Management thoughts on our Image Printers East of Scotland Cup Final on Sunday.

Posted on Friday, March 25th, 2011

Mike says –

“Sam and I had a talk with the players about Sunday and Tynecastle before training last night and we are all looking forward to a good game of football played on a great pitch. When you get to a final at our level almost as important as finding out who the opposition are is knowing where the game is going to be played. The excellent surface at St Mark’s Park will give both teams a lift but especially ours after Tuesday’s game. Both Tynecastle and ourselves like to get the ball down and play football and St Marks should allow all 22 players to express themselves in the right manner.

Tynecastle are mid table but have at 3 games in hand over 4 of the teams above them. They are going to finish top 4 and are the form side in East of Scotland football right now. I wonder who were the last EOS side to defeat Whitehill Welfare twice in four games, a feat Tynecastle have just performed with a win against Strollers and a draw at Meadowbank squeezed in between. I took in the game against Edinburgh City and was impressed by Murray Balloch’s team. It was good to see young Wayne Sproule back in action after his long term injury and he Steven McCormack and Paul Devlin are a potent goal threat up front. When you then think of the goals they get from Wayne MacIntosh in midfield you realise this is a team built to go forward. They’ll come into the final as underdogs which will remove any pressure on them and allow them to relax and perform on the day.

We are delighted to be in the final of a cup we haven’t won for 3 years. We go into the final as favourites but at Spartans we all know that in the two recent televised finals both Arsenal and Celtic were the neutrals favoured sides. No red or green ribbons appeared on either cup after those games and we know we must play to the very best of our ability if we want to see Spartans favours adjourning the Image Printers Cup.

For Sunday Sam and I hope to have a full squad to pick from. We are liable to stick to the side who have got us this far but experience tells us all 14 players allowed on the park over the 90 minutes will be needed and needed to play out their skins if we are to pick up the first piece of silverware this season. The hardest decision for Sam and I and the one no managers like to make is who to leave out of the 16 stripped players. At the end of they day we are sure whoever gets a jersey will show the ability and professionalism the team has displayed all season. Tynecastle will make sure they have to, and a bit more.

Sunday can’t come quickly enough.”

Mike