Longing for wine, a win and a song

STEPHANE ADAM turns 37 on Sunday. Guess what he wants for his birthday?

That's right, a hangover. A thumping head and an aching belly from celebrating a Hearts victory at Hampden. Granted, any suffering on Sunday morning is unlikely to be down to an over indulgence by Adam in the Cup sponsors' product, Tennent's.

No, it is safe to assume that this classy Frenchman's preference would be for a few bottles of a fine red, perhaps something like Chateauneuf du Pape, instead.

But his primary objective is clear - to revel in a double celebration back in Edinburgh with thousands of delirious Hearts fans in an extended aftermath to Saturday's Scottish Cup final against Gretna.

Adam has openly willed his former club on since returning to Scotland at the turn of the year. Even taking up with his old bosses at Kilmarnock, Jim Jefferies and Billy Brown, as a part-time youth coach at Rugby Park cannot douse the maroon-tinted fire that burns brightly inside him.

Two days after turning 29, Adam attained immortality in the history of Hearts by firing the goal that ultimately brought the club their first trophy for 42 years. Now, eight further trophy-less years on from that Scottish Cup triumph against Rangers, he is looking to the class of 2006 for an excuse to once again ignite the birthday celebrations.

"I will be 37, so I think Hearts should give me a nice present and win the Scottish Cup," said Adam. "Then I can celebrate and have a good night with all my Hearts friends because I love the club and they are by far my favourite team in Scotland.

"It is strange that they haven't won a trophy since 1998, but I think they can win on Saturday. Provided they play to their best I think they will be too strong for Gretna and I'm looking forward to the night.

"I am desperate just to be part of it all at Hampden. It will be a great day for all the fantastic Hearts supporters and I imagine it will bring back a lot of memories for me from 1998."

Adam will attend Hampden on Saturday as a guest of Hearts World, the club's official internet-based station which is broadcasting the game live, and will offer his expert analysis as a co-commentator alongside Gary Mackay.

That, of course, is provided he can proceed from the Hampden car park to the commentators' gantry without being mobbed by those who feel forever in his debt for his intervention at Celtic Park in 1998 after Lorenzo Amoruso goofed a high ball.

Adam almost missed the start of Hearts World's live broadcast of the semi-final against Hibs due to the excessive clamour for his signature from the adoring supporters outside the stadium's main entrance. It's a fair bet he'll be chased for his life again, but his genial demeanour will prevent him from even contemplating an objection.

"It's the dream team from the semi-final," he says of his link-up with Mackay. "We were on Hearts World together that day and we beat Hibs 4-0, so if we keep the same team hopefully they will stay lucky for us." Tone down the animation in his voice and a give him a Lithuanian accent and Adam could almost pass for Valdas Ivanauskas.

"I was at the Aberdeen game last week and to see all the joy on everyone's faces at the end almost brought a tear to my eye. The Hearts supporters deserve this success because they are the best and playing the Champions League will be fantastic for the club. It was a great atmosphere last Wednesday and a great party. I hope it will be the same again at Hampden."

For party-poopers, none fit the bill better than Brooks Mileson's Gretna, a side who have taken it upon themselves to upset many above them in the Scottish game. Their Scottish Cup victims already include reputable First Division clubs St Johnstone, Clyde, St Mirren and Dundee.

Not bad for a team who were in the bottom tier of the domestic game this time last year awaiting promotion. As a consequence of Hearts' splitting of the Old Firm in the SPL, manager Rowan Alexander will lead Gretna into the UEFA Cup next season after obtaining the Scottish Cup's European ticket through a soon-to-be-closed loophole. Adam has sufficiently broadened horizons to look beyond the Premier League from time to time, and when he has done so it has inevitably been the feats of Gretna that have grabbed his attention.

"Hearts will have to be careful because I know that Gretna have a lot of players who have played in the Premier League. In fact, I think I played against quite a few of them.

"John O'Neil, Alan Main, James Grady, these guys have been around for many years and will know what to expect.

"My only fear would be in case Hearts did not show them enough respect, but I don't think that will happen because the squad has been so motivated this season."

Formerly of Metz, Adam spent his entire career in his native land until the opportunity of a transfer to Scotland emerged in 1996.

Five years earlier, he forged his reputation as a thoughtful and incisive striker with the lower-league club Creteil, who are based on the Parisian periphery, and managed to help dish out the kind of invaluable cup lesson which Hearts must guard against this weekend.

Whilst unexpected results in favour of lesser clubs in the Coupe de France are not greeted with any particular consternation [the tournament, like many national cup competitions on the continent, is undervalued] Creteil's ousting of Nimes and Montpellier during Adam's time is still revered to this day.

Naturally, their former striker derives significant pride from those achievements. "At Creteil we caused a major upset in France because they are only a very small club and no-one expected us to cope with Nimes or Montpellier, but we beat them both and that is why I say that Hearts must beware.

"It was one of the happiest experiences of my career at Creteil and I was still very young, just 22.

"All of France was surprised so it shows what can happen. I hope it does not happen to Hearts and I expect to be having fine birthday celebrations into the early hours of Sunday morning."

So, the expensive wine is on ice. Adam, now resplendent with flowing locks, is sufficiently chilled.

As long as Hearts do their duty, the celebrations can begin.

Taken from the Scotsman