The team that finishes this season will not be the same as the one that starts next

[theonlywayisup]

.......................guaranteed!

Not my belief, but Alan Stubb's quote from the recent AGM.

It shows, to me, that we have a manager that is constantly looking to improve what we have. He will not go for last minute panic buys. Everyone he brings in must build on the quality we have. Which gives me a good positive feeling for the future.

So my question, who out of our current 1st team squad have a contract that extends beyond the summer?

Gray, Malonga, Allan, Forster, Cummings, Stanton, Harris, El Alagui, Handling, De Djedje. Have I missed anyone, not including the u20s. Possibly Hanlon?

...............theonlywayisup

[Onion]

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.......................guaranteed!

Not my belief, but Alan Stubb's quote from the recent AGM.

It shows, to me, that we have a manager that is constantly looking to improve what we have. He will not go for last minute panic buys. Everyone he brings in must build on the quality we have. Which gives me a good positive feeling for the future.

So my question, who out of our current 1st team squad have a contract that extends beyond the summer?

Gray, Malonga, Allan, Forster, Cummings, Stanton, Harris, El Alagui, Handling, De Djedje. Have I missed anyone, not including the u20s. Possibly Hanlon?

...............theonlywayisup

Sure every Hibs manager wanted that. The quiet way Stubbs has gone about his business, early signings, and quality of picks suggests that LD & board trust his judgement and trying hard to bring in his first picks. IMO that wasn't the case with some previous managers. Not that the funding wasn't there, more the Board deciding they couldn't trust the manager's judgement.

Looks like we've got a decent manager at long last, who's rated by the Board. If they want to keep Stubbs then they'll have to match his ambition with funding so many of the players you've mentioned will be signed up to longer term deals if we can get out of this league. There again, Stubbs might see some of these guys as stop-gaps to get us out of the Champ and have his eye on even better quality for the Prem.

[Jim44]

Gray, Malonga, Allan, Forster, Cummings, Stanton, Harris, El Alagui, Handling, De Djedje.

It's satisfying to think that these guys might form the core of our Premiership team next year but, conversely, will they continue to prosper if we don't get promotion and are faced with another year in the Championship?

[theonlywayisup]

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Sure every Hibs manager wanted that. The quiet way Stubbs has gone about his business, early signings, and quality of picks suggests that LD & board trust his judgement and trying hard to bring in his first picks. IMO that wasn't the case with some previous managers. Not that the funding wasn't there, more the Board deciding they couldn't trust the manager's judgement.

Looks like we've got a decent manager at long last, who's rated by the Board. If they want to keep Stubbs then they'll have to match his ambition with funding so many of the players you've mentioned will be signed up to longer term deals if we can get out of this league. There again, Stubbs might see some of these guys as stop-gaps to get us out of the Champ and have his eye on even better quality for the Prem.

Another thing Stubbs (or was it Craig) stated at the AGM is that they watch a player 10-15 times - in games they win, games they lose, in the rain, in big stadiums, in small stadiums. Much better than the Pat "if you have Irish links, you'll do for me" Fenlon or the Colin "I remember him playing well against me in League 2, four seasons ago" Caldwerwood. As Craig said, "everyone looks like a worldbeater in at least one game, what happens if you just happen to be watching that one game".

See Stubbs quotes on signing Liam Fontaine. I think he got that one right.

“I’m delighted that we’ve been able to bring Liam to the club – this is a transfer that we’ve been working on for the past two weeks.“So it’s very pleasing that all of that hard work has come to fruition and that we’ve recruited an excellent centre-half.
“Liam is a real quality signing, who will undoubtedly add a huge amount to the squad and further strengthen our defence.
“We did our homework on him – both as a player and as a person – and he ticked all the right boxes and he has immediately bought into what we’re trying to achieve at the club.”

[lyonhibs]

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Another thing Stubbs (or was it Craig) stated at the AGM is that they watch a player 10-15 times - in games they win, games they lose, in the rain, in big stadiums, in small stadiums. Much better than the Pat "if you have Irish links, you'll do for me" Fenlon or the Colin "I remember him playing well against me in League 2, four seasons ago" Caldwerwood. As Craig said, "everyone looks like a worldbeater in at least one game, what happens if you just happen to be watching that one game".

See Stubbs quotes on signing Liam Fontaine. I think he got that one right.

“I’m delighted that we’ve been able to bring Liam to the club – this is a transfer that we’ve been working on for the past two weeks.“So it’s very pleasing that all of that hard work has come to fruition and that we’ve recruited an excellent centre-half.
“Liam is a real quality signing, who will undoubtedly add a huge amount to the squad and further strengthen our defence.
“We did our homework on him – both as a player and as a person – and he ticked all the right boxes and he has immediately bought into what we’re trying to achieve at the club.”

Such a tired cliché. I won't bother listing the players the Fenlon brought to the club that were not in any remote way Irish or linked to Ireland (doesn't mean they were any good, mind you) but that statement is a load of pish.

My only concern is from a continuity POV is that if the likes of Fyvie etc perform and we don't get them tied down on longer contracts a) we'll have been getting them fit for someone else's long terms benefit and b) whether we go up or not, we'll have another one of these infamous "rebuilding jobs" to do in the summer.

In Stubbs I actually do trust though, unlike any previous Hibs manager since John Collins.

[Geo_1875]

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Gray, Malonga, Allan, Forster, Cummings, Stanton, Harris, El Alagui, Handling, De Djedje.

It's satisfying to think that these guys might form the core of our Premiership team next year but, conversely, will they continue to prosper if we don't get promotion and are faced with another year in the Championship?

They're so good we'll play without a goalkeeper

[jacomo]

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Gray, Malonga, Allan, Forster, Cummings, Stanton, Harris, El Alagui, Handling, De Djedje.

It's satisfying to think that these guys might form the core of our Premiership team next year but, conversely, will they continue to prosper if we don't get promotion and are faced with another year in the Championship?

That's the biggest thing isn't it? Great transfer dealings it seems but if we don't go up this team might get broken up. I'm a big fan of AS but until we get promoted we haven't really achieved anything.

[Steve20]

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That's the biggest thing isn't it? Great transfer dealings it seems but if we don't go up this team might get broken up. I'm a big fan of AS but until we get promoted we haven't really achieved anything.

I think the majority would stay on for another season. I think Allan might be the only one we'd definitely lose if we weren't to go up.

[jacomo]

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I think the majority would stay on for another season. I think Allan might be the only one we'd definitely lose if we weren't to go up.

And STF picking the wages, aye?

Not having a pop at anyone, but this club is not on a sustainable financial footing in this division, and anyone can see that we have invested heavily in backroom staff as well as the squad (remember when Pat didn't even have an assistant?).

We are a Premiership team with a Premiership cost base, but in the wrong division.

[theonlywayisup]

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Such a tired cliché. I won't bother listing the players the Fenlon brought to the club that were not in any remote way Irish or linked to Ireland (doesn't mean they were any good, mind you) but that statement is a load of pish.

My only concern is from a continuity POV is that if the likes of Fyvie etc perform and we don't get them tied down on longer contracts a) we'll have been getting them fit for someone else's long terms benefit and b) whether we go up or not, we'll have another one of these infamous "rebuilding jobs" to do in the summer.

In Stubbs I actually do trust though, unlike any previous Hibs manager since John Collins.

Maybe! If you had checked the list, you will see that Pat Fenlon brought a lot more non-Irish players to the club than Irish players.

The point I maybe didn't expand on was that I'm sure that PF bought Irish players that he knew about from his time in Ireland and not because those players had been scouted for a while and he chose them following a thorough process. If I remember correctly, players like Doherty, were known to Fenlon from his time in Ireland. Fenlon said he knew Doherty since he was a kid at Bohemians. Deegan also worked with Fenlon at Bohemians, as did Roy O'Donovan. I know it is not unknown for managers to keep signing the same players, but in the case of Fenlon it doesn't convince me that he went through a rigourous process to ensure we got the right person. I've not checked to see what previous connection there was between James Collins, Tim Clancy, Alan Maybury and Ryan McGivern with Pat Fenlon, but the common theme is that all his Irish signings were very poor. Then there is Heffernan, who admittedly was probably a Nicoll signing. His only success, you could argue, was with Eoin Doyle.

[Steve20]

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And STF picking the wages, aye?

Not having a pop at anyone, but this club is not on a sustainable financial footing in this division, and anyone can see that we have invested heavily in backroom staff as well as the squad (remember when Pat didn't even have an assistant?).

We are a Premiership team with a Premiership cost base, but in the wrong division.

So, if we don't go up then we just break up the team and accept being a Championship club? Because if we break the side up, we won't go up next season either.

All this is irrelevant if we win the playoffs.

[patlowe]

Going up this year is vital IMO if we want to see this team stick together and improve even further into next season. We are easily good enough to do so but there are no guarantees in the play-off system.