Midfield

[calumhibee1]

Mallan and Whittaker cannot play in the same midfield. Their lack of mobility is chronic.

Won next to no first or second balls today because they can’t get there quick enough.

[lord bunberry]

The midfield was non existent today. We needed to replace three quality midfielders and so far it looks like we’ve got one. We needed to push the boat out to try and replace McGinn and we didn’t. Money in the bank is useless if the team on the pitch isn’t good enough. I’ve nothing against Whittaker but he’s a guy that should be used as cover when we’re short of players.

[Mikey09]

I'll say it again. We'll be a different animal with McGregor, Milligan and Kamberi making up the spine of the team.

[calumhibee1]

I'll say it again. We'll be a different animal with McGregor, Milligan and Kamberi making up the spine of the team.

McGregor doesn’t sound like he’ll be back any time soon so we could be waiting a while for that. Hopefully Milligan has a bit mobility and determination because other than Horgan playing out of position and Marv we don’t have any in the middle of the pitch.

[Franck Stanton]

Definitely a team with a soft centre at the moment. Just my opinion, but looked like we went out with the attitude "it's only livingston"

[Mikey09]

McGregor doesn’t sound like he’ll be back any time soon so we could be waiting a while for that. Hopefully Milligan has a bit mobility and determination because other than Horgan playing out of position and Marv we don’t have any in the middle of the pitch.


And Kamberi up front.

[whiskas]

With Bartley out we’ve not anyone who can tackle or break up play. Whittaker- can’t tackle,Mallan - busy , puts himself about for a wee guy but can’t really tackle. Hyndman- haven’t actually seen him put in a tackle even Slivka ( who for some reason can’t even get off the bench again?) for a big guy doesn’t impose himself physically and couldn’t tackle a fish supper.

[jeffers]

I just hope Milligan is some player for us and not another jonatan johansson or shefki kuqi because it seems that a lot of us are pinning our hopes on him being the answer to a lot of our midfield woes.

[CMurdoch]

I just hope Milligan is some player for us and not another jonatan johansson or shefki kuqi because it seems that a lot of us are pinning our hopes on him being the answer to a lot of our midfield woes.

From everything i have seen he is the real deal.
Can tackle, progressive passer and composed.
He will make a massive difference to our present team.

[jeffers]

From everything i have seen he is the real deal.
Can tackle, progressive passer and composed.
He will make a massive difference to our present team.

I really hope so.

[scooby]

From everything i have seen he is the real deal.
Can tackle, progressive passer and composed.
He will make a massive difference to our present team.

When does he start?

[CMurdoch]

I really hope so.

It is incredibly frustrating having the guy we need to improve things but unable to play him for red tape.
It's not as if he is going to AWOL in the Scottish Highlands and take up an illicit career as a fruit picker whilst hiding from the authorities.

[CMurdoch]

When does he start?

Still waiting on his VISA application to be processed

[GreenCastle]

It’s and buts..

We need to start picking up more points with the squad we have.

Waiting for injured players and new players to settle in isn’t going to work / may be too late / to big a gap to catch others.

My concern is we aren’t physical enough and teams may outrun us in the middle if we don’t get balance right.

Aberdeen didn’t but Livi did today.

[H18S NX]

I just hope Milligan is some player for us and not another jonatan johansson or shefki kuqi because it seems that a lot of us are pinning our hopes on him being the answer to a lot of our midfield woes. That's what i was thinking,hope he is up for it.

[Smartie]

The midfield is key to this team - if we get this right (and we've not so far) then we get a lot of other things right.

The defence has looked crap at times, but they've been horribly exposed and lacked any sort of protection. The strikers haven't exactly been missing bucketloads of chances - they've been feeding off scraps.

There is a lot of pressure on the shoulders of Milligan (who none of us have clapped eyes on yet) and Bartley (who couldn't break into the team during the second half of last season).

Horgan is the first name on the team sheet for me, and at CM. Yes, I think he'd be good on the wing but we're so short in the middle he's the only player to have stood out so far.

We need to get into a position where we can only ever pick one of Mallan, Whittaker or Hyndman at any one time as they lack the mobility, physicality and defensive discipline to make up more than a small part of our midfield.

Slivka is our only midfielder who has any mobility (other than Horgan) and should really be recalled, even if he hasn't done enough to stake a proper claim so far.

It's a sorry state of affairs, and needs to be addressed either with free agents or on 1st January.

[fulshie]

I just hope Milligan is some player for us and not another jonatan johansson or shefki kuqi because it seems that a lot of us are pinning our hopes on him being the answer to a lot of our midfield woes.
Me too. Surely he hasn't got over 70 caps for Australia for nothing. And he played in the 3 World Cup games in Russia.Fingers crossed eh!

[theonlywayisup]

That midfield today offered nothing.

Really makes you worry about the rest of the season if that's the best we've got.

[Hibee Mac]

It's not like this is a new discovery. Anyone with a pair of eyes could see that since the day John Mcginn left our midfield has looked a shell of what it was.

Worst of all the club has known this would be the case since we'll in advance and have failed to address it in time.

[neil7908]

From everything i have seen he is the real deal.
Can tackle, progressive passer and composed.
He will make a massive difference to our present team.

Think we need to be a wee bit careful. I'm looking forward to seeing him but he's already getting talked about as some kind of saviour. He's got pedigree but could easily be a De Graaf rather than a Sauzee.

Even if he is a player we have to no idea if he'll fit into this Hibs team.

[Dazzjw1875]

Midfield non existent today and prob lat match..Went AWOL 2nd half!

[MacGruber]

The midfield is key to this team - if we get this right (and we've not so far) then we get a lot of other things right.

The defence has looked crap at times, but they've been horribly exposed and lacked any sort of protection. The strikers haven't exactly been missing bucketloads of chances - they've been feeding off scraps.

There is a lot of pressure on the shoulders of Milligan (who none of us have clapped eyes on yet) and Bartley (who couldn't break into the team during the second half of last season).

Horgan is the first name on the team sheet for me, and at CM. Yes, I think he'd be good on the wing but we're so short in the middle he's the only player to have stood out so far.

We need to get into a position where we can only ever pick one of Mallan, Whittaker or Hyndman at any one time as they lack the mobility, physicality and defensive discipline to make up more than a small part of our midfield.

Slivka is our only midfielder who has any mobility (other than Horgan) and should really be recalled, even if he hasn't done enough to stake a proper claim so far.

It's a sorry state of affairs, and needs to be addressed either with free agents or on 1st January.

Agree we need Slivka's mobility. Instead of trying to shie horn in our best players we need a working unit

[The Harp Awakes]

Mallan and Whittaker cannot play in the same midfield. Their lack of mobility is chronic.

Won next to no first or second balls today because they can’t get there quick enough.

Losing McGinn, McGeouch and Allan from midfield was always going to present us with a massive challenge this sesson.

Yesterday's game however showed that we are significantly weakened in midfield compared to last season. Milligan should help when he eventually comes in and Mallan and Horgan are decent additions, but clearly our recruitment during the transfer window has not been good enough.

[The Modfather]

Losing McGinn, McGeouch and Allan from midfield was always going to present us with a massive challenge this sesson.

Yesterday's game however showed that we are significantly weakened in midfield compared to last season. Milligan should help when he eventually comes in and Mallan and Horgan are decent additions, but clearly our recruitment during the transfer window has not been good enough.

Too early to judge this window but the early signs are not good. Our manager and recruitment team get lots of plaudits for signings but i’m not 100% sure that perception bears reality. Although that doesn’t mean they haven’t done well at times.

I thought we had two poor windows in Lennons first season, with there being a school of thought that we were saving money for the following season and spending just enough to get us up. Then last summer where we had to get rid of our marquee signing and the other of our front two to address the lack of creativity and cutting edge. The January window exceeded all expectations and couldn’t have been any better. However it worryingly looks to me like it could be the exception rather than the norm.

I have genuine concerns that collectively, as a club we are in very real danger of squandering the opportunity we have with the number of season ticket holders and feel good factor and beginning a downward trajectory rather than kicking on.

[wookie70]

Too early to judge this window but the early signs are not good. Our manager and recruitment team get lots of plaudits for signings but i’m not 100% sure that perception bears reality. Although that doesn’t mean they haven’t done well at times.

I thought we had two poor windows in Lennons first season, with there being a school of thought that we were saving money for the following season and spending just enough to get us up. Then last summer where we had to get rid of our marquee signing and the other of our front two to address the lack of creativity and cutting edge. The January window exceeded all expectations and couldn’t have been any better. However it worryingly looks to me like it could be the exception rather than the norm.

I have genuine concerns that collectively, as a club we are in very real danger of squandering the opportunity we have with the number of season ticket holders and feel good factor and beginning a downward trajectory rather than kicking on.

I feel very similar to this. Until very recently there were still more Stubb's signings than Lennon ones in our team. No doubt Lennon deserves credit for those players improving but we will see this season how well Lennon and the coaching/scouting teams do without the playing staff legacy that Stubb's left. He may not have been the complete manager but he had a very good eye for a player. My view is that we have had a reasonable window if we are going to play with about 3 attacking mids and keep everything crossed that defenders and attackers stay fit and in form and that Milligan is some kind of replacement for McGinn. In reality we are very short of numbers and grit and it looks to me that Lennon hasn't got a clue what formation to play and we can just hope he stumbles on one like he did when we went 532 last year.

I hope he chooses to role the formation dice a wee bit wiser than yesterday as his subs made us worse and the confusion caused by the swapping of positions and lack of professionalism in making those subs cost us at least a point.

[Smartie]

Too early to judge this window but the early signs are not good. Our manager and recruitment team get lots of plaudits for signings but i’m not 100% sure that perception bears reality. Although that doesn’t mean they haven’t done well at times.

I thought we had two poor windows in Lennons first season, with there being a school of thought that we were saving money for the following season and spending just enough to get us up. Then last summer where we had to get rid of our marquee signing and the other of our front two to address the lack of creativity and cutting edge. The January window exceeded all expectations and couldn’t have been any better. However it worryingly looks to me like it could be the exception rather than the norm.

I have genuine concerns that collectively, as a club we are in very real danger of squandering the opportunity we have with the number of season ticket holders and feel good factor and beginning a downward trajectory rather than kicking on.

The January window was excellent, probably as good as we've ever had. Even then, it involved packing our team with loan signings meaning that we had a total rebuild on our hands this summer.

I hear a lot about our recruitment and all the great things that are done behind the scenes but I've seen very little evidence of it for a very long time. We did well over 3 transfer windows after Stubbs arrived, and the players that he recruited have been the cornerstone of our team since.

Since his last window, our recruitment has largely been very disappointing.

There is nothing about our squad that looks like it was planned in any way, rather than a collection of fairly useful individuals who someone thought it might be worth having.

Time will tell, as we've seen so little of some of our significant recent arrivals, but the signs aren't good.

[Scotty Leither]

Too early to judge this window but the early signs are not good. Our manager and recruitment team get lots of plaudits for signings but i’m not 100% sure that perception bears reality. Although that doesn’t mean they haven’t done well at times.

I thought we had two poor windows in Lennons first season, with there being a school of thought that we were saving money for the following season and spending just enough to get us up. Then last summer where we had to get rid of our marquee signing and the other of our front two to address the lack of creativity and cutting edge. The January window exceeded all expectations and couldn’t have been any better. However it worryingly looks to me like it could be the exception rather than the norm.

I have genuine concerns that collectively, as a club we are in very real danger of squandering the opportunity we have with the number of season ticket holders and feel good factor and beginning a downward trajectory rather than kicking on.

Well said pal - the season I've least enjoyed over the last four was actually the one where we eventually got out that fish and chips league.

The games were a grind, 90% of the opposition didn't want to engage in a game of football, and I was disappointed we didn't tuck these teams away a bit more convincingly.

That said we did enough without spending buckets of cash and last season some of our football was a joy to watch.

Seeing an almost full stadium every 2nd week was brilliant too, and makes you realise the potential of the club, but that potential will only be realised if we kick on from here, and I like you worry that the collective will at a senior level in the club to do precisely that just isn't there.

[ryantaylor]

The midfield was non existent today. We needed to replace three quality midfielders and so far it looks like we’ve got one. We needed to push the boat out to try and replace McGinn and we didn’t. Money in the bank is useless if the team on the pitch isn’t good enough. I’ve nothing against Whittaker but he’s a guy that should be used as cover when we’re short of players.

Seeing a lot of people saying we didn't replace McGinn. I have no doubt in my mind Lennon & Dempster would have tried but their isn't a quick replacement for McGinn.

[Smartie]

Seeing a lot of people saying we didn't replace McGinn. I have no doubt in my mind Lennon & Dempster would have tried but their isn't a quick replacement for McGinn.

There was very little chance McGeouch was going to be with us this season. There was every chance McGinn was going to leave in the summer, leaving us with a few quid but a midfield needing rebuilt.

There is absolutely nothing abut our summer business that suggests they had the first idea what they were doing to address this issue, other than waiting patiently for a quality player to fall into their laps.

I accept that there was never going to be a like for like replacement for McGinn but we appear to have been short of ideas on how we want the team and the midfield to play this season.

[Buc]

[QUOTE=The Harp Awakes;5540668]Losing McGinn, McGeouch and Allan from midfield was always going to present us with a massive challenge this sesson.

Yesterday's game however showed that we are significantly weakened in midfield compared to last season. Milligan should help when he eventually comes in and Mallan and Horgan are decent additions, but clearly our recruitment during the transfer window has not been good enough.

Lot of hopes being put on Milligan, however, has he played a game since the World Cup? Is he match fit?

[theonlywayisup]

Mallan and Whittaker cannot play in the same midfield. Their lack of mobility is chronic.

Won next to no first or second balls today because they can’t get there quick enough.

Agree, midfield was very poor yesterday.