Hands up - I'm to blame
Breath of fresh air around Easter Road as someone owns up to a mistake...

When Hibs normally go down in a game, a fairly normal occurrence of late, we hear from the players or the management that they'd tried their best or that there was nothing left that they could do.  Some of the time, mistakes are glossed over by those that make them although there are one or two that have put their hands up and owned up to them.  Roland Edge fits into the latter category after Sunday's disappointing defeat at the hands of Celtic.  It's probably fair to say that the former Gillingham defender hasn't returned to the form he showed earlier in the season after coming back from his injury-enforced absence from the first team and Sunday was no exception to that rule.

There were a couple of the side that perhaps could have performed better although it was Edge who was left to face the press after the game and answer to the mistakes made.  “It was a very sore one to take, there are a few people myself included that have to hold their hands up after Sunday and say that we did not defend as well as we know we should. The result was that Celtic deserved their win."  Many people, Hibs fans and non Hibs fans, expected Hibs to be on the receiving end of a heavy defeat given that the entire middle of the Hibs defence was missing although Edge was quick to point out that Colin Murdock and Matt Doumbe's absence wasn't the only reason for the defeat.  "It was certainly a factor having Mathias and Colin out of the side, but it was not a telling one. The people that came into the side are capable players and the defence a capable unit, but on Sunday slight mistakes and wrong decisions that you make are punished in particular against sides like Celtic and that’s the way it was on Sunday.”

Edge loses out to Agathe  (sns)

One area of the park that did perform better was in midfield with Gary Caldwell and Scott Brown in particular looking to open up the Celtic defence.  Unfortunately for them, as it has been for most of the season, the breaks that they perhaps needed didn't go their way although the standard of refereeing didn't help matter either!  “I think that the lads in midfield and attack did quite well, they were working well together and troubled Celtic. But yet again it did not come off for them, we had a couple of shots and the best of the game came from our right-back, but when we look at the game we know that we have not done as well as we should have.”  The fact that a defender had the best opportunity of the game epitomises the problems at Easter Road just now with the club now having scored an average of less than one goal per game.  Indeed, their total of 24 goals is the second lowest in the senior leagues with only Stenhousemuir, who currently sit bottom of Division Two, having scored less!

Changes are needed ahead of Wednesday though with Stephen Dobbie out injured and the need for Hibs to start picking up points ahead of the league split which will happen in just a few short weeks.  Edge certainly knows that, starting tomorrow night, things will have to improve if he and his team-mates are to salvage anything from this season.  “I think things will definitely change for the game tomorrow, it is vital for us to kick start things again now. I don’t think that many people gave us any hope on Sunday anyway, but they will be rooting for us on Wednesday and expecting a result. This is a vital game for us, we just have to kick on.”

Baillie sees red when others saw nothing  (sns)

Meanwhile, Bobby Williamson is set to call Referee's boss Donald McVicar and ask for changes to the rules on persistent fouling after Sunday's match although he will stop short of complaining about Dougie McDonald's performance in the game.  The Hibs boss has also hinted at the apparent bias shown towards the Old Firm, something that was clearly evident at times during the Easter Road encounter.  "I'll be calling Donald to voice a couple of concerns, although I have absolutely no complaint about the outcome of the game.  I didn't think we deserved to lose by four but Celtic were worth their win and I do not wish to be accused of sour grapes.  However, I'm a little concerned that it seems Old Firm players take a wee bit longer than others to be booked when it comes to persistent fouling.  Perhaps it's time we had a stricter code a yellow card shown after exactly three or four tackles, for example."  Indeed, with Bobo Balde and Neil Lennon escaping any sort of punishment for incidents during the game, Williamson wants the playing field to be levelled when it comes to 'advice' given out by the match officials.

"I'm also concerned our players are being booked for dissent when the referee is telling our opponents to stop talking, rather than going straight for the card. If he can do it with their guys, he can do it with ours.  I'm seeing a number of players booked early in games and subsequently walking a tightrope but Old Firm players are not being cautioned."  The Hibs boss continued, "I can't even remember the last time a Celtic or Rangers player was sent off for two bookable offences. I'd like to speak to Donald about a couple of instances and have them clarified."  Jonathan Baillie was shown a straight red card for his involvement with Craig Beattie towards the end of the match, a decision that most felt was wrong, but the club won't be appealing the decision.  "We can appeal a dismissal for violent conduct, but won't. I don't think Jonathan was violent or aggressive but I've still had words with him.  It's all down to interpretation. If referees feel they have made a mistake, they can hold their hands up, just as Stuart Dougal did earlier this season."  Unfortunately for Baillie, it's unlikely that McDonald's interpretation is likely to change from the time of the incident to when he submits his match report.