No excuses
Lack of consistency the reason behind club's on field problems says Hibs captain...

A sorry end to the season, that's what Saturday's result was as Hibs failed once again to capitalise on chances made early in the game before capitulating to a Livingston side that haven't been the best themselves over the past nine months. That said, Hibs captain for the day, the side's fourth this season, Grant Brebner was giving no excuses for the performance or, for that matter, for the whole of the season.

"We have been unfortunate, and we are not just making excuses for ourselves! We have just never had any consistency. Our season can be summed up in two wins, beating Celtic and beating Rangers to get to a cup final, apart from that we’ve been up and down with more downs than ups!" While there's no doubt that the season has been filled with disappointments, Brebner still believes that there is hope for the future, although the need to bring in a manager sooner rather than later is there. "It can only get better, we have a lot of young players who are enthusiastic but we need someone to come in and coach them, and teach them the right things."

With the players set to head off on holiday over the next couple of days, the summer break for once will be significantly shorter than normal for the Hibs squad with the Intertoto Cup coming at the beginning of July. The fact that Hibs have truly competitive football to play before the start of the SPL season is something that Brebner is looking forward to. "It will be a short summer for us, but to be honest I think that everyone likes to believe players like to have long holidays and such, we do of course like everyone but honestly I do prefer to come back and play games. I prefer to play games that mean something as well, everyone knows what friendlies are like so the Intertoto is something that we can aim for, and provides a possible back door into Europe that would give us a big boost for the season." Of course, Hibs will need to get the consistency issue sorted out before then otherwise the foray into Europe could be as short as he last time they ventured into the UEFA Cup!

Lack of experience showed - Brebner  (sns)

If the are to make any headway in the competition or domestically, the need to have a fully fit squad is more vital than ever. Of those who have been on the long term injury list this season, the majority have been those with experience, something that the midfielder pointed to after the game. "It’s obvious that we have missed at times the likes of myself, Stephen Glass, Ian Murray, which is probably a starting midfield in itself when you look at our squad. We seen young players having to go in and play a lot more games than any manager would have liked, that has been unfortunate but we can’t just make excuses for ourselves." No excuses then but you have to wonder what the season would have held for Hibs if there hadn't been the revolving door at Malcolm Colquhoun's treatment room.

Meanwhile, Hibs yesterday moved to quash a story that appeared on the Hibs.net and Hibees Bounce messageboards regarding letters sent to Under-24 year old players. In a statement issued via the Official Website yesterday, the club simply said, "Nobody was sent a P45. Certain Under 24 players were sent Letters of Re-engagement in accordance with SPL Rule D16 and SFA Registration Procedures. Under the Rules, Players must receive this letter by Recorded Delivery by 15 May 2004 otherwise the Club loses the right to compensation. The deadline of 15 May is a throwback to pre-SPL days when the Season ended earlier and these 15 May letters were a post-Season procedure. Every club in Scotland faced this deadline."

This episode is, unfortunately, sure to rumble on over the next couple of days but what it does show is the 'power' of the Internet in as far as what an incorrect or misinterpreted statement can do. While the ethos of the Internet is seen as being 'Free speech for all', a line has to be drawn on that and responsibility taken by those who use it to make sure that what they say is not malicious in any way, shape or form.