Semi- final derby has makings of a classic but fans will all be watching it at home
Hear t s and Hibs will f ace off this weekend for a place in the Scottish Cup final. If t hat wasn’t enough, t here are numerous subplots t o make this a classic encounter. There’s just one small problem...
In many ways this is a derby for the ages. For starters, it’s a Scottish Cup semi- final at Hampden. Meetings between the two clubs in Scotland’s premier knockout tournament have been oddly frequent in recent years. There have been more Scottish Cup Edinburgh derbies in the last decade ( seven) than there were in between Hearts’ quarter- final replay victory in 1933 and the 2006 semi- final ( six). But it’s still an Edinburgh derby semi- final, it’s only happened twice before in the history of the competition and who knows when it’s going to happen again.
That in itself should present this game as a tasty nugget to sink your teeth into, but that’s not all. There’s the retribution f actor f or Hearts. Unfairly relegated from the top flight when last season was prematurely brought to a close by the coronavirus pandemic, the club’s supporters now see every Scottish football opponent ( except for Partick Thistle and Stranraer) as a mortal enemy. Nothing would delight the fans more – and dare say a few people within Tynecastle as well – than to see their side give the ultimate F- U to the rest
of the country by going on to win the competition.
There’s also the less visceral but no less intriguing prospect of Hearts, and their manager, getting their own back for the failures of 2016. Robbie Neilson’s record of one win from six against Hibs during his first spell was wholly underwhelming. Even worse, t wo of t hose di s appointments came in the fifth round tie in
which Hibs came back from two goals down at Tynecastle, advanced with a win at Easter Road and went on to win the competition for the first time in 114 years. A minority of the support still haven’t forgiven Neilson for that. A defeat today, even with the various caveats, will hardly mend that relationship.
Then t h e r e’s t h e l e s s e r - talked about Jack Ross sub
plot. A member of Neilson’s staff when the latter first took charge of Hearts back in 2014, Ross was mysteriously j ettisoned. Had he not been, he probably would’ve stepped up to the job when Neilson left in 2016 and Hearts would have saved themselves a lot of frustration in the time that’s elapsed since. They even had the chance to tr y and pinch him from Easter Road chiefs
before he was hired as Hibs boss last year but wanted to take their time and interview a range of candidates. Ross will have no desire to manage the club now, but he’ll likely want to get one over on the Tynecastle bosses who didn’t fully recognise his coaching abilities.
All in all, this one has the makings of a classic – except for one small problem. We’ll all be watching at home.
It is, to put it simply, rubbish. What makes derbies so special is the collective passion. When one of our teams scores this weekend, we’ll definitely celebrate. We’ll jump up, we’ll shout, we’ll scream. We’ll be wondrously happy if our team comes out on top at the end of 90 minutes, 120 minutes or, god forbid, a penalty shootout. But we won’t feel that collective euphoria.