TROPHY WAY BETTER THAN 3RD FOR JOE
HIBS star Joe Newell reckons the Scottish Cup is a far bigger prize than third spot in the league.
The Easter Road battle Rangers tomorrow for a semi-final place.
Hibs last won the Cup in 2016 and would love to follow in that team’s footsteps, as it is also likely to come with the added prize of guaranteed European group football.
If Rangers or Celtic were to win the Cup then that prize would go to third place in the league – which is currently held by their city rivals Hearts.
Newell said: “If you give me the two I’d rather win the Cup. Definitely.
“That would be nice [taking European group stage football from the team in third place]… whoever is sitting there!
“That’s obviously the added incentive. For the club and the finances it’s huge. It would be amazing to get back into Europe, we loved the little run we had this year, albeit not getting into the groups.
“Initially my thought would just be to win the Cup, the legacy you would hold from that would be enough in itself.”
Newell is currently the starting captain. He has already harboured the heartbreak of losing a Scottish Cup Final to St Johnstone back in 2021. Now he would love to take that final step and follow in David Gray’s footsteps.
“The one thing I want to do most is win a cup here,” the midfielder added. “I’m desperate for it.
“We’ve had so many near misses, opportunities where you look back and ask yourself: ‘How did we not do the job there?’
“So I’m desperate to win a cup with Hibs and the Scottish Cup is the main target. You win that, you down in history.
“We’ve got a few boys here who did it in 2016. They still talk about it being the best memory of their lives.”
Hibs don’t have the best of records against Rangers but Newell can look back on the 2021 League Cup semi-final where they beat them at Hampden.
He recalled: “Oh yeah, it was surreal, being 3-0 up in something like 35 minutes. And, for a bit of context, we were on a horrendous run at the time.
“The Rangers manager (Gio van Bronckhorst) was just coming in and the form going into that meant we were written off before the game started.
“It was amazing, 3-0 up so quickly, Martin Boyle doing what he does. It’s a great memory. Probably one of the best memories I’ve had.
“It’s a surprise that we haven’t beaten them since because, especially around the Covid era, we had a couple of performances where we played really well but didn’t get what we deserved.
“The belief is there. We know that if we put a performance in, we’ve got more than enough to come away with a win. It’s been a long time – but that’s something we’re looking to change.”
Boss Nick Montgomery was impressed with Rangers’ draw at Benfica on Thursday but reckons his own team can take inspiration from that.
He said: “Yeah, for sure. If you look at Benfica, they’re in a bad place at the minute. They lost 5-0 to Porto and they lost to Sporting so you could see the pressure on them on Thursday night.
“They’re still a quality team and I thought Rangers defended really well – resolute with so many blocks in the 18-yard box. It was a fantastic result for them.”