Cup showdown set to be Heart stopper

DURING a month in which Hearts have become infatuated with prospective new recruits, it must be considered ironic that a large collection of their old boys are preparing to do battle south of the border.

Whilst those inside Tynecastle Stadium on Saturday will concern themselves only with the threat to their Champions League aspirations from city rivals Hibs, over 300 miles away their former managers Craig Levein and George Burley will oversee an FA Cup fourth-round tie with remarkable Hearts connections. Aside from the managers of Leicester City and Southampton, players like Alan Maybury, Mark de Vries, Patrick Kisnorbo and Joe Hamill are in contention to play in an encounter which has stirred almost as much interest within the Gorgie support as who their club have been trying to sign from day to day this month.

By Levein's side in the dugout will be his maroon-tinted backroom staff, the trustworthy pair of Peter Houston and Kenny Black, whilst the VIP section at the Walkers Stadium will, of course, host Sir Clive Woodward, Southampton's director of football above Burley and a former pupil of Corstorphine Primary School.

Woodward attended school in Edinburgh during the 1960s whilst his father, an RAF training instructor, was based at Turnhouse, and as a consequence developed quite a penchant for Hearts.

So there would certainly be a case for a quick blast of "this is my story" over the Leicester PA system this weekend. In fact, were their own club's fixture a little less fervent, you may even have seen a few coachloads of Jambos departing for the Midlands on Saturday morning.

It is precisely that unrelenting passion which still causes Burley to occasionally yearn for his previous existence, although even he couldn't have expected his crossing of swords with Levein to have roused so many in Edinburgh.

"Is it really?" he queried when informed that his FA Cup tie was prompting serious intrigue amongst Hearts followers. "I do miss it up there because I had so many happy times. Everybody at the club and everybody I met in Edinburgh helped me to really enjoy life there. But life moves on. I had over 20 years at Ipswich and managed to move on.

"I certainly miss the squad of players I had to work with. They were a great bunch and I was able to put them together. At Southampton it's maybe the reverse effect where I have to change the squad of players already here, whereas at Hearts I had a nucleus of four Scottish internationalists and built on it.

"The squad was so small when I arrived at Tynecastle but the Southampton squad is big so I have to change it all round."

Since assuming the reins at St Mary's on December 23 Burley has gradually attempted to exert his influence. However, one win from his opening six Championship games prior to tonight's visit of Crystal Palace has only served to highlight the transition period he must confront.

The FA Cup is therefore a welcome distraction to a club placed 16th in a 24-team division, but the consequences of victory for Burley on Saturday could be critical for his counterpart. Levein has come under increasing pressure from the Leicester support in recent weeks due to a league slump. And last night's 1-0 defeat at Plymouth has left the club two points adrift in the relegation zone with just two points gathered from the last ten league games.

"I knew Craig as a player and I know him as a manager," continued Burley.

"I don't know him really well but I know he did very well at Hearts and he's got a tough job at Leicester because this is a very competitive league. When you take over a new job there are things you need to sort out.

"I'm exactly the same myself. I've been here for a few weeks and now I'm looking to change things and bring my own players in. If you're not quite right it's a thin line between winning and losing in the Championship. If a few key players are injured or not quite right then you're going to struggle. I'm sure things will turn round for Craig because by beating Tottenham [in the third round] they showed they can play. FA Cup ties are always special on the calendar and can produce magical results.

"This game is between two evenly-balanced Championship teams. I wouldn't put anybody down as the favourites and I'll tell my players we have a 50-50 chance going there."

The clubs' last meeting, at the Walkers Stadium in November, produced a 0-0 draw and Leicester's Maybury points to that result as evidence of the parity between the respective squads.

He said: "Southampton still have a lot of the squad that played in the Premiership last year. Obviously they've gone through some changes recently with George Burley taking over but they are still a good side. They will be finding their feet under George and he is getting more time to work with them."

As one of Levein's favoured lieutenants who was lured south from Tynecastle a year ago, Maybury is always susceptible to jibes from his colleagues of being the manager's pet. He takes it in good grace but refuses to hide his affection for his former club, even driving the notable distance from his home in Leicester to Hearts' Riccarton training base last month to reunite himself with old friends.

"We had a couple of days off so I went up to see a few of the lads like Elvis, Webby, Craig Gordon and Paul Hartley, as well as some of the backroom boys I know. I enjoyed being back. The ex-Hearts boys get a bit of stick down here because the manager brought us all with him. It's light-hearted, though, and the squad mixes well. A few of us do get into fights over the morning papers from Scotland to see what's happening at Tynecastle."

And there's been plenty. Maybury, like the entire population of Scotland, has toiled to keep abreast of entrances and exits at Tynecastle since New Year's Day, and it's not as if he doesn't have enough to concern himself with as Leicester fight to remain in English football's second tier.

"The bond between the former Hearts boys can help us because we know the manager and are aware of what his expectations are and what he wants from us. At the start when we came to Leicester the manager leaned on us a little and looked for our influence on the pitch.

"When I went to Hearts, I'll be honest, I didn't know anything about Craig [pictured left].

"I quickly found out he was similar in character to managers I'd worked under before, and I felt I needed his influence. He's a very good coach, but there's also a side to him that you know you just don't cross.

"You do it his way, so there's that little bit of fear there which I think I need.

"Craig was a top-class defender and his defensive training has helped me. I think I'm just fortunate to have found the right manager for me."

A rousing endorsement of Levein's credentials as he prepares his players for an FA Cup tie which may very well ordain his future as the manager of the Foxes.

The outcome of that saga and Saturday's meeting with one of his Tynecastle successors will engross everyone with a Hearts connection. Yet there may be an even more critical dual to come.

Should they still be threatened with relegation, Levein will hardly relish a final-day away trip to Southampton in April.

Taken from the Scotsman