William Hill Scottish Cup
Airdrie's previous cup heorics against Hearts can inspire Ian Murray's current crop of Diamonds
Jimmy Sandison left Hearts for Airdrie in 1991 and ended up enjoying the most successful spell of his career
Airdrie captain Jimmy Sandison celebrates reaching the 1995 Scottish Cup final with goalkeeper John Martin
Jimmy Sandison believes Airdrie's previous cup heroics can inspire Ian Murray's Diamonds at Tynecastle this Saturday.
Hearts and Airdrie prepare to do battle in the William Hill Scottish Cup once more when they meet in this weekend's fourth round tie.
A home draw against League One opposition would suit most top flight clubs, but Airdrie in the Scottish Cup is still enough to send a shiver down the spine of more than one generation of Hearts fans.
It's been almost 40 years since the Jambos have beaten the Diamonds in any cup competition. A Chris Robertson goal (brother of club legend John) won a League Cup third round tie at Broomfield back in August 1981.
Since then, Airdrie have seen off the capital club on each of the six occasions in which they've faced either cup competitions.
Sandison was part of the team that twice knocked the Jambos out of the same competition at the semi-final stage in the early 90s.
A 4-2 penalty shoot-out win in April 1992 after a replay sent them through to face Rangers in the final, while a 1-0 victory at Hampden three years later saw them progress to play Celtic.
And while there is a bigger gulf between the sides this time around and Sandison expects the hosts to finally triumph, he has no doubt that visiting boss and ex-Hibs favourite Ian Murray will be giving his players a history lesson in the fixture.
(Image: SNS)
"There's a bit of history there and I've no doubt Ian Murray will be mentioning that in the dressing room," he said.
"The club has a great history in the Scottish Cup and they've done really well over a period of years. Maybe not so much of late but it's something that can inspire his team on Saturday. Hopefully they can get a good performance."
Sandison was one of a number of players that left Tynecastle in the early 90s and would come back to haunt his old club with the Diamonds.
Defensive stalwart Walter Kidd and long-serving midfielder Kenny Black both played alongside Sandison when Airdrie came out on top in the 1992 semi-final, as did ex-Jambo Davie Kirkwood.
Sandison was still around three years later when they repeated the trick in 1995, and has since come to realise that the move to Lanarkshire wasn't necessarily the backwards step many saw it as.
"We knew going back there weren't poor players," he said. "We'd left hearts for whatever reasons and went to Airdrie.
"I know a lot of people thought 'you leave Hearts and go to Airdie then you career's on a downward spiral' but when I look back on the ten years I was at Airdrie, my career actually went on a high.
Airdrie's Paul Harvey, Jimmy Sandison and Andy Smith celebrate with the B&Q cup trophy (Image: SNS)
"I went to two Scottish Cup finals, I won the B&Q Cup, picked up medals, played more regularly and I was club captain. Most of the guys that came with me came along on that journey too.
"There was a great bit of success. We took the club in to Europe.
"I speak to Wattie Kidd quite regularly and he talk about that really highly. He was near enough at the end of his career then had a couple of years at Airdrie when he's playing in these big games and in Europe. He just couldn't believe the high his career ended on.
"So it wasn't necessarily us on the way down leaving Hearts for Airdrie. Certainly for me, it was on the way up.
"You look at the two sides now. Hearts aren't playing the best football at the moment and Airdrie will come in to this game maybe inspired by these types of stories that on any given day, any team can win.
"If they can catch Hearts off it and get the crowd to go against them, then you just never know what could happen."
Hearts' John Robertson (left) closes in on Walter Kidd (Image: SNS)
Sandison has been a regular at Tynecastle for years now, providing co-commentary for matches on Hearts TV.
He saw enough during their last game against Aberdeen to suggest that Daniel Stendel's ideas are starting to take root, but believes the German needs a performance as well as a first win this weekend.
"You're needing a performance now," he said. "Does he play a team that's going to get over the line and win the game? I would expect him to play his strongest XI.
"I wouldn't think he's going to look at the Scottish Cup and think 'I'm not really interested in that. The bigger fish to fry is to get out of the relegation battle'.
"That's the main aim, no question. But I'm not too sure he can change the team for Saturday. He has to put out his strongest XI to get a good confidence boost and win, then take that in to the league games.
"It's going to be tough though. There'll be a nice wee Airdrie Support through and they'll make it has hard as they can.
"There's a wee connection there with Dale Carrick coming back and Mickey Cameron will be in the dugout alongside Ian Murray so there's lots of little scenarios there. But Hearts should win.
"They need to score goals and the top end of the park has worried me for a number of years. Since Daniel's taken over I've seen an intensity, a higher work rate and players look a wee bit fitter.
"I've also noticed more of a connection between the support and the players. I know he's trying to get a striker in so if they can get that right, then he's got a wee chance."
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