Monopoly is just the game for McHattie

AMONG t he myriad challenges facing Alan Stubbs as t he new manager of Hibernian, removing a maroon coloured boot from the club’s throat is the most pressing.

For the Easter Road faithful looking for a degree of schadenfreude at Hearts’ financial collapse last year, the capital derby proved to be as comforting as salt rubbed in an open wound.

Recent statistics are enough to have the Leith legions crying into their green and white scarves. In 17 meetings in all competitions over four years, Hibernian have triumphed on only three occasions. Last year, as Hearts beat them to the drop, they won just one game from five.

To compound matters, one of those reverses in March came on the very day Hibs had headed across town with the intention of relegating their bitter rivals. They ought to have known better.

By the time the teams reconvened at Easter Road a month later, the roles were reversed but the outcome — a Hearts win — was the same.

For Hibs to stand any chance of recovering their status in the Scottish game, this almost freakish run of results in the fixture simply cannot go on.

Tomorrow at Tynecastle, with two new men in the dugouts and many a new face on either side, the visiting throngs will hope that what has gone before truly has no bearing on the here and now.

For the men in maroon, though, the intention is to keep their rivals exactly where they want them.

‘We did well in the derbies last season, winning four out of five. Hopefully, that can continue in the upcoming ones,’ said defender Kevin McHattie (below).

‘I don’t know why we’ve done so well. Hibs were obviously going through a hard time while we had a lot of young players who were on the up and getting experience of playing week in, week out. It helped make us better players.

‘It’s great that we have this game to look forward to. We have the buzz of the derby games again, which everyone loves. As a player, you just have to win these games.

‘I am glad they are here with us. We will have another four or five derbies this season, which is great for the club and the fans.

‘They will be a rival this season, along with Rangers. They have a new gaffer, who has made a lot of changes, and it’s the same here. The gaffer has told us what he wants and it’s been great.’

For long enough, the furore surrounding this f i xture has been as much about dropping the old enemy in the brown stuff as scaling a rung on the ladder for yourself.

Not so this season, though. Not while there is a title to be won — albeit the Championship.

Rangers, for all their troubles, remain the favourites to prevail come May by dint of a squad depth that is the envy of the rest. Yet whichever Edinburgh club rises to the top on Sunday afternoon to l ead the division, the expectation that they can remain there for the duration will increase.

‘The fans think that, as well,’ McHattie agreed. ‘We have got to do our best to get the three points and go from there.

‘We have a very young team that is more than capable of getting promotion. We are relishing the challenge.

‘You’d expect Rangers to be in the top division, Hibs as well, along with Hearts.’

And what of the prospect of all three clubs slugging it out into the final moments of the campaign?

‘It would be brilliant for everyone,’ the defender added. ‘But we have to take every game as we can to get three points, produce good performances and improve as a team.

‘It would be great for the city and the banter between the fans would be really good as well.

‘You see it in the games, the fans give each other a bit of stick but it’s brilliant.

‘The players just get on with the game and focus on what we need to do.’

From the neutral’s perspective, a title race that promised more twists than an Agatha Christie novel served up the perfect opening act, with Hearts sneaking out of Ibrox with a win the day after Hibs defeated Livingston.

For the Gorgie squad, the result was vindication that the pre-season promise they had shown under Robbie Neilson’s guidance was coming together.

‘The Rangers game showed what the boys are capable of,’ McHattie added. ‘The new lads have gelled very well.

‘We have set the benchmark now. We want to get promoted — that’s what every fan wants and we believe we can do it.’ Among the many sub-plots tomorrow, McHattie’s likely battle with Hibernian winger Alex Harris promises to be riveting.

They’ve been locking horns at all levels for as long as they care to remember. And, l i ke his side’s dominance of Hibs of late, the man in maroon hopes to maintain the Indian sign over his direct opponent. ‘ We have come through the under-19s and 20s, and played against each other,’ he said. ‘I enjoy playing against him but I’ll expect a hard afternoon.

‘Hopefully, we will be able to cope. We are rivals but I am pleased for him. He’s very direct and he whips balls in — a nightmare.

‘ I t was usually Hearts who got the better of the derbies in the youth ranks over the years. ‘I am hoping that will continue.’