This is our chance to show we’re top class
NOT a Championship team any more. Neil Lennon’s choice of words reflect a clear desire — shared by all at Hibs — to shake off the residual shame of falling out of the top flight.
No, Lennon insists, three seasons in the second tier cannot be viewed with any affection, even if their exile from the mainstream was marked by that hoodoo-lifting, curse-shattering, jinx-busting Scottish Cup triumph.
The Premiership is where they want to be. Where they deserve to be. And today at Hampden, against the second best team in the country, they get a chance to not only take their stirring Cup defence all the way to the final — but to prove that they belong in that Promised Land.
That Hibs are more confident than they were 11 months ago is clear. Darren McGregor, the local lad made good, recalls ‘cr***ing it’ as he walked into Hampden for a final destined to go down in history.
With a new sense of swagger only enhanced by winning the title last week, they harbour genuine hopes of matching — or bettering — a Dons team somewhere near their own peak.
‘It is an acid test for the players,’ said Lennon. ‘They will be playing against the team second in the table, who are well clear of Rangers — and that takes a bit of doing, splitting the Old Firm.
‘They have already been to one final this season and have improved year on year under Derek McInnes. They have been really consistent, so it is a good test for us.
‘Aberdeen are favourites and their fans will be expecting to get to the final against a Championship team … although we are not a Championship team any more.’
This rush to drop all association with the league they’ve just won might, to some, seem like ingratitude. After all, didn’t it provide a safe space in which Hibs could rebuild and regroup? They won the Scottish Cup for the first time in 114 years. Wasn’t a little time out of the top division actually good for the club?
‘No,’ said Lennon (right), his answer almost cutting off the question before it has been asked. ‘Honestly no. I know the point you are trying to make. Three years is not good for a club this size. It hasn’t been good for Rangers either. They’re still clawing their way back to get anywhere near where they were five, ten years ago.
‘I don’t think we have that problem. We are in a decent position on and off the field. But three years out of the top league is not good.’ Lennon, who confirmed he’s definitely back off Twitter after a busy week-long return, will be back at Hampden — in a working capacity, at least — for the first time since leading Celtic out for the 2013 Scottish Cup Final against Hibs.
Although he says the national stadium is ‘like Marmite — you either love it or you hate it’, his own memories of the old place are mixed enough for him to feel a little conflicted about its suitability.
Still, the moment Hibs beat Ayr in the quarter-final, his thoughts immediately landed upon the prospect of returning to the venue for the game’s showpiece figures.
‘It was a good feeling,’ he explained. ‘I’ve had some good times there, some disappointments, too. I think we normally take the east side. That will be home from home as we were always there with Celtic.
‘As a game, it’s going to be hard — and it’s going to ask everything of the players. I don’t know how the players will feel.
‘Nerves will be a thing, which is fine, but there is a coldness about them. I don’t think they are the type of players to give it up easy or throw the towel in. I think they have proved that in the last 18 months.’
There isn’t much doubt that nerves will play their part. If experience counts for anything, though, Hibs will be at least as loose as their opponents.
Lifelong Hibs fan McGregor testifies to a new belief in the ranks of the Cup holders. It’s in direct contrast to the desperation felt ahead of their last visit to Hampden, in the wake of play-off heartache and a League Cup Final loss fresh in the memory.
‘When I arrived at Hampden, I was cr***ing myself,’ said the defender with a guffaw. ‘I was so nervous because I knew what it meant to the fans. The Ross County loss in the League Cup Final, we’d come so close, and we were so close in the play-off against Falkirk.
‘It will be different going with happy memories. We had all our eggs in one basket, everything riding on the Scottish Cup as a saving grace. The anxiety and apprehension going into that game was huge.
‘This time we go into it knowing we’ve won the league, we’ve given a good account of ourselves to reach the last four as holders. So, if it ends on Saturday, we’ve done well. But I’m confident it won’t.’