Locke might be bashful now but final success would change that

G ARY LOCKE might be the first manager to fulfil a lifetime ambition by leading his boyhood heroes out at Hampden on cup final day, yet still feel rather embarrassed about doing so.

The 37-year-old from Bonnyrigg has spent much of his life looking forward to the moment he will experience at the national stadium shortly before 3pm tomorrow, but clearly still wrestles with his conscience over the manner in which he inherited the role as interim coach of the Tynecastle club.

Having guided the club to the final of the Scottish Communities League Cup, John McGlynn was sacked following a 2-0 defeat by tomorrow's opponents St Mirren. It says it all about both men that, when they spoke earlier this week, Locke confirmed that McGlynn would accept the club's offer of a ticket for the game, before McGlynn reciprocated by urging Locke not to have a backward thought and make sure he enjoys the occasion.

"I haven't bounced ideas off [McGlynn] but I have spoken to him," said Locke. "I'm delighted he's going to be at the game. All the credit goes to John and it's a bit embarrassing for me to be here when he's got us to the final, but that's football. I've been put in charge for this game and hopefully we'll do well. He's reassured me that I should go out and enjoy it. That's the mark of the man.

"To take charge of Hearts in a final is something I dreamed about as a kid. To play for Hearts was a dream come true but to lead the team out in a cup final will be a proud day for myself and my family, even if obviously I'd like it to be under different circumstances. But it will only be a good day if we manage to win."

It might also seem odd to say that Locke is the first manager in recent times who could win a cup and be searching for a new job almost the very next day, but such occasions are commonplace at Tynecastle. Paulo Sergio walked off into the sunset, following a vastly reduced contract offer, in the days following the 5-1 dismantling of Hibernian last May, and even the 2006 Scottish Cup win bought Valdas Ivanauskas little more than a few more months under Vladimir Romanov.

Although Locke is vague about when he first learned for sure that he would be in charge for his club's tilt at success, it is hard to imagine that he wouldn't privately love a chance to take charge on a more permanent basis. Yet whilst winning the cup would be a further endorsement of his credentials, the rumour mill suggests Peter Houston could be installed as manager whilst any celebrations are still in full swing.

"To be honest, I've not looked that far ahead and it has been that way from the day they told us to take the team," said Locke, who is running affairs with former youth coach Darren Murray. "We'll just try our best to get the result we're all looking for and whatever happens after that we'll see."

The lot of a Hearts supporter in recent times has been a turbulent one, but hasn't it always been thus? Locke, both a big winner and a loser on cup final day during his career, recalls with a grimace that the first big match he watched Hearts in was in 1986, when defeat at Dundee meant Celtic pipped the club to the Premier League title on a breathless last day. Their hopes of Scottish Cup success were then crushed by a rampant Aberdeen. "It would have been '86, which wasn't a very memorable two weeks for us," said Locke. "Hopefully Sunday will be better. I can't talk for all the Hearts fans but I look forward in life. Even the last cup final, that's gone now. We've got a completely different team and I'm only interested in Sunday."

The match finds Hearts in the midst of a mini injury crisis, minus the likes of Marius Zaliukas, Danny Grainger and Fraser Mullen, while players such as Andy Driver, Ryan McGowan, Ian Black and Craig Beattie have all moved on from the team which beat Hibs in May. Locke, who lifted the Scottish Cup with Stevie Fulton at Celtic Park in 1998 after an epic win against Rangers, said he would leave it up to the players to decide whether something similar would be appropriate for club captain Zaliukas in the event of victory.

"That's not my decision," Locke said. "Stevie Fulton made the decision on that day in 1998 and it was a great gesture, something I'll never forget. Whether that happens on Sunday I'm not sure. Marius has played his part in getting us to this cup final and hopefully we can win it for him."

If he is called upon to lift silverware again tomorrow afternoon, expect Locke to abandon his bashfulness at the bottom of the Hampden stairs.

Taken from the Herald