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| <-Page | <-Team | Sun 19 Nov 2006 Hearts 0 Rangers 1 | Team-> | Page-> |
| <-Srce | <-Type | times ------ Scottish Cup | Type-> | Srce-> |
| Eduard Malofeev | <-auth | Phil Gordon | auth-> | Douglas McDonald |
| 31 | of 120 | ----- Nacho Novo 78 | L SPL | H |
Students hoping it will be lucky 13 in ultimate examBy Phil Gordon THEY HAVE been trying for 128 years to pass the Scottish Cup’s entrance exam. Fortunately for Edinburgh University, the football world is a bit more forgiving than academia. Douglas Samuel hopes his young students can finally graduate at the 13th attempt. Ever since Hibernian swept them aside in 1878, each flirtation with the competition has been brief — 12 successive Scottish Cup first-round defeats. After a 33-year absence, Edinburgh University have fought their way through to the stage where the Scottish Football League clubs join in. If the students missed out on the kudos of being paired with a senior side, then a home tie against Keith, of the Highland League, offers a genuine opportunity to embrace the second round for the first time. Samuel, their 40-year-old coach, is no stranger to Scottish Cup upsets. He was the press officer for Spartans FC during the Edinburgh side’s recent adventures that saw the East of Scotland League team reach the fourth round on two occasions, assembling of fine collection of second and third division scalps before hosting Livingston and St Mirren. The link between Edinburgh University and Spartans is a strong one. The latter was set up by former university footballers and many of those who brush up their skills at Peffermill playing fields between classes, eventually progress to Spartans. Samuel is one of the few who did not. He played for Spartans at the end of his career that took in East Fife, Whitehill Welfare, Meadowbank Thistle and Gala Fairydean. He succeeded Kenny Black in 2003 at Peffermill, when the former Heart of Midlothian and Portsmouth player left to take a role at Airdrie United before he became coach to Craig Levein at Leicester City. Black’s own ascent up the coaching ladder is proof enough that Samuel is not operating in a football backwater by looking after the student side. Putting a Scottish Cup upset on his CV would enhance the reputation of a man who has spent two seasons studying Tony Mowbray’s methods in training at Hibernian. For his young players, the Scottish Cup represents a chance to follow in the footsteps of other East of Scotland League sides who have enjoyed cup glory, as Samuel knows only too well. “When I played for Whitehill, we were in the Scottish Cup quite regularly,” Samuel recalls. “One season, Stenhousemuir beat us 2-0 in a replay and went on to meet Rangers.” However, the third division side had to recruit Kenny Miller, the Celtic and Scotland striker, to do so. “Kenny was on loan from Hibernian and did not play in the first match, which was drawn 0-0,” Samuel said. “However, they were so eager to make the next round, they paid Hibernian a loan fee so he could play in the cup too and he got both goals in the replay.” Whitehill’s other brush with cup fame came in 1996 when they met Celtic in a third-round tie that was switched to Easter Road to cope with the crowd. “I had just left the summer before to join Meadowbank Thistle,” Samuel explained. “So I sat there at Easter Road watching my pals take on Pierre van Hooijdonk and Co. However, I did play against Celtic for Meadowbank in a tie in front of 30,000 people at Hampden Park, when Celtic were using the stadium because Celtic Park was being revamped, so that is my special cup memory.” You need to have a long memory to recall Edinburgh University’s last Scottish Cup outing. It was 1973, the winter of discontent, when striking miners were trying to put the lights out on Edward Heath’s government. Ian Smith, the club chairman, played in that last match against Queen’s Park 33 years ago. “The match was played on a Monday afternoon because of a fuel crisis,” Smith said. While there is little doubt that Samuel is in charge of students, that title belies a group of players, all aged between 18 and 24, who have a decent pedigree. Most of Samuel’s players were with professional clubs during their teenage years before giving the pursuit of a degree a higher goal in their lives. Hibernian, Aberdeen, Dunfermline Athletic and Inverness Caledonian Thistle are among the clubs who polished the talent that Samuel will use against Keith. Then there is Michael Hazeldine, who was good enough to have spent the last two years at Wigan Athletic before swapping that for Alloa Athletic in the summer. Hazeldine is taking a degree in medicine at Edinburgh University and Samuel persuaded him to switch from the Scottish League second division side last week. “Michael is a good player and he will really help us,” the coach said. “However, he may not start. I know that I also have to be loyal to the players who have got us this far. In particular, I have a young striker called Andrew Howat, who is our top scorer, who plays up front with a young Greek lad, George Nikolaidis.” Most of Samuel’s players are studying physical education rather than Greek but a Corinthian spirit imbues their football, even if there is a modern professionalism lurking in the background. Samuel’s own crash course in coaching included help from Hibernian. “I met Gary Smith, the former Hibernian defender, when I was undertaking my SFA ‘B’ licence and he smoothed the way for me. Tony [Mowbray] allowed me to observe their training sessions once a month and learn more about the tactical aspects of the game. The pair of them have certainly helped me to clarify my philosophy on how I want to play the game. Their tactics have helped to accelerate my development.” Samuel, a training consultant, hopes that Easter Road flair emerges against Keith. “I went to see them last week against Fraserburgh and got back at 9pm on Saturday night but it was worth it because I learnt they are a good side.” Hopefully, such diligence will be rewarded with Scottish Cup success. FIRST ROUND TODAY SECOND ROUND DECEMBER 9  Taken from timesonline.co.uk |
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