Blueprint for Hibs is black and white

HIBERNIAN can end their 111-year Scottish Cup hoodoo today by doing precisely what St Mirren did against Celtic in the Scottish Communities League Cup semi-final.

A lot of people will be crying out for Pat Fenlon to go 4-4-2 and play Ross Caldwell up front alongside Leigh Griffiths, as he did in the recent Edinburgh derby victory. I would start with a 4-5-1 formation but pack it full of offensive players.

That is the way to beat Celtic: make sure you are not sitting back in a deep 4-5-1 and just waiting for them to break you down. You need to stay solid defensively but show intent, hit with pace and occupy their full-backs.

Hibernian are without James McPake due to injury, and it is always a blow to lose your captain. He also scored in last year's cup final. But young Jordon Forster has come in to the defence and done really well. I worked with Jordon when he was on loan at East Fife and he has every attribute you need to become a really top player.

He is athletic, has pace, is strong for a 19-year-old and is tall at around 6ft 2in. He is a confident player, but a nice boy with it. Hibs will have no qualms about playing him in such a big game and, you never know, it could even prove to be a blessing.

He will be talked through the game by Paul Hanlon, who has been very consistent this season. You will probably be looking at Tim Clancy or Alan Maybury at right-back, with Ryan McGivern on the left, so it is a decent back four.

If they can keep it tight and goalkeeper Ben Williams is in his usual form, then Hibs have a hell of a chance. The wide men for me should be Danny Handling and Alex Harris, with Griffiths up front. The experience comes from the centre three in midfield, maybe Tom Taiwo, Kevin Thomson and Jorge Claros.

David Wotherspoon is another option on the right, but Handling turned the game in the semi-final against Falkirk and the more I see of Harris the more I think he could be the next big thing.

Kevin McHattie of Hearts isn't slow, but Harris was going past him during the derby as if he wasn't there. He has an incredible natural turn of pace and has scored a couple of goals into the bargain.

Both managers deserve credit for the way they have given players a break in preparation for the final. You are caught between giving your players a rest, not leaving them too idle too long, and letting them peak at the right time.

They could get rusty in the weeks leading up to the cup final, but Pat and Neil Lennon have managed things very well and both teams' recent results have been very strong.

What happened to Hibs in last year's final was horrendous, not just being beaten by their biggest rivals, but being beaten so comprehensively. It would have been a dream come true to win the cup against their biggest rivals after 110 years of failure, and they really believed they had an incredible chance.

This year everybody expects Celtic to lift the trophy and that takes a huge amount of pressure off. Celtic will be desperate to stop Griffiths, but he has played up front on his own for much of the season and scored goals.

He doesn't get picked up because he goes places centre-halves don't want to go. He drifts wide, and always plays on the outside shoulder. He has proved you can't man mark him and you can't switch off for one minute against him even if you are having the bulk of the ball as Celtic will surely have today.

I think Celtic will win, but it might take extra-time. I can see there being lots of goals again in this match, as there were in the semi-finals against St Mirren and Dundee United.

Georgios Samaras will probably start on the bench, but with the threat of Kris Commons, and Gary Hooper – who comes alive in the big games – I think Celtic will just have too much quality, even with Victor Wanyama and Beram Kayal suspended.

I KNOW from being at East Fife that Second Division clubs want a crack at Rangers next season. But I can't help thinking that the clubs in the bottom two tiers counterparts are cutting their own throats by opposing the plan for a 42-team solution when it comes to reconstruction.

Don't be surprised if that 42-team solution still goes through because I think a few clubs might change their mind before a formal vote is taken on June 14.

And if it doesn't, then don't be surprised if the proposed breakaway for a 10-team second tier becomes a 12-12 with options kept open for Dunfermline and Rangers.

In which case the Ibrox club's hierarchy would have a decision to make. A lot of Rangers fans might be unhappy about coming back into the SPL fold, you can never please everybody. But I think Rangers would accept an invitation to come back and I am sure Dunfermline, in their situation, would too.

Taken from the Herald