When Terry Butcher asked a crowded dressing room how many of those present had won at Parkhead, he was pleasantly surprised at the amount of hands that went up, (including his own and Maurice Malpas.)
Whilst the manager was able to keep his hand in the air when he asked who had scored at Celtic’s home ground only Paul Cairney joined him.
The former Partick Thistle player is enjoying a new lease of life under Butcher after being frozen out by ex-boss Pat Fenlon. His last appearance came in the Scottish Cup semi-final against Falkirk when he was substituted at half time. Whether he would have featured at the start of this season is not known as he suffered a bad injury in training ahead of the Malmo game and has only recently regained fitness.
So far however, Cairney has played in all three matches under Butcher and hopes to continue that run today in front of his friends and family against Celtic.
Speaking at the weekly press conference, the skilful midfielder said: “I really enjoyed scoring (at Parkhead) last season and I just hope I can do it again. My dad has been a Celtic fan for all his days and it was a really good moment for me to score with all my family in the Celtic end as well.
“My dad took a table up in hospitality and there was quite a lot of my family there who I saw after the game. They jumped up, and my dad jumped up, so it was really good. The reaction when I went through afterwards was quite mixed, though! He’ll be up there again on Saturday, no doubt, but he’ll be cheering me on and, hopefully, we can get a win. He’ll be quite happy if we do.”
“It was really hard for me training every day and being left out but it’s a new manager and he’s put me back in the team and I would like to thank him for that. Obviously he’s been Rangers captain and England captain, has a lot of qualities and has been a top player throughout his career, and I am sure he will be a top manager for us. Hopefully, I can do well for him.
“I never really got an explanation why I was left out but that’s football for you. I knew myself I had hit a bit of a bad patch from the semi-final onwards. I know the semi-final wasn’t acceptable and I didn’t play after that. But I’ve just kept on working hard and, thankfully, I’m back in the team.”
“We weren’t playing well and the confidence was low but the gaffer’s come in and I think the fans have seen there is a lot of passion about the club and we are looking forward to Saturday. I’m sure that we can beat them.”
Hibs travel to Glasgow without James McPake, Paul Heffernan and Alex Harris.
Photograph by John Preece
http://www.photoboxgallery.com/jlp-photography
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
