Kevin Thomson had to suffer the disappointment of picking up a loser's medal at Sunday's Scottish Cup final after Celtic ran out 3-0 winners over Hibs. Despite this Thomson says he has thoroughly enjoyed his second spell at Hibs even when he is not picking up a wage from the Easter Road club. With manager Pat Fenlon's playing budget at full capacity, Thomson has been playing for nothing since re-signing for his ex-club in March in a bid to gain game time after ending his injury-hit spell at Middlesbrough during the winter transfer window. Thomson broke his leg in only his second game which set the tone for his spell at Boro.Thomson said: "I love playing football. I could have sat in the house and done nothing but I showed a bit of commitment and put the boots back on and got out there in training. I love training every day and playing on a Saturday. The fairytale never quite got there in the end but I gave my all and if people appreciate that, then great. I've really enjoyed it. The boys appreciate me and the manager appreciates me and he gave me a platform to play some football again. I hope, when people see me play, they see the quality that I've got. I'm playing for myself as much as playing for the team and the manager. I'm here for nothing. I took that upon myself and if I get any plaudits for that, then great, and if I don't, then I've done what I wanted to achieve and got some games under my belt. I'll look forward to the summer and see what options I've got. I'm going to spend some time with the family and I'm actually doing my coaching badges this summer. So I'm looking forward to that and I'll see what happens." When asked if he could stick with the Easter Road side, Thomson said: "I don't know. You would need to ask the manager and the chairman. I'm just going to recharge the batteries and look forward to going wherever it may be in pre-season."Hibs failed once again to end their long wait to get their name engraved on the Scottish Cup again. Last year's 5-1 defeat to Hearts was more painful with the vast majority of the Hibs' fans staying to the final whistle and vociferously displayed their support at the end. Thomson said: "The manager said at full-time that he didn't think the commitment and desire was questionable. I thought the boys, compared to last year, it was night and day. We still got beat 3-0 so everyone is bitterly disappointed, but there were still 20,000 Hibs fans there at the end. That shows you something - they certainly weren't there last year. I think they realise the commitment of the boys. Celtic are a better team, they finished 13 points ahead in the SPL and they have got strikers on a lot of money who are top, top players. There's never a good feeling after getting beat in a cup final. Unfortunately on the day we just never quite had that killer instinct in the final third."Thomson has been encouraged by what he has seen while with Hibs this time around and considers the future looks brighter for his team following a turbulent few years. He said: "The manager is a good manager. He has made changes from the previous season. It was unfortunate to just miss out on the top six. If we had finished in the top six and got to the cup final it would have been a good season. I think the club is progressing. I think there was a downward spiral and whatever manager came in was getting the brunt of it. I think this manager is the man to turn that around."
Source: ScottishFitba
Source: FOOTYMAD
