Ahead of Sunday’s match, the former Easter Road player recalls a 2004 game in his most recent Record Sport piece.
Even though it happened 20 years ago this past month, it seems like it was yesterday, and that day can still serve as motivation for people today.
The Hibs squad of today ought to watch the League Cup semi-final at Hampden to get a sense of what might occur when they play Rangers this weekend. Despite having a team consisting of weans, we were nevertheless able to defeat a side full of superstars. It was one of the best experiences of my career, winning on penalties shootout. Looking back, the Hibs team with players like Derek Riordan, Scott Brown, Kevin Thomson, Garry O’Connor, and yourself kind of looks like a very good team.
However, in 2004 we were still young and nobody thought we had any chance of defeating that Rangers club. Back then, their lineup included players who were truly elite athletes. The brothers De Boer, Christian Nerlinger, Stefan Klos, Mikel Arteta, Michael Mols, and so on. They were offering big price for players, and before to Hampden that season, they had dealt us a few rough ones.
We had to overcome a deficit and win a late equalizer thanks to a penalty kick from Stephen Dobbie. It went to spot kicks, and when we won, there was happiness, relief, sticking my lot away, and some celebration. That, in my opinion, was a greater upset than if Hibs had defeated Rangers on Sunday.
Even though the difference was greater at the time, Hibs still faces a challenging task today. Since we were young men, we displayed no fear. That will be crucial for Nick Montgomery’s team this time. They will undoubtedly need to perform far better than they have in their previous meetings against the Rangers, though.
This season’s first two games have been humiliating. Ibrox’s 4-0 result was subpar and could have been better. Perhaps even worse was the 3-0 loss at Easter Road. Hibs never showed them any respect. In reality, the Rangers games have been like this for much too long. We’ve seen other clubs challenge them, but the outcomes have always been appalling; this is evident in the time under Jack Ross’s leadership, when they defeated them at Hampden in the League Cup semifinal.
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