Davie Provan
13 Feb 2021

HAVING rubbished Hibs’ chances of a third-place Premiership finish, I might be in bother.

Holiday camp Hibees are now looking a decent bet to see off faltering Aberdeen. Incidentally, that holiday camp tag isn’t down to me. It came from former Celtic team-mates who had moved to the Leith outfit. Compared to the pressure they had known in Glasgow, Easter Road was a shift in Butlins.

But if Jack Ross gets them over the line ahead of the Dons, I’ll be happy to suck it up.

If the two Edinburgh clubs ever get their act together, it would be a shot in the arm for our game. And I’m not talking about winning the odd cup. They should be contesting European places EVERY season and putting pressure on the Old Firm.

For too long the pair have been an embarrassment to the capital. One Hibs Scottish Cup win in over 100 years? Lamentable.

Across the city, Hearts — the third-biggest club in the country — are back in the Championship.Given the infrastructure at Tynecastle, that is criminal. They have a terrific support, stadium and training facilities. They can count on fans shovelling £125,000 into the club every month, allowing them to land Liam Boyce.

How in God’s name did they manage to get relegated? Jambos should be nowhere the second tier of Scottish football. Like Hibs, they should never be outside the Premiership’s top six. The last time Hearts mounted a proper title challenge they fell at the last in 1986. Needing only a point against a Dundee side sitting bottom half of the table, they blew it. They’ve never come close since.

Jim Jefferies gave the Old Firm a run for their money in 1998, finishing third and beating Rangers in the Scottish Cup final. Seven years later, with George Burley as boss, they won eight of their first ten league games. But owner Vladimir Romanov sacked Burley and they finished 17 points behind champions Celtic.

In the last decade they’ve had a top-four finish just twice. Hibs had three years in the Championship before going up in 2017.

How do Edinburgh’s big two get away with it? After watching his Hibs side lose, Neil Lennon was asked if the players had a bottle problem. He said: “They shouldn’t have because this isn’t a difficult place to play.” He meant there was none of the pressure that exists at the Old Firm, much less expectation. That environment has done the capital clubs no favours.

Their players get by on a rare cup win without putting in a credible title challenge.

The bar is set higher elsewhere. At Pittodrie, Derek McInnes is being hounded by a section of the Red Army after some poor results. That’s the way it is at demanding clubs. During the McInnes era, Aberdeen have never finished lower than fourth.

Ann Budge and Ron Gordon would die for that record. While McInnes has had the Dons in Europe for seven straight years, the Edinburgh clubs have gone through 12 managers between them and both been relegated during that time.

A city that should be known for its football clubs is famous for a castle and a wee dug.

Ross might have his side looking good for third place but he won’t be getting ahead of himself.

Cup semi-final defeats to Hearts and St Johnstone summed up Hibs’ split personality. A match for anyone on their day, but brittle when the heat’s turned up.



Where do you begin dismantling this nonsense from the Glasgow media ?