David Templeton on being dropped from Hearts squad for 2012 Scottish Cup final

David Templeton has opened up about his disappointment at being dropped from the Hearts squad for the 2012 Scottish Cup final.
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The midfielder made 35 appearances for the Jam Tarts that season but wasn’t even among the substitutes as the Tynecastle side thumped rivals Hibs 5-1 in the Hampden showpiece.

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That meant he didn’t get a winner’s medal despite playing three times, and scoring once, earlier in the competition.

Former Hearts midfielder David Templeton. Picture: Ian GeorgesonFormer Hearts midfielder David Templeton. Picture: Ian Georgeson
Former Hearts midfielder David Templeton. Picture: Ian Georgeson

He told Simon Ferry on Open Goal: “I got told an hour and a half before when he put the team up. I think that was what annoyed me the most. If he’d told me the night before then I would’ve had time to get over it. But I was sitting there annoyed at full time.

“I knew I wasn’t starting but I thought I’d be on the bench. I was just bombed completely. The annoying thing is that I knew we were going to beat them, because Hibs were terrible at the time. We’d beaten them a few times already that season and I just thought, ‘I’m going to miss out on a medal here’. Even if you’d played every round before you still don’t get a medal [if you’re out the final].

“I’d been out injured. I’d torn my groin around February or March and I’d only come back about two games before the final. I played and I didn’t play well, which is probably why I wasn’t involved.”

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Manager Paulo Sergio later said the reason he omitted Templeton was a perceived bad attitude the player had. However, the player refutes this claim and insists it stemmed from a disagreement over an injury he had.

He said: “I do disagree with [what Sergio said]. I got on really well with him. I think what he was talking about was that every day after training you used to have to come in and do indoor work on your core. Instead, I used to just go do the physio work because I couldn’t do the core stuff because of my double-hernia.

“I said that to him but I think that’s how he thought I had an attitude problem. I ended up getting an operation at the end of the season.”

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