EURO JACKPOT
Hearts guaranteed £3m windfall after Hampden triumph
ROBBIE NEILSON last night celebrated after Hearts secured a place in the Scottish Cup final and ring-fenced a £3million European windfall.
A 2-1 Hampden victory over Hibs means Hearts will play the winner of today’s second semi-final between Celtic and Rangers on May 21.
With one of the Premiership’s top three now certain to win the cup, the Edinburgh club has also guaranteed a place in the Europa League play-off round for next season.
And even if they lose that qualifier, they will play six games of group stage football in the Conference League and bank the accompanying participation fees.
Manager Neilson has vowed that Hearts will invest the money wisely with the aim of ensuring the club is regularly in Europe — and ultimately challenge for
the league title. He said: ‘We’re guaranteed money but we’ve got to be careful how we spend that money.
‘We don’t want to chuck it all in. We want to try to build the club gradually over the next three or four years and this will allow us to position ourselves to try and get in again next year.
‘We need to gradually build the club to get consistent European football and then try to challenge for the title.’
Early long-range strikes from Ellis Simms and Stephen Kingsley put Hearts in front at Hampden, before Chris Cadden hauled Hibs back into what was an absorbing cup tie.
Comfortable winners in a Tynecastle league derby a week earlier, Hearts struggled for control in the game even after Hibs midfielder Joe Newell was sent off, something Neilson acknowledged afterwards. He continued: ‘We started well, got the two-goal lead but Hibs were the better team after that, even when they went down to ten men.
‘We were not aggressive enough to go and kill the game. Even in the last minute we were almost hanging on.’
In addition to Newell’s red for a second bookable offence, Hibs could also have lost substitute Josh Campbell after a high and late lunge on Barrie McKay.
However, Neilson insisted he understood Hibs’ surprisingly physical approach to the match.
‘When you go down to ten men, you have to be like that,’ he said.
‘I’ve been in that situation as well when it’s all or nothing. It is a derby, a semi-final. You’re not thinking about next week, you’re trying to go through so it becomes a bit aggressive.
‘We had to match that. In periods we did. Was it over the line at times? We’ll wait and see.’
The day exacted a physical toll from Hearts, with both Andy Halliday and Craig Halkett forced off injured.
Halkett in particular looked to be suffering as he was stretchered off, but Neilson apportioned no blame to James Scott for the tackle — and suggested that Halkett might even be back for the cup final.
He added: ‘The boys now have an incentive. John Souttar and Michael Smith will be back for our next game, Cammy Devlin is back in the team.
‘Hopefully, Craig Halkett will be back too. He had a boot on and a beer after the game, so we’ll wait and see.
‘The boys will get a few days off then we’ve got five league games that we want to win to set us up for a Scottish Cup final. It’s been a good season, but can we make it a great one? The players believe we can win the cup.’