Oxford United fans have reacted with astonishment to the appointment of their former manager Graham Rix to one of the top jobs in Britain.

The 48-year-old former Arsenal and England midfielder, who had a disastrous record as boss of both Portsmouth and Oxford, was yesterday confirmed as the new first-team coach at Hearts.

Martin Brodetsky, editor of independent fans' website rageonline.co.uk, said: "I'm amazed Rix has got this job after what he did at his previous two clubs.

"He effectively sent Oxford back to how it had been under Mark Wright, and statistically, he had the worst record of any Oxford United manager there has been.

"Maybe working with a much higher calibre of player he'll do OK.

"But most Oxford United fans I've spoken to have reacted with astonishment, and a bit of sympathy with Hearts' position."

However, Lee Bradbury, the former Portsmouth striker who was brought to Oxford by Rix, believes he's getting an unfair press.

"He's a really good coach and I think he showed that when he was at Chelsea.

"For one reason or another it didn't work out for him at Portsmouth and Oxford.

"He likes to play football and I think with good players he'll get them playing well.

"Maybe League Two didn't suit him. His ideas were that you had to play free-flowing football and down in this division you maybe need to mix it up a bit, and sometimes play long ball as well as pass it."

Bradbury ended up being Rix's chauffeur for six weeks last season when the manager tore his Achilles in training, and was forced to hobble around on crutches.

"He's a good coach and has good man-management skills. All the players liked him at Oxford," Bradbury said.

"Maybe he wasn't hard and tough, which you need to be as a manager, but Graham will have learned a lot from his previous jobs."

Hearts chairman Roman Romanov was surprised with the furore which has greeted the appointment. Rix was heckled by dozens of disgruntled fans as he arrived at Tynecastle yesterday.

Romanov said: "We didn't expect this kind of reaction.

"I would like to ask the Hearts fans to give the man a chance and judge him on results."