DIAMONDS CAN TRUMP HEARTS
Murray believes the situation at Tynecastle is ‘more critical than maybe some people realise’ and has faith in his men to cause an upset
Ian Murray makes no apology for being selfish. For a man who has dealt with bitter blows in a relatively young career as a manager, he likes to look after himself and face facts.
The former Hibernian captain is preparing for a fresh fight. Throwing himself into the Tynecastle cauldron, he restates the damning numbers surrounding the individual who he will meet in the opposite dugout on Saturday.
as manager of League One airdrieonians, his fourth job in a hotseat, the 38-year-old will attempt to turn up the heat on German Daniel Stendel, whose first taste of Scottish football at Hearts is proving to be anything but sweet.
a title-challenging third-tier side against the Premiership’s bottom team? It has the ingredients of a potential Scottish Cup shock. and so to those numbers.
‘Hearts are in a position that I don’t think anybody thought they would be in at the start of the season,’ says Murray.
‘I didn’t think they had a fantastic squad, that’s just my opinion, but I didn’t think they had the worst squad — and I certainly didn’t think they would be five points below Hamilton at the bottom.
‘They have had a disappointing season, changed manager and staff. all sorts are going on there. Hearts are an unknown quantity with their new manager.
‘I look at stats all the time. The stats tell you the truth — one point out of 15, no wins out of five games. There was a slight improvement against aberdeen at home (1-1 draw) but they lost ground on Hamilton.
‘I think the situation at Hearts is more critical than maybe some people realise. I’m not saying people within the club — staff, the manager, those running the club — don’t realise that.
‘But looking from the outside, you could think: “Oh, they’re only five points from Hamilton…”.
‘But those five points, in reality, are very difficult to pull back.
‘Selfishly, if we can add to their bad year by beating them on Saturday then there will be no one more pleased than myself.’
a stunning result would not only allow Murray to stand taller as a manager after a bumpy ride but would also add to the fury and chaos engulfing Hearts and Stendel.
accusations of throwing now ex-player Glenn Whelan ‘under a bus’, telling captain Christophe Berra he can leave while being labelled ‘embarrassing’ by former Hearts coach Jon Daly have surrounded the new boss.
Murray does not necessarily believe the job facing his players will be made easier by travelling to turbulent Tynecastle instead of a fourth-round tie at home.
‘They wouldn’t have liked the astroTurf pitch here — we love playing on it,’ Murray tells
Sportsmail. ‘They wouldn’t have had as many fans at our stadium.
‘But, if after 25 minutes it’s not going their way at Tynecastle, fans can get on their backs and we can find belief and confidence. It could turn around very quickly.
‘Personnel-wise, they’ve recalled their loan players and let a few guys know that they are not wanted.
‘But, certainly, the crowd can turn. When you’re playing against a big club, that’s what happens.
‘If, after 30-40 minutes, it isn’t going their way, you can hear a few grumbles. If we score first, which we’re more than capable of doing, then it will open up the cup tie.
‘People maybe forget that I was at Dumbarton and I’ve been thumped by Hearts twice 5-1. nothing worse can happen to me.
‘I go there relaxed, looking forward to it and full of belief with my team. We’ve got good players, the team believe we can win and that’s half the battle.’
Murray’s reward for a productive spell at Dumbarton over two-and-a-half years was being appointed as St Mirren manager in 2015.
But a poor start to the campaign at the Buddies, who had been relegated to the Championship, saw him exit by December.
Murray then spent nearly two years in norway working as assistant to former Hibs teammate Kevin nicol at asker before he returned to Scotland, where he was appointed airdrieonians boss in October 2018.
‘I’m absolutely loving it,’ he admits. ‘Stuart Millar, the director of football, has been a breath of fresh air. non-stop working and observation of everyone. He’s been a tremendous help.
‘I know the words “director of football” sometimes bring the fear of God into people in football but it is very important you have the right one.
‘I’ve had four very different experiences. Dumbarton were part-time in the Championship. We didn’t have a lot of money or structure. I was 31, did okay, people like to talk about you and say you are doing great.
‘I was lucky where I could make 100 mistakes without anyone being critical.
‘I went to St Mirren when I felt the time was right but it didn’t go the way I wanted. There were lots of different reasons.
‘The biggest lessons that I took from St Mirren were that you need to have the right players and the right people in your changing room. I can say it now — I didn’t have the right players.
‘Partly down to my own fault for bad recruitment and partly for taking the easy option by re-signing players when I should have let them go.
‘When I came to airdrie, I promised myself I would observe very quickly the ones that weren’t so much bad eggs but that weren’t going to come on the journey that we wanted to go on.’
The Diamonds currently find themselves locked in a fascinating four-way fight for the Ladbrokes League One title.
They sit third, a point behind Falkirk and two below raith rovers, with fourth-placed East Fife also still in the hunt.
‘We’re in a better position than we thought we would be at this stage,’ notes Murray. ‘The fans are coming back and the spirit is good. you can start to feel a sense of people coming together.
‘a game at Hearts will help — I think we’ve sold 1,300 tickets. It might be more now.’
Murray remains good friends with Jack ross, his former assistant at Dumbarton who then left to join Hearts’ coaching staff in 2014 — and the man who now fills the Hibs hotseat.
The airdrie boss sees similarities between himself and ross in terms of being floored but rising again. ‘Jack took a knock at Sunderland,’ says Murray. ‘If you take a knock at any level, you learn from it. Jack will be a good fit for Hibs, I hope.
‘I speak to him a lot — in fact, I spoke to him this morning to get all his Hearts details!
‘you get judged on the derbies and Celtic and rangers games. If I was Jack, I’d be looking at Derek McInnes at aberdeen and how great a job he has done.
‘But he’s now judged on reaching cup semi-finals and finals, and against Celtic and rangers. With expectation comes more demand and that’s what will happen at Hibs.’
The focus returns to the present. Murray has answered the call at airdrie and, should he deliver this weekend, he will be braced for a barrage of messages.
‘I expect my phone will be redhot even if we lose because there will be Hearts fans texting me,’ he adds. ‘People like the banter with the Hibs-Hearts stuff but the bigger picture for me is: how do I get airdrie out of League One?
‘I’d love to beat Hearts in the cup — it would be a fantastic moment for me as a manager. But our objective is to get out of this league.’
I didn’t think they had a fantastic squad but not the worst either