by Stuart Crowther 26th July 2002

Finland the perfect place for bonding! Williamson pleased with squad spirit as new season approaches BOBBY WILLIAMSON WAS RIGHTLY A HAPPY MAN last night as he reflected on the pre-season build up so far, a build-up that has seen little by way of the usual injuries while at the same time his side have shown a versatility and, although at this stage it is of no real importance, a hunger to win games.  In Vaasa last night the Hibs boss once again shuffled his small pack, asking a number of players to perform in positions that are perhaps not quite what they have become used to.  Some of these changes worked, others clearly did not - but that is all part of the learning process and when things did work they worked in a fashion that must auger well for the future. Four goals in a second half performance that devastated Vaasa, who are currently struggling at the foot of the Finnish Premier League, left smiles all round on the faces of the Hibs camp here in Finland.  With just one game remaining of the tour Hibs will now be keen to retain their 100% pre-season record in what has been a tight schedule of games.  "Both teams were competitive without being too hard on each other, I'm delighted to have got such a good run out,"  Williamson said of the latest tour outing, his spirits clearly not dampened by the downpour that hit the Finnish city throughout the game.  He continued:  "We've used a lot of players and it's now getting closer to our season so we have to thank Vaasa for giving us this game and the opportunity to keep progressing with our fitness and preparations for the season ahead. "We have to be careful as we have another game on Saturday and then we have a game against Everton closely after that.  We have to ensure that we don't have our players tired out before the season starts properly, and that's why we made changes last night and had players playing out of position.  But that is something we have to adapt to, making sure that players can play in certain positions in particular defensively.  We have to work at the way we defend and make sure that a right back playing in the centre of defence knows what's expected of him and vice versa. Full credit to the guys it did work reasonably well, although there were occasions when Vaasa got through and should have done better." Vaasa did pose a threat to the Hibs defence but nothing they did came close to the incisive attacking moves Hibs put together in a devastating second half that produced all four goals for the Easter Road side and might have resulted in a couple more.  Garry O'Connor was again looking sharp throughout but never more than in the second half when Paco Luna took over from Tom McManus as his strike partner.  Hibs did have to deal with some bizarre refereeing decisions, given a penalty that clearly never was while being denied one that clearly was!  The Hibs boss said: "The referee I felt was very poor, I can criticise the referee because I'm hopefully not going to come up against this guy again!  I don't think it was a penalty but I felt that he had given one correctly just before that but changed his mind for some reason.  Brebs did go down a bit theatrically as he is want to do!  But I thought we should have had a penalty there and the referee gave it then changed his mind but he must have felt guilty so gave us one later on." Williamson - pleased with progress (sns) A major plus factor for Hibs this summer must be the emergence of Steven Whittaker, a player who is showing fantastic promise and last night also demonstrated that not only could he defend, but he had a wicked right foot!  Williamson said: "Steven Whittaker is very capable with either foot, he had a good go from one free kick but unfortunately did not set another one up properly.  But he is a very good striker of the ball with both feet, Steven has had a few games under his belt now as well which we had to ensure because we can't just keep playing Alen Orman and Ian Murray!  Steven is very much a part of our squad, we only have 27 players - maybe 26 now I don't know!  Steven though is part of the squad and it's now up to him if he pushes his way into the first team, that's the character I look for in all of my players including the kids.  "Players were played out of position but at this moment of time it's all about gaining fitness but not overplaying our players.  Ian Murray has played a lot of games now in a short period of time so it's important that we rest some of the guys and not worry about what it's going to cost us at this moment in time.  The important thing is fitness, Mathias Doumbe played at right back and Steven Whittaker at left back last night, we tried Derek Townsley as our holding midfield player and he looked very comfortable.  He is a very versatile professional player and that augers well for the future.  I'm pleased with things though it was an effective match." The spirit in the camp could not be higher, in spite of the sudden if not unexpected departure yesterday of Ulises de la Cruz.  The transfer of De La Cruz to Aston Villa is expected to be finalised today, and while many are disappointed to see the player go it has not dampened the spirit in any way.  "Yes I'm pleased with the way things have gone so far," Williamson told Hibs.net, adding:  "The guys have been very professional, they've worked hard and when they have had their rest periods they have rested properly.  The are a good bunch of pros and it's a privilege to work with them - hopefully we can keep this going into the season."