What can we achieve this season?

[SirDavidsNapper]

Celtic's latest poor result got me thinking. What can we achieve this season? The league seems very competitive now. Can we better last season? I'm very excited about our squad, it looks very good imo and things are starting to click now our crazy injury list is clearing. Exciting times.

[Sir David Gray]

3rd at best I would say.

We're only 6 games into the season. I can't see Celtic's poor performances continuing for much longer and Sevco will be there or thereabouts.

We're doing well but if we can finish above Hearts and Aberdeen then I'll be ecstatic.

[Pretty Boy]

I think the league is a step too far for most teams. It would need extraordinary luck with injuries and suspensions to see a team from outside Glasgow win it.

I think both cups are up for grabs though. Both Celtic and Rangers look beatable and there isn't much between us, Hearts and Aberdeen.

Competing in the latter stages of the cups and battling for those 2nd to 4th spots until late in the season is realistic imo. Equally what's football without a bit hope? If Leicester, Atletico Madrid and Montpellier can all upset the odds in recent years then why can't we?

[SirDavidsNapper]

I think the league is a step too far for most teams. It would need extraordinary luck with injuries and suspensions to see a team from outside Glasgow win it.

I think both cups are up for grabs though. Both Celtic and Rangers look beatable and there isn't much between us, Hearts and Aberdeen.

Competing in the latter stages of the cups and battling for those 2nd to 4th spots until late in the season is realistic imo. Equally what's football without a bit hope? If Leicester, Atletico Madrid and Montpellier can all upset the odds in recent years then why can't we?

I agree. Both cups are definitely up for grabs. Aberdeen like ourselves have had a slowish start. Europe didn't help but they will come good. Rangers look much better than last season but i really fancy us to go one better than last season and finish 3rd. It's good to see 5/6 teams at the top end all capable of beating each other.

[Onion]

Top 3 would be a great achievement, top 4 success, anything less disappointing. A cup final would be great, a cup win would be fantastic.

Celtic stuttering does not help us. All that does is give points to our main competitors and put added pressure on Hibs to get points in those games. Realistically, don't think we can compete with Sevco this term, but nothing to fear from Aberdeen and Yams.

[AgentDaleCooper]

i want us to win the league :aok:

[superfurryhibby]

The minimum aim should always be top six in the league and decent cup runs. Given we lost the midfield heart of the team there was always going to be a period of transition and that is what has happened so far.

The team and tactics have changed and I am optimistic that we will see some excellent football over the course of the season. We can’t really replace talent like McGinn, but we can get the maximum out if what we have and I’m hopeful that we will do that.

I can’t wait to see how we perform once Milligan and Tam are fully bedded in. Lennon seems to have recruited to a very high standard this season. It’s very promising.

[jacomo]

i want us to win the league :aok:


:agree:

If Celtc do drop the ball then I’d hope Hibs are one of the teams in a position to challenge. Don’t see why we should fear Sevco or anyone else.

[H18 SFR]

3rd or 4th in league
At least one semi
At least one final
Win a couple of rounds in the Europa League qualifiers

That's was my wish list in early July

[Hermit Crab]

Europe would do me fine.

[My_Wife_Camille]

While the league is still a possibility then it has to be the aim, what’s the point otherwise? That doesn’t mean not winning the league is necessarily a failure but it’s what football is about.

Someone on another thread said we should leave talk if winning the league to the Hearts fans as if there’s something wrong with aiming for the stars. I just don’t get that at all

[Barney McGrew]

As long as the OF stay in Europe then they’re likely to have more ropey results following on from those games. Both of them are vulnerable at the back.

Hertz and Aberdeen aren’t any better than we are.

There’s all to play for if we can put a good run together, but we need to take maximum points from St Mirren and Hamilton before we have the three back to back games v the OF and Hertz.

[we are hibs]

A cup win would be a real sign of progression. We have an average wait of about 10-20 years per trophy and to win 2 in the space of 2/3 years could potentially take us to another level. And we have a real chance of doing so in the league cup.

[where'stheslope]

For me the League cup has to be doable, with both Celtic and Rangers playing most mid weeks in Europe their players will tire as the season goes on!

Then its down to the luck of the draw if we make the Semi's?

I think everyone knows that both of them will strengthen in the winter break, then try and weaken their direct opponents by unsettling players or making derogatory offers, and that could make the Scottish Cup harder to win as with the League.

But as things stand, we could be in for a rollercoaster season if the other teams keep trying to beat them rather than trying to stop them!!!!

[Phil MaGlass]

Ok call me daft , but, i think we can win the league if we put together a decent run in the next few weeks, so much so, im not a betting man,but,i asked a mate to put a tenner(WOOHOO) on us to win the league. Im very confident of our chances.

[AgentDaleCooper]

tbh i don't see the point in having expectations when we have neil lennon in charge - we know he's going to get the best out of the team. it's much better IMO to just enjoy this era while it lasts, back the team to the hilt and allow yourself to dream a wee bit :aok:

:nlgwa:flag::nlgwa:flag::nlgwa

[Phil MaGlass]

Just found oot the sellik score

[B.H.F.C]

A cup win is achievable. The league cup being so early in the season now, with the uglies still in Europe, increases our chances IMO. Others will be saying the same right enough.

[hibbydog]

Anywhere between 2nd and 5th in the league. 3rd or 4th is punching our weight relative to our size of club.

We’re capable of a shout in one of the cups. As are hearts and Aberdeen. I expect Kilmarnock will also fancy themselves as they are a good side.

PS I wonder if we’d have all this optimism if the 2nd half yesterday went the same way as the first?

My confidence comes from our manager. With Lennon at the helm, you just know he’s going to be demanding 100% every day and it fills you with the feeling that the team will reach their potential.

GGTTH

[EH54]

Rangers looking good to me..seem to have that team spirit and that us against the world mentality..think hearts will fall away, Aberdeen aren't the same side and we will get stronger..for me it's one or Celtic or rangers with us third, hearts 4th and the sheep or Killie 5th.

[SirDavidsNapper]

The aim for me is top 4. Anything less and I'd be dissapointed. Our 3 goals yesterday were fantastic at any level of football. We are starting to click.

[Captain Trips]

2nd or 1st nobody to fear except ourselves.

Get into them Hibs.

[hibbyfraelibby]

Celtic's latest poor result got me thinking. What can we achieve this season? The league seems very competitive now. Can we better last season? I'm very excited about our squad, it looks very good imo and things are starting to click now our crazy injury list is clearing. Exciting times.

We can and will win the league...on the last day of the season when we get a last minute winner against Killie after the uglies play out a no score draw and Livvy gub the Hurtz

[Sir David Gray]

We can and will win the league...on the last day of the season when we get a last minute winner against Killie after the uglies play out a no score draw and Livvy gub the Hurtz

Exuberance part II.

[green day]

Ages since we won a Scottish Cup..............

[SirDavidsNapper]

We can and will win the league...on the last day of the season when we get a last minute winner against Killie after the uglies play out a no score draw and Livvy gub the Hurtz

SDG will get the goal

[Diclonius]

If we sort out our midfield (and hopefully Milligan can be the catalyst for this) then we'll be in the mix for 3rd/4th. Celtic will recover and Rangers will be too much over the course of the season. Given that both are beatable on the day, I'd say we have a reasonable chance of winning the League Cup.

The acid test will be Tynecastle.

[Hi Heid Yin]

The minimum aim should always be top six in the league and decent cup runs. Given we lost the midfield heart of the team there was always going to be a period of transition and that is what has happened so far.

The team and tactics have changed and I am optimistic that we will see some excellent football over the course of the season. We can’t really replace talent like McGinn, but we can get the maximum out if what we have and I’m hopeful that we will do that.

I can’t wait to see how we perform once Milligan and Tam are fully bedded in. Lennon seems to have recruited to a very high standard this season. It’s very promising.


I disagree.
The minimum aim should be top 4.
We need to shake off this "top 6 is acceptable" mentality. That is for your St. Johnstone's and Kilmarnock's

[Keith_M]

Top Six, maybe Europe.

[Lancs Harp]

I disagree.
The minimum aim should be top 4.
We need to shake off this "top 6 is acceptable" mentality. That is for your St. Johnstone's and Kilmarnock's

Agree

We have Celtic and Rangers who are very difficult to compete against. However there isnt much to choose (club stature wise) between Aberdeen Hearts and ourselves. We should always be aiming to be at least the top of the Hibs Hearts Aberdeen league and threatening when we can the top two. Sixth? whats that? If we finish 6th or lower then the club should be having a serious enquiry into what the ****** went on. Under NL we seem to be develping a winning menallity this needs to spread amongst out support, much of whome have got far too much to losing and accepting it.

[heretoday]

A trophy!!

[Sir David Gray]

I disagree.
The minimum aim should be top 4.
We need to shake off this "top 6 is acceptable" mentality. That is for your St. Johnstone's and Kilmarnock's

Totally agree.

I don't see a top six place for Hibs as an acceptable target.

We should be aiming for 3rd place as I consider Celtic and Rangers to be 1st and 2nd and I see us, Hearts and Aberdeen to be in a 3 way fight for 3rd, 4th and 5th.

3rd is excellent, 4th is good, 5th is ok, 6th is not good enough as it means we have finished behind a team like Motherwell or Kilmarnock etc which should never be happening.

[Tug Wilson]

Totally agree.

I don't see a top six place for Hibs as an acceptable target.

We should be aiming for 3rd place as I consider Celtic and Rangers to be 1st and 2nd and I see us, Hearts and Aberdeen to be in a 3 way fight for 3rd, 4th and 5th.

3rd is excellent, 4th is good, 5th is ok, 6th is not good enough as it means we have finished behind a team like Motherwell or Kilmarnock etc which should never be happening.

I would agree with this.

Tend not to want to make definitive targets though.

What I want us to do is compete in every game because there are no teams that we should be afraid of. If we put the lesser teams to the sword and get positive results against the upper sides then we should put ourselves in a position to be competing for top 4.

If we are thereabouts come March/April then I would hope that we can learn from last season and not falter when it is within our reach.

Cups rely on a large slice of luck but as we are as good as any team on our day then there is no reason that we cannot win at least one cup competition.

[Steve20]

Celtic will hit a run eventually. Rangers look better and Hearts aren’t going to hit the slump many on here just assume they will.

So, we need to go on a decent run and keep up with Rangers and try to reign in Hearts, as I’d expect Celtic to win it again.

[houstonhibbee]

A trophy!!
Bless you:greengrin

[Brightside]

Top 4

[Islington Hibs]

We should certainly make top 4, hopefully better.

I suspect the winner this year will achieve it on a lower points score than normal with quite a number of points dropped as the top teams cancel each other out. Early days but seems there is not much to pick between the Edinburgh and Glasgow teams. Livy look well organised too but if we can consistently beat the rest and hold our own against the top 4 we could be close. If we can get 5-6 points off our last 3 games in the first quarter against Celtic/ rangers and Hearts that would be a marker.

I honestly believe, if we had held our midfield, of last season together we would have been very close. Time will tell if the replacements can fill the gap. Probably expect us to be 3rd or 4th which I would be just fine.

[Nevi_SOL]

2nd

[PatHead]

Sky is the limit.

[BILLYHIBS]

Only six games into the SPFL too early to be counting any chickens or trophies a lot of football still to be played and a lot of twists and turns to come. Hopefully we will have a better idea after tomorrow night.

:nlgwa

[mutley]

I'd like to see another trophy come back to ER, but for me, we should be playing for a euro slot every year.

[Diclonius]

Totally agree.

I don't see a top six place for Hibs as an acceptable target.

We should be aiming for 3rd place as I consider Celtic and Rangers to be 1st and 2nd and I see us, Hearts and Aberdeen to be in a 3 way fight for 3rd, 4th and 5th.

3rd is excellent, 4th is good, 5th is ok, 6th is not good enough as it means we have finished behind a team like Motherwell or Kilmarnock etc which should never be happening.

I've always though that based on budget the absolute minimum we should finish each season is 5th, given we have the 5th biggest budget more often than not.

6th is a failure because it means a team with a vastly inferior budget has finished ahead of us. It should be the exception, not a regular occurence.

For comparison, here's the number of times a team that wasn't the OF or the other two mid-tier teams finished above us, Hearts or Aberdeen in the last ten seasons:
Aberdeen: 5 times (50%)
Hearts: 7 times (70%)
Hibs: 9 times (90%) - the one time we didn't was last season, which was the end of eleven seasons in a row when an inferior team finished above us.

[bingo70]

Celtic will hit a run eventually. Rangers look better and Hearts aren’t going to hit the slump many on here just assume they will.

So, we need to go on a decent run and keep up with Rangers and try to reign in Hearts, as I’d expect Celtic to win it again.

Depends how you define slump.

They’re certainly not going to maintain their current form.

In fact, I just disagree with you, I think they will hit a slump, they’re nothing special and will fall away big time. Once teams learn how to play their big boy up front that’ll be that for them IMO.

They’ve just had the best ever start to a season any team anywhere in the world has ever had and we’ve only just got going and we’re only 5 points behind them. We’ll be above them by the end of October IMO.

[bingo70]

I know he's not everyone's cup of tea but Agent Scotland has just tweeted the league table from the first of January until now and it makes for some interesting reading. Hopefully the link below works.

https://twitter.com/AgentScotland/status/1044154543376932864

I'm never really been one to think it's realistic to win the league but f Celtic really are in a decline they can't get out of then suppose you just never know.

If anyone else is to win the league though it'll be us, Aberdeen or Rangers, it certainly won't be Hearts.

[MyJo]

A cup win and European qualification again would be a tremendous season for us.

the top six this season is looking likely to be the same as last season but with much more of a challenge for the top places from Killie and Hearts compared to last year.

[Bishop Hibee]

Top 4 should be the realistic aim. A trophy would be amazing.

[Onceinawhile]

top 4 and a trip to Hampden has to be the aim.

I suppose we've been lucky over the past 5 or so years that we seem to have had at least one every year, but that shouldn't diminish how important it is.

Worth noting, that if Rangers and Celtic don't draw each other in the semi of the league cup, one of them will have to play Thursday then Saturday, which is a huge disadvantage from them.

[Juniper Greens]

top 4 and a trip to Hampden has to be the aim.

I suppose we've been lucky over the past 5 or so years that we seem to have had at least one every year, but that shouldn't diminish how important it is.

Worth noting, that if Rangers and Celtic don't draw each other in the semi of the league cup, one of them will have to play Thursday then Saturday, which is a huge disadvantage from them.

This hadn't occurred to me. Have they ever both been in this sort of situation before? If so what did the powers that be do to wriggle out of it? Surely not going to be a Monday night semi?

[Diclonius]

This hadn't occurred to me. Have they ever both been in this sort of situation before? If so what did the powers that be do to wriggle out of it? Surely not going to be a Monday night semi?

Don't see why not, we used to have midweek fixtures in the LC before.

No doubt if Aberdeen beat us then they'll be the ones with the midweek semi (or some ridiculously early kick-off time on Sunday).

[jacomo]

Top 4 should be the realistic aim. A trophy would be amazing.


As posted in another thread, we are the form team (alongside Killie) of 2018 so far.

You can never predict when rivals will falter but why not aim for the stars. Realistically, a repeat of last season would be very welcome and help consolidate our return to the sharp end of Scottish football. This is what the club is aiming for I’m sure.

Us fans are permitted to dream of more than that though!