Hearts v St Mirren: Former goalkeepers on how the Scottish Communities League Cup can be won

By Roddy Forsyth

11:00PM GMT 12 Mar 2013

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But you can be so paralysed with nerves that you would thank the manager for dropping you - yet still go on to the pitch and leave with the silverware, as Campbell Money, who is congratulated to this day by St Mirren fans for his performance in the 1987 Scottish Cup triumph over Dundee United, revealed.

The two veterans were in Edinburgh on Tuesday to promote Scottish football’s first showpiece event of the season, Sunday’s Scottish Communities League Cup.

John McGlynn, the latest manager to have been discarded by Hearts, departed last week and since then the players have been supervised by Gary Locke, whose tendency to sustain injuries during a nine-year career at Tynecastle did not diminish his commitment to the maroon jersey.

“He has it running through his blood,” said Smith. “We had this when we were playing. When you were in the tunnel someone would say, 'Let's get right up these bastards, they're scared.'

“Gary used to do that and that's what he needs to tell the senior players to do. You can't get the kids to do it - get the senior players to do it and then the opposition will think, ‘Hearts are up for it today.’

“It can put you 1-0 up before you get on the park. The opposition might then be a wee bit hesitant in the first tackle, in front of goal and these things can make a difference.”

Smith, who played for Hearts between 1981 and 1996, also had a tip for Jamie MacDonald, his latest successor, who has been criticised for not being insufficiently commanding. “Is he shouting to Andy Webster and Danny Wilson? If it's not the right things then they will ask what the hell is going on.

"These things that Jamie has to be conscious of - I think he could improve on that and he's been at Hearts a long time. That’s one weakness he maybe should work on to progress his career as he's not a bad keeper."

Money, meanwhile, revealed that he had been sick with anxiety on the run-up to the 1987 final, but had conquered his fear to pick up a winner’s medal in a game that is remembered fondly in Paisley. “I've been reminded about it plenty of times this week, that's for sure. It's a long time ago - and it's a bit scary,” said Money.

“It's hard to believe we had four teenagers in our team. It might never happen again, until Sunday when Hearts might play four teenagers.

“That's the intriguing thing at the moment, waiting to see what team Hearts play. You can pretty much pick the St Mirren team already.

Kids are different when it comes to cup finals. They have no nerves or fear. They don't really know what it's about, but the experienced ones, like I was in '87, start to worry about it.

“I was fine the night before the game but on the morning of the match I was in a hell of a state. On the bus journey to Hampden, if Alex Smith (then St Mirren manager) had come up and told me he was leaving me out, I would have shook his hand and thanked him.

“I was terrified. It didn't help driving through Paisley, with all the punters out in the street and all the shop fronts done up in black and white but when I got to Hampden and did the warm-up, I was OK.

“As a goalkeeper, it is maybe worse because there is always this fear that you might make a mistake which will cost you the match. I hope neither Craig Samson or Jamie MacDonald make a mistake on Sunday which costs them the game.”

A desire not to have the Hearts players too animated during their preparations was disclosed by Locke, when he took a leaf from last year’s run-up to the Scottish Cup final, which resulted in the 5-1 demolition of Hibernian.

"The morale is good. The boys are looking quite bubbly and lively in the mornings, which is great,” said Locke.

“We had a wee day at the go-karting on Monday, which was interesting to say the least. It was good just doing something different away from the training ground.

"We are now focusing on the final and aiming to win it, and we will prepare as well as we can all week."

Meanwhile, the St Mirren defender Marc McAusland, said that he and his colleagues are driven by the desire not to suffer as they did in the 2010 final, when they lost to a Rangers side reduced to nine men. "It was really frustrating,” said the centre-back. “They had a great chance and when Rangers lost a couple of players, I think everyone around us thought we could win it.

“We couldn't do it that day but hopefully we can make amends for that on Sunday and give the fans something to cheer about."

Back in Edinburgh, Smith could not resist playing a mind game of his own. Told that Money had admitted suffering from stage fright in 1987, the Hearts man retorted - of a man five years his junior - “Well, he’s an old git!”

Taken from telegraph.co.uk