Austin plots replay thrills rather than a dull repeat
ENTERING the word ‘replay’ into an online thesaurus spawns ‘repeat’ and ‘rerun’ as popular responses staring back at you. Hearts assistant manager Austin MacPhee’s laptop has been in no mood to cough up these answers as it prepares to plot a path towards the quarter-finals of the William Hill Scottish Cup.
After a turgid Tynecastle stalemate, the Edinburgh rivals will certainly not be doing it all over again on Wednesday, according to MacPhee.
That is good news for neutrals who tuned in with great anticipation last Sunday only to watch a poor-quality, agricultural event with no goals on a rutted pitch due for replacement.
But MacPhee believes that is an even better bulletin for Hearts supporters so eager to eliminate the holders at Easter Road.
Neil Lennon promised ‘up and at them’, taking the underfoot conditions into account, and delivered precisely that to bring the tie back to Leith for a second successive season.
MacPhee does not anticipate Hibernian succeeding in the role of spoilers this midweek. With seven new signings battle-hardened by the occasion of their Edinburgh derby debuts, he is confident the dynamics of this second clash across the capital will suit the plans he and Ian Cathro have for Hearts just perfectly. In other words, the Championship team has probably had their chance.
‘We’re looking forward to Easter Road, believing we will improve on the performance we gave,’ said MacPhee. ‘Hibs played in a way which, at times, meant the flow of the game wasn’t necessarily something we could control.
‘They set out to win a lot of fouls and they did win a lot of fouls. The game stopped a lot. They didn’t want a flow to the game and managed to achieve that. I thought at times we could have been protected a wee bit earlier, but the best thing about derbies is that competitiveness and we don’t want to take that away either.
‘These are all things we will try to address in the second game and we are confident we can progress to the quarter-finals.
We were maybe struggling to have an awful lot of possession for a variety of reasons. There were a lot of opportunities for balls into our box — going in from 90 yards, 80 yards, 70 yards, corners — and that can lead to mistakes. I thought the players showed a lot of strength to defend those situations when the game maybe became a little awkward.
‘A lot was said about foreign boys coming into the game and could they handle the derby atmosphere, the physical side of things. I thought there was a strength of character and unity with the boys, who have only recently come together. I think all the players stuck at it. That was that day, that was the environment, that was the pressure. And Hibs maybe felt that was their chance, based on a number of things.
‘Hibs’ pitch is a bit bigger and isn’t on the verge of being replaced so, naturally, it is a better surface. Easter Road could be an environment where we get things going a little bit more. The fans have been magnificent away from home in all our games so far and that will be a good environment for us to go and win the game.’
From his time coaching at St Mirren, MacPhee counts John McGinn and Darren McGregor as Hibs rivals to admire as players and human beings. However, that familiarity and friendship will count for nothing if this derby duel turns a little dirty in the knowledge that there must be a winner on the night going through to host Ayr United.
Hibs boss Lennon can be a hard act to match in full fury on the touchline. However, as he addressed the emotions that might be at play on a ferociously competitive and passionate evening, MacPhee suggested he and sidekick Cathro will not be lacking in that department if there is the prospect of playing pantomime pests for fourth official Don Robertson and referee Steven McLean.
MacPhee said: ‘You don’t make good decisions when you’re emotional. You have to be balanced between showing enough emotion that people respond to and inwardly having a calm to make the right decision at the right time. And not letting the heat of the moment cloud our judgment.
‘Sometimes at the side of the pitch it can be a bit like a pantomime, though, and you need to play it as well. Referees are human as well, they get influenced in a number of different ways.
‘If they’re getting influenced by one team and not the other, it will be to our detriment. So sometimes you have to put on your costume and take part.’