CRAIG Levein had an inadvertent yet important role in Collin Samuel's career development long before he became his club manager. It was a devastating Scottish Cup third-round hat-trick for Falkirk against Levein's Hearts which brought the Trinidadian to prominence four years ago. His display that day was such that the former Hearts boss even had Sir Alex Ferguson on the phone wanting an assessment of whether the player was suitable for a move to Old Trafford.

That move, of course, never materialised, and the most consistent thing about Samuel's career since a £100,000 transfer to Tan- nadice has been its inconsistency. Levein, however, will hope it is the Samuel who sparkled that day who turns up today for his side's third-round meeting with St Mirren.

"When we lost to Falkirk in the cup it was the year we came back from the winter break," Levein recalled. "We came back to a cup tie away from home to a team who were flying high. I still keep telling Ian McCall that it was me who got him a move, and Samuel and Mark Kerr. That was when Samuel was a fairly young lad and he burst on to the scene with that game. He's an immensely talented boy, but I think there's two of them, it just depends which one turns up.

"Alex Ferguson phoned and asked about him after that game. Someone had phoned him and said you need to have a look at this kid at Falkirk, so he phoned and asked what I thought. Obviously nothing happened, he's probably gone along or sent someone and the other Samuel turned up!"

Samuel is still only 25, and has scored four goals in the last five games but he continues to bamboozle his manager. "He's so good sometimes you think this guy is sensational' and then the next week..." Levein says, his voice trailing off. "I think he'd probably admit his consistency of performance isn't what it should be."

The manager, whose main struggle this week has been to conclude deals for Shelbourne defender Sean Dillon and Hartlepool striker Jon Daly, added: "I'm trying to push him and make him realise he's not a kid any more and should be looking to get into the best years of his footballing career."

Differing perceptions of Levein's cup pedigree can be found on either side of the border. In Scotland, he regards his lack of achievement (two semi-finals) as a blip on his record, yet an FA Cup quarter-final appearance with Leicester betrayed the poor league form which saw him sacked. "We had a decent record in the cups at Leicester," said Levein, who believes Lee Wilkie should be fit to stake his claim after another month on-loan at Ross County. "It's something I'd like to do better in, the cup competitions - certainly in Scotland."