Opinion

Show me a Hearts fan who thinks their team can win the Scottish Cup and I’ll unmask him as a mad delusional fool who reckons Ernie Winchester was a surer shot in front of goal than the rifle he invented in his spare time… that Laryea Kingston was brave and committed and worth every penny… that 1 January, 1973 would have been different if only Eric Carruthers had scored in the first few minutes.

A last-minute victory at a febrile Tynecastle. A comprehensive Scottish Cup victory on an emotional night against Hibs.

On 10 May, on what would have been his 86th birthday, a beautiful bespoke bench was unveiled in memory of Rangers legend Harold Davis at Gairloch Golf Club.

Whether it’s Steve Clarke, Scot Gemmill or someone else, the new Scotland manager will need to deal with an issue faced by none of his predecessors. Namely, being completely overshadowed by the women’s team.

It’s the Dundee Player of the Year dinner this weekend, which means Jim Davidson’s turn at the Whitehall Theatre a couple of nights ago wasn’t the only show in the city threatened with cancellation due to lack of interest.

They say golf is dying on its feet and isn’t all that appealing anymore as a spectator sport. If so, the good people of the north-west of England clearly haven’t been told that, having turned out in force to help make the European Tour’s return to Hillside after a 37-year gap an incredible success as the Southport venue hosted the Betfred British Masters last week.

Every time there’s a fantastic football match – specifically, every time there’s a second half which is absolutely out of this world – I phone up my brother. “Well,” I say, “did you stick with this one? Or did you give it up like that night at Wairds Park?”

Setting the parameters for what constitutes a world-class footballer has never been an exact science.

Ayr United manager Ian McCall didn’t hold back with his assessment of the Premiership play-off format which will continue when his side attempt to overturn a 3-1 first-leg deficit in their quarter-final away to Inverness Caledonian Thistle today.

It is little wonder that Steven Gerrard was moved to express a sense of dismay at the restricted environment surrounding two of the most compelling and entertaining 90 minutes Scottish football has produced this season.

Thirty-seven down, one to go. A draw might be enough in the final game at Brighton on Sunday. A defeat, even. Manchester City did what necessity demanded in beating Leicester to resume the summit of the Premier League by a point. It took the goal of the century to escape Leicester’s cultured clamp, the finest and perhaps the most important Vincent Kompany will ever score.

Having touched on the subject of golfers you make a connection with as they come up through the ranks in this column a week ago, how appropriate that this week’s Betfred British Masters at Hillside is being hosted by Tommy Fleetwood.

Some of you saddos and monomaniacs out there may disagree, but I reckon you can have too much football. Too many games and too much chat about them. Too much verbosity during commentary and too much analysis which actually amounts to too little of the stuff.

When Ernie Walker, the then omnipotent secretary of the Scottish FA, announced the first major sponsorship of the Scottish Cup back in 1982, he offered an observation which is beginning to have fresh and striking resonance for those responsible for attracting outside investment into the game in this country today.

He didn’t make the Manager of the Year short list voted for by his peers but Stewart Petrie’s remarkable transformation of Montrose’s fortunes continues to catch the eye.

Edinburgh have beaten Glasgow twice, so that they have already retained the 1872 Cup and they are the only Pro14 team to have won at Scotstoun this season. This might reasonably make them favourites today, even away from home. On the other hand Glasgow have recovered from their humiliating loss to Saracens in the Heineken quarter-final more convincingly than Edinburgh since they let victory slip in their quarter-final against Munster at Murrayfield.

The relegation battle from the Ladbrokes Championship is a tense, nervy but exciting affair with six team involved. Andy Harrown looks at those involved as the league enters its penultimate weekend.