Driving Standards

[GreenCastle]

The data the recruitment team seem to use doesn’t look at leadership skills.

It’s all about pass completion etc.

Fully agree the lack of leaders has been an issue for a long time and we still haven’t addressed it.

Worrying but until we do amongst our other issues we will lose games like yesterday.

Number 1 priority in summer should be a new captain with leadership skills.

[Greensunshine]

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This is probably covering stuff discussed in other threads but it's arguably worth a specific discussion.

When I was in my late teens I played at a decent level, for a team that was arguably the best side in Scotland outwith the league set up, won everything at our level and regularly completed with league sides in the Scottish Cup. One thing that was notable was the standard set by the most experienced players. Guys who had been round the block and often played at a much higher level. Training was intense because these guys hated sloppiness, they hated losing the 4 on 4 games, they hated conceding when it was defenders v attackers. If there was a bounce game midweek to give players minutes then these guys played like it was a cup final. They despised losing and expected others to be the same. In the same way losing can become a habit, winning became a habit. If they felt you were slacking then they let you know about it. I'd be lying if I said I always liked them but I respected them. That respect was borne out of the fact it wasn't all mouth either, when games weren't going our way or it was a day to grind it out you would see these guys take the game by the scruff of the neck and get the job done. I was young so didn't play many games but it was a brilliant culture to be part of and the camaraderie and team spirit was second to none.

In the professional game you read about a guy like Roy Keane doing the same job at Man Utd. In Scotland Scott Brown was that driving force at Celtic for years. Neither were the best player in the team but they were the ones who took the lead in setting the standard on the park.

When you watch Hibs this season does anyone see that from anyone in our squad? There was nothing yesterday that suggested anyone was demanding better in the 2nd half. Someone should have been ready to swing punches at Youan and Levitt at HT yesterday. Heads were down and it was going through the motions. Not a lack of caring or effort but just a timid capitulation with no one brave enough to step up with their head above the parapet. Obviously there are a lot of new faces and maybe a couple of them are that type. I'm hopeful it could be Amos, lots of games at a high level and a good age.

Yesterday was just as listless as it gets. There was almost nothing to cling to and you couldn't even say at least X, Y or Z was letting them know about it.

Very good post and you’re spot on with everything you’ve said there. I want to see players upset when we lose a poor goal. I want to see them argue the odds because in my experience that gives you that incentive and the desire not to be the one to let the side down.
Sadly that doesn’t seem to be the case at ER at the moment. Hopefully that can change sooner rather than later.

[jakedance]

The owners need to understand Scottish fitba. We’re not going to disrupt the paradigm with our smart arse recruitment strategy and experimental managers. We need leaders and experience. Get the basics right to be competitive and build from there. Strikes me as a club that looks at progressive new ideas from the top leagues and thinks we can replicate it with a fraction of the budget.

[VoltaireHibs]

There's an arrogance about Hibs just now, but not on the pitch, sadly. We think we're smarter than anyone else, when really we must look like moon howlers to the rest of the league. Reinventing the wheel comes to mind.

[tonyrougier123]

The problems with recruitment must be deep rooted,numbers don’t win games you have to watch a player in flesh over time to see the character,we must be scouting purely on video analysis of players highlights.
Scouts reports give you in depth analysis how a player performs down in the mud when the chips are down. It takes time to properly scout a player. I’m no convinced we are applying that approach and lazy aspects of the most crucial part of the club is failing to provide the talent we do have with the graft it needs win games ugly or at all at the moment.

Excellent original post and insightful.

[Yorkshire HFC]

Those said senior players followed everyone else into trudging back into position shoulders slumped heads down. The team then visibly went into its shell for the next 20 minutes.That’s an example of the leadership void in this squad IMO.[/QUOTE]

Why are we signing players with that attitude? I thought that background checks were done on players? What do the recruitment team do - surely more than look at a few videos of players?

And stop signing players on loan.

You don't need "leaders" - the best teams that I was involved with, in low level sport and in business, were a success because of everyone taking personal pride in their own performance - people don't perform well just because someone is shouting at them.

[theonlywayisup]

Good comments from the OP.

The other thing I note is that no-one seems capable of winning their individual battles on the pitch. If I were the left winger, I'd want their right back to be having nightmares thinking back to the roasting I've given him. Same for every player and their direct opposition.

Instead, we're far too easy to play against.