by John Drake
As we approach the journey's end of Season 2005-2006, true to form, Heart of Midlothian are doing their utmost to ensure that their supporters face a nailbiting finale to what has, for so many reasons, been a season to remember. Things have not been quiet down Gorgie way with another change of manager, the influx of an entire team of new signings, ongoing rumours of behind-the-scenes intrigue and interference, and the small matter of winning a Scottish Cup Semi Final against our friends from Lochend. No, you certainly can't describe this Season as dull or boring, as it's been anything but. It's been a great blend of both highs and lows, a heady mix that has been encapsulated in the two recent derby matches.
The latest twist in this unpredictable campaign came at the Cabbage Patch last Saturday when an unfamiliar looking Hearts team lost 2-1 to their city rivals. Whilst derbies are never a foregone conclusion, given our recent form the away support headed down Easter Road full of confident anticipation; while victory was not guaranteed, there was no reason to doubt our chances of at least taking something from the game. On the day, a draw would have arguably been a fair result, but Hibs edged it simply because there was more cohesion about their team. The defeat, whilst not fatal, is still a blow not only to pride, but to the chances of securing that lucrative Champions League qualifying berth. Given the post-split fixture list and the distinct likelihood of Rangers dropping points in the Old Infirm derby, victory at the Cabbage Patch would have left us with a significant advantage going into the remaining matches. So what went wrong?
Had I done something wrong, changed any of my pre-match superstitions or match paraphernalia? Had I forgotten my favourite scarf, or my lucky Star Wars Y-Fronts? No, it wasn't even because our resident Jonah, one Mr. Neil P. Gordon, was in attendance either. What was wrong on Saturday was that we were missing some of Hearts' best players from the starting XI, seemingly down to a deliberate decision rather than circumstance. Although as feared, Pressley and Fyssas were missing through injury and rather than take his usual position in the centre of the defence, Andy Webster was sat in the stands alongside Elvis. Julien Brellier and Rudi Skacel languished on the subs bench, while Edgaras Jankauskas was nowhere to be seen.
I'm sorry but, for me Des, it's a no-brainer - at this stage of the season, in the most significant matches, you field your strongest team available to you. You don't tinker around and field a weakened team like we did. The very fact that The Judge and Webster have missed several games now is a clear indication that team selection is either being dictated, or at the very least influenced, by the higher echelons of the Club hierarchy. Despite protestations to the contrary, fans' fears have been confirmed as it now does look like Webster is not playing on account of his contract dispute - and this probably means it's only a matter of time before he departs the Club - while Brellier seems to be paying the price for not being a favourite of the benefactor. Now, while we can all share Romanov's ambition for the Club and accept his desire to take us on to another level, it's going to take longer for some to approve of his methods. Putting aside decisions made earlier in the Season that may or may not be attributed to Romanov, if he made the decision to leave 2 of our most consistent performers out for the rumoured reasons, it looks like he's cutting off his nose to spite his face; to do it in a derby seems an act of folly. I think we'd all like to be able to field any team in maroon and beat The Cabbage, but I think we'd all agree that we should be playing our strongest team possible and not take risks in terms of team selection in such a game and especially not at this stage of the Season.
The team selection may, or may not, have been down to the Romanovs, but one could assume that the substitutions on the day were down to the coaching staff. I can't have been the only one in the stands looking on incredulously as Cesnauskas was taken off while Miko was allowed to linger ineffectively. What was all the more frustrating about the performance was that, up to that point, Hearts had once again looked a potent, attacking side, released from the shackles of Rix's seemingly cautious approach to games. A hard-fought victory at Falkirk was followed by the small-matter of another derby demolition of The Cabbage at Hampden, and the team were only denied taking something from Celtic Park by a combination of bad luck and another series of controversial refereeing decisions. However, following Saturday's setback, doubts will now be cast about Valdas' long-term prospects too, particularly given the relatively brief longevity of the species footballus coachus in Gorgie. Whilst the removal of Rix and Duffy was not a surprise in itself - the head coach and short-lived Director of Football had not been expected by most fans to still be at the Club come the Summer - the timing certainly was. Rix had clearly been trying to do the job to the best of his ability, but unfortunately it just wasn't good enough to keep Hearts in the title race. From being on the brink of closing the gap on Celtic to just a solitary point on January 2nd, Hearts stuttering form under Rix saw them trail in Celtic's wake, and left fans looking on in dismay as the team only played fleetingly to its potential. Despite his insistence that he was here for the long-run, few supporters saw Rix as a long-term prospect as Hearts coach, but would still have been taken aback when he was removed just before an important game away to Falkirk, and in the midst of the team's preparation for the most important Edinburgh derby in almost a century. Would this latest act of the drama bring our season to a premature end? Thankfully, no, but unless we ensure that there are no repeats of the selection mistakes made at the Cabbage Patch we may yet make heavy weather of the remaining SPL games or, god forbid, the Cup Final.
Oh yes, the Cup Final.
Amidst all the navel gazing of the last few days, we could have forgotten that we have a date at Hampden on 13th May to look forward to. While we might have expected to go far in the Cup, when we embarked on the Road to Hampden against Killie in January few would have anticipated the route we'd have to take to reach the final. Just as in 1998, luck of the draw saw Hearts play their early rounds at Tynecastle and so, after Killie and Aberdeen were knocked out before Partick ran us perilously close in a televised quarter final, we were predictably drawn against our arch-nemesis. Although being such an embittered prophet of doom, I'm sure I wasn't alone in approaching the game with a degree of trepidation; having seen Hearts throw away chances to reach the Cup final in the past, would this become another tale of "what if"? And potentially worse was the possibility that we might get knocked out by "them", a prospect that filled me with dread. Understandably, as the Club had not faced Hibs at such a late stage of the Cup since 1901, and given their century of failure in the competition, this was billed as the most significant derby match in over a century.
However, what nerves had been exhibited during the weeks of build-up were soon dispelled on arrival at the national stadium. The sea of maroon and white scarves and flags that greeted the team bus as it pulled into Hampden was a sight to behold - it certainly boosted my confidence and must have been a welcome sight for the team too. On entering the stadium, the fact that the massed ranks of Hearts fans seemed to all but fill their allocation very quickly, while there were marked sections of empty seats at the Hibs end, gave those of a Gorgie persuasion another psychological boost - there was just the sense starting to creep into my mind that this might be our day after all. At first it looked as though the Hibees must have been caught in traffic en route to Hampden, but even as kick-off approached large swathes of their section remained unoccupied which, given the magnitude of the game and their manager's insistence to have it played in Glasgow, was surprising to say the least. And that song. I just hope Jack White gets enough money for his Pepsi jingle so we don't have to pay the White Stripes any royalties.
When the team line-ups were finally revealed, as expected, both sides were missing key players through injury or suspension but Hearts were able to muster what looked on paper a much stronger side. As this was a derby, the Cabbage were clearly not going to go out without a fight though but, outnumbered off the pitch, Hibs were eventually outgunned on it too, as Paul Hartley wrote himself into Jambo folklore with one of the best individual performances by a Hearts player in many a year, and one that'll be very difficult to top. No doubt now that Petrov has declared his intention to leave Celtic, the meedja will start linking them with a move for Hartley. It will be interesting to see how any approach is reported by our friends in the fourth estate, particularly given that we had the "temerity" to turn down their "generous" offer of £300k last season. As Valdas said, Paul Hartley is arguably the best player in Scotland on his day, and so any further derisory attempts by Celtic, or any other suitor, to poach him from us should be disregarded out of hand. All the pre-match bluster about having to play the game at Hampden, all the fears about the traffic congestion, all the comments about the referee needing to be strong, all the pre-match phoney war hyperbole was quickly forgotten and replaced by a simple fact - Heart of Midlothian 4 Hibernian 0. Maybe Hibs were unfortunate to be missing some of their better players, but being a derby no quarter is usually asked, nor is it rarely given - Hearts were simply stronger on the day and deservedly qualified for the final at the expense of their city rivals. Any victory in a derby match is to be savoured, and this one was no exception, and so while the vanquished quickly left their end of Hampden, the victors lingered in the stadium to celebrate. It was obvious how much the win meant to the supporters, but it was also clear how much it meant to some of the players too, the delight on the faces of Gordon, Pressley and Hartley apparent to all. It is days like these that are payback for all those seemingly futile trips we make to Inverness, or Aberdeen, or into deepest, darkest Glasgow and should be cherished and enjoyed to the full. Given that I was working the following day, thank the lord for flexi-time and the recuperative powers of Irn Bru.
In a way it's fitting that in the 50th anniversary year of the 1956 Scottish Cup victory, another Hearts team will contest a Scottish Cup Final at Hampden. Here's hoping that the Class of 2006, the likes of Gordon, Pressley, Hartley and Jankauskas, can emulate the ilk of Duff, Mackay, Glidden and Wardhaugh. However, should "football politics" interfere with on-field matters, or we become arrogant and complacent, then there is a danger that it could yet go disastrously wrong. Yes, Gretna may be a lower league Club and, although we will be huge favourites, they will fancy their chances. Much of the current Gretna team are wily and experienced campaigners who have played in the top flight before, and so they will be more than determined to try to cause an upset. As well as their impressive league campaign, Gretna have already eliminated higher league opposition in the earlier rounds and, in the semi-final against Dundee, showed that they may have luck on their side too. Any team that qualifies for a Cup Final deserves respect and I can think of no other way of demonstrating this by fielding our strongest team possible against them on May 13th. Down the years, there have been too many good servants at the Club who have not had the fortune to lift a piece of silverware with Hearts - from Donald Ford, Gary Mackay, to Antti Niemi. Given the strife over recent seasons, I can think of no other player who would deserve to win a cup winners' medal more than a team Captain who has been so important to Heart of Midlothian, both on and off the pitch, as Steven Pressley.
And I, for one, hope I'm there to see it.
Back to Hampden in May!
J.D.