Houston-Stubbs spat set to reignite, insists Taiwo
FALKIRK may have missed out on the play-offs but they still retain the capacity to hugely influence the final shake-up. In that regard, Hibs boss Alan Stubbs might well spend the coming five days attempting to prize a genie back into the bottle. Stubbs’ assertion, after last week’s Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to the Bairns, that his side were the better team was met with a stinging rebuke by his Falkirk counterpart Peter Houston, who pointed to the fact that Hibs had failed to win any of the four matches between the teams this season. It can surely be taken as read, then, that for Hibs to claim the win next Saturday that will guarantee them the advantage of finishing in second place, they are going to have to defeat a Falkirk side not only playing for Cup Final places, but stung by a lack of respect. Asked if he thought the war of words would rumble on this week, former Hibs midfielder Tom Taiwo smiled: ‘Yes, probably. It’s really disappointing when you work hard for a victory, you score a good goal and people don’t give you credit for it. ‘Hibs are a great club and I really enjoyed my time there. But people
have to hold their hands up and say we have been better than them over four games this season. We always congratulate teams when they win and we look at what we did wrong. A little bit of praise doesn’t go amiss.’ Without the play-offs, Houston is now faced with a four-week gap between next week’s home fixture and the Cup Final against Inverness on May 30. Friendlies will no doubt be sought, but for those vying for a place at Hampden, next Saturday could be crucial. ‘There’s competition for places, so we have to go out against Hibs and stake a claim,’ Taiwo added. ‘That’s the main thing for us — to focus on the Final and build some confidence. We want to go out with a positive performance next week against Hibs.’ The Bairns were only a matter of seconds away from winning at Ibrox, only for Nicky Law’s goal deep into injury time to leave them deflated. ‘I was gutted,’ Taiwo said. ‘We deserved the win. We put so much into the game and for three minutes to go up on the board and then to see 94 played killed us.’ Queen of the South’s win over Dumbarton put the play-offs beyond Falkirk and now they can only watch from afar as Hibs, Rangers, Queens and the 11th-placed Premiership side do battle. Yet, while most favour either McCall or Stubbs to be victorious, Taiwo predicts a twist. ‘Queens could go all the way,’ he added. ‘There’s pressure on Rangers and Hibs — Queens can play with a freedom. They will be a strong force.’