by Stuart Crowther

Date: 3rd July 2002

What a difference a year makes... 4th of July surprise would sure lift morale in Leith EXACTLY ONE YEAR AGO TOMORROW Alex McLeish dropped a surprise into the lap of Hibs fans when he announced the signing of Sporting Gjion striker Paco Luna.  That signing came on the back of weeks of intensive activity by the club, as McLeish fought to try and retain the services of Marc Libbra, considered the Easter Road future of Mixu Paatelainen and had a number of players lined up for a 'look' in pre-season training and tours, including Craig Brewster. Libbra of course subsequently turned his back on Hibs to join Norwich City, where he shone bright for a few weeks before his season seemed to fizzle out before Christmas.  After taking a little while to settle, Luna proved to be a decent buy for Hibs, ending the season as the club top scorer in spite of missing just about half the campaign through injury or suspension.  The Luna deal was reported at the time to be worth somewhere in the region of £300,000, and a few weeks later Hibs were accorded with signing off another £700,000 for Ulises de la Cruz although both these deals included wages over the course of the players' contracts.  Nevertheless, any thoughts of Hibs being involved in such transfers this summer appear forlorn. Paco was a July 4th surprise - unlikely to be any this summer A year ago of course Hibs had just completed their most successful season in years, had the UEFA cup to look forward to and every hope and expectation that Hibs would be the club to challenge the Old Firm, albeit with nobody expecting anything better than another 3rd place.  Now on the verge of another campaign, expectation is very much lower.  There will be no £m transactions simply because Hibs, in line with most other clubs in Scotland, can't afford to risk such deals and indeed are paying heavily for doing so in the past.  But there is perhaps some cause for concern by Hibs fans at just how serious the situation is for the club, and the news this week that managing director Rod Petrie was on holiday will come as a shock in itself to those who know the Hibs chief even in passing!  Petrie has rarely taken a break from his desk at Easter Road in recent years, working long days for the benefit of the club, so when he does take a break in the very week that Hibs return to pre-season training, and does so with at least one player waiting news on a new contract, then some fans are going to form conspiracy theories and doomsday scenarios! The nature of football however has always been of rapid change, so perhaps Hibs fans have less to worry about than they suppose.  There remains a strong squad of players at the club, a squad that was showing every sign under Bobby Williamson that they would be capable certainly of avoiding any unseemly battle at the foot of the SPL.  Perhaps there is little to get excited about, then again who knows - the uncertainty of the game has always been one of its attractions!  The difference between 4th July last year and this is perhaps in the mindset of the fans themselves; in truth Hibs are probably in a better position from the playing viewpoint now that they were 12 months ago, it's just that we never realised it. That surprise signing of Luna proved to be a lift that Hibs fans needed, as all summer signings tend to be, and followed quickly as it was by De La Cruz it possibly lifted fans expectations to unreasonable levels.  Nobody is expecting much from Hibs this time around, and short of some very major surprises in the next two weeks that seems unlikely to change.  And perhaps, just perhaps, that is not such a bad thing.