‘Mystic’ Shiels predicts scorers and the result

Published on Saturday 19 May 2012 00:00

Kilmarnock manager Kenny Shiels has tipped Pat Fenlon to make it a clean sweep of domestic honours in Scotland for Irish bosses by beating Hearts in today’s William Hill Scottish Cup final.

Shiels has already collected the Scottish Communities League Cup and Neil Lennon’s Celtic ran away with the SPL title. Now ‘Mystic Kenny’ has foretold not just the scoreline but also the goalscorers for today’s Hampden showdown.

“I’m not going to give you a prediction – I’m going to tell you what the result will be,” he said. “This is something I’m good at – I have a kind of sixth sense and so I have a good track record when it comes to these things.

“Anyway, Leigh Griffiths will open the scoring for Hibs in the 23rd minute and it will be 1-0 for them at half-time. Then the referee, Craig Thomson, will give a penalty for a foul by James McPake and Rudi Skacel will equalise from the spot. It’ll stay like that until the 89th minute, when Garry O’Connor will score the winner and then get himself booked for taking his shirt off!”

Shiels admits he is baffled by Hearts being odds-on favourites. “I can’t understand why people think that they’re nailed on because, for me, Hibs have the better players,” he said. “For the fourth-biggest club in the country to have gone 110 years without winning this competition is crazy but there could be no better opponents to beat in the final to end that run than your derby rivals.

“It’ll also mean that all three trophies have been won by Irish managers and don’t forget that Dan McMichael – the man who was in charge when Hibs last won it in 1902 – was Irish as well.”

Taken from the Scotsman