Scottish Cup final: Wait finally over for Hearts and Hibs

The Russian-born tycoon criticised the decision to play the all-Edinburgh final in Glasgow and accused Hibs of backing the SFA’s stance that the game should be played at the National Stadium, even suggesting that they might not view the capital as their “native city”.

It also emerged that Romanov will be in the Hearts dressing-room before the match to address the players, as manager Paulo Sergio bids to bring the trophy back to Tynecastle following the recent success in 2006 and deny Hibs their first triumph in the competition since 1902.

On the other side of Edinburgh, meanwhile, Hibernian chairman Rod Petrie implored the team to “give something back” to their long-suffering supporters, who head west hoping that the biggest game in both clubs’ history will go their way.

The importance of the occasion was certainly not lost on Romanov.

“For more than a hundred years they were waiting for such a derby in Edinburgh,” he said. “That’s why I am amazed that it is to be played in Glasgow. I just do not understand it.

“What is even odder is that Hibs do not even want to play it in Edinburgh. It looks as if they do not consider it to be their native city. As for the game, I just hope that it is going to be interesting and that the fans will enjoy it.”

Hearts’ captain Marius Zaliukas had earlier confirmed that the club’s owner would give the squad a pre-match pep talk.

Zaliukas said: “I spoke to Vlad a week ago on the telephone and he is coming over on Saturday. He is going to come to the dressing-room and speak to us before the game. He didn’t have any message for us over the phone yet. He will deliver it in the dressing room.

“When he speaks it doesn’t give me extra motivation, but for the team it probably does. But everyone knows how big this game is. Everyone wants to be on this pitch and everyone wants to win it anyway.

“I hope this shows that Mr Romanov is still interested in Hearts and hopefully he will be for many years ahead. He saved the club and now we are at this final because of him. An Edinburgh final would be a great way to remind him what a great club Hearts are. I’m sure Mr Romanov will enjoy it and that he will keep supporting the club.”

Petrie, meanwhile, recognised that not only this season – when Hibs waited until the penultimate SPL fixture before finally staving off relegation – has been difficult for the club’s supporters, and said the team owed it to the fans to try and land the ultimate prize.

The Easter Road side’s fans have been starved of silverware through the years, with only three League Cup successes to lift the gloom since a hat-trick of League Championships with the Famous Five in the post-war years. And while Hearts went 36 years without a trophy following their League Cup success in season 1962/63, the fact they have won two Scottish Cups in the last 14 years throws the Leith outfit’s 110 years of woe in this particular tournament into very sharp relief.

However, Petrie believes the current Hibs team can help make up for the faithful’s endurance of a miserable 2011 in which they managed just ten wins – and only four of those at home – in 45 outings.

He said: “It’s a tremendous opportunity for the club, for the management and the players, to give something back to the supporters, who have shown their support for their team in some difficult times. I like to draw the line at 31 December last year – 2011 was a very difficult year for us. But Pat Fenlon deserves great credit, having come in and been instrumental in turning things around in January – changing the squad and giving ourselves a better opportunity for a strong end to the season. The win at Aberdeen and securing our position within the league was fundamental to us and now we can enjoy a cup final – Hibernian in the cup final, what everybody is excited about.”

Scottish Cup final on scotsman.com

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