Cup final countdown ‘I’ll be holidaying in Turkey or Siberia’ says Gary Locke

By STUART BATHGATE
Published on Thursday 17 May 2012 01:55

The Hearts coach is glad the wait is nearly over

WHO said a game only lasts for 90 minutes? Saturday’s Scottish Cup final has been going on for over a month already – or at least that’s how it feels to the coaching staff at both Edinburgh clubs.

The minute Hearts beat Celtic and Hibernian beat Aberdeen in last month’s semi-finals, the management told their squads to put 19 May out of their heads and concentrate on their remaining league matches. That was easier said than done, as Hearts first-team coach Gary Locke explained this week.

“It has been a nightmare over the last three or four weeks, to be honest,” Locke said. “No matter how much people say you have got to look to the league games, everywhere you go nobody is interested in talking about anything other than the final. It’s nearly upon us. I’ll be glad, to be fair, because then we can get on with our lives after it.

“It’s a huge game. If you ask anyone, not just people who work at Hearts but fans, and they will say it is the biggest derby they are ever likely to see. Everywhere you go and everyone you speak to, whether it’s Hearts fans or Hibs fans, they’re all just desperate for the game to come around. Being a local lad, you can’t get away from it. We are all looking forward to it.”

While the build-up has gone on for five weeks now, the aftermath of the match is likely to last far longer. Locke joked that he had already acknowledged that fact by making alternative arrangements for his summer. “I’ve got two holidays booked – Turkey and Siberia. Everybody at both clubs knows what it means to the fans and to the people of Edinburgh, so there’s a wee bit of added pressure that it’s a Hearts-Hibs final. You can’t get away from it. Everywhere you go you bump into people, whether it’s Hearts or Hibs fans: one’s wanting you to win and the other is wanting you to get hammered. It’s a huge game for both clubs.”

Locke has already lifted the cup as a Hearts captain – but a non-playing one, having been ruled out of the 1998 win against Rangers because of injury. He had fared little better in the defeat by the Ibrox club two years earlier, having been forced off injured. “I was a bit unfortunate – in 1996 I never lasted that long, ’98 I was injured, and obviously I experienced the Kilmarnock one [when they lost 5-1 to Hibs in the 2007 League Cup final]. I can maybe help some of the boys, say to them you better savour it because it might never happen again. It’s important that they savour it and give it their best shot. I try to remember the good times, and I’m in a fortunate position now that I’m involved as a coach and I aim to try to savour this one as much as I can.”

Locke does not accept that in a one-off match there should be such a thing as a favourite. But he is confident that his own players, particularly the ones like himself from a Hearts-supporting background, will be able to rise to the occasion. “In a cup final, anything can happen. Look at the Celtic v Kilmarnock [League Cup] final. Celtic had the majority of possession, missed a few chances and Killie go up and score a goal. You wouldn’t say Killie were the favourites that day. I don’t buy into that there is a favourite. It’s the same all over the world – it’s whoever plays well on the day. Hopefully on Saturday that will be us. The players that are here, boys like Ian Black, know what the fixture means to people. Hopefully I won’t have to say too much.

“The boys know the size of the fixture, especially with it being a Scottish Cup final. It will probably never happen again in our lifetime. I don’t look at history or what has happened in the past. It doesn’t matter who you are playing in the final, once you get there you want to win it. Obviously, it is a lot bigger because it is Hibs. That is the only thing I will be thinking about. There are a lot of players on loan that have only been at Hibs for one season so I don’t think that [the 110-year wait] will make a difference. They will just be desperate, like our boys, to win the cup.”

Taken from the Scotsman