Hearts' celebration could bear the stamp of Gazza

Phil Stamp rubbed shoulders with Paul Gascoigne long enough for a little exuberance to rub off. Yet, if the Hearts midfielder scores against Rangers on Tuesday night, he is likely to find his manager performing the infamous "dentist's chair" celebration on him.

It's not that Craig Levein would want to gatecrash his players' party, merely that he wants to put the brakes on Stamp wrecking another moment of glory. The former Middlesbrough player made himself an instant hero at Tynecastle when he scored in stoppage time against Hibernian in October to win the Edinburgh derby – then found himself shown the red card moments later for celebrating with the Hearts fans.

In truth, the act was a pale shadow of Gazza's antics. Yet, Wembley was not the only place the former England star went over the top in 1996; he did it in Glasgow too, and broke thousands of hearts.

Gascoigne's dramatic winner in the Scottish League Cup final that year, to give Rangers a 4-3 victory over Hearts, was followed by a triumphant run that ended up in the dugout with manager Walter Smith. He later upset the sponsors, Coca Cola, by relieving himself in the team bath as a sign of disrespect to Celtic, whose Parkhead ground was staging the occasion because Hampden Park was being rebuilt.

These days, the competition is called the CIS Insurance Cup, but it is back to the real thing in terms of venue. Hampden will host both semi-finals this week, with Celtic and Dundee United taking centre stage on Thursday night for Channel Five's live double-header.

Stamp's close-cropped hair gives him a certain resemblance to Gazza, whom he played alongside once Rangers sold their talisman to Boro in 1998. "He always had the players in stitches," Stamp recalled, "but the worst was when he hijacked the team bus at our training ground and got it stuck between the concrete bollards there."

Ironically, it was the recruitment of such high-profile players to the Riverside Stadium by Bryan Robson that kept Stamp in the shadows. The same season that Gazza upset Hearts, Boro lost the English Coca Cola Cup final to Leicester City. Stamp played in the semi-final, but was not even on the bench at Wembley or at Hillsborough for the replay as the Brazilian, Emerson, was chosen ahead of him.

The 27-year-old managed to find a way into the team for the FA Cup final with Chelsea that same season, but a loser's medal is his solitary honour from his time at the club he supported. Yet, Levein believes those disappointments have helped to form the kind of hungry player he has been looking for since taking charge two years ago. "Phil has a good pedigree, but it's his desire to win that impressed me," said the manager.

When Levein succeeded Jim Jefferies, he inherited a club that was £10 million in debt and paying for the excess that followed the success of winning the Scottish Cup final in 1998. Some of the best players – David Weir, Neil McCann, Gary Naysmith – had already gone, while others such as Colin Cameron and Antti Niemi would soon be on their way to England to raise much-needed cash.

"When I arrived, there were a lot of guys whose hearts weren't in it," said Levein. "I could understand that, because they had won the Scottish Cup, some had become Scotland internationals, the club had gone out and brought in more expensive players – and suddenly it came to a halt.

"I was seen as the guy who was here to make cuts. Some players were annoyed when they saw us getting rid of what were perceived to be our best players, and thought their futures lay elsewhere. I am not saying I have better players now, but I definitely have hungrier and more focused ones."