Our strikers

[Unseen work]

Not a negative post but just something I have picked up on.

All of our strikers except Boyle, play a very similar style of only coming to life in and around the box, in a way that if they aren't scoring the don't contribute much.

I feel we need a new striker who is willing to get in behind and run at defenders with pace and make them commit themselves. Some one who will set a team mate up instead of scoring from a near impossible angle.

When I looked at the strikers on yesterday I thought the only way they will score is if it falls on a plate to them in the box. The only problem is when a team is playing are disciplined as Falkirk, them sort of chances are few and far between.

Malonga and Cummings are both very good strikers who could go on to have good careers but they very rarely skin a defender and make something happen, most their goals come from within 8 or so yards.

Farid offers us more of a aerial threat and wins knockdowns which is invaluable for us, but again you won't see him beating a couple of defenders with the ball at his feet.

Dje dje is a weird one, I never feel when he comes on that he will score, he had a good ratio first couple of games. He tends to keep it more simple than the other strikers IMO and hold the ball up and lay it off, not really seen him run at anyone though

[Wotherspiniesta]

The two of them were awful yesterday.

Cummings barely kicked the ball apart from his good run in the first ten seconds.

Farid mistimed every jump.

[Hermit Crab]

We need more options for strikers. Relying on those two yesterday won't get us anywhere.

[Scottie]

Stubbs gamble on Farid didn't pay off yesterday but God knows why he didn't make the subs earlier.
Must have no confidence in Malonga or DDJ to bring them on so late.

[J-C]

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Stubbs gamble on Farid didn't pay off yesterday but God knows why he didn't make the subs earlier.
Must have no confidence in Malonga or DDJ to bring them on so late.

Malonga was bought due to Farid's injury and although he did well at first, Stubbs and co didn't get a proper background check on him and have since found out he's a bit of a moaner and goes in the huff easily, not great for squad harmony. Djedje came as a winger with pace who could also play up top if needed, maybe he's just not settled yet as it was only January when he came.

We are shot of attacking options, Cummings still young and blows either very hot or very cold like yesterday and the Hearts game took more out of Farid than we expected.

[The Leith Dutch]

I think the problem is futher back.
We're very reliant on either Allan or the overlapping wing backs for creativity.
If Allan has an off game or the wing backs shell in poor crosses we create poor chances.

We could do with:
midfielders who can shoot effectively from distance.
someone who can do what Malonga was doing when he first came in with some good close control to set up a strike partner
better crossing


For all that we had shots yesterday I'd like to see us be able to find the strikers in the box more regularly or shoot from distance with better quality. We attacked well but didn't carve out enough good chances.

[Bayern Bru]

I actually felt we suffered having to play the formation we did with the players we had at our disposal.

I reckon we would have looked much more comfortable / threatening if Boyle had been on the right and McGeouch as allowed to roam in the middle.

We certainly missed Boyle's pace but we were sadly limited in our options.

[Hermit Crab]

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I actually felt we suffered having to play the formation we did with the players we had at our disposal.

I reckon we would have looked much more comfortable / threatening if Boyle had been on the right and McGeouch as allowed to roam in the middle.

We certainly missed Boyle's pace but we were sadly limited in our options.

In an ideal world without Boyle being cup tied that would have worked.

[J-C]

TBH 3 at the back was unnecessary against Falkirk's 1 man up top, a 4-3-3 would've worked a lot better.

[Smartie]

I wasn't at the game yesterday but just watched in on i-player (and I've been to most of our games this season).

Watching the game on tv it was our whole season summed up in just one game. For long periods we played very well, the way we pass the ball in midfield and get into certain position to create chances is an absolute joy to watch at times. Scott Allan is a phenomenal player who we will do very well to hold onto beyond this summer.

We are truly abysmal in the final third. Absolutely shocking, and it's only because we are so good at dominating possession and getting the ball into certain areas that we've done as well as we have this season. The final ball is far too often absolutely dreadful, whether it is a cross or a threaded pass. The crossing was particularly poor, although I actually thought that Forster put a few decent balls in towards the end of the game (as I remember him doing late in the League Cup game vs Dumbarton earlier this season). Maybe he is a decent option as an attacking fullback?

The movement of the front two was atrocious. All too often our strikers don't look like they want to score. Our strikers are all way too similar - nice touches outside the box, happy to take the ball to feet but no pace and no killer run to get in behind defenders. Cummings is the best we have at this but it is still not his thing - he wants to get it to feet before getting shots away. Boyle - whilst he has his faults - offers something totally different and I think we look a far better team with him in there and he can be an ideal foil for any of the others. But none of them look like a proper pairing. The problem is that all of the similar ones are still under contract whilst Boyle isn't. I can't see anyone taking any of them so we're going to have a few sitting on the bench or Stubbs is going to have to find a pairing out of them. The lack of pace and movement means that it is easy for teams to pack their defence and play against us, as Falkirk, QotS, Raith and The Rangers have shown against us.

We need to have different tactical options, such as one man up front and decent wingers. Our 352 and diamond formations have served us well but we are found wanting when certain teams play in a certain way.

Our midfielders are too similar and that badly needs addressed. We just don't get midfielders beyond the strikers and we don't get enough decent shots away from midfield. Could you ever see one of our midfielders getting into the box and stealing a yard on his man the way that Sibbald did?

I don't buy Stubbs' talk that we were unlucky. We were utterly predictable. You can be unlucky once, but not 3/4 times against the same team in a season. They have utterly sussed us.

Unfortunately I don't think we will go up, because the other teams in the playoffs are tactically sound, decent teams who have had at least one decent result against us this season and will know what to do to get results against us. Someone on here said that Fenlon's biggest problem was that he couldn't join up the midfield with the strikers and I think we have the same problem now, albeit with different personnel. I simply don't think we have enough players that compliment each other enough in order for us to create a decent team who will score enough goals, although I would say that Boyle and Gray were a massive loss for us. They can address a few of the issues that I think we have right now.

I wouldn't want us to throw the baby out with the bathwater and just start again, but if we don't go up I fear that that's exactly what we're going to have to do. But we have something to work with and we are not far short.

[Ozyhibby]

All of our strikers are contracted for next season so the same problems will still be there.

[Andy74]

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All of our strikers are contracted for next season so the same problems will still be there.

I don't think we have a problem with them at all. For various reasons their form and fitness has shaded but they are all good enough.

[Smartie]

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I don't think we have a problem with them at all. For various reasons their form and fitness has shaded but they are all good enough.

I don't think there is a problem with any of them individually, and any one of them could have a very important role to play in the team. But I don't think any of them make a great pairing and I find it hard to see how the rest of the team are going to create the kind chance that they might take. We had a problem last season with too many of our midfielders being too similar - I think the same with our strikers now, and the fact that none of them are out of contract in the summer is a problem because it may prove tricky to shift any of them and bring in the type of player that will work better with the ones we retain.

[RIP]

Jason Cummings is on average 4 or 5 inches smaller than most centre halves. Yet Stubbs's tactic yesterday was for Hanlon and Fontaine to hoof it up in the air in his direction. All our crosses were shocking, virtually no attempt to get t o the byeline just floaty pish.

Aye it's the strikers to blame right enough.

[The_Sauz]

I think one of our biggest problems is not having a proper DM, that is big and strong and can tackle and break up play and hold the ball! Having McGeouch, Allan, Fyvie coming deep to collect the ball from defence, takes away what they are good at.....attacking, driving forward & linking up with the strikers! The only player we have just now, although not a proper DM is Craig! I know that a lot of fans don't like the guy, but when he plays our midfield play better, as they know that he is willing to stay back and let them push up!

[Cod Boy]

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We need more options for strikers. Relying on those two yesterday won't get us anywhere.

fishing

[loanheadhibby]

Couldnae hit a coo's erse with a banjo?

[Wellbankhibby]

If we had a decent striker we would have scored at least 4 goals probably more. We are suffering yet again due to the Board not spending on the team. We lost out on Griffiths and Adam Rooney just look at the damage both of these strikers have caused to teams. Rooney is Aberdeens top scorer and although Griffiths didnt score yesterday he is also on fire. As a Board they are very short sighted and we never seem to learn. Sometimes you have to Spend to have a bit of success.

[Peevemor]

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If we had a decent striker we would have scored at least 4 goals probably more. We are suffering yet again due to the Board not spending on the team. We lost out on Griffiths and Adam Rooney just look at the damage both of these strikers have caused to teams. Rooney is Aberdeens top scorer and although Griffiths didnt score yesterday he is also on fire. As a Board they are very short sighted and we never seem to learn. Sometimes you have to Spend to have a bit of success.

When did we lose out on Griffiths?

[Wellbankhibby]

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When did we lose out on Griffiths?

We had the opportunity to sign Griffiths before he went to Wolves and another opportunity when it was clear Wolves didnt want him. My Point is if we signed him or Adam Rooney we would be well clear in 2nd place and looking forward to another cup final.

[Peevemor]

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We had the opportunity to sign Griffiths before he went to Wolves and another opportunity when it was clear Wolves didnt want him.

No we didn't and no we didn't.

My Point is if we signed him or Adam Rooney we would be well clear in 2nd place and looking forward to another cup final.

Was Rooney ever an option for Hibs? I honestly can't remember.

[Wellbankhibby]

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No we didn't and no we didn't.

I will agree to disagree with you. I know from a very good source we had opportunities to sign him and Rooney. As you have your opinion would you not agree that if we had invested in any off these players
we would be clear in second place and much closer to hearts and we would be in the final. We are a soft touch on and off the park thats why we are where we are. Very little chance of promotion and although we were clearly better that Falkirk there are no prizes for being the better team.


Was Rooney ever an option for Hibs? I honestly can't remember.

We were in talks with Rooney and his choice was Us or the Sheep. Its easy seen who paid the money for him and they are reaping the rewards. As it stands we are a second rate team Im sad to say.

[eastterrace]

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We were in talks with Rooney and his choice was Us or the Sheep. Its easy seen who paid the money for him and they are reaping the rewards. As it stands we are a second rate team Im sad to say.

gotta to agree with this, penny pinching has cost us dear but hindsights a great thing.

[Ozyhibby]

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gotta to agree with this, penny pinching has cost us dear but hindsights a great thing.

Not everyone needed hindsight. :-)

[Del Boy]

My opinion of Cummings is he is a very good goal scorer and will probably make a decent career out of that, teams always want someone with a knack for scoring goals. Unfortunately the rest of his game is probably about championship standard and for that reason I don't think he'll ever play at a bigger club than hibs.

[NORTHERNHIBBY]

A striker and a finisher are the same thing. They should put the chances away. What we need is forwards playing midfielders that will run beyond the strikers. The point about our strikers being the same can equally be made about three of our midfielders.

[J-C]

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No we didn't and no we didn't.



Was Rooney ever an option for Hibs? I honestly can't remember.

IIRC Rooney wanted a permanent move whereas our esteemed leader would only sanction a loan deal to the end of the season which the player didn't want, I think that's how it went.

[Peevemor]

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IIRC Rooney wanted a permanent move whereas our esteemed leader would only sanction a loan deal to the end of the season which the player didn't want, I think that's how it went.

Was it not Butcher who said that he only wanted loan deals?

[J-C]

As far as our strikers are concerned, Farid is slow but strong in the air, knows where the goal is and would've scored a bucket load if he hadn't got injured.
Cummings is a decent finisher, still young and has a lot to learn, juries still out.
Malonga was a last minute buy with not enough background checks to see if he was the right type to fit in, scored a good few when needed, not a true out and out striker and has gone right off the boil since Africa cup, quiet player who hasn't gelled with his team mates and will more than likely be gone in the summer.
Djedje, fast winger turned striker, couldn't play up top on his own but would be decent playing 3 up top, still to really settle which is understandable, remember Claros's first season.
Boyle, seemingly been offered a 2 year deal, people say he was a striker as a lad but has since been turned to a winger, again very quick and could also like Djedje play up top in a 3.

Our problem isn't always strikers when not enough goals are scored, we have little penetration from out wide and forward thinking midfielders. Allan showed on saturday that if he plays just behind the strikers he can be very good at getting into positions to score but will he be here next year? We need a holding mid to make tackles and distribute the ball and 2 more wide men ( possibly 1 when Harris returns ).

[J-C]

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Was it not Butcher who said that he only wanted loan deals?

Can't remember who said it, maybe Butcher saving Petries embarassment, wasn't an expensive deal and he could've been the player to net a few goals and save us but then we'd have he Butcher horror show for another year.