So near yet so far

Well, we nearly did it, didn't we? If you are like me, you will have read half a dozen newspapers and relived the highlights (and lowlights) of the cup final, so I will spare you the details of the match itself.
Quite simply, I was gutted, yet strangely not as emotional as I was in May. I think I was drained emotionally, because the range of emotions between the Hearts equaliser and the first Gascoigne goal was almost unbearable. I have replayed the touchline incident back several times on slow motion and I have convinced myself that there was a foul committed, but (as some idiot impartial person from New Zealand pointed out) you must play to the whistle. Pointing an accusing finger at a linesman detracts from the people who are really to blame, and they are the people who didn't take Gascoigne out while he was making his way towards goal. Think about it for a moment - Hearts are back to 2-2, Rangers quite frankly, were out of it at that stage, their fans had been silenced, and all you could hear were Hearts songs. Where was the captains instructions to eliminate Gazza with a fucking beauty of a tackle? A booking definitely, but worth it, surely. The Rangers captain had already given a similar instruction to his defenders regarding Neil McCann!
I thought the overall performance was fantastic. Ally McCoist was given far too much respect. Am I the only one who was worried about his appearance as Hearty Harry a couple of weeks back? Super Ally is everybodys pal, and is probably well liked in and around Tynecastle. Is this the reason he was given more space than the Starship Enterprise? Nearly every Hearts fan despises the very ground that Rangers, their arrogant fans and their over paid players walk on. To have Ally McCoist parading in front of the Hearts fans then promptly scoring two goals against us leaves a funny taste in the mouth. In fact, it's like having a great big practical joke played on you when everybody else is laughing but you don't get it.
After the final whistle it all gets a bit too much for some who have seen it all too often before. Sure, that is the fifth cup final defeat in a row, but have we really seen it all before? I haven't seen Hearts play Rangers off the park in a final before. In all the finals I have been to (not '68), I have only seen Hearts score twice, both times when we were 3-0 down an out of it, so to score 3 goals is something to savour. I had to decide whether to bale out at the final whistle or stay for the now mandatory "We'll support you evermore", the traditional anthem of the team getting humped. I didn't feel
like singing, but I did feel like applauding the players for a great performance. On another day, with another linesman, who knows? In 21 years of supporting Hearts I haven't seen them win anything important, so if this is as good as it is going to get, then I am going to savour as much of it as I can, and I am pleased that nearly all the Hearts fans stayed behind, in fact after the final whistle, it was the Hearts fans who were most vocal (one minor victory).
I spoke to a group of Rangers fans after the game in the pub. They weren't celebrating, they were just sitting in the same seats with the same small group of friends, as if they had just bagged three points at Starks Park. They were neither up nor down. Later in the evening once the most obnoxious of them had asked for the fiftieth time whether we thought Andy Goram was the best keeper in the world, we politely asked if they would give us a Rangers song....we got the "Wee spot in Europe". Honestly, it breaks my Heart that Rangers win trophies for people like that.
As if that wasn't enough, I picked up the Daily Ranger on the Tuesday after the game to see Walter Smith beside all his trophies saying that he doesn't really get a kick out of winning the domestic ones any more. That headline made me feel just as bad as I did at the game itself. Statements like that bring the game into disrepute in a way that nobody's like Walter Smith couldn't understand in a million years. He is a nobody with something (money), and we are somebodys who would do anythin to get our hands on something. I despair for Scottish football when somebody in his position undermines a credible cup competition because of their arrogance.
I have a message to pass on to all the Rangers fans who just went home after the game on Sunday to get their tea and watch Jeremy Beadle. Why don't you all just piss off and leave the rest of Scottish football alone, we don't need you. the Glasgow media need you for their front covers, the TV thinks you are important up to a point, but rest assured, if Rangers went away tomorrow, I wouldn't miss you one little bit.
Footnote - The League Cup Final has a history of high scoring matches. Seven or more goals have been scored in the game on 4 previous occasions (last time in 74/75 when Celtic beat Hibs 6-3). The last team to score 3 and lose were Aberdeen in 87/88.

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