Kenny Arthur without a prayer.

Roman Bednar was shown a second yellow card (for 'simulation') after 71 minutes before Mark Roberts deservedly pulled a goal back for Partick. Hearts were through to the semi-finals of the national cup competition, but their league challenge was faltering. It was now a case of ensuring that Rangers did not catch them in second spot, instead of trying to catch runaway leaders Celtic. The team recorded just one win in February, which did not go unnoticed in the boardroom. Two days before the league match against Rangers at Tynecastle in March, Hearts chairman Roman Romanov confirmed that Graham Rix's position would be reviewed at the end of the season. This 'vote of confidence' lasted just four days: Hearts drew the match against the Ibrox side on the Sunday and by the Tuesday Graham Rix was sacked after just 18 games in charge. Jim Duffy also lost his job. Valdas Ivanauskas was appointed head coach on an interim basis until the end of the season, assisted by John McGlynn.

"Vladimir Romanov decided that results had not been good enough," said Doug Smith. "His aim was to finish second and secure a place in the Champions League, but he clearly felt this was being jeopardised. Romanov was both proactive by identifying the problem and reactive in doing something about it, giving the job to Valdas on a temporary basis until the summer. Once again, his decision was vindicated."

It is understood that player power persuaded Vladimir Romanov to appoint a director of football, following that famous February meeting when five players - including captain Steven Pressley - expressed their concern about meddling in team affairs. The appointment of Jim Duffy, a former Hibs manager, received a mixed response from Hearts fans - but none of them could have guessed that his tenure would last just five weeks.

Incredibly, for the third time in one season, Hearts were on the lookout for a new boss.

Taken from the Scotsman