Fans at Tynecastle say I’m a horror but I would gladly take an ugly victory tonight
WINNING ugly. It’s one of those footballing cliches rarely allowed to go under-used in Scottish football. Especially when a derby comes around. For Hibs star John McGinn, a player once roundly abused as the most odd-looking creature ever to set foot in Tynecastle, the phrase takes on a comical double meaning.
In his eyes, a brutal away victory in Gorgie tonight would be a thing of indescribable beauty.
The Scotland midfielder, main man in a Hibs team on an eight-game unbeaten run against Hearts, laughed and grinned a lot as he discussed previous experiences at Tynie. His favourite? Paul Hanlon’s late, late equaliser in a 2016 Scottish Cup encounter destined to be remembered fondly forever by Hibs fans. But that only just pips the moment of, erm, supporter interaction that marked the Edinburgh ground out as a place to be savoured by visiting players. ‘I remember, when I was at St Mirren, someone called me the ugliest thing they had seen at Tynecastle,’ revealed McGinn, the playmaker pausing for effect before adding: ‘And two minutes later I scored. It was brilliant.
‘I just laugh it off — I agree with them most of the time! You get a lot of banter and a lot of the boys I know thrive on it. They enjoy it. ‘That’s why there’s always a scramble for tickets. You’ve got a huge chance to show what you can do on a huge platform.
‘Personally, you want to play in the big games. That’s why I came to a club like Hibs, getting back into the top flight, playing in sell-out games.
‘And going to places like Tynecastle, where you’re so close to the crowd, you get reminded how ugly you are… I’m looking forward to experiencing the new stand!’
McGinn picks out that 2016 Cup tie, a special moment on a run that ended with Hampden glory, for more than just the obvious reason.
That was a turning point, he argues, in a rivalry that had previously been too easily pigeon-holed as a classic Cavaliers versus Roundhead clash of cultures — with Hibs playing the part of the stylish fops, forever liable to crumble under a bit of physical pressure.
Recalling a day when the visitors came from two down in the closing ten minutes, Hanlon scoring an injury-time equaliser from McGinn’s own corner, he said: ‘I remember hitting the corner. My set-pieces had been inconsistent and I knew that one had to be right.
‘That turned things around for us in the derbies. It showed we were a team who would no longer be bullied or give up.
‘We were not going to be messed about. And, ever since then, we have had that wee bit of an edge in the derbies.
‘That day was the closest I have felt to losing a derby. But, in terms of the celebration, it was different class.
‘This time around, we will mix it up if we have to. It will not be a passing game, I’m sure it will be played at a high tempo, with lots of tackles flying around.
‘If the tackles do come flying in, then I will be more than happy to get involved.’
There was a time when the ferocity of this fixture might have taken McGinn by surprise.
A boyhood Celtic fan, he freely admits that he thought no game in Scotland — heck, the whole world of football — could rival their encounters with Rangers.
He is more than happy to stand corrected, confessing: ‘It’s bigger than I thought it was.
‘Being from the west, it’s made out to be nowhere near the size of the Old Firm derby.
‘The wall of noise you hear when you walk out the tunnel — it blows you away.
‘When I was growing up, I only experienced going to Celtic-Rangers games.
‘But this is great. You drive past the Tynecastle Arms and all the Hibs fans are out steaming already — and you think: “It’s 10am, calm it!”
‘It is amazing. You want to skip the handshakes and just get going. The atmosphere is brilliant.
‘I have been very lucky in that I haven’t lost one yet. It has been great.
‘But Hearts have improved recently. So we’re going to have to be at our best to get a result.
‘I know we have an unbeaten run against them, but I don’t think we have won at Tynecastle for a while. Since I have been here it has been draws. That’s something I would like to put right.’
For McGinn personally, every big game feels like another step on the way to something bigger. A test to be passed. A doubt to be answered.
His recent head-to-head with Scotland captain Scott Brown in the 2-2 draw with Celtic is a case in point, the 23-year-old smiling as he dipped into the ‘debate’ about who had come out on top in that one, saying: ‘It was funny reading that our gaffer backed me up and Brendan Rodgers backed Scott. ‘But, as soon as the final whistle went, we had a wee giggle. We get on really well. ‘He’s been fantastic for me since I stepped up to the international scene. He is always there for advice. ‘The thing that has helped take him to the next level is that, as soon as he steps on to the park, no one is his mate; everyone wants to test themselves against him.’ McGinn remains an inconsistent performer. If he wasn’t, he’d already be playing in a bigger league.
Yet, his undoubted talent has been married to a growing understanding of the game. Asked outright what areas he needs to improve, he replied: ‘More goals. A lot of teams know what I do now and mark me, but I need to adapt to that because that’s what all the top players do.’