Alan Stubbs is set to try to help Hibs players embrace the pressure of ending the club’s Scottish Cup hoodoo because it is impossible to try to get away from it.
The Easter Road club’s manager acknowledged that the past failures of great Hibs teams during an infamous run that has seen them lose in the final 10 times since their last success 114 years ago added to the burden of hope and expectation placed on his men by their supporters.
However where others might find that crippling he is making no attempt to pretend that it is not a factor or play down its significance.
“I don’t think you can ignore it,” he said.
“It’s such a fantastic occasion and what’s at stake is something they will remember for the rest of their lives.”
He consequently intends to home in on the opportunity that the day represents when he speaks to the squad before kick off.
“When it’s something as significant as that, it would be foolish not to use. It won’t be the only thing. There will be other things I’ll speak to them about, but they have a chance on Saturday to firstly win a game of football and then by winning it we all know what it will mean.
“The players could become legends, I’ve said all alone that I’m not really interested in me as I’d be more pleased for the players and the football club as a whole.
“The players have had a long, tough season and it would be a fantastic way to end it. It’s exciting right now, no matter who you are you are thinking about the what ifs, the maybes and looking at all the scenarios of the day, but once you get to kick-off time, the serious business kicks in and more often than not the best team on the day goes on and wins it.”
Stubbs knows that he, too, will be lauded forever by Hibs supporters if he succeeds where the likes of predecessors Eddie Turnbull, Alex Miller and John Collins, who all took them to League Cup wins and Hugh Shaw, who guided them to three league championships in four years, failed.
Having already offered assurances that he will be at the club next season even if this one ends with near misses in all three major competitions this time around he is, though, respectful of the achievements of those fabled figures in the club’s history and insists it is the players who will deserve all the glory if they do claim a historic win.
“It doesn’t mean the previous managers were not great because they didn’t win it,” he observed.
“It certainly helps on your CV but for me, Saturday is all about one thing and that is trying to win the game.
“We know if we win the game then everything else falls into place. The adulation, the writing of themselves into history, all of that falls into place. It’s purely about winning the game.
“I’m surprised it’s been so long but there is evidence of big clubs and players who don’t get to major cup finals but have been fantastic players.
“They’ll be waking up on Saturday morning and will be fulfilling something they dreamt about as a kid and that’s fantastic.
“The players are definitely aware of the significance, some of the players will read newspapers, they’ll be told it by fans. Even if you want to get away from it, it’s there.
“It’s a part of winning it, it about understanding what’s gone on in the past and what has stopped the club from winning it for such a long time.
“You can’t end that wait unless you are in a final. Our players have an opportunity to make history.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here