Alan Pattullo, Mark Atkinson and Matthew Elder discuss the weekend's upcoming Scottish Cup matches
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00:00 Hello and welcome to the latest episode of the Scotsman football show.
00:07 My name is Matthew Elder.
00:09 I'm joined today by Mark Atkinson and Alan Tullow.
00:12 We'll be looking ahead to a big weekend of Scottish Cup quarterfinal action,
00:17 with four ties taking place across Saturday, Sunday and Monday,
00:21 to find out which four clubs will be going to Hamden for the semi-finals next month.
00:25 I think the sensible thing to do would just be to go through the ties
00:29 in chronological order as they take place this weekend.
00:33 So we'll start with the game at Petaudry between Aberdeen and Kilmarnock.
00:40 A huge one for Neil Warnock, results since taking over from Barry Robson
00:45 of dragged Aberdeen Firmland in a relegation battle.
00:47 Only one win in his games in charge so far came in the earlier round against Bonnie Rigg.
00:52 And obviously you've got Derek Mackinnis in charge of Kilmarnock,
00:56 eyeing the chance to get another one over his former club,
00:59 by leading Kilmarnock into their first Scottish Cup semi-final since they won the tournament in 1997.
01:04 So Mark and Alan, we'll start by discussing the match at Petaudry.
01:07 And Alan, how do you see this one going?
01:10 And how have you viewed Neil Warnock's tenure so far?
01:15 I was going to say slightly erratic, but it's not even erratic.
01:20 As you mentioned, Matthew, one win against Bonnie Rigg Rose is not probably what he had in mind
01:25 when he agreed to make the long journey up from his retirement home in Cornwall, is it, or Devon?
01:35 Yeah, it's not going very well.
01:36 I think the pressure is firmly on.
01:38 It's firmly on Aberdeen this weekend.
01:41 BBC will be crowing that they've got the right cracker on their hands, I think.
01:45 I think of all the four ties, I think Aberdeen-Kilmarnock one really does actually look the tastiest.
01:52 Just given what's at stake, I mean, you couldn't really write it, could you, Derek MacInnes,
01:57 going back up to Petaudry, where he had such success for eight years.
02:05 He could be the one that knocks them out of the Cup and instigates a new crisis at the club,
02:13 because you do wonder where they might go if they are eliminated from the Cup,
02:19 because I think Neil Warnock, when he arrived, made quite a big thing of how he never won a major trophy
02:24 in his career, in his long career as a manager, and he'd like to put that right at Aberdeen.
02:30 And I think, obviously, Aberdeen fans were quite taken by that idea too.
02:35 But I think it was five league games, no wins since then.
02:39 And yeah, it looks like it's going only one way at Petaudry.
02:44 So a lot of pressure on Warnock, a lot of pressure on the players.
02:49 And it's a real test for them to recover after that absolutely sickening end to the game against St Mirren last week,
02:56 when they looked good for three points and suddenly even one point was plucked from them.
03:02 So, yeah, looking forward to seeing the outcome.
03:06 I think, I think, I think, I think Aberdeen might do it.
03:12 I think they will. I think they will.
03:15 Neil Warnock did say in the press conference, I noticed a couple of days ago,
03:19 you know, let's just wait until after the game before going down the road of where he,
03:25 you know, what his future might entail.
03:29 Let's just see, you know, what happens on Saturday.
03:31 And I think the Cup, as we know, is a trophy that can spring a surprise.
03:36 And it's ridiculous, isn't it? Talking of Aberdeen beating Carmarnieck as a surprise, but it feels that way.
03:40 But I think, I think they will do it.
03:42 I think they know what is on the line there.
03:45 And I think the players will overcome, overcome McKinnis's team.
03:52 Obviously, Mark, there has been some slightly disparaging comments made about Warnock since he came up here.
03:57 He's obviously been a very successful manager in England.
04:00 It just, I don't know, feels like he's possibly in the wrong movie up at Petaudry.
04:05 Do you think that this is a must win in terms of even keeping his job?
04:09 I don't know if an interim manager has ever been sacked before.
04:13 Yeah, I think it is a must win for Warnock.
04:17 Whether it defines his short-term future at Petaudry remains to be seen because, as you say,
04:24 it's unprecedented to get rid of the interim manager.
04:27 But in terms of just how Aberdeen's season is framed beyond this, if they're at the Scottish Cup and very much in a bottom six battle
04:35 and trying to avoid that 11th place playoff, it just becomes a very difficult environment for Warnock to be successful.
04:43 He's tried everything. He's tried to do formations.
04:45 He's put defensive reshuffles in there.
04:49 He's tried to reconfigure his midfield.
04:50 And he just can't get a tune out of his Aberdeen team.
04:52 And there are good players at Aberdeen.
04:54 I think we all look at that as a squad and we see from the goalkeeper right to the striker, there are good players there.
05:00 So it is a bit of a head scratcher.
05:02 The last thing that Dave Cormack would have wanted is this scenario playing out in front of him.
05:07 He did not envisage that Warnock would come in and not get a tune out of his team because all evidence suggested that Warnock would.
05:14 This time last year, he resuscitated Huddersfield in the championship and saved them.
05:20 Will Warnock have the appetite to keep going afterwards?
05:24 I think he fancied a crack at Celtic Park, at Easter Road, at Tyne Castle with a top six and a trip to Hamden.
05:30 What he didn't fancy were trips to Dingwall and Livingston, trying to avoid relegation.
05:35 So we don't know exactly where Warnock's head's at, but it is concerning that there has been no reaction.
05:42 And while they played quite well on Saturday against Port Mirren, how they capitulated in that last seven minutes, the manner of it, the reaction of the players, doesn't fill me with confidence.
05:54 The Zabarine team has got the character to be able to win this tie, nor be successful in league battles.
06:02 This is a time that they have to show it.
06:03 Kilmarnock are a good team.
06:05 They're playing well under McInnes.
06:06 They're very structured.
06:08 They know what they're doing and they're confident.
06:12 They've not conceded a goal against Zabarine this season.
06:15 So while Alan's tipping an Aberdeen victory, I find it hard to see the Dons winning unless this week they have done something they haven't shown on Zabarine or Warnock and become more organised and have a bit of belief about them.
06:30 It's going to be a fascinating game.
06:31 It really is.
06:33 The cat's been put among the pigeons as well with Neil Lennon's suggestion that he's ready to step into the Potaudri breach whenever, if ever, the position comes up.
06:45 Well, it will come up, we know that, in the summer and perhaps it might even come up even sooner than that.
06:49 But yeah, that's just an added layer of intrigue, isn't it?
06:53 I wonder what Aberdeen fans, you know, Aberdeen fans' opinion of that would be.
06:59 I mean, I remember a news clip after Bayer Robson left the club and a few fans were asked outside Potaudri what they think of Neil Lennon perhaps coming in.
07:07 I was surprised.
07:08 Most of them said, yeah, they'd be up for that.
07:10 And I think Neil Lennon himself was surprised when he was informed of that on Monday, that some fans or a certain amount of fans were quite taken by the idea of him coming into Potaudri.
07:22 And it obviously does, will need someone like Lennon, someone with a big personality like Lennon to come in and just try and reignite the side's prospects.
07:33 Yep, certainly an interesting tie that wakes us up in the North East.
07:36 The next match to take place will be Celtic-Livingston, Sunday 2.30pm.
07:41 That one's live on Viaplay. Celtic obviously needing a positive result after that defeat to Hearts last weekend.
07:48 They've got a favourable draw, you'd have to say, at home to the bottom of the league side and the Premiership just won one of their last 20 league games.
07:57 And obviously Celtic have had their troubles this season.
08:00 But Mark, should we completely write off Livingston as no-hopers in this one?
08:05 No, no, not completely no-hopers.
08:08 Celtic have got the ability to make things difficult for themselves, especially at home.
08:14 Livingston, I imagine, will go there very organised.
08:17 I remember watching them play Celtic earlier this season.
08:19 I'm pretty sure it was 0-0 at half-time.
08:21 I think they made life difficult for Rodgers' men.
08:24 I mean, I don't want to bring this up too early in this conversation, but Alan was there recently where Celtic just completely obfuscated Dundee.
08:32 And then they go to Hearts and they get a man sent off and they struggle and they also struggle to break down teams like Kilmarnock and Motherwell.
08:38 So it depends which Celtic team turns up, but it's very much in their gift to take the result.
08:47 Even despite what's happened this week with the Brendan Rodgers situation, a potential ban his way for the comments he made towards John Beaton and Don Robertson,
08:56 and then losing Lila Bada and Alexandra Burnaby yesterday.
09:01 Although that was expected, it still feels very strange that the Champions are selling players in March.
09:07 So all is not 100% at Celtic, but it would be a brave man to put any type of money on Livingston getting a result.
09:16 If Celtic start fast and get a couple of early goals, I just can't see Livingston having the wherewell to come back.
09:21 So, yeah, you've got to really fancy Celtic to win that one quite comfortably.
09:26 But this season has thrown up some strange results.
09:30 Yeah, it's a real shame, isn't it, the game?
09:34 Isn't there a reverse? Isn't that Livingston?
09:37 You kind of think that would make it a bit more intriguing and a real test for Celtic, given what's what they're coming off,
09:45 given what happened in the last outing at Tyne Castle.
09:47 I think they'd be quite happy to be returning to Parkhead, where, as you say, Mark, their last appearance there,
09:55 they scored seven goals and six by half time, which I think was a suggestion that that's the first time it's ever happened.
10:04 Celtic have ever done that, which is remarkable.
10:07 So, yeah, I don't think it'd be quite as comprehensive this Sunday against Livingston.
10:13 But yeah, I think I can see a comfortable victory for Celtic and for Livingston, while they have bigger battles ahead, I think.
10:23 Yeah, that takes us to the third tie of the weekend, which is Hibbs versus Rangers, Sunday at 5.30, again, live on Viyaplay.
10:31 Rangers chasing the domestic treble after that League Cup win in December.
10:36 But this one has the makings of a tough match against a resurgent Hibbs side, you have to say,
10:41 who after what was a decent transfer window, bringing in a couple of top quality players,
10:46 look a far better outfit than the one who lost three Nelter Rangers the last time they visited Easter Road in January.
10:51 But obviously, Rangers looking a bit stretched at the minute as well after that, a lot of injuries.
10:57 And after that midweek trip to Lisbon, where they've extended a lot of energy into that,
11:02 and obviously on the back of looking pretty flat, you'd have to say, against Motherwell last weekend.
11:06 How do we see this one going?
11:07 Well, yeah, I mean, it's another, yeah, it's probably, you know, I know I mentioned Aberdeen v Killie being the tastiest looking tie.
11:16 I suppose that's just given the personalities involved and what's at stake in terms of managerial features, etc.
11:23 But yeah, I think looking at it in terms of just a straight kind of glamour tie, I suppose,
11:32 it has to be Hibbs v Rangers, and one which I think Hibbs will have every feeling, every belief they can reach hand in, I think.
11:41 And rightly so, they seem to have turned a corner in recent weeks.
11:45 New signings bedding in, Marcondes, for example, looks like he's getting to the rhythm of Scottish football.
11:54 And I think he could be a potential game winner for them on Sunday.
11:59 Rangers, you're right, obviously, fantastic result last night, played well.
12:03 They'll be happy for the slightly later kick-off, I think, on Sunday, just give them that extra couple of hours of recovery time,
12:09 which I think might be important for them.
12:13 But yeah, really tough one to call, I think.
12:17 Could see extra time in this one, I think.
12:20 So yeah, I'm looking forward to it.
12:22 I'll be there at the gaming, Mark will be there too.
12:24 So yeah, really looking forward to it.
12:25 And I think prediction-wise, I think Rangers will eke through, possibly in extra time.
12:36 Yeah, I'm with you, Alan.
12:37 I think Rangers will have enough at Easter Road.
12:41 But like you, I think it could be tight.
12:44 You must remember, though, that the Rangers have done well against Hibs this season, against late Montgomery's Hibs as well.
12:49 They've been pretty emphatic in their results.
12:52 I know Montgomery's come out this week and said, oh, we actually played quite well in both games.
12:56 And they did have moments in those games.
12:58 But Rangers just seem very well drilled and oiled under Philippe Clément.
13:05 He knows how to get the best out of his squad.
13:07 He'll probably rotate again and make sure his team's as fresh as it can be.
13:11 And one of the things that worries me from a Hibs perspective is that the ticket uptake for this match is very, very poor.
13:18 I don't know how many tickets they've sold exactly, but speaking to people at Hibs earlier in the week, it's not going to be a big home crowd.
13:24 And that's a real shame for a quarterfinal, because this game is one of the biggest at Hibs this season.
13:30 And as you say, Alan, they do have the players to hurt Rangers.
13:34 You've got Emiliano Marcondes, who Alan you've spoken to this week, for the Scotsman.
13:39 You've got Maizan Maulida in good form. Dylan Venti, Martin Boyle scored a Cup Final hat-trick against Rangers not that long ago.
13:47 There's players that can hurt them. They're probably one of the few teams in the division that can actually hurt any team with the pace and power they've got.
13:54 But it feels like there's maybe not the same excitement from Hibs fans for this one.
13:58 So I think Eastern could be quite a strange place on Sunday night because you're thinking this is going to be a really vibrant crowd,
14:05 but it doesn't look like it at the moment from ticket sales.
14:08 And that might help Rangers.
14:11 They just looked really good last night.
14:13 And we all know from bits of it, they just played really well against a very good Benfica team.
14:19 And that's what Clermont's doing. He's getting the very best out of them.
14:22 They'll really want this because, as you said, Matthew, the treble's on for them domestically.
14:29 And this is one of the biggest hurdles.
14:33 Yep, definitely a fascinating tie at Easter Road.
14:36 And the final tie of the weekend takes us to Monday night, 7.45, live on BBC One Scotland, Morton versus Hart.
14:44 So Morton have had a great season in the Championship, but gone 16 games without losing.
14:49 Their longest unbeaten run, I think, since the late 70s.
14:52 That was before losing to Inverness last weekend.
14:55 And they've got an injury now to their top scorer in talisman, George Oakley, which is not helping their cause.
15:01 So you would maybe say just whether Morton's fallen right for a giant killing at Capelo.
15:07 But that was probably also the case in the last round when Hart went to what was an informed Airdrie side and beat them 4-1.
15:13 And I was there that night and Hart were miles ahead of the Championship side.
15:18 I think you can hear the big Hearts fans singing when Hearts go up to lift the Scottish Cup.
15:21 We'll be there. So they're confident going all the way, as they should be based on the league form this season.
15:28 Alan, do you see Hearts going through this tie and all the way to the Scottish Cup this season?
15:33 Yeah, well, yeah, it's overdue, isn't it? Talking about going up to lift the Scottish Cup.
15:38 I was speaking to Craig Gordon a few days ago and, yeah, he was talking about the fact it's now 12 years since Hearts won the Cup.
15:45 And you kind of think of Hearts being a good Scottish Cup team.
15:49 And that seems a dozen years now seems like it's getting on.
15:52 It's getting on a bit since the last one, mind you. That's Rich coming from somebody who watches Dundee a lot.
16:01 But yeah, so yeah, I think, yeah, it's real.
16:05 You're right, Matthew, there seems to be a real kind of almost expectation and optimism amongst Hearts fans that this could be the year.
16:13 And obviously, in terms of a draw, you know, it's tough.
16:17 It's yeah, they're the only team, Hearts got the one lower league team that was left in the draw.
16:26 So they'd be satisfied with that.
16:28 But of all the lower league teams there are, you'd think Capulet was one of the places you'd least want to, you'd want to go just now.
16:37 You pointed out they run a form. Obviously, it's come to a recent end with a couple of defeats against Inverness and Dundee United on Tuesday.
16:47 But no, I think Morton will be a tough prospect for Hearts.
16:53 And yeah, it's the tie for the romantic, isn't it?
16:57 I can imagine. I've got a good feeling about it already.
16:59 A kind of a full Capulet, great old ground that it is under the lights.
17:05 Monday night, maybe not your traditional Scottish Cup night, but, you know, put that to one side.
17:10 I think it's a game with a lot going for it.
17:13 I think it's going to be a healthy Hearts crowd going down to, you know, it's not often you get the chance to go to Capulet.
17:19 I think the last time we played it was during the pandemic, so it was no fans allowed anyway.
17:24 And I think Craig Brown was talking, Craig Gordon was talking about his experiences at Capulet.
17:29 And they stretched all the way back to 2001 when he was on loan at Cowdenbeath.
17:34 So, yeah, a lot of intrigue in the tie.
17:37 But I think Hearts would just, again, just have enough to get through to the last four.
17:44 And by the odd goal, I think, 2-1 Hearts in 90 minutes.
17:51 This Hearts team doesn't feel like it's got a shock in it.
17:55 You know, sometimes you get a feeling with teams when they go to places like Capulet that they just...
17:59 We had Motherwell in the last round, a lot of people just went, "That looks like a team that could slip up."
18:04 But this Hearts team, it's full of leaders, they're playing really well.
18:09 Only defeat recently came against Rangers.
18:12 They didn't...
18:13 In the games where they haven't played that well, including the derby against Hibs last week,
18:17 they still found a way to avoid defeat.
18:19 And I think that's a really good trait of a team that's going to go deep in a cup tie.
18:24 There'll definitely be moments in Greenock where they're going to struggle because Morton will make life awkward.
18:29 But as you said, Matthew, they dealt with Airdrie really, really well.
18:33 And that will also sound like you said, they've already taken care of one Bananaskin.
18:39 I mean, look, Lawrence Shankland, I mean, why would you fear anybody?
18:42 I mean, I would not fancy being the Morton defence up against Shankland, who last week said that he very much has 30 goals in his sights.
18:51 He's currently on 27.
18:53 I could see him getting a couple of a catalogue.
18:55 I think Hearts will do it quite comfortably.
18:57 I think they'll be well-versed under Steven Nasmith about what to expect from Morton.
19:04 And yeah, I think they'll be safely in the hat for the Premier Finals.
19:10 Well, the Scotsman football writers have spoken.
19:13 Thanks for joining me, Mark and Alan, to preview the Scottish Cup quarter-finals this weekend.
19:17 You can read all the previews to these matches on the Scotsman.com website.
19:24 And also we'll be covering the games as well, so you can read all the reports and reaction to that as well.
19:29 But for now, we'll say thanks for watching and see you on the next football show.
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