'I'm not a guy who quits. I'm not a coward' – Sergio still has heart for 'difficult job' at Tynecastle

PAULO SERGIO could never be accused of getting too far ahead of himself.

Enquiries yesterday about what it would mean to him to manage in a Scottish Cup final, or the tantalising prospect of Hearts encountering Hibernian next month with the trophy at stake, were politely but firmly batted away. "First of all we have a semi-final," he said. "After that, if we go through, you can put that question to me then."

Sergio, one of life's great pragmatists, is probably wise not to look too far ahead. If he has learnt anything in his eight months in charge at Tynecastle, it will be that it is often best to expect the unexpected. Goodness knows what the 44 year-old had foreseen when he signed on for his first overseas job after spending the entirety of his playing and coaching career in his native Portugal, but presumably the regular late payment of wages and players suddenly becoming unavailable at the whim of the owner weren't part of his vision.

Still, he has handled the turbulence admirably, his dedication and loyalty – as well as the maroon cardigans he took to sporting over the winter – further endearing him to a support who quickly warmed to him and his charismatic but frank approach.

There was an acknowledgement that things have perhaps been tougher than he had imagined when he first touched down in Edinburgh last August, but it never crossed his mind to turn and flee back to Portugal. His reward for sticking around is days like today, when he will lead Hearts out against Celtic at Hampden for their first Scottish Cup semi-final appearance in six years.

"It has been a tougher job than I expected, because of all the reasons you know," he said. "But nobody promised me that this was going to be a fairytale. It's the same everywhere – when problems come, you have to deal with them. I'm not a guy who quits. I'm not a coward. So I fight, I'm here, alive and happy.

"Am I enjoying it? Yes, of course. But I'm just one of the group. I never put myself higher than the others – I'm only as important as any player who works with me every day. The important thing is about Hearts. That's the way I think, the way I work every day."

He isn't happy with the Scottish Cup ruling that means he can only name five substitutes for today's game – "we are reducing the chances for a lot of players to be involved" – but it shows he has reasonable options at his disposal, despite losing a handful of players in the January transfer window. David Templeton could return from long-term injury to feature, while Andy Webster is also expected to be fit after missing last weekend's match. There are doubts over Craig Beattie's fitness, but it would be a surprise if the striker wasn't involved at some stage.

More concerning for Hearts is the number of players on yellow cards. Nine of Sergio's squad would miss the final, if they got there, were they to pick up a booking tomorrow. However, anyone deemed to be holding back may find themselves sitting out the final even if they're not suspended.

"This [suspension] shouldn't be on the players' minds because, if they are going to be careful because of a yellow card, maybe they can't play 100% of their effort. And if we don't play 100%, we're not going to be in the final. If I have one or two doing that, and we win the game and we go to the final, maybe they don't play the final – even if they don't get a yellow card."

Sergio reckoned that if Hearts were to play Celtic 10 times "we would win only one or two of them" and believes Celtic's shock loss to Kilmarnock in the recent Scottish Communities League Cup final doesn't help his cause.

"I believe that defeat for Celtic is going to make our semi-final even harder, because they have already lost one cup and I'm sure they're going to be even more alert so that doesn't happen twice," he added. "What I have to do is get a message to my players and make them believe that Sunday is going to be their day. After that it's up to the players to put that into practice and show to me that the idea is good.

"It's a massive chance for everybody to play on a day like this. If I could take Hearts to a final, it would be a fantastic moment in my career, there's no doubt about that. But it is already an achievement to reach a semi-final, especially as it's been a very hard season.

"Has it been a great season? I would never say great because I am ambitious and I want always more. The semi-final will be good, but it's not the end of the line. I hope next week we can be speaking about the Scottish Cup again and looking forward to a final."

Taken from the Herald