MISSING X-FACTOR*There’s something missing at Hibs these days..and it’s not just 5,000 fans, says Bill Leckie
A ground that, just a few months ago was the most exciting and unpredictable in the land, suddenly feels mired in mediocrity
COMMENT
By Bill Leckie
18th February 2019,*7:44 am
Updated: 18th February 2019,*7:44 am
SOMETHING doesn’t quite add up at Easter Road these days.
And it’s not just the calculator they use to count the gates.
Because, along with about a third of the 16,000-odd the tannoy told us turned up for new manager Paul Heckingbottom’s first game in charge, they were missing an X-factor. A buzz. Their pizzazz.
A ground that, just a few months ago was the most exciting and unpredictable in the land, suddenly feels mired in mediocrity.
From genuinely believing they could be Best Of The Rest, they’re fretting over clambering into the top six by the split.
It’s a dip in* attitude and atmosphere brought into sharp* focus by the comparison between this season’s two home clashes with Accies.
Last time they came calling, on the* first Saturday in October, there* genuinely*WEREclose on 17,000 in the house, rising as one to a 6-0 romp peppered with strikes from all angles, lifting them just two points off early league leaders*Hearts.
That performance summed up all that was good about life under Neil Lennon.
Yet it always felt from the outside like the publicity that came with* him, the controversy, the touch of showbiz, didn’t sit well with the* people who run the club.
The embarrassing way they eventually got him out the door, the ultra-defensiveness of how they mumbled an excuse for an explanation, the uncertainty of attempts to replace him followed by the anti-climax of the new man’s appointment; it all speaks of a regime who don’t*WANT*to be talked about, don’t want to be headline news, to be sexy.
All of which makes you wonder whether a win like this, as ho-hum and humdrum as it’s possible to imagine, is exactly how Leeann Dempster and her colleagues upstairs want it to be — three points without the merest hint of drama.
The nearest thing to a shred of a hint of a talking point came on 16 minutes, when Florian Kamberi stretched for and may or may not have got a toe on to Daryl Horgan’s whipped left-wing cross to leave keeper Gary Woods flat-footed as it nestled low inside his left-hand post.
Was it the striker’s goal or the winger’s? Kamberi claimed it. I reckon he was at it.
But if in the end that’s as sparky as it gets, it’s hardly been scripted by Tarantino, has it?
Kamberi then nipped in front of the nervy Woods to head up and onto the bar, the keeper turning in time to grab the rebound, slip and almost carry the ball over the line, before* left-back Lennard Sowah’s* senseless barge on David Gray with the ball already gone handed Hibs a penalty that Marc McNulty tucked away to pretty much kill the contest.
From there, the home side forced a pile of corners without coming desperately close to a third, while the visitors made an attacking fist of it without ever looking like mounting a proper fightback.
And that was that. No 30- yard rockets, no sweeping moves you could set to music, no bust- ups, not the merest peep of Sunshine On Leith.
Had Lennon still been around, you’re guessing he’d have come in and caned the players for not getting three, four, five.
Then again, that desire of his for more, for better, for the spectacular, was maybe part of the problem.
Feels like too many around this place — be they in dressing room or boardroom — didn’t like being* challenged to improve themselves. That, rather than* Lennon’s voice becoming one of encouragement, he came to sound more like a* nagging wife.
None of this is a criticism of new boy Heckingbottom, who’s only just in the door and seems a perfectly nice, intelligent, positive-thinking coach.
No, it’s more a reflection on those who hired him, a bunch who had* the chance to embrace the swashbuckling and the edgy, but prefer the measured and the safe.
The Yorkshireman came away delighted to have won his first game in charge, to have seen so much hard graft, to have racked up a first league clean sheet in eight.
Asked what he thought he could achieve with this group of players, his answer was simply that he wants better than this.
There were no predictions, no* rallying cries, no promises to put bums back on empty seats.
In truth, opposite number Brian Rice — despite seeing his side slip into the bottom two — was by far the more refreshing to listen to.
He was all about being hell-bent on attacking their way out of trouble, about forgiving* mistakes as long as they come from trying to do things that make people smile.
If you were an Accies fan, you’d be excited and encouraged to hear his take on the task.
If you’re a*Hibee, though, well, maybe I’m wrong, but it must feel like the Scottish Cup win and the whole Lennon circus might as well not have happened.
Even the player who came up to the after-match press conference, Aussie midfielder Mark Milligan, appeared to be doing the same job with words as he does on the park — that is, being the one who protects those around him, who tries to give nothing away.
He said: “The table doesn’t lie.* We are where we are because that’s where we deserve to be at the moment.
“But I don’t think it’s too late to turn that around and that’s what we’re focusing on. We have to keep moving forward.
“It does hurt us as players, knowing we’re in that position. You could look around the dressing room knowing that, individually and as a unit, we had more to give.
“Now’s our shot. We’ve started well and we need to carry it on.
“You look at Flo Kamberi. He’s a great player, but I think his work ethic here was unbelievable."
Who is Bill Leckie? Why is he persisting with the anti hibs and pro Lennon propaganda still? Why is he claiming there were only 11k there on Saturday? Is he cut from the same cloth as that moron keith Jackson?
Results 1 to 30 of 174
Thread: Who's Bill Leckie?
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18-02-2019 07:40 AM #1
Who's Bill Leckie?
Last edited by we are hibs; 18-02-2019 at 07:48 AM.
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18-02-2019 07:46 AM #3This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
He's right, lucky if there was 11k at the game.Hibs.nets negative posting legend and unofficial ticket agent.
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18-02-2019 07:49 AM #4This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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18-02-2019 07:50 AM #5This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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18-02-2019 07:52 AM #6
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Absolute nonsense
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18-02-2019 07:53 AM #7This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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18-02-2019 07:53 AM #8This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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18-02-2019 07:57 AM #9
The guy writes for the sun everyone! Along with the daily record (remember there take on 2016) no one should buy the rag or click on their articles
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18-02-2019 08:00 AM #10
There are t1ts in the media and some t1ts in our own support that can't get over Lennon leaving.
Best ignored
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18-02-2019 08:01 AM #11
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There wasn't much more at the last Hamilton game from what I remember. The Lennon love in with the press seems to never stop. Leckie is drawing the line in the wrong place. What about the dismal draws with St Mirren and Dundee and the appalling Derby game. Does he not remember all the games under Lennon where the ball spent most of its time in the air as we launched it aimlessly forward to a striker who is never a target man. There were months where it was more Butcheresque than Nirvana.
He might be right that there wasn't much drama on Saturday but that was because we were playing a bottom of the league team and we are mid table, the position the previous manager left us in, and one we look to have a chance of recovering from since his departure. We put out a team with players in the correct positions and clearly had a plan in order to get a result. The team executed that very well and I think the last 10 minutes or so showed that the crowd appreciated that as the singing started and the feel good signs started to return. We can kick on from the mess Lennon left us in and get key players like Flo back to their best. The drama and excitement will return soon enough with a competent manager and a harmonious squad.
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18-02-2019 08:02 AM #12
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I still find it an odd article and one that can only be written with an agenda to talk Lennon up. All his mates in the media obviously haven’t seen many Hibs games in the last four months.
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18-02-2019 08:06 AM #13This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show QuoteHIBERNIAN FC - ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY SINCE 1875
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18-02-2019 08:08 AM #14This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
No danger there was 16k, that would mean every seat would need to be occupied in all 3 home stands as the South holds just under 4,000 fans. There was about 100 Hamilton fans. Lucky if there was 200 home fans in the South as well.
16k tickets sold maybe, 16k in the ground no way.Last edited by Hermit Crab; 18-02-2019 at 08:10 AM.
Hibs.nets negative posting legend and unofficial ticket agent.
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18-02-2019 08:09 AM #15This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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18-02-2019 08:12 AM #16This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
Stevie Wonder could have seen there wasn't 16k at the game.
Ah the good old uber fan line, good one...Hibs.nets negative posting legend and unofficial ticket agent.
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18-02-2019 08:33 AM #17This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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18-02-2019 08:38 AM #19
I still find it strange that people are actually bothered about the actual attendance. Seems to be a recurring conversation.
It's really not a big deal if the club announce a figure that you don't agree with. It really isn't.
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18-02-2019 08:46 AM #20
Bill Leckie knows hee haw about what happened behind the scenes between club staff and Neil Lennon so in the absence of facts he will make lazy assumptions instead.
That lack of journalistic talent is why he has ended up at the Sun rather than a proper newspaper.
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18-02-2019 08:50 AM #21This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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18-02-2019 08:54 AM #22madhatterLeft by mutual consent!
He grew up a St Midden fan did he not? lucky if he ever saw 5000 at a game.
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18-02-2019 08:56 AM #23This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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18-02-2019 08:59 AM #24This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show QuoteHIBERNIAN FC - ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY SINCE 1875
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18-02-2019 08:59 AM #25This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
Yes, we've been reporting our attendances like this for some time now.
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18-02-2019 08:59 AM #26
He’s right about the buzz in the stadium and the lack of swashbuckling football but that happened way before Lennon left. The crowd was no bigger last time Hamilton were here either. I did think the game became a bore fest but I think getting 3 points and over the line with a clean sheet was the start any new manager would like to build on. The stadium has lacked atmosphere since the singing section were moved TBH.
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18-02-2019 09:02 AM #27This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show QuoteHIBERNIAN FC - ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY SINCE 1875
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18-02-2019 09:02 AM #28This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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18-02-2019 09:05 AM #29
So the Leckie argument seems to be Leeann actually wants us to be midtable mediocrity? Yet Leckie doesn't give a reason why this would be in her interests?
Absolute moon howling stuff.
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18-02-2019 09:05 AM #30This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show QuoteHIBERNIAN FC - ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY SINCE 1875
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