No mything out at Hampden

"It is about, when you get out there, doing yourself justice a

Sleeves are up for the next big chance against Hibs

Northern Ireland internationalist Willie Cunningham was the Manager of Dunfermline when they lost the 1965 Scottish Cup Final 3-2 to Celtic and fellow countryman, Jimmy Nicholl was the Assistant Manager when the Pars lost the 2004 Scottish Cup Final 3-1 to Celtic but now Dubliner, Stephen Kenny is keen to place his mark at the ground where history is created.

Stephen Kenny has described Hampden as a 'mythical place' relating back principally to the famous 1960 European Cup Final there that saw Real Madrid defeat Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3.  His one and only visit to Scotland's National Stadium has been to watch the recent CIS Insurance Cup Final in which Hibs trounced Kilmarnock 5-1.  He paid tribute to the 33,000 Hibs fans that travelled through to support their club. "They were very vocal and colourful."

The modest Irishman declined to accept that the Pars fortunes are now closely tracked in the Emerald Isle but visit an Irish pub anywhere in the world and they will tell you about how Stephen Kenny is doing since he left Derry City to become the Manager at Dunfermline.  He maintains a rather out of date view:-

"Throughout Europe the perception of football in Scotland is that it is all about Celtic and Rangers. Even in Ireland that would probably be the feeling because of the history and the politics of it all. Hearts and Hibs are two massive clubs. Hibs showed going there that they can bring such a crowd with the passion that was involved.

"Dunfermline themselves, this club, have only been in one Cup Final in 28 years but by all accounts they brought 17,000 to the last Cup Final that shows what Dunfermline are capable of.  Obviously they will not bring anything like that this week, it's a semi final, but the team has been struggling for the last three seasons and there's been apathy in certain quarters.  We would have to capture the imagination for a bit longer before we could re-ignite real interest.  The win against Hibs at the weekend will add to our crowd."

Taking all three of his former clubs - Longford Town, Bohemians and Derry City - to Irish Cup Finals is some record for the man who was the League of Ireland's youngest ever manager when he took over at lower league Longford in 1998. Success at Derry included UEFA Cup wins over IFK Gothenburg and Gretna before going out narrowly to Paris St Germain and Stephen Kenny's final involvement was a famous FAI Cup Final victory over St Patricks Athletic in November. Showing great respect to his Celtic cousins Kenny greets the Tennent's Scottish Cup as the next great opportunity to add to his already stunning CV:-

"It is a step up for me although the Irish Cup Final is a great occasion as well.  The Cup Final that we were involved in this season has been termed by neutrals as one of the greatest cup finals in the history because it was 4-3 after being down three times; 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and then 3-2 down in half time in extra time to go and win it. It was a bit of a classic so it was a good one to win.

"That will have no relevance to this because this is a different team.  I wouldn't want to be going on about myself, it is really about a group of players here who when we saw the draw in the first round that we had to play Rangers, weren't really thinking about going on to Hampden and a Cup Final.  We were thinking about doing ourselves justice in that game.

"I know that it was a long time ago, the finals in the sixties.  The three cup finals and two cup wins in the 60s but there is still a lot of traditional attached to that. There was a Hall of Fame in Dunfermline and they had brought back some of the players. I had met Willie Cunningham who managed the team when they lost 3-2 to Celtic. That was the middle one; some of the players were there from that era and they were delighted to see each other.  You hear about all these clubs with different teams; thirty years later you come back and you are all great friends, they are great occasions.

"That is what it does. It is something that you can't explain because you are creating it not just for the moment now but for the period over the rest of their lives."

Asked if he had shown the current squad any of the clips form the glory years in the sixties, Stephen quipped "You might have given me an idea."

"There are two strains of thought.  Sometimes you can just say 'get out, go and do yourself justice'.  You can get caught up in all that as well and not perform on the day. It is about, when you get out there, doing yourself justice and playing well."

"We are in the semi final, we are only one match away from the final.  The team you are playing against, you have beaten them the previous weekend so you are not asking them to do something that can't be done. But it is a different game and before last weekend most people would have seen a Celtic - Hibernian final as an absolute formality.  St Johnstone have pulled off a few shocks themselves but now they are saying that Dunfermline could cause Hibs a few problems. They seem to be at full strength and we are going to be at our best and things are going to have to go our way for us but I think it is not beyond us."