Aberdeen are rank.

[calumhibee1]

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I wonder if we have ever had a record as good as 17 wins out of 20 games??

Rank? You're having a laugh, it's exceptional form in any normal persons book.

Sour grapes.

This. Mowbray and McLeish's teams wouldn't have came near getting that kind of run going I don't think. Anyone who thinks that without some outstanding summer signings and a change in our style of play or Aberdeen losing a good few players or their manager that we'll come anywhere near Aberdeen next season are kidding themselves on IMO.

[Mixu62]

First half hour they closed down every Hibs player on the ball with 3 or 4 of their players. We just didn't get a sniff. Seems like the way they play is to keep so much pressure on opposition teams that they force errors and that's what happened to us. As soon as we got one back you could see their confidence start to crumble. As someone else said on another thread, they're likely to lose 2 or 3 of that team in the summer so probably won't be as strong again, while we will strengthen.

[SirDavidsNapper]

Very little between the teams but I expected us to win yesterday and if we played them next week id still expect us to win. Nothing I saw yesterday changed my opinion.

[SRHibs]

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Thanks had a bit to drink, hence why I felt I could post

Nowt wrong with having differing opinions though. If everyone thought the same then this place would be boring as hell. That said, it is irritating when you're treated as if you're mentally challenged when you hold a different opinion to the pack.

[ekhibee]

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Because they've won 17 out of their last 20 games while we've won marginally over 50% of our games in the league below them. In an individual game they don't hold any fear for me either. But short of some incredible signings in the summer we're not going to have anywhere near that level of consistency in the SPL. Infact, they currently have more points in the SPL than we have in the Championship.

I would love to have the positivity that everyone else has for next season (and I do believe we'll easily be top 6 next season) but this season has shown me nothing to suggest that we're going to challenge a team in the league above us over the course of a whole season who have picked up more points than we have in the second tier. I'm not really sure what other people have seen to suggest that we will to be honest.

If they lose a few of their main men then yes, we may be able to compete with them. The squad that they currently have with DM as manager? No chance, and to be honest I'd be surprised if Rangers even manage to finish above them.

When we beat them easily in the league cup last season they had just beaten Celtic 3-1 and were top of the premiership. We should have beaten them yesterday as well. I was considerably more worried about playing them last season than I was yesterday. They've got 3 or 4 players that stand out (one of them'll be away at the end of the season), and the rest are nothing special. If they are indeed the 2nd best team in the country then they've certainly not shown it against Hibs. Their nearest challengers, Sevco, St Johnstone and Hearts? In the last year we've beaten them all too. But no, maybe we should forget all that. We will strengthen the team in the summer, but this current team has already more than held their own against the likes of the top 6 premiership sides apart from Celtic. I actually hope they don't make any changes to their current team, because if/when we strengthen up in the summer I'd expect to beat them comfortably, and on a regular basis as well. I'm really looking forward to my team playing in the premiership next season.

[calumhibee1]

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When we beat them easily in the league cup last season they had just beaten Celtic 3-1 and were top of the premiership. We should have beaten them yesterday as well. I was considerably more worried about playing them last season than I was yesterday. They've got 3 or 4 players that stand out (one of them'll be away at the end of the season), and the rest are nothing special. If they are indeed the 2nd best team in the country then they've certainly not shown it against Hibs. Their nearest challengers, Sevco, St Johnstone and Hearts? In the last year we've beaten them all too. But no, maybe we should forget all that. We will strengthen the team in the summer, but this current team has already more than held their own against the likes of the top 6 premiership sides apart from Celtic. I actually hope they don't make any changes to their current team, because if/when we strengthen up in the summer I'd expect to beat them comfortably, and on a regular basis as well. I'm really looking forward to my team playing in the premiership next season.

I think we'll do OK next season and I'd like to think we'll be top four, but I certainly don't have your level of confidence for us being able to come close to catching Aberdeen. They're unlucky this season that Celtic have been unstoppable as finishing as the second best team in the country and finishing second in both cups is quite the achievement (while obviously being bitterly disappointing for them). Like you said, we have beat all these teams over the last couple of seasons, and like yourself I don't fear any of them in one off games, but I don't get where people think we're going to find the consistency to catch a team who will pick up well over 70 points this season while we can't consistently win in the league we're in, unless we're going to go out and sign some seriously good players with a bit of experience. Aberdeen could actually finish with around 80 points this season on current form, which is only 6 less than Celtic won the league with last year. That, to me anyway, puts into perspective what a good side they are this season.

IF they lose a few players then yes, we might get close to them next year, but if they manages to keep any losses down to say one player and make a couple decent signings I just can't see us getting near them over the course of a full season. Maybe in time, say three or four seasons, yes, but not in our first season back in the top tier.

[NAE NOOKIE]

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When we beat them easily in the league cup last season they had just beaten Celtic 3-1 and were top of the premiership. We should have beaten them yesterday as well. I was considerably more worried about playing them last season than I was yesterday. They've got 3 or 4 players that stand out (one of them'll be away at the end of the season), and the rest are nothing special. If they are indeed the 2nd best team in the country then they've certainly not shown it against Hibs. Their nearest challengers, Sevco, St Johnstone and Hearts? In the last year we've beaten them all too. But no, maybe we should forget all that. We will strengthen the team in the summer, but this current team has already more than held their own against the likes of the top 6 premiership sides apart from Celtic. I actually hope they don't make any changes to their current team, because if/when we strengthen up in the summer I'd expect to beat them comfortably, and on a regular basis as well. I'm really looking forward to my team playing in the premiership next season.

Me too mate ..... but I'm beginning to get a slight feeling that we are in danger of underestimating the task in hand based on a skewed perception of the top league based on our performances against premiership teams over a 3 year period. Yes we have shown that we are capable of taking on anybody in the top league in one off games, but like it or not the cup is different from league games. Hibs have approached these games with an intensity that simply cant be maintained over 30 odd matches.

We are in danger of allowing folks opinion that the top league is barely different in quality from the championship to become fact rather than opinion ...... I agree that the top 4 in the championship could hold their own in the bottom 6 of the premiership, but how often could Morton, Falkirk or Dundee Utd hope to beat Aberdeen, Hearts, Rangers, Celtic or St Johnstone which we will have to do fairly regularly to make the top 4 ..... Yes we would hope to do better than these 3 championship clubs, but I would be wary of thinking we are at a stage as a team where we are so superior to most of the premiership's top 5 clubs outwith Celtic that its going to be a failure not to beat them on a regular basis.

I'm not saying we cant approach next season with a great deal of hope that things can go well for us, what I am saying is that in order to do that we need to strengthen the team in a number of areas, because at the moment. as was shown this season, we are always just a few injuries and suspensions away from a crisis ....... we struggled at times to cope with injuries in the championship, we cant afford the same situation to arise in the premiership and hope to get away with it.

[1van Sprou7e]

I'm confident we can challenge for Europe next season but as the poster above me is saying we are probably overestimating ourselves a wee bit.

We're great in the big games but consistency is our problem, our league results have been generally disappointing for over a year now

[calumhibee1]

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Me too mate ..... but I'm beginning to get a slight feeling that we are in danger of underestimating the task in hand based on a skewed perception of the top league based on our performances against premiership teams over a 3 year period. Yes we have shown that we are capable of taking on anybody in the top league in one off games, but like it or not the cup is different from league games. Hibs have approached these games with an intensity that simply cant be maintained over 30 odd matches.

We are in danger of allowing folks opinion that the top league is barely different in quality from the championship to become fact rather than opinion ...... I agree that the top 4 in the championship could hold their own in the bottom 6 of the premiership, but how often could Morton, Falkirk or Dundee Utd hope to beat Aberdeen, Hearts, Rangers, Celtic or St Johnstone which we will have to do fairly regularly to make the top 4 ..... Yes we would hope to do better than these 3 championship clubs, but I would be wary of thinking we are at a stage as a team where we are so superior to most of the premiership's top 5 clubs outwith Celtic that its going to be a failure not to beat them on a regular basis.

I'm not saying we cant approach next season with a great deal of hope that things can go well for us, what I am saying is that in order to do that we need to strengthen the team in a number of areas, because at the moment. as was shown this season, we are always just a few injuries and suspensions away from a crisis ....... we struggled at times to cope with injuries in the championship, we cant afford the same situation to arise in the premiership and hope to get away with it.

This is where I am with regards to next season. We've not been able to consistently beat teams in this league this season. I don't get what people have seen that has made them think that we'll comfortably beat nearly every SPL team next season and challenge Aberdeen and Rangers for second. I think people are over estimating the squad we have, over estimating the manager being a "winner" and underestimating the SPL.

[Stevie Reid]

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Me too mate ..... but I'm beginning to get a slight feeling that we are in danger of underestimating the task in hand based on a skewed perception of the top league based on our performances against premiership teams over a 3 year period. Yes we have shown that we are capable of taking on anybody in the top league in one off games, but like it or not the cup is different from league games. Hibs have approached these games with an intensity that simply cant be maintained over 30 odd matches.

We are in danger of allowing folks opinion that the top league is barely different in quality from the championship to become fact rather than opinion ...... I agree that the top 4 in the championship could hold their own in the bottom 6 of the premiership, but how often could Morton, Falkirk or Dundee Utd hope to beat Aberdeen, Hearts, Rangers, Celtic or St Johnstone which we will have to do fairly regularly to make the top 4 ..... Yes we would hope to do better than these 3 championship clubs, but I would be wary of thinking we are at a stage as a team where we are so superior to most of the premiership's top 5 clubs outwith Celtic that its going to be a failure not to beat them on a regular basis.

I'm not saying we cant approach next season with a great deal of hope that things can go well for us, what I am saying is that in order to do that we need to strengthen the team in a number of areas, because at the moment. as was shown this season, we are always just a few injuries and suspensions away from a crisis ....... we struggled at times to cope with injuries in the championship, we cant afford the same situation to arise in the premiership and hope to get away with it.

Agree with a great deal of this. Even if we have a blinder of a season next year, I would still expect Aberdeen to finish above us.

We all laughted at the Jambos for flying a plane over Tynie wanting the manager (who had just romped the Championship and pretty much sealed 3rd and European football by March) out.

People need to keep expectations in check. Yes we should aim high, and I'm certainly expecting top 6 - I think we're capable of higher but Celtic, Aberdeen and St. Johnstone are so consistent, and you'd expect Rangers to be around there too, obviously.

[superfurryhibby]

Some classic nonsense on this thread. The sheep are a very good side. That is why they have won 17out of 20 games. Aye, they can still cock it up every now and then and that is why they are not a great side.

Even the best Hibs side of my lifetime, the Tornadoes managed to lose to the likes of Arbroath and Montrose in cup games and they also slipped up in the league against other ***** like that. For those not familiar with our history, that great side lost cup finals 1-6 and 3-6. That can happen when you play a excellent side, as Celtic were in the early-mid 70's.

So get real folks, the Sheep didnae bottle it, nor are they rank.

[Unseen work]

Fans that think 2nd is up for grabs are imo deluded.

We have drawn 13/33 of our games this season in the championship.

Aberdeen are a very good side who can get wins without playing particularly great and they score a fair amount of goals.

We play well in one off big games but to do that consistently throughout a whole season is a completely different thing.

Top 6 would be a good first season back in the Premiership, obviously depending on who we bring in.

Teams like
Celtic
Aberdeen
Rangers
St Johnstone
Hearts

Are still good teams that can grind out results and have players that can make a difference, it certainly won't be as easy as some seem to think

[blackpoolhibs]

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Me too mate ..... but I'm beginning to get a slight feeling that we are in danger of underestimating the task in hand based on a skewed perception of the top league based on our performances against premiership teams over a 3 year period. Yes we have shown that we are capable of taking on anybody in the top league in one off games, but like it or not the cup is different from league games. Hibs have approached these games with an intensity that simply cant be maintained over 30 odd matches.

We are in danger of allowing folks opinion that the top league is barely different in quality from the championship to become fact rather than opinion ...... I agree that the top 4 in the championship could hold their own in the bottom 6 of the premiership, but how often could Morton, Falkirk or Dundee Utd hope to beat Aberdeen, Hearts, Rangers, Celtic or St Johnstone which we will have to do fairly regularly to make the top 4 ..... Yes we would hope to do better than these 3 championship clubs, but I would be wary of thinking we are at a stage as a team where we are so superior to most of the premiership's top 5 clubs outwith Celtic that its going to be a failure not to beat them on a regular basis.

I'm not saying we cant approach next season with a great deal of hope that things can go well for us, what I am saying is that in order to do that we need to strengthen the team in a number of areas, because at the moment. as was shown this season, we are always just a few injuries and suspensions away from a crisis ....... we struggled at times to cope with injuries in the championship, we cant afford the same situation to arise in the premiership and hope to get away with it.

This 100%, you only need to go back as far as the hearts game to see that. Lennon said in the game after, was it Dunfermline, where he understood the performance after such an effort against hearts.

We could have 16 games where we need to put similar effort in against hearts, dons and bigot brothers, not to mention the effort we'd have to put in against the other clubs who should be giving us harder games than we had in the championship.

Its for these reasons i believe we need a better class of player in a few positions, with a different mindset, and players who are not played out of position.

[Forza Fred]

If Aberdeen are RANK, based on watching them against us, and they won,what does that make us?

[green day]

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If Aberdeen are RANK, based on watching them against us, and they won,what does that make us?

Correct.

The sheep are the second best team in Scotland, they have pace where it matters, good strikers and a bit of steel in midfield. All in all a pretty decent team.

If we had that team, it wouldn't surprise me to get to both cup finals and be sitting 2nd to an excellent Celtic team.

Rank they are not.

[matty_f]

Aberdeen reminded me of a typical Levein Hearts side, they are big, quick, and physical. The big difference is that they are better footballers than Levein usually played.

I thought Aberdeen looked strong, and they have quality where it counts. I don't think there is a lot between us and then, and with good recruitment we should be able to compete with them over the season.

Rather than dismissing Aberdeen, I think it's fair to say it took a good side to end our cup run.

[Jones28]

The football may not have been great but they found a way to win.

[Keith_M]

Aberdeen are rank?

They won the game, so what would that make us?



There's an awful lot of sour grapes on here.

[Highland_Hibee]

Not rank but I think what you mean is not out of sight like Celtic. I would certainly appreciate a lot of their players at Hibs.


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[GreenOnions]

I agree that yesterday's game and all our other fixtures against premier league teams in the last couple of years would indicate that we are capable of mounting a challenge at the top end of the table.

However - as one or two posters have pointed out - Aberdeen have been incredibly consistent this year and have won 17 out of their last 20 games. They have won two-thirds of their league games so far as well.

Hibs have shown we have the players to compete with and generally defeat teams at the top end of the Premiership in one-off games but it's Aberdeen's consistency that is most impressive and will be the hardest thing to match next year.

I think consistency is as much about the mental side of the game as ability and McInnes has clearly put together a side that can deliver in that way.

This is where I hope Neil Lennon can make an impact - identifying and signing players that can deliver 20+ league victories over the season.

[JimBHibees]

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Aberdeen reminded me of a typical Levein Hearts side, they are big, quick, and physical. The big difference is that they are better footballers than Levein usually played.

I thought Aberdeen looked strong, and they have quality where it counts. I don't think there is a lot between us and then, and with good recruitment we should be able to compete with them over the season.

Rather than dismissing Aberdeen, I think it's fair to say it took a good side to end our cup run.

Agree they are a decent team with a good balance of physicality and quality. They have a good structure and each player knows his role in it and to be honest us giving them a 2 goal lead was criminal though we recovered well and were unlucky in the end.

[OsloHibs]

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Some classic nonsense on this thread. The sheep are a very good side. That is why they have won 17out of 20 games. Aye, they can still cock it up every now and then and that is why they are not a great side.

Even the best Hibs side of my lifetime, the Tornadoes managed to lose to the likes of Arbroath and Montrose in cup games and they also slipped up in the league against other ***** like that. For those not familiar with our history, that great side lost cup finals 1-6 and 3-6. That can happen when you play a excellent side, as Celtic were in the early-mid 70's.

So get real folks, the Sheep didnae bottle it, nor are they rank.

Well said.

[Ken]

We're a good bit away from comparing ourselves to Aberdeen who have been consistently good for the last few seasons and the difference is noted by the fact they have more points than us even though we're a league below.

We should obviously aim high, but let's do our talking on the pitch next season as opposed to talking ourselves up based on what we are capable of doing.


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[marinello59]

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That's just what they do. It's not pretty, but they find a way to win. Probably contributes to their poor attendances though.

I think their pace up front does make them decent to watch, some of the hammerings they have handed out this season suggests they ain't boring. The gap between us and them in terms of overall quality on Saturday was noticeable. We were very poor for 30 minutes but the best team out there did win. They're a more than decent side with one of the best managers in the league, we will need to replace several players over the close season if we hope to match them in head to heads next season.

[DunblaneHibby]

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I think their pace up front does make them decent to watch, some of the hammerings they have handed out this season suggests they ain't boring. The gap between us and them in terms of overall quality on Saturday was noticeable. We were very poor for 30 minutes but the best team out there did win. They're a more than decent side with one of the best managers in the league, we will need to replace several players over the close season if we hope to match them in head to heads next season.

I agree with this.

[Leith Green]

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I think their pace up front does make them decent to watch, some of the hammerings they have handed out this season suggests they ain't boring. The gap between us and them in terms of overall quality on Saturday was noticeable. We were very poor for 30 minutes but the best team out there did win. They're a more than decent side with one of the best managers in the league, we will need to replace several players over the close season if we hope to match them in head to heads next season.

Have to say , agree completely with the above. Lot of Hibs fans seem to think we were as good as Aberdeen , but thats not what i saw. I thought we fought gamely once Lennon made the Holt substitution. Though it was pretty clear to me that Aberdeen were a better footballing side