Alex McLeish lauds Paulo Sergio

Published on Monday 21 May 2012 05:54

FORMER Hibs manager Alex McLeish has paid tribute to the work done at Hearts by Paulo Sergio, which culminated in Saturday’s 5-1 William Scottish Cup win against his old club.

McLeish – who led Hibs to the Scottish Cup final in 2001, where they lost to Celtic – was at Hampden for the match, and said afterwards: “Hearts have suffered some difficult financial strife throughout the season.

“So, you must give great credit to the manager for keeping them on course.

“And, despite the problems, there’s obviously a great spirit in the dressing room too.

“There have been a lot of troubles for the Hearts player to cope with, but they’ve done that.

“The Tynecastle lads had just too much quality for my old team. And I think the penalty-kick decision was a major turning point.

“Hibs had got a boost with their goal near the end of the first-half and I expected them to come flying out of the blocks for the second period.

“But the penalty-kick and the other quickfire goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of them.

“The Hearts player appeared to clip his own heels before going down for the spot-kick award.

“It was a difficult one for the referee to see and that is why everyone is calling out for new technology to come into play and settle these disputes.

“But he was outside the box, anyway, so it shouldn’t have been given.

“After that, Hibs looked tired and had no legs. The energy seemed to drain from the players after those two blows.

“Hearts, on the other hand, were sharper and much quicker.

“The better team picked up the silverware.”

McLeish, sacked as Aston Villa boss a week ago, also applauded the departing Rudi Skacel.

He said: “That was a marvellous way for the player to say goodbye to the Hearts supporters. That performance was just typical of Skacel. The guy’s a class act.”

Taken from the Scotsman