Hibee by birth

Last updated : 15 March 2007 By BILLY BROWN
CIS CUP FINAL COUNTDOWN CIS CUP FINAL DIARY


BILLY BROWN
OKAY, it's confession time. My name is Billy Brown and I am a Hibs supporter. Actually, I WAS a Hibs supporter as a boy in Musselburgh and I might end up a Hibs supporter in my dotage (there are some who think I'm there already) but right now I am a dyed-in-the-wool Kilmarnock man who cannot wait for Sunday to come. I got a lot of stick for being a Hibs fan when I was at Hearts as Jim Jefferies' assistant but that didn't stop me shedding a tear when we won the Scottish Cup in 1998 and nine years later it won't stop me having a wee bubble if Killie beat Hibs in the CIS Cup Final. It's pretty ironic that we are facing Hibs as we try to become the first Kilmarnock team ever to lift this trophy and I am not the only one at the club with allegiances to our rivals as a boy. Our keeper Alan Combe was a big fan and so was our striker Colin Nish. In fact, I was brought up with Colin's dad, Adam, in Musselburgh. We were in the same class at Musselburgh Grammar School, along with Jefferies, and we all played in the school team.





We all know where Jim's heart lay but Adam was a huge Hibs supporter. I'm sure he'll be at Hampden supporting his son on Sunday because family comes first and hopefully big Nishy will make Adam a proud man. To be honest, if we were to beat Hibs on Sunday, it will be even sweeter for those of us who grew up supporting them. The Killie squad had its media day in St Andrews yesterday - funny how all the Press lads turned up in plus fours and Pringle sweaters - but football, not golf was the order of the day and an event such as that just brings home how big this game is going to be. We spent a long time doing interviews with the television, radio and newspaper boys and girls and it's all part of the build-up to a very special day. The idea was to come to St Andrews and get the hard work out of the way early in the week. Today the boys will have a day off and tomorrow we will be quite relaxed and on Saturday we'll have a light work-out at Rugby Park in the afternoon before staying the night at the hotel next to the stadium. Everyone knows what they are doing and the preparation could not have gone better. The only thing that can stop us now is if Hibs are better than us. The fact we are on a good run has helped when it comes to picking the team for Sunday. The boys have been playing together every week for a while now and when you are winning a lot of the weeks it gives you confidence. For instance, Nish and Stevie Naismith have built up a good relationship and that is a big factor. We've settled down in central defence as well and we are looking okay. By all accounts the town is buzzing and we are taking 18,000 to Hampden, which is fantastic. I've spoken a lot about the need for more of them to come to our home league games and hopefully a good performance at Hampden will encourage them to do so. But I'm not going to say we can play a lot better than we have been doing recently. We are doing great and hopefully we can keep it going for another 90 minutes and beyond. As told to David McCarthy