Memo to Hearts: Practice makes perfect when it comes to scoring penalties
One of the deadliest penalty-takers Scotland has ever produced has a bit of advice for the players who failed to convert from the spot in last Sunday’s Scottish Cup Final shoot-out drama.
Hearts’ Stephen Kingsley and Craig Wighton both had their kicks saved by Celtic keeper, Connor Hazard, as the holders dug deep to complete the quadruple Treble.
Hoops midfielder Ryan Christie was also denied, by his former team- mate Craig Gordon, but that did not turn out to be decisive.
Graham Alexander scored 77 penalties in his career with Burnley, Preston and Scotland, at a success rate of over 90%.
He said: “People will speak about saves, but for me anything but a goal is always a miss.
“If a player gets his kick right, then the goalkeepers are irrelevant. They don’t matter because you take them out of the equation.
“The first penalty I ever took in the Premier League was in 2009 for Burnley against Sunderland.
“Craig Gordon was in goal for them, and they had paid £9-million for him. He was my Scotland team-mate, so I knew exactly how good he was.
“But I didn’t give him a thought. I scored and we won the game.”
The secret of his confidence, Alexander says, lay in preparation.
“I practised penalties every week, to the point where I knew I could put the ball exactly where I wanted to put it.
“Not only that, but also get it there with enough power behind it so that it didn’t matter if the keeper got a hand to it because it would still end up in the back of the net.
“They would be the ones risking breaking their wrists!”
The 49-year-old, now looking for a new management role following his dismissal by Salford City in October, believes the real battle penalty takers have is with themselves.
“People speak about the difference between hitting penalties on the training ground, and in big matches, and, of course, it is a factor,” he said.
“You have to clear your mind of all thoughts about the situation, and that is easier said than done.
“Experience helps. If you think: ‘OK, my technique has been good enough so many other times’, then you are less likely to have a wobble as you are running up there.
“Focus hard on getting that right because if you do, then everything else takes care of itself.
“It will have been tough for the lads involved last Sunday, but hopefully they can learn from the experience so next time there is no chance any goalkeeper is going to deny them.”
Alexander, who won 40 caps for Scotland between 2002 and 2009, has been delighted in the country’s success in winning through to the Euros next summer.
He would have crawled on his hands and knees over broken glass to take part in the shoot-outs against Israel and Serbia.
“I’d have absolutely loved them,” he said. “There is no way anyone would have stopped me taking one. My hand would have shot up.
“Was it an incredibly pressurised situation? Absolutely. Would my stomach have been churning up with butterflies. Again, absolutely – it always was.
“But those are the moments you dream about. Those are the memories you know you will hold on to forever.”
As it was, Alexander had two good nights watching the games at home.
“Like the rest of the country, I celebrated like crazy. My whole family did,” he said.
“I was thrilled for them, and for everyone involved in getting us through to the Euros.
“For Scotland to come so close and actually get over the line was fantastic. If, like me, you live and work outside the country, it made you puff out your chest and smile.
“England v Scotland at Wembley in front of a crowd in the summer?
“Now, there is something to really look forward to!”