Players that were underrated at hibs

[al bundy]

Always thought tony rougier was very special on his day another who I think never got the credit he deserved was gary smith, seldom put a foot wrong imo

[edinburghhibee]

I thought John O'Neil was underrated at us, he was a great player for us however he had players such as sauzee, latapy, zittelli, and Laursen in the team and they seemed to be the players who got all the lime light.

[WellingtonHibby]

Hkt

[cocopops1875]

Archie lovell, you don't know what you got till its gone

[Brooster]

I dont think Lovell and Oneill were particularly underatted, both were very much appreciated by the fans and both got capped whilst at Hibs so somebody mustve rated them. I think brian hamilton was underated, pat mcginlay got all the credit but hamilton played a very important part in that midfield......until he chose to lick stamps for a living.

[Peevemor]

I dont think Lovell and Oneill were particularly underatted, both were very much appreciated by the fans and both got capped whilst at Hibs so somebody mustve rated them. I think brian hamilton was underated, pat mcginlay got all the credit but hamilton played a very important part in that midfield......until he chose to lick stamps for a living.

Lovell was only widely accepted in his final season at ER (and not by all even then), before that the majoity gave him pelters.

[cocopops1875]

The thing with Archie in my opinion was, he was popular and considered a good player but it wasn't till he was allowed to leave that we truely saw what he brought to the team, hard work, effort and a true team player we certainly missed him.

[cocopops1875]

Lovell was only widely accepted in his final season at ER (and not by all even then), before that the majoity gave him pelters.

I also agree with this there wasn't a mass outpouring of "oh we can't let Archie go" when he was moved on to livi

[vanNISHtelroy]

Colin Nish :)

Underrated at hibs and Killie.

[Mon Dieu4]

Pat Mcginlay, i think we all took for granted a box to box goal scoring midfielder capable of getting double figures

oh to have him now

[greenlex]

John Rankin. MAC DVZ just recently

[NatureBoy]

Chic Charnley for the first six games of THAT season he awesome in every way!!

[Kaiser1962]

Derek Collins

[Hibrandenburg]

Alex Edwards. He was always out of sync with the rest of the team. But only because he was one step ahead of them.

[Stevie Reid]

I thought we let Justin Skinner go too early.

[danhibees1875]

Colin Nish :)

Underrated at hibs and Killie.

:agree:

I've classed this Saturdays fixture as the 'Nish regret derby' :greengrin

[Pretty Boy]

Stuart Lovell, Tom Smith, Justin Skinner are 3 that spring to mind.

Also think Clayton Donaldson might have offered more had he had a bit longer.

[PatHead]

Stephen Fletcher. The amount of folk who didn't rate him compared to the rest of the golden generation was incredible. To be fair never had him down as a £14m player myself.

[Pretty Boy]

Liam Miller as well.

Was very neat and tidy but because he didn't fly into tackles he was heartless and a coward.

[Lester B]

Stuart Lovell, Tom Smith, Justin Skinner are 3 that spring to mind.

Also think Clayton Donaldson might have offered more had he had a bit longer.

Think Tom Smith wasn't let go but had to retire through injury?

Anyone remember Hartley's first game for Hibs? Came on as a sub and his first ever touch was amazing. And then he did nothing for two years...

The only noteworthy thing he did afterwards was to get booked once despite not actually playing at the time.

[sahib]

Liam Miller as well.

Was very neat and tidy but because he didn't fly into tackles he was heartless and a coward.

I was not the biggest fan of Liam's, but he is a classic case of people not seeing what a player brings to the team because they can't get past what they think he should be doing. ( In my humble opinion which is no more valid than any other. :greengrin)

[andrew70]

Isaiah Osbourne. Quality football player and will do well in the championship

[Stevie Reid]

Think Tom Smith wasn't let go but had to retire through injury?

Anyone remember Hartley's first game for Hibs? Came on as a sub and his first ever touch was amazing. And then he did nothing for two years...

The only noteworthy thing he did afterwards was to get booked once despite not actually playing at the time.

Hartley scored a number of important goals in his half season for us in the First Division.

[Peevemor]

Hartley scored a number of important goals in his half season for us in the First Division.

I liked Hartley at Hibs, he should plenty of fight and skill but was far to lightweight/naive and was too easily pushed off the ball.

[Lester B]

I liked Hartley at Hibs, he should plenty of fight and skill but was far to lightweight/naive and was too easily pushed off the ball.

Fair points I suppose. Still think he seriously under achieved and was nothing like the player he eventually became. We got a huge amount of goals in SFL year and he chipped in with a few but always thought he was uninspiring and lacked fight.

[StevieC]

Stephen Dobie

Whilst his fitness and girth may have been questioned at times, he was a natural born striker.

[Stevie Reid]

Stephen Dobie

Whilst his fitness and girth may have been questioned at times, he was a natural born striker.

Agree, although he wouldn't be where he is now without first falling down as far as Dumbarton.

[hibees 7062]

Ricardo Jorge Vaz Tê and Shelton Martis

[Stevie Reid]

I liked Hartley at Hibs, he should plenty of fight and skill but was far to lightweight/naive and was too easily pushed off the ball.

Yeah, I find it strange (though perhaps not in respect of how much he hurt us in later years) that people have such negative memories of him - he was an important signing with regards to getting us back in the SPL, and then didn't make much of an impression when we got there. It was always apparent that he was pacey and skillful, he just seemed as hot and cold as many wingers are, and didn't ever get a run/cement his place in the team. I wasn't unhappy when we sold him, especially given that St. Johnstone gave us £200K for him, just as we got their best player (O'Neil) for no fee - but I wouldn't have been unhappy had he stayed either.

Regardless, it was his move to St. Johnstone and Stark changing his position that turned him into the player that he became.

[justlikebrazil]

Brian Hamilton did a power of graft in the middle of the park!

[dirtydirk]

Michael Stewart. Player who was frustrating to watch but we always struggled whenever he was injured or suspended.
Craig Brewster wasn't that impressive at Easter road but again another player who done alot of unnoticed work off the ball

[Edinburgh Green]

Martin McIntosh and Gary Smith

[Stevie Reid]

Michael Stewart. Player who was frustrating to watch but we always struggled whenever he was injured or suspended.
Craig Brewster wasn't that impressive at Easter road but again another player who done alot of unnoticed work off the ball

He most definitely was. His class stuck out like a sore thumb in the season that he was with us - IIRC we went 17 games without a win that season, and Brewster missed 13 of them through a shoulder injury.

Losing him was a massive setback, as he had formed a deadly partnership with O'Connor, and would go on to do the same at Dunfermline with Stevie Crawford.

[Stevie Reid]

Martin McIntosh and Gary Smith

I thought most folk appreciated Gary Smith (did he not win Player of the Year one season?), but agree on McIntosh, people seem to remember him as some sort of huddy. He looked fine when he came in, but got sent off against Hearts in the last game of the season, missed the first game of the following season and never got his place back, due to Fenwick's form. Another who I feel we let go too early.

[Peevemor]

He most definitely was. His class stuck out like a sore thumb in the season that he was with us - IIRC we went 17 games without a win that season, and Brewster missed 13 of them through a shoulder injury.

Losing him was a massive setback, as he had formed a deadly partnership with O'Connor, and would go on to do the same at Dunfermline with Stevie Crawford.

:agree: He was gutted to leave Hibs, who wouldn't/couldn't match the offer that Dunfermline (who nearly went down the tubes soon after) had made.

[heretoday]

Always thought tony rougier was very special on his day another who I think never got the credit he deserved was gary smith, seldom put a foot wrong imo


Good one. I was going to say Tony Rougier. He was quite tricky for a big man. You never knew what he would come up with. Sometimes he came up with nothing at all.

Bit like Michael O'Neill although you couldn't afford to have both of them playing at the same time!

[Cabbage East]

Michael Stewart. Player who was frustrating to watch but we always struggled whenever he was injured or suspended.
Craig Brewster wasn't that impressive at Easter road but again another player who done alot of unnoticed work off the ball

Craig Brewster was a great player for Hibs.

[Stevie Reid]

Gary Smith

An amusing story about Gary Smith - a few years back in the Williamson days, I worked for a company called Event Exchange, who had been employed by Hibs to try and entice lapsed supporters back to ER; this involved phoning up lapsed ST holders from the club database, asking them why they no longer went to ER, and what it would take to get them back.

Somehow Gary Smith's details were on there, and my colleague phoned him up to ask him if he still went on a regular basis, only to be told that he's there fairly regularly, given the he plays for them - "Ah you're that Gary Smith!"

[Frazerbob]

Brian Hamilton is the stand out for me. The abuse he got from the fans was unbelievable. I got myself in many an arguement stcking up for him back in the day.

Also agree with Justin Skinner. I thought he looked a very inteligent footballer and a great passer of the ball.

More recently, Vaz Tez looked streets ahead of everyone else in his short time with us. Maybe lacked a little desire to be fair but I'm not suprised he's a regular in the Premiership now.

[Stevie Reid]

:agree: He was gutted to leave Hibs, who wouldn't/couldn't match the offer that Dunfermline (who nearly went down the tubes soon after) had made.

:agree: wanted a two year deal IIRC, and we offered one.

[Stevie Reid]

Good one. I was going to say Tony Rougier. He was quite tricky for a big man. You never knew what he would come up with. Sometimes he came up with nothing at all.

Bit like Michael O'Neill although you couldn't afford to have both of them playing at the same time!

Rougier could be very exciting on his day, but Michael O'Neill was ten times the player that Rougier was - O'Neill's inconsistency and Rougier's inconsistency were worlds apart.

O'Neill is in my top 5 all time favourite Hibs players.

[Pretty Boy]

Think Tom Smith wasn't let go but had to retire through injury?

Anyone remember Hartley's first game for Hibs? Came on as a sub and his first ever touch was amazing. And then he did nothing for two years...

The only noteworthy thing he did afterwards was to get booked once despite not actually playing at the time.

Think you're right.

Still think he was underrated by some fans, thought he looked a real player under McLeish in the 3-5-2 system. Would have had a decent career without the injury imo.

[LancashireHibby]

Nothing comes close to Fletcher as far as I'm concerned. Used to get absolute pelters for being lazy, one footed etc etc (I'll happily admit I wasn't without guilt on that score) and look how he has turned out since!

[Stevie Reid]

Think you're right.

Still think he was underrated by some fans, thought he looked a real player under McLeish in the 3-5-2 system. Would have had a decent career without the injury imo.

Yeah, injury ending his career is correct, was a good signing though. Played wing back/full back on either side, and was awesome in the 3-0 win at Tynie.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Paul Fenwick

[RyeSloan]

Nothing comes close to Fletcher as far as I'm concerned. Used to get absolute pelters for being lazy, one footed etc etc (I'll happily admit I wasn't without guilt on that score) and look how he has turned out since!

Correctamundo!! Too one footed was the cry, although I've never seen this leveled at a right footed forward.

Whittaker wasn't overly rated by quite a few as well I would suggest.

I also agree with the John Rankin shout...too few poeople understood that he was being asked to play the whole left hand side for Hibs...track back, win the midfield, get forward etc etc. Tells a tale that he walked into the United side that everyone was saying was sooo much better then most of the SPL last year.


To be fair though there is not too many examples (Rougier was rated as far as I'm concerned so dunno why he's mentioned on this thread) where players were seriously considered guff and have then went on to great things....generally they have been guff and sadly there has been far too many examples!!

[Hibercelona]

Not the most underrated player, but I recall Rob Jones taking quite a few pelters at times while at Easter Road. Was a good solid central defender that we missed badly once he left. He also liked the odd goal.

[jacomo]

Stephen Dobie

Whilst his fitness and girth may have been questioned at times, he was a natural born striker.

Yes, he was largely under-appreciated etc etc...

[jacomo]

Correctamundo!! Too one footed was the cry, although I've never seen this leveled at a right footed forward.

Whittaker wasn't overly rated by quite a few as well I would suggest.

I also agree with the John Rankin shout...too few poeople understood that he was being asked to play the whole left hand side for Hibs...track back, win the midfield, get forward etc etc. Tells a tale that he walked into the United side that everyone was saying was sooo much better then most of the SPL last year.


To be fair though there is not too many examples (Rougier was rated as far as I'm concerned so dunno why he's mentioned on this thread) where players were seriously considered guff and have then went on to great things....generally they have been guff and sadly there has been far too many examples!!

I had high hopes for Rankin - thought he was the right signing at the right time - and find it enormously frustrating that we failed to get the best out of him.

[hibees 7062]

Martin McIntosh and Gary Smith

Loved Hibs and hated Lee Miller and them . Delighted when we signed him

[Squealing pig]

Craig Brewster was a great player for Hibs.

Slow to start but good once he got going.

[SteveHFC]

Clayton Donaldson

Paddy Cregg

Francis Dickoh

Victor Palsson

Ricardo Vaz Te

and ...................































Phil Airey :greengrin

[West Upper]

Fabian Yantorno.

[superfurryhibby]

Rougier could be very exciting on his day, but Michael O'Neill was ten times the player that Rougier was - O'Neill's inconsistency and Rougier's inconsistency were worlds apart.

O'Neill is in my top 5 all time favourite Hibs players.

Agreed, no comparison can be made. O'Neil was excellent, Rougier had moments of brilliance but they were way to infrequent.

What about Paul Hartley-definitely underachieved and underated at Hibs.

Akpo Sodje? Scoring well at Preston. Found the net better than the guys who have come in since.

[RyeSloan]

Agreed, no comparison can be made. O'Neil was excellent, Rougier had moments of brilliance but they were way to infrequent.

What about Paul Hartley-definitely underachieved and underated at Hibs.

Akpo Sodje? Scoring well at Preston. Found the net better than the guys who have come in since.

Sodje is a good one...wasn't quite sure why we let him go so readily.

[Liams]

Gonna have to wear my tin hat in this but honestlyvthink the likes of nish and maybe even agogo, benji could ofvreached huge heights but through the club and benji actions it just didnt work (cis07 id say benji was ten times better than fletch on that day and look where fletch is)

I feel mcbride, miller and rankinHg were amazing players with mcbride and miller being skillful on the ball and rankings hunger and fittness (some of the stories he told me made me believe he took playing football very serious) but when they played together just made us too light....

Hogg when partnered with jones was underrated and i feel with the right teaching maka could of being a great goalie

[Lee]

Tommy McIntyre for me....never understood why he never got even one Scotland call-up while with us

[cocopops1875]

Gonna have to wear my tin hat in this but honestlyvthink the likes of nish and maybe even agogo, benji could ofvreached huge heights but through the club and benji actions it just didnt work (cis07 id say benji was ten times better than fletch on that day and look where fletch is)

I feel mcbride, miller and rankinHg were amazing players with mcbride and miller being skillful on the ball and rankings hunger and fittness (some of the stories he told me made me believe he took playing football very serious) but when they played together just made us too light....

Hogg when partnered with jones was underrated and i feel with the right teaching maka could of being a great goalie

the thing with Benji is he was Rated, sadly he wasted the god given talent he so clearly had, a real shame :agree:

[Brooster]

Tommy McIntyre for me....never understood why he never got even one Scotland call-up while with us

Good shout Lee, great defender who knew how to take a penalty. Who mentioned Agogo? :rolleyes:

[JustSimplyHibs]

Stephen Dobbie was under rated, scored goals in the cup games, never got a chance in league games, good off the ball movement.

Looking back on things and compared to some of the dire that has wore the green - Brian Hamilton is another who was underated IMO. Broke the play up, played a simple ball to the likes of McGinlay and had his shot in the cup final went in instead of hitting the post it would have been one off the best free kicks ever scored at Hapdump.

[hibeemikey21]

Think Tom Smith wasn't let go but had to retire through injury?

Anyone remember Hartley's first game for Hibs? Came on as a sub and his first ever touch was amazing. And then he did nothing for two years...

The only noteworthy thing he did afterwards was to get booked once despite not actually playing at the time.

Was hartleys touch killing a ball out of the sky dead on the touchline? If so, I'll be massively impressed with my memory - would have only been about 7!!

[heidtheba]

Brian Hamilton for me - although having McGinlay in that 94/95 side was brilliant in terms of goals I do feel we lost a bit of something (good) when we moved him in at the expense of Hamilton.

Hartley - and I loved watching him that year we were in the 1st division.

Paul Lovering - don't think he was SPL standard but was great to watch.

[tamig]

Alex Marinkov - who made his debut the same day as Sauzee. Tidy no-nonsense stopper. Going a wee bit further back - big Joe McLaughlin. Think he was about 40 when he joined us but was still an outstanding centre half in the short time he was with us.

[heidtheba]

Alex Marinkov - who made his debut the same day as Sauzee. Tidy no-nonsense stopper. Going a wee bit further back - big Joe McLaughlin. Think he was about 40 when he joined us but was still an outstanding centre half in the short time he was with us.

Excellent timing! It was doing my head in trying to remember the big ex-Chelsea boy we signed.
Ty kindly!

[21.05.2016]

Stephen Fletcher. The amount of folk who didn't rate him compared to the rest of the golden generation was incredible. To be fair never had him down as a £14m player myself.

:agree:

[MSK]

John Connolly ..

[darwenhibby]

Tommy McIntyre for me....never understood why he never got even one Scotland call-up while with us

Always wondered why Gordon Hunter was never capped. I thought he was a good servant to Hibs!

[jdships]

For me it has to be JOHN PARKE
Born 1937 he Joined from Linfield in 1963; played 21 games before being transferred to Sunderland and after 86 games with them finished up at Belgian club KV Mechelen before retiring in 1968
Earned 14 caps for Nth Ireland
Died of Alzheimer's disease in 2011, aged 74.

For a good few of us we didn't realise how good a player he was until he had gone - definately underrated .
On top of that he was always willing to help out with coaching youngsters be it at a school or just kicking a ball about in the public park

[HibeeSince85]

Paul Fenwick

:agree:

Done well for Hibs.

[weecounty hibby]

Graham Mitchell. Very steady player for a number of years.
Ralph Callachan, got losds of stick from fans unfairly i think.
Always liked Bobby Flavell for some reason!
Joe T always gave 100% as dis Alan Sneddon, not great players but underrated in terms of the effort and commitment from both.
In my time most Hibs players have been underrated by at least a section of the support!!!!!

[basehibby]

I dont think Lovell and Oneill were particularly underatted, both were very much appreciated by the fans and both got capped whilst at Hibs so somebody mustve rated them. I think brian hamilton was underated, pat mcginlay got all the credit but hamilton played a very important part in that midfield......until he chose to lick stamps for a living.

Lovell was the target of the boo boy (ie moron) section of out support. Well supported by some but definately underrated by our support as a whole.

Joe Tortollano was also underrated - although not quite in the same way. He DID have some nightmares at left back but also had the sweetest left foot - something conveniently ignored by the moronic element when they were slaughtering the guy.

Vaz Te is an obvious one - MANY fans had him written off as nae good after a few sub appearances.

I would also include big Akpo Sodje in the underrated list - appreciated by the fans enough but one that current boss Pat Fenlon apparently didn't rate. I thought he was a 100%-er whos rumbustious style was well suited to life in the SPL - would have been worth hanging on to IMO.

[JustSimplyHibs]

anyone remember David Farrell? Always liked him when he played, never got many games for Hibs but when he did he was one of those no nonsense not affraid to put the boot in players, he spent years at the club ad i'm pretty sure he played in the cup final defeat to Rangers in 93.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Revisionism shouldn't be used on these sort of threads, Vaz Te was pretty poor for Hibs in the short time he was here re-building his fitness, the fact that he now plays in the EPL doesnae hide that fact.

[brydekirk]

Zibby :-)

[Phil MaGlass]

Probably the only club in Scotland that underrates their players more than any other club,
so many to choose from .....

Definitely Brian Hamilton (really wished he had scored that free kick in the Skol Cup Final)
Joe Tortolano (some may agree others wont)
Benny Brazil :thumbsup:
Fletcher (always thought he was outstanding, didnea understand the flack he got at all from some)
Nish
Hartley (as others have said)
Dobie

It could actually be said that some never fitted into our type of pi5h fitba and only looked good after they moved to a more accomodating team.....

I could actually go on for hours but it wouldnt be fair on others.

[Peevemor]

anyone remember David Farrell? Always liked him when he played, never got many games for Hibs but when he did he was one of those no nonsense not affraid to put the boot in players, he spent years at the club ad i'm pretty sure he played in the cup final defeat to Rangers in 93.

Sorry, I simply can't agree, although his "lying down" goal celebration did make me laugh.

[Hibercelona]

Fabian Yantorno.





:agree:

Can't believe he never got a proper chance in a Hibs tops. Appeared to have bags of talent.

I wonder what's happened to him.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

I'm going back to when I was a bairn, so, my memory could be playing tricks on me, but, I'll thrown in Bobby Flavell. Oh aye, and Gary Murray too.

[.Sean.]

Why didn't Joe Tortolano feature in the Skol Cup final?


I've met him, he's a sound guy and an absolute gent.

[RyeSloan]

Brian Hamilton was the first player I had seen that's main talent was the 'hidden work' he did....under rated, surely not. More like over rated by too many!!

As for the free kick at Hampden..it was a cracker but it didn't go in....which was the same result as his slightly less cracking penalty at ER against Henry Smith iirc....

[RyeSloan]

:agree:

Can't believe he never got a proper chance in a Hibs tops. Appeared to have bags of talent.

I wonder what's happened to him.


Urmm this is the guy that never fully recovered from injury is it not...unsure how he wasn't given a proper chance, unless of course I am missing some sarcastic humour here.

As for 'where is he now'...in Columbia acording to Wiki after managing a mighty 33 games in the 3 or 4 years since he left Hibs...

[Stevie Reid]

Brian Hamilton was the first player I had seen that's main talent was the 'hidden work' he did....under rated, surely not. More like over rated by too many!!

As for the free kick at Hampden..it was a cracker but it didn't go in....which was the same result as his slightly less cracking penalty at ER against Henry Smith iirc....

Was a very well struck penalty, and a superb save by Smith.

Yet another game where we gave them a doing, and came away without a win.

[Frazerbob]

Was a very well struck penalty, and a superb save by Smith.

Yet another game where we gave them a doing, and came away without a win.

Was that the game which the match programme featured a diagram of Hamilton's previous penalty and thus giving Henry, Henry Drop The Ball a wee insight?

[HibbyAndy]

Pat Mcginlay.

God he was so underrated!!.

[superfurryhibby]

Pat Mcginlay.

God he was so underrated!!.

Not by the Hibs fans though?

[ginger_rice]

I know I'll take stick for this but I thought Shaun Dennis was a better player than most gave him credit for, at that time he came in we had a very shaky defence, the big man just did what was needed blooter the ball into the old main stand and often with the attacking player following the ball.

[Baldy Foghorn]

I'm going back to when I was a bairn, so, my memory could be playing tricks on me, but, I'll thrown in Bobby Flavell. Oh aye, and Gary Murray too.

Remember walking back from my Gran's through Saughton Park, Aberdeen were training around 10am on one of the pitches. Ferguson was standing talking to the kit boy, I shouted something along lines of "yer pish, we will hump your lot later", then went on my merry way......

Sure Gary Murray scored a double that day and we pumped them, my psychic powers were there from an early age....

[erin go bragh]

Was hartleys touch killing a ball out of the sky dead on the touchline? If so, I'll be massively impressed with my memory - would have only been about 7!!
:agree: spot on my friend [remember saying to my laddie ,he was going to be some player]
i was a wee bit right .


ggtth

[Speedway]

Always though Neil Orr suffered from the 'Utility Man' tag. A very tidy and competent player for us.

[soupy]

Alan Sneddon, done a good job over many years and got himself a testimonial aswell..