KENNY BLACK, the former Hearts midfield dynamo, suffered his biggest Scottish Cup disappointment when the Jam Tarts lost to St Mirren in the semi-finals in 1987.
This Saturday, his Airdrie United side host Spartans in the fourth round of the competition and Black's determined not to suffer an even bigger upset when the East Seniors outfit come to town.
A Frank McGarvey goal secured a 2-1 win for the Buddie
s at Hampden over 21 years ago as Alex Smith's men went on to defeat Dundee United and lift the trophy.
Black has managed to avoid Cup giant-killers during his career since and revealed he won't contemplate that changing when he leads the Diamonds out at the Excelsior Stadium on Saturday.
"In all my career with Rangers, Hearts, Portsmouth, Airdrie and Raith Rovers I have never been the victim of a giant-killing act so I definitely want that still to be the case on Saturday night," said Black, one of only a handful of senior level managers who have experience of managing a club in the East of Scotland League.
Black explained: "I was assistant manager of Raith Rovers for a couple of years and when changes were made there in 2002 I was looking to stay in the East Seniors game, preferably playing as well as coaching.
"The opportunity to do just that came from Edinburgh University chairman Ian Smith where I was registered to play and coach. I am, and always will be, very grateful to him and others at Edinburgh University for getting me back into football.
"I enjoyed working with the students because they applied themselves so well. I was disappointed that I did not see out the season with them before Sandy Stewart asked me to be his assistant at Airdrie.
"I then moved to become assistant manager at Leicester City along with Craig Levein but that lasted only 14 months before I was appointed manager of Airdrie United in November 2006."
Black's spell at Edinburgh University obviously paved the way for success because after he left – with the club 12 points ahead of their nearest rivals – they gained promotion to the Premier Division under the guidance of Ian Smith, captain Stewart Fowlie and defender Dan Gerrard.
"I was disappointed that I had to leave although I have always kept an eye out for their results," said Black.
"And, of course, both Stewart and Dan are now playing with Spartans so it will be nice to meet up with them on Saturday."
Black is not treating Spartans lightly and had them watched by club captain Paul Lovering in their first game in the previous round against Elgin City. "In the second game I went to Elgin to watch them and they could have scored in almost every attack," said Black.
"The final score was 2-1 to Spartans although it could easily have been five or six. I know the Spartans management team of Sam Lynch and Mike Lawson because when I was at Edinburgh University we used to share the same excellent facilities at Peffermill.
"Spartans have several useful players and it shows what they are capable of to have already knocked Pollok, Annan Athletic and Elgin City out of this season's competition. Spartans will come to Airdrie with no fear because this is their chance to cause an upset. I know that Sam and Mike have watched us so they will try to exploit what they have noticed and no doubt try to work on set plays. We are certainly aware of what Spartans can do. However, as far as we are concerned we will play the game at a high tempo – at First Division pace – because we are determined to be in the next round.
"Airdrie United should be a step up to what Spartans are normally used to although we appreciate that they will be well organised.
"Scoring the first goal will be important because we don't want to give Spartans any hope."
