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hibsbollah
28-08-2009, 04:29 PM
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/aug/28/hibernian-john-hughes-anthony-stokes

False dawns. Hibernian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/hibernian) have had a few – certainly not too few to mention. Sunday's visit of Celtic will go a long way towards determining whether John Hughes' side can prove to be a danger for the rest of the Scottish Premier League (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/scottishpremierleague).

The early signs are encouraging; Hughes is in the post he has coveted since leaving Easter Road as a player and is making the most of it. As we all try to work out who may emerge as Scotland's third force this time around, Hibs cannot be overlooked.

It must be stated that Hibs' start to the league season could have been entirely different. An opening-day victory over 10-man St Mirren was a struggle while last weekend's 3-1 success at Falkirk – an engaging contest by anyone's standards – could legitimately have gone either way. Nonetheless, the attacking brilliance which saw them leave with three points is pivotal to Hughes' hopes of succeeding where his predecessors have underachieved.

The signing of Anthony Stokes, while hardly registering on European football's Richter scale, was notable. The striker enjoyed a prolific loan spell at Falkirk three years ago, when Hughes was in charge, before a £2m move to Sunderland from Arsenal turned sour. Amid a period in which Scottish players are decamping en masse to the second and third tiers of English football, it is heartening that a player, albeit not a first-team one, earning a reported £14,000 a week in the Barclays Premier League is willing to sacrifice significant finance to head north.

Once he has rediscovered match fitness, Stokes will supplement an impressive Hibs attack. Derek Riordan's sublime talents are well recognised, if offset in part by his extra-curricular lunacy, and the former Celtic player appears back to his destructive best. Riordan, in fact, is perhaps the most natural finisher in Scotland's top flight. He will be augmented by Stokes, the effective Colin Nish and Abdessalam Benjelloun, a Moroccan who is also capable of the unexpected. In reserve is the Irishman Kurtis Byrne, who should be the next to step up from the reserves. Across the city Hearts' supporters and their manager, Csaba Laszlo, bemoan a lack of forward options; what the men in maroon would give for even one of those at Hughes' disposal.

The Hibs manager himself, a madcap football obsessive, is an infectious character. It has almost been forgotten that the team lost their hitherto most influential players, Steven Fletcher and Rob Jones, over the summer. Those who remain have been lifted by the arrival of Hughes whereas his predecessor, Mixu Paatelainen, was never fully embraced.

In recent times fans have bemoaned the chairman Rod Petrie's apparent preference for the balance sheet over points and prizes, yet now those in green are consumed by optimism. Some 4,000 of them crossed the Forth for a pre-season friendly at Dunfermline. For the first time in years, fans are not worrying over which player will be prised away as the close of the transfer window approaches. Indeed, Hughes is hopeful of supplementing his squad.

Hibs will lose goals, just as they will lose matches. They lack a commanding presence in defence, despite improvement in the captain Chris Hogg's game, and Graham Stack has to prove he can be an able replacement for the goalkeeper Yves Ma-Kalambay.

Third place in the SPL, though, is far from beyond the Edinburgh club. Nor is the Scottish Cup, a trophy Hibs last claimed when Buffalo Bill was cavorting around the Wild West.

Early-season momentum counts for a lot, as does the freshness bestowed by a new coaching team. Hibs appear to have merged both successfully, something which will give Celtic something to mull over this weekend. It seems entirely fitting that the first significant test of Hibs' resolve comes against a team coached by Tony Mowbray, Easter Road having been the place where Celtic's manager started out in the dugout.

Just as eyes will be on whether Celtic can bounce back from a turbulent night at Arsenal, much attention will be paid to the true size of Hibs' revival under Hughes.

ancient hibee
28-08-2009, 04:33 PM
Trust The Gruniad to get it wrong.Buffalo Bill was behind the Mount Florida end goal-the only Wild West he was cavorting around was Byres Road.

Viva_Palmeiras
28-08-2009, 06:11 PM
Excellent even the Gridian (sp) are getting into the "YamsNil" act :wink:

False dawns and early-season momentum. Duff Jimmy's reign...

I'm optimistic however cautious. Whilst the cup game was a good result and we did have waves of attack, there were times where Brechin caused us problems and if it were Celtic we'd have been severely punished for the lapses.

Not seen enough in recent times but has Hoggy's game improved?

Sunday is our first real test for sure. However I don't think even then Win, Lose or Draw we can read too much into the result. Just another step along the way to building the team. Could argue that it will also be Celtcs first real test in the league if we're on our game...