Were your cups worth it Jambos?

By DAVID FRIEL
Published: 12th November 2012
11
WHAT price should you put on success?

Hibs legend Pat Stanton doesn’t know the answer to that question.

But he is adamant that he would NEVER put his club’s very existence at risk for the sake of securing some silverware.

The Easter Road side haven’t won the Scottish Cup for 110 years. It’s a stat Hearts fans love to bring up.

They taunt Hibernian at every turn. The Jambos’ 5-1 derby cup final triumph in May is used as a stick to beat them with.

Yet seven months on, the laughter has died down. Hearts are on the brink of total oblivion — and the silverware now seems worthless.

While Hibernian were thrifty in recent times, Vladimir Romanov spent recklessly to land Scottish Cups in 2005 and 2012.

But Stanton, 68, insists that the Jambos can keep their trophies — he would much rather have a stable club with a bright future.

He said: “Winning the Scottish Cup is great for the players and the supporters. We’d love to have won the cup somewhere along the line.

“But would Hibs fans have been willing to pay the price that Hearts could have to? Maybe not.

“Personally? It’s great to win the cup and Hibernian haven’t won it for long enough. But the price to pay for that is maybe just on the high side.

“Is it worth putting the club at risk to get your hands on a trophy?

“No, it’s not.

“Hibs are a well-run club these days. Tom Farmer got involved and put capable people in charge.

“But football is like any other business — you can’t spend money you haven’t got.

“When you hear some of the wages people are on, how can you sustain that?

“It’s caused an awful lot of trouble for a lot of clubs.

“Arsenal are also doing it the right way — they refuse to get involved in all this crazy spending.

“You see some of the figures being thrown about, but Arsenal don’t join in.

“In time, that approach will prove to be the right one.

“It’s a shame but these clubs will eventually get over it. It will be part of their history and it’s just important that they learn from it.”

Stanton was inducted into Scottish football’s Hall of Fame at a special gala dinner in Glasgow last night.

Gordon McQueen, Frank McLintock, Bob McPhail and Andrew Watson — the world’s first black international player — were also honoured. It capped a perfect few hours for Stanton — with his beloved Hibs moving two points ahead of Celtic at the top of the SPL table with a 2-1 success over Dundee United.

Leigh Griffiths and Eoin Doyle grabbed the goals for Pat Fenlon’s high-flying side — making it a great day to be a Hibees supporter.

There will also be some Easter Road fans taking great delight in Hearts’ plight — but Stanton isn’t one of them.

He is Hibs through and through but it would break his Heart to see his Edinburgh rivals go under.

He said: “Some of my best pals in Edinburgh are all Hearts supporters — I take no joy seeing the uncertainty at the club.

“Hearts are a big club. I would like to think that they will bounce back but I don’t take any enjoyment from the situation they find themselves in. Hibernian and Hearts need one another.”

Stanton — a classy stopper in his day — spent 13 years at Easter Road before finishing his career off at Celtic in the late 1970s.

He never won the league at Easter Road but would love Fenlon’s side to rewrite history and shock Scottish football by winning the SPL.

He said: “I’m a Hibs fan so long may it continue. Can they stay there? All I’ll say is long may it continue.

“A lot of Hibs fans I know are the last of the romantics, although there are a few hard-headed ones in there too.

“It’s great. When you think back to the final whistle at Hampden in May and compare it to now, there has been a real turnaround.

“I look at the league table now and think, ‘We’ll take that’. There are always going to be hiccups along the way but it’s how you react to it.

“It makes a change to see Hibernian being on top in Edinburgh. It was a wee bit painful at the Scottish Cup final and it’s hard to believe how much it’s turned around in a short space of time.

“I’m also pleased for the manager, who took over in difficult circumstances. The next time we play Hearts we’ll see how far we have come.

“The Scottish Cup tie next month will be interesting. “ Stanton — capped 16 times by Scotland — also expressed his delight at joining some of his heroes in the Hall of Fame.

He admitted: “This is a great honour — to be included alongside so many famous names gives me a lot of pride.

“I was lucky to play with some really good players during my time and I had a lot of help from these guys.”