pre season transfer activity

[Spike Mandela]

1 week to go till the League kicks off so far we have signed Cregg, McBride, Galbraith and Stack. (not very inspiring)

With our captain and prize asset striker sold amongst others shifted,is this the weakest pre-season activity in many a long year??

Are we a better or worse team than last year?

[Woody1985]

Sorry but

[smurf]

No doubt that as things stand we're weaker. I doubt anyone could seriously suggest anything contrary to this (although of course some will!!)

The question is though whether we start the season similar or indeed finish the month similar.

I really think we're 4 players short. A right back, central defender, central midfielder and forward with pace.

** Oh and i think this is a very reasonable and decent topic for debate. It's asking a legitimate question. And responses such as the one above are really pathetic in my humble opinion. **

[ballengeich]

The signings two seasons ago were far worse.

[Spike Mandela]

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Sorry but

Why respond then

[Phil D. Rolls]

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1 week to go till the League kicks off so far we have signed Cregg, McBride, Galbraith and Stack. (not very inspiring)

With our captain and prize asset striker sold amongst others shifted,is this the weakest pre-season activity in many a long year??

Are we a better or worse team than last year?

If we don't sign anyone else before the window closes, we are undoubtedly a worse team.

[Richard Scott]

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If we don't sign anyone else before the window closes, we are undoubtedly a worse team.

A decent striker is surely the target now?

[EskbankHibby]

Better team with worse players.

[smurf]

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The signings two seasons ago were far worse.

I think the signings thus far are good ones. They'll do well for us. However, i just don't see only their arrival taking us up to the next level. We need others....

[Woody1985]

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Why respond then

There must have been 3 threads a day for the last 3 weeks with the exact same thing.

[heretoday]

It's not an inspiring transfer window so far but who's out there to sign? And do Hibs have scouts or contacts with imagination who can come up with names?

[Spike Mandela]

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There must have been 3 threads a day for the last 3 weeks with the exact same thing.

Better to ignore the thread than be a smart ass though surely

If there is other threads I'm sure the admins wil merge. Thanks for your input now away to yer bed you sound tired

[Woody1985]

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Better to ignore the thread than be a smart ass though surely

If there is other threads I'm sure the admins wil merge. Thanks for your input now away to yer bed you sound tired

Depends what mood I'm in

Since I'm tired I thought I wouldn't ignore it.

It wasn't specifically at you but the same thing comes up day after day after day and I find it gets boring and repetative.

Anywhoo, I won't comment on this one again. Away to bed.

[ballengeich]

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It's not an inspiring transfer window so far but who's out there to sign? And do Hibs have scouts or contacts with imagination who can come up with names?

A good point. One of TM's strengths was bringing in players we hadn't heard of who turned out well for us. His successors haven't matched this.

[fife hfc]

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Better team with worse players.

We all agree we need players but we do look better organised and play to a system so we are improved in some areas but a work in progress in others. I have no doubt we will sign at least a couple of players before the end of August.

[MrSmith]

Definitely disappointed with the lack of activity but then again I'm used to being disappointed with hibs lack of transfer activity!

Pre-season is always boring for us! Remember the TM years? barely did anything because we were reducing the debt!.....??

[wazoo1875]

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Definitely disappointed with the lack of activity but then again I'm used to being disappointed with hibs lack of transfer activity!

Pre-season is always boring for us! Remember the TM years? barely did anything because we were reducing the debt!.....??

I too am a bit miffed at the apparant lack of activity so far , however we have brought in 4 with i would hope atleast another 2 to come . Does anyone know if any other SPL clubs have brought in as many . I think the whole summer has been very quiet with the exception of Eastlands and the Bernabeau.

[Onceinawhile]

we aren't too much worse off but we are worse off.

GK - about the same

RB - Kevin Mcann's return gives us competition, - slightly stronger
CB - undoubtedly weaker for the loss of Jones - Much weaker
LB - Same as last year, but with a years extra experience - slightly stronger

RM - Do we actually have anyone to play here??? - same as last year
CM - Keenan, Cropley, Chisolm out, Zouma back, Cregg + Mcbride in - Stronger
LM - AOB out Galbraith in - Stronger

CF - Fletch out, no one in - Much weaker

Management - far more experienced and astute - Stronger

[matty_f]

I don't think many folk would argue that by losing Fletcher and Jones the side looks weaker

In saying that though, we have Zemmama back, and with Cregg and McBride in the midfield we look stronger in that area.

Early impressions of Galbraith have him as an improvement on O'Brian - already scored more, and set up more than AOB did his whole time with Hibs!

Haven't seen Stack in action yet, but hopefully he's been brought in to improve the goalkeeper position.

That gives us :-

GK - At worst the same as last season, depending on Stack - better.
Full backs - Same as last season, except McCann is back and is probably a better option than DVZ - Same/Better
Central defence - without Jones we are undoubtedly weaker.
RM - Zemmama is back, meaning Ranks doesn't have to play on his weaker side. - Better
LM - Galbraith for AOB, as stated above - Better.
Central Mid - Still a few good players available for the central positions - McBride, Cregg, Murray, Thicot, Stevenson, and Rankin. We've lost Keenan and Chisolm. - Better
Forwards - kept our top scorer, and lost Fletcher and Campbell. Benji is back giving us a forward line to pick from Johannson, Nish, Riordan, Benji, and Byrne. - weaker on the face of it, but potentially better.


If I was the manager, I'd be looking for at least one full back, and a centre-half as a priority for the season starting.

[BEEJ]

We're about to enter the last three weeks of the transfer window. Things usually start to pick up for Hibs on summer transfer activity at this stage.

[Al_Bundy]

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1 week to go till the League kicks off so far we have signed Cregg, McBride, Galbraith and Stack. (not very inspiring)

With our captain and prize asset striker sold amongst others shifted,is this the weakest pre-season activity in many a long year??

Are we a better or worse team than last year?

As you say we have lost our captain and prize asset. Our squad seems to be a bit weaker but only because i don't feel we can judge players properly during pre season. I believe several games into a competitive season will be when we can really see what the new guys are like. I agree with the quote below though. We now play to a well organised system that i feel improves us as a team.

Is it possible to have a weaker squad but a better team?!

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We all agree we need players but we do look better organised and play to a system so we are improved in some areas but a work in progress in others. I have no doubt we will sign at least a couple of players before the end of August.

[Mibbes Aye]

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We're about to enter the last three weeks of the transfer window. Things usually start to pick up for Hibs on summer transfer activity at this stage.

Nature of transfer windows is that you won't get some of your targets until the end.

So far we've got a keeper and we've strengthened the midfield considerably, which almost everyone felt was important.

We've lost Fletcher, a great player, but in some ways it simplifies things re how we line up. Would rather we still had him but we kept him for longer than most thought and did well on the deal. If Hughes can do a job with Benji then we don't need to prioritise a striker IMO.

We've lost Jones. An integral part of what has actually been a good Hibs defence over the last few years. Again, there's the opportunity there though - his strengths were evident but he's not what you would consider a natural Hughes player and he would probably be looking for something different.

Question marks around the full-backs. I think that in some respects we are okay in that we have players on both flanks who are competent enough defenders at SPL level. Hughes seems to favour playing them high though and I'm not convinced yet that it's a natural game for our present picks.

So, CH and maybe FB for me as priority areas.

As to whether we are stronger or weaker - if we retained Mixu's system then we are probably weaker for losing Fletch and Jones. If we are playing Hughes' system then I think we are probably stronger, given the players we have brought in, with the caveat that the defence may need attention.

[sesoim]

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we aren't too much worse off but we are worse off.

GK - about the same

RB - Kevin Mcann's return gives us competition, - slightly stronger
CB - undoubtedly weaker for the loss of Jones - Much weaker
LB - Same as last year, but with a years extra experience - slightly stronger

RM - Do we actually have anyone to play here??? - same as last year
CM - Keenan, Cropley, Chisolm out, Zouma back, Cregg + Mcbride in - Stronger
LM - AOB out Galbraith in - Stronger

CF - Fletch out, no one in - Much weaker

Management - far more experienced and astute - Stronger

I haven't seen Stack, but I would imagine he's better than Maka (surely?) and worse than Szamo. Our defence is worse, our midfield is probably (very) slight better, and we are weaker up front, but I actually think we will score more goals WITHOUT Fletcher, as he was hardly prolific.

I'd be a lot happier if we offloaded Maka and signed another keeper, got a decent CB in and signed a LB so Murray can play in midfield.

And a Sproule clone on the right wing would be nice!

[Speedway]

I think what we need to do is highlight areas of weakness in the club that we can focus on to feed our negativity. We mustn't get to the stage where praise for the work put in by the club reaches a parity with the critique.

We owe it to ourselves to ensure the critique massively outweighs any positives and seek discussions on such issues. We must not allow ourselves to seek out any positives however, as the potential damage to our collective psyche is too horrendous to imagine.

I personally believe that Yogi's got no money to strengthen the squad and couldn't give a toss anyway. I think he's sat on his arsenal doing nothing while Petrie has pocketed the Jones/Fletch transfer cash (who are now referred to as prize assets where in October and March respectively, were lilly livered/one footed disgraces)

I think Petrie is setting up the club for sale and just when the new owner (Romanov) buys the club, he'll bounce the cheque and burn down ER.

FACT.

[JimBHibees]

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We're about to enter the last three weeks of the transfer window. Things usually start to pick up for Hibs on summer transfer activity at this stage.

Yep there will be more movement nearer the end of the window when the options are assessed and we look like a good move.

[falkirk_cabbage]

Very difficult to pick up better players when the financial situation is as bad as it is in Scottish Football. Although we may look similar to last year I think we are slightly stronger as Yogi plays a system that gets the best out of our players
I think it is also worth looking at other teams and Aberdeen an Motherwell have already demonstrated that they are probably weaker than last year and I have seen nothing from any other team outside the old firm that should frighten us.

[sunshine1875]

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1 week to go till the League kicks off so far we have signed Cregg, McBride, Galbraith and Stack. (not very inspiring)

With our captain and prize asset striker sold amongst others shifted,is this the weakest pre-season activity in many a long year??

Are we a better or worse team than last year?

Defintely a better team. Last year we had poor manager and some shocking displays by so-called players (O'brien, Chisholm, Keenan, DVZ etc). We also had two goalkeepers that were prone to ****-ups.

This year we have a manager, who appears to know how to play football and four players coming in that are better than the above four (Galbraith, McBride, Cregg and McCann). Hopefully, Stack will help to solve the goalkeeping problem.

Yes, we have lost two good players. However, Fletcher did not do much in some games when we needed him (how many 1-on-1s did he miss) and Jones was prone to a few daft moments. A loss, but not the death of the team.

I am a firm believer that a team is only as good as its weakest player and the level of our weakest player has increased. I am convinced that in a years time, it will improve further through a combination of the young players coming through and the right purchases by Hughes.

[erin go bragh]

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Defintely a better team. Last year we had poor manager and some shocking displays by so-called players (O'brien, Chisholm, Keenan, DVZ etc). We also had two goalkeepers that were prone to ****-ups.

This year we have a manager, who appears to know how to play football and four players coming in that are better than the above four (Galbraith, McBride, Cregg and McCann). Hopefully, Stack will help to solve the goalkeeping problem.

Yes, we have lost two good players. However, Fletcher did not do much in some games when we needed him (how many 1-on-1s did he miss) and Jones was prone to a few daft moments. A loss, but not the death of the team.

I am a firm believer that a team is only as good as its weakest player and the level of our weakest player has increased. I am convinced that in a years time, it will improve further through a combination of the young players coming through and the right purchases by Hughes.

agree 100% plus back to playing the proper way i can see this being a great season [we live in hope] gg

[Dr_Regal]

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Defintely a better team. Last year we had poor manager and some shocking displays by so-called players (O'brien, Chisholm, Keenan, DVZ etc). We also had two goalkeepers that were prone to ****-ups.

This year we have a manager, who appears to know how to play football and four players coming in that are better than the above four (Galbraith, McBride, Cregg and McCann). Hopefully, Stack will help to solve the goalkeeping problem.

Yes, we have lost two good players. However, Fletcher did not do much in some games when we needed him (how many 1-on-1s did he miss) and Jones was prone to a few daft moments. A loss, but not the death of the team.

I am a firm believer that a team is only as good as its weakest player and the level of our weakest player has increased. I am convinced that in a years time, it will improve further through a combination of the young players coming through and the right purchases by Hughes.

Top Post!!

Pretty excited about the young guys coming up as i imagine JH is.

Can still see Barr coming closer to deadline day. Possibly a Right-back and a striker on loan for a season would be decent.

[--------]

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I think what we need to do is highlight areas of weakness in the club that we can focus on to feed our negativity. We mustn't get to the stage where praise for the work put in by the club reaches a parity with the critique.

We owe it to ourselves to ensure the critique massively outweighs any positives and seek discussions on such issues. We must not allow ourselves to seek out any positives however, as the potential damage to our collective psyche is too horrendous to imagine.

I personally believe that Yogi's got no money to strengthen the squad and couldn't give a toss anyway. I think he's sat on his arsenal doing nothing while Petrie has pocketed the Jones/Fletch transfer cash (who are now referred to as prize assets where in October and March respectively, were lilly livered/one footed disgraces)

I think Petrie is setting up the club for sale and just when the new owner (Romanov) buys the club, he'll bounce the cheque and burn down ER.

FACT.

A thoroughly astute summation of the situation, sir.

It is imperative that at no time should we allow the slightest glimmer of optimism to mar the otherwise unblemished surface of depression and despair so lovingly nurtured by so many of our fellow supporters.

This is by far the worst close season in my memory.

Galbraith - an injury-prone reject from Man Utd reserves.

McBride - Not Hibs Class. Signed from The Team That Just Missed Relegation.

Cregg - see McBride.

Stack - he's had more clubs than Nick Faldo, a player of appallingly violent tenndencies (see YouTube clip), and not nearly as good as the late lamented Szamotulski. Moreover, he ISN'T BALD!!!!

McCann won't be good enough. No Hibs right-back in living memory has recovered from serious injury to be as good as he was before (see Duncan, R. and Brownlie, J. among others).

We've lost Saint Robert Jones, the World's Greatest 6'7" Centre-Half, and the Blessed Steven Fletcher, the World's Greatest One-Legged Striker. To suggest we can survive without them is plainly ludicrous.

And as for Zemmama and Benjelloun - well, let's see how much use THEY prove to be come Ramadan. Zemmama's nothing but a Fancy Dan anyway. And benjelloun's a trouble-maker. Put 'im out on loan to someone nasty.

Yogi's useless, Petrie's clearly up to no good, STF doesn't care, the East Stand will never be built - they promised us a training-ground but what did we get? A converted dairy-farm, not half as good as the Riccarton complex that Hearts get to use on half-days twice a week.

Bring back John Collins, Tommy Craig, Doumbe, Rocastle, Tam McManus and Hong Kong Thierry. Also Alan O'Brien, the Thompson Twins, and Fran 'n Anna.

And for pity's sake don't let any of us start feeling hopeful. It always leads to tears.

Doom 'n gloom, and bad-mouth the players, manager, coaches, board and EVERYBIDY ELSE INVOLVED WITH THE CLUB at every possible opportunity.

And BREATHE!