One man does not make a team
International parallels can be drawn from abject humiliation…

WHILST SATURDAY SHOWED THAT ON THEIR DAY, AND WITH A BIT OF LUCK, OUR NATIONAL SIDE our national side can raise the spirits of the nation, last night showed the complete opposite.  Much had been made of the lead that Scotland would be taking over to the Amsterdam Arena for the second leg of their Euro2004 play-off with individual performances from Lee Wilkie and James McFadden amongst those drawing particular praise.  However, they were shown up as a second rate side last night by a Dutch side brimming with class and enthusiasm and after only thirty five minutes or so of the first half, no-one was in any doubt as to what the outcome of the tie was going to be.

Already fans are talking about the loss of Christian Dailly as being influential in the 'missing' midfield however, as is often said with regards to Hibs, one man does not make a team!  During some of Hibs' 'finer' defeats last season in particular, the statistic used most in the various discussions about how the tide should be stemmed was the percentage of victories to defeats that Hibs had suffered with Jarkko Wiss in or out of the team.  While I personally have no doubt that he did add something to the midfield, the statistics for me are coincidental.  I'm no great fan of Dailly either and I certainly don't believe that to single him out as the man who would have saved Scotland from the heavy defeat it suffered would be unfair to both those that did play and to Dailly himself.  Looking ahead to the future, there are some talented players coming through but with seventeen players now ineligible for the Scotland Under-21 side, how many of these players could make that step up to take on the likes of Davids and Cocu, players who effectively ran the show last night.

Murray and Rae set to team up next year?  (sns)

One player who will be hoping that he can make that breakthrough into the full Scotland side is Hibs captain Ian Murray.  Despite already being overage, Murray was allowed to keep playing for the Under 21's as the current rules allow a player to continue playing until their country's participation in a campaign is ended.  With Scotland now out of the European Championship, Murray played his last game ironically on the same pitch that he made his first, and only to date, full International appearance.  However, despite going out on aggregate themselves, the Hibs captain was glad he, and Scotland went out on a relatively high note.

"I was not too emotional after the game but I'm just glad I put up a good show because I did not want to go out on a bad one.  I thought tonight I did well, and that was important to me - and the crowd were brilliant.  We knew that we would get a big crowd here, it's a shame we don't get so many games here because we always do get a good crowd."  Some pundits had the 'wee Scots' written off before the tournament had started so despite not qualifying, Rainer Bonhof's side can still feel a degree of pride in the end result of this campaign.  "We did well to get this far and I think we came out of this game with our heads held high.  I thought we deserved to go through - it's the first fifteen minutes over there that has killed us in the end."

Meanwhile the Stand Up And Be Counted campaign, although appearing quiet at the moment, is far from it.  Those fans who attended the last meeting with Colin McNeill have now split into groups to look into many different aspects of the campaign, aspects that have come from the fans as opposed to the club  itself.  Already a few ideas have been discussed in some more detail and the club are expected to announce the first of those, which will show just what the whole campaign is about, during the next week.

The Behind the Goals bar will be open from 12.30 on Sunday, allowing fans heading to Tynecastle to enjoy the facilities beforehand while those not heading for Gorgie can remain in the bar and watch the game in the company of other Hibees.  Ahead of the main event, the famous 6-2 win over Hearts will also be shown on the big screen.

Entry is Free, and offers available include 4 pint pitchers from £6.00, 3 bottles of Carlsberg for the price of 2, Carlsberg Lager for only £1.50 a pint and "a whiskey nip and a half" only £1.50. Food is also available for purchase both before during and after the game.