Hibs Re-emergence & a note of caution

Lot of factors in our re-emergence

New manager plays players in their correct positions and does not ask them to do things they are not capable of.

January loan players McNulty & Omeonga have made the difference to the team we had been looking for since the start of the season.

Despite wins against the bottom teams being easier to achieve and worth the same number of points as wins against the top teams it was something Lennon's team failed with in the 1st half of the season. A succession of draws in that time against the poorer teams messed our season up badly.

Since, just before, the new manager came in we have hoovered up the points from the bottom teams with 3 point wins against bottom 6, St Mirren, Dundee, Hamilton, St Johnstone and Motherwell. If we can complete the job by beating Livingston in our next match we will have taken a maximum 18 points from the bottom 6.

A win against Livingston would see us leapfrog Hearts if they don't win their game against Aberdeen the following day.
A quite startling difference since a poor capitulation against Motherwell in Lennon's last match in charge.

Hearts are in freefall and we should be looking to beat them. They are currently not as good as St Johnstone or Motherwell

Our other pre split game is against Kilmarnock which will be tough.
Their form is holding together with a scoring draw against Rangers today the latest form indicator.
Having said that, we have home advantage and at the end of the day they are another small team.
A win against them would see us right on their tail for 4th and the likely European place that goes with it.

A final note of caution. I pray McNulty is not injured on international duty! That would be a real game changer.

I’m enjoying the current excellent run, but a wee man in my head is telling me that two of our most effective players...Omeonga and McNulty...will be off at the end of the season, as we have virtually no chance of signing them.

Rabbits will have to be pulled from hats.

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Originally Posted by Forza Fred

I’m enjoying the current excellent run, but a wee man in my head is telling me that two of our most effective players...Omeonga and McNulty...will be off at the end of the season, as we have virtually no chance of signing them.

Rabbits will have to be pulled from hats.

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Porteous, Boyle and Allan will come into the first team so that's a good base to build from right away. They'll improve us.

I also wouldn't rule out McNulty and/or Omeonga being here next season. Stranger things have happened. I'm sure we'll give it a go.

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Originally Posted by CMurdoch

Lot of factors in our re-emergence

New manager plays players in their correct positions and does not ask them to do things they are not capable of.

January loan players McNulty & Omeonga have made the difference to the team we had been looking for since the start of the season.

Despite wins against the bottom teams being easier to achieve and worth the same number of points as wins against the top teams it was something Lennon's team failed with in the 1st half of the season. A succession of draws in that time against the poorer teams messed our season up badly.

Since, just before, the new manager came in we have hoovered up the points from the bottom teams with 3 point wins against bottom 6, St Mirren, Dundee, Hamilton, St Johnstone and Motherwell. If we can complete the job by beating Livingston in our next match we will have taken a maximum 18 points from the bottom 6.

A win against Livingston would see us leapfrog Hearts if they don't win their game against Aberdeen the following day.
A quite startling difference since a poor capitulation against Motherwell in Lennon's last match in charge.

Hearts are in freefall and we should be looking to beat them. They are currently not as good as St Johnstone or Motherwell

Our other pre split game is against Kilmarnock which will be tough.
Their form is holding together with a scoring draw against Rangers today the latest form indicator.
Having said that, we have home advantage and at the end of the day they are another small team.
A win against them would see us right on their tail for 4th and the likely European place that goes with it.

A final note of caution. I pray McNulty is not injured on international duty! That would be a real game changer.

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Appreciate the tone of your post is a positive one however I think it’s a bit unfair to be almost dismissive of the wins because they were against bottom six teams.

St Johnstone were top 6 when we beat them away (I think), Motherwell have been on a great run of form recently, we scored 4 goals away to dundee and Hamilton have shown recently against Aberdeen and Hearts they are no walkovers. We’ve also got an excellent point at home to the Rangers.

As for the fact players will be leaving in the summer, that’s just modern football, whether they’re loanees or not.

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Originally Posted by Forza Fred

I’m enjoying the current excellent run, but a wee man in my head is telling me that two of our most effective players...Omeonga and McNulty...will be off at the end of the season, as we have virtually no chance of signing them.

Rabbits will have to be pulled from hats.

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That's true but hopefully replacements could be found

I actually have a feeling McNulty will stay.

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Originally Posted by Keekaboo

That's true but hopefully replacements could be found

I actually have a feeling McNulty will stay.

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Me too, doesn’t seem all about money, he just genuinely wants to play football, he will be able to look at McGinn who has moved down south to bigger and better things . A few seasons up here would do him word of good


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Originally Posted by dp00

Me too, doesn’t seem all about money, he just genuinely wants to play football, he will be able to look at McGinn who has moved down south to bigger and better things . A few seasons up here would do him word of good


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It will be about money. He's a contracted player and a transfer fee would be required. Championship teams are used to dealing in £millions, not a couple of hundred grand. That might well be a bridge too far.

He's unbeaten against top six sides in the league as well is another way to look at it.

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Originally Posted by Sioux

It will be about money. He's a contracted player and a transfer fee would be required. Championship teams are used to dealing in £millions, not a couple of hundred grand. That might well be a bridge too far.

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A championship team that could be in a bit of bother and may be heading down to League 1. That happening could then work 2 ways. They release Marc to trim their wage bill or they want to keep him and play him in the lower division. Hopefully the first option however if he’s released because of money then I’m not sure we could compete financially for him

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Originally Posted by Forza Fred

I’m enjoying the current excellent run, but a wee man in my head is telling me that two of our most effective players...Omeonga and McNulty...will be off at the end of the season, as we have virtually no chance of signing them.

Rabbits will have to be pulled from hats.

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Probably just need a striker who fits us. However decided to sign McNulty can have this job.

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Originally Posted by dp00

Me too, doesn’t seem all about money, he just genuinely wants to play football, he will be able to look at McGinn who has moved down south to bigger and better things . A few seasons up here would do him word of good


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Spoken like a fan .....

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Originally Posted by bingo70

Appreciate the tone of your post is a positive one however I think it’s a bit unfair to be almost dismissive of the wins because they were against bottom six teams.

St Johnstone were top 6 when we beat them away (I think), Motherwell have been on a great run of form recently, we scored 4 goals away to dundee and Hamilton have shown recently against Aberdeen and Hearts they are no walkovers. We’ve also got an excellent point at home to the Rangers.

As for the fact players will be leaving in the summer, that’s just modern football, whether they’re loanees or not.

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I don't think he was being dismissive, I thought he was emphasising how quickly the points can rack up if you consistently beat the bottom teams.
This season we've dropped 17 points against what are now the bottom 6,even half of those points would make a huge difference to our league position.
Aberdeen were a case in point last season, consistently beat the bottom teams but until the split were only average against top half teams yet came second in the league.

If Reading go down then I can see them wanting McNulty back as she scored a barrowload in that league for Coventry last season. He will also be on a decent wedge, a £1M player in the championship so he could easily be on £10K a week. He won't want to give that up with 3 years left to run and who could blame him.

Best hope is maybe another loan deal where we pay a % of that wage.

Edit: Just realised it was league 2 he was at for Coventry.

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Originally Posted by Forza Fred

I’m enjoying the current excellent run, but a wee man in my head is telling me that two of our most effective players...Omeonga and McNulty...will be off at the end of the season, as we have virtually no chance of signing them.

Rabbits will have to be pulled from hats.

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Hopefully that will be known well before it happens. Also I hope that the manager makes a few demands of the board so that we get players in, in good time to let the manager have a proper pre-season. IMO any extra revenue from games in the top six, should we make it, will be down to the new boss, so that should be added on to his budget.

We have less than zero chance of Omeonga returning.

McNulty about 25% chance.

1. At a club like Hibs, rabbits from hats are required every summer. That’s what we’re spending money on a ‘recruitment department’ for. That said, we have half a team of contracted players (Allan, Boyle, Porteous, Whittaker, Nelom, Laidlaw) who are not currently featuring for us.

2. I hadn’t realised quite how poor our results in Lennon’s last three months were. We would’ve been hounding out a less popular manager for the same performance. That Celtic win really distracted me.

3. I believe any manager should always be judged on their latest round of fixtures (11) to review progress.

4. Our current manager offers us a win ratio of 66% at this moment. That’s beyond beginners luck, especially with the squad at his disposal.

5. Hibs often agree loans with right-to-buy options these days.

Cautious optimism is my current mood.

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Originally Posted by rotherhamrob

I don't think he was being dismissive, I thought he was emphasising how quickly the points can rack up if you consistently beat the bottom teams.
This season we've dropped 17 points against what are now the bottom 6,even half of those points would make a huge difference to our league position.
Aberdeen were a case in point last season, consistently beat the bottom teams but until the split were only average against top half teams yet came second in the league.

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Thanks for succinctly explaining the points (no pun intended) in my post:aok:
Draws against the smaller teams are almost as bad as losses.
November was a disasterous month for us dropped points wise.
I agree it's not easy to win any game but with our quality of player we should beat the teams from Hearts down with McNulty upfront.
It has transformed our season at a time when Hearts have fallen apart.

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Originally Posted by Sioux

It will be about money. He's a contracted player and a transfer fee would be required. Championship teams are used to dealing in £millions, not a couple of hundred grand. That might well be a bridge too far.

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All about money, no way will Reading write off £4 million with 3 years left on his contract.