Have we been that bad all this season?

[BSEJVT]

Having listened to people telling we were a different team to last year, I finally bit the bullet and went for the first time this season today.

To be honest I couldnt believe how bad we were or how completely lacking in urgency we were.

I wouldnt criticise anyone for not trying, albeit Leigh was strangely anonymous for most of the match.

I honestly couldnt discern a pattern of play or how we ever hoped to score.

We seem to specialise in making a break and then slowing play down to allow them to get back

We remain as slow as ever and to be honest it was reminsicent of the old England Rugby team.

We keep the ball, inch up the park, hope to kill the game and score from a set play.

We have no penetration, no width, no-one capable of beating a man (Cairney may just have had a very off day?)

Wotherspoon is the king of the stepover to no effect whatsoever.

I fully expect to get slaughtered for the above, but that is honestly how I saw it.

Tactically we are a mess, the substitutions actually made us worse, although I wouldnt have believed that possible in advance!

I really wanted to see an excuse to go back after the purgatory of the last few seasons, but quite honestly I doubt I will go again in a long time after that.

One thing to consider, Alex Miller got absolutely crucified for negativity for playing 100 x more expansive football than that.

I applaud those of you that go every week, I honestly couldnt stand that it would make me suicidal.

[clerriehibs]

Nothing to worry about. We're a work in progress, don't you know?

[Ozyhibby]

Your not wrong on any of that.

[hibs4thecup1988]

Having listened to people telling we were a different team to last year, I finally bit the bullet and went for the first time this season today.

To be honest I couldnt believe how bad we were or how completely lacking in urgency we were.

I wouldnt criticise anyone for not trying, albeit Leigh was strangely anonymous for most of the match.

I honestly couldnt discern a pattern of play or how we ever hoped to score.

We seem to specialise in making a break and then slowing play down to allow them to get back

We remain as slow as ever and to be honest it was reminsicent of the old England Rugby team.

We keep the ball, inch up the park, hope to kill the game and score from a set play.

We have no penetration, no width, no-one capable of beating a man (Cairney may just have had a very off day?)

Wotherspoon is the king of the stepover to no effect whatsoever.

I fully expect to get slaughtered for the above, but that is honestly how I saw it.

Tactically we are a mess, the substitutions actually made us worse, although I wouldnt have believed that possible in advance!

I really wanted to see an excuse to go back after the purgatory of the last few seasons, but quite honestly I doubt I will go again in a long time after that.

One thing to consider, Alex Miller got absolutely crucified for negativity for playing 100 x more expansive football than that.

I applaud those of you that go every week, I honestly couldnt stand that it would make me suicidal.

To answer the question of the thread...No...no quite. We have been pretty lucky in games but this today IMHO was the worst I have seen of us.

As for the content of the post... 100% agree sadly

[crash]

Having listened to people telling we were a different team to last year, I finally bit the bullet and went for the first time this season today.

To be honest I couldnt believe how bad we were or how completely lacking in urgency we were.

I wouldnt criticise anyone for not trying, albeit Leigh was strangely anonymous for most of the match.

I honestly couldnt discern a pattern of play or how we ever hoped to score.

We seem to specialise in making a break and then slowing play down to allow them to get back

We remain as slow as ever and to be honest it was reminsicent of the old England Rugby team.

We keep the ball, inch up the park, hope to kill the game and score from a set play.

We have no penetration, no width, no-one capable of beating a man (Cairney may just have had a very off day?)

Wotherspoon is the king of the stepover to no effect whatsoever.

I fully expect to get slaughtered for the above, but that is honestly how I saw it.

Tactically we are a mess, the substitutions actually made us worse, although I wouldnt have believed that possible in advance!

I really wanted to see an excuse to go back after the purgatory of the last few seasons, but quite honestly I doubt I will go again in a long time after that.

One thing to consider, Alex Miller got absolutely crucified for negativity for playing 100 x more expansive football than that.

I applaud those of you that go every week, I honestly couldnt stand that it would make me suicidal.

You are right in everything you say,sounds like the people you listened to are the types who look at the result and not the performance.

[HibeeSince85]

You are right in everything you say,sounds like the people you listened to are the types who look at the result and not the performance.

They've created chances and looked like scoring in plenty games this season, this was the worst I've seen us play and I've not missed a game at ER.

Could have played all day and not scored, so so slow and could not pass forward nor break with more than 2 men in support.

[hibsbollah]

Having listened to people telling we were a different team to last year, I finally bit the bullet and went for the first time this season today.

To be honest I couldnt believe how bad we were or how completely lacking in urgency we were.

I wouldnt criticise anyone for not trying, albeit Leigh was strangely anonymous for most of the match.

I honestly couldnt discern a pattern of play or how we ever hoped to score.

We seem to specialise in making a break and then slowing play down to allow them to get back

We remain as slow as ever and to be honest it was reminsicent of the old England Rugby team.

We keep the ball, inch up the park, hope to kill the game and score from a set play.

We have no penetration, no width, no-one capable of beating a man (Cairney may just have had a very off day?)

Wotherspoon is the king of the stepover to no effect whatsoever.

I fully expect to get slaughtered for the above, but that is honestly how I saw it.

Tactically we are a mess, the substitutions actually made us worse, although I wouldnt have believed that possible in advance!

I really wanted to see an excuse to go back after the purgatory of the last few seasons, but quite honestly I doubt I will go again in a long time after that.

One thing to consider, Alex Miller got absolutely crucified for negativity for playing 100 x more expansive football than that.

I applaud those of you that go every week, I honestly couldnt stand that it would make me suicidal.

You chose to go for our worst performance of the season, although we are in a definite slump of form I wasn't expecting anything as bad as that. So bear that in mind when turning your back on attending games again.


On the other hand, you might be a jinx so don't let the door slam on yer way oot:wink:

[Zazu62]

They way people are going on Ross county pounded us for 90 minutes they were even worse than us, we didn't deserve to lose the match.

[AFKA5814_Hibs]

They way people are going on Ross county pounded us for 90 minutes they were even worse than us, we didn't deserve to lose the match.

The fact that we lost to Ross County today, who were abysmal, shows you how bad Hibs were. We DID deserve to lose today cause we were ****** ******, an honest Hibby will admit that.

[Alfred E Newman]

They way people are going on Ross county pounded us for 90 minutes they were even worse than us, we didn't deserve to lose the match.

That was the first time I have seen hibs lose to a side that didn`t actually have a shot at goal. Mind you, it took us 75 mins to have ours.

[#FromTheCapital]

I agree with pretty much everything you said but we have been much better than that this season.

[CB_NO3]

Having listened to people telling we were a different team to last year, I finally bit the bullet and went for the first time this season today.

To be honest I couldnt believe how bad we were or how completely lacking in urgency we were.

I wouldnt criticise anyone for not trying, albeit Leigh was strangely anonymous for most of the match.

I honestly couldnt discern a pattern of play or how we ever hoped to score.

We seem to specialise in making a break and then slowing play down to allow them to get back

We remain as slow as ever and to be honest it was reminsicent of the old England Rugby team.

We keep the ball, inch up the park, hope to kill the game and score from a set play.

We have no penetration, no width, no-one capable of beating a man (Cairney may just have had a very off day?)

Wotherspoon is the king of the stepover to no effect whatsoever.

I fully expect to get slaughtered for the above, but that is honestly how I saw it.

Tactically we are a mess, the substitutions actually made us worse, although I wouldnt have believed that possible in advance!

I really wanted to see an excuse to go back after the purgatory of the last few seasons, but quite honestly I doubt I will go again in a long time after that.

One thing to consider, Alex Miller got absolutely crucified for negativity for playing 100 x more expansive football than that.

I applaud those of you that go every week, I honestly couldnt stand that it would make me suicidal.
We have been that bad 4 times this season. Dundee
United away, Dundee away, ICT away and today. Was at all 4 games and all 4 were just as bad.

[JohnStephens91]

Ross County just parked the bus and didn't offer an attacking threat at all, they were pretty fortunate they scored. We just passed the ball about too much instead of hurrying up play when their brutish defenders were exposed. We started playing well in the last 20 minutes but by that point County were defending in even greater numbers than before. I don't think we deserved to lose the match but it was a pretty poor performance, but in most matches this season we have played really well and dug in deep to get results we've just hit a slump in form just now.

[hibsbollah]

We have been that bad 4 times this season. Dundee
United away, Dundee away, ICT away and today. Was at all 4 games and all 4 were just as bad.

Tannadice was bad, but that day we were up against a Utd side who were excellent all over the pitch. Today we lost to a very poor side and the inability to do the basics was shocking and wholly, IMO, down to the players on the pitch.

[inglisavhibs]

Having listened to people telling we were a different team to last year, I finally bit the bullet and went for the first time this season today.

To be honest I couldnt believe how bad we were or how completely lacking in urgency we were.

I wouldnt criticise anyone for not trying, albeit Leigh was strangely anonymous for most of the match.

I honestly couldnt discern a pattern of play or how we ever hoped to score.

We seem to specialise in making a break and then slowing play down to allow them to get back

We remain as slow as ever and to be honest it was reminsicent of the old England Rugby team.

We keep the ball, inch up the park, hope to kill the game and score from a set play.

We have no penetration, no width, no-one capable of beating a man (Cairney may just have had a very off day?)

Wotherspoon is the king of the stepover to no effect whatsoever.

I fully expect to get slaughtered for the above, but that is honestly how I saw it.

Tactically we are a mess, the substitutions actually made us worse, although I wouldnt have believed that possible in advance!

I really wanted to see an excuse to go back after the purgatory of the last few seasons, but quite honestly I doubt I will go again in a long time after that.

One thing to consider, Alex Miller got absolutely crucified for negativity for playing 100 x more expansive football than that.

I applaud those of you that go every week, I honestly couldnt stand that it would make me suicidal.


Pretty accurate post mate, that's why our crowds are low despite some really good early results. you can't kid the fans though and anybody who knows the game can see that there is not a lot of hope at the moment. The back four and the goalkeeper are good enough for the SPL but that's where it ends.I do believe if Cairney could get the ball nearer the opposition box he could do quite well but we can't get any decent possession apart from in our own half. A very poor Ross County team were able to defend very comfortably for nearly the whole match which says it all. What is most disappointing is that this season was a great opportunity for Hibs, with Hearts in trouble and Dundee United and Aberdeen slashing budgets. Instead we have Inverness and Motherwell, both on much lower budgets performing much better than us even although Inverness in particular lost a large part of last seasons team.We are lacking pace, strength and ability in midfield and up front. We have three central midfield players none of which can ever run beyond the opposition defence and strikers who find it very difficult to keep possession in advanced areas. Earlier in the season we were getting bye because Griffiths would score a goal out of nothing, but now that has dried up we are left with virtually no threat.

[LeighLoyal]

The only team I could see that wanted to play any football was Hibs, Ross County just turned up to defend and hope for some luck which they undeservedly got. I thought we brightened when Claros and Handling came on but overall not good enough.

[Famous5forever]

Pretty accurate post mate, that's why our crowds are low despite some really good early results. you can't kid the fans though and anybody who knows the game can see that there is not a lot of hope at the moment. The back four and the goalkeeper are good enough for the SPL but that's where it ends.I do believe if Cairney could get the ball nearer the opposition box he could do quite well but we can't get any decent possession apart from in our own half. A very poor Ross County team were able to defend very comfortably for nearly the whole match which says it all. What is most disappointing is that this season was a great opportunity for Hibs, with Hearts in trouble and Dundee United and Aberdeen slashing budgets. Instead we have Inverness and Motherwell, both on much lower budgets performing much better than us even although Inverness in particular lost a large part of last seasons team.We are lacking pace, strength and ability in midfield and up front. We have three central midfield players none of which can ever run beyond the opposition defence and strikers who find it very difficult to keep possession in advanced areas. Earlier in the season we were getting bye because Griffiths would score a goal out of nothing, but now that has dried up we are left with virtually no threat.

dont agree Dunfy got a fluke result last season as well Paddy needs time its a work in progress improvement is there on CCs team we are 4th in the league:hibees
:pfgwa

[7062]

Tactically we are a mess, the substitutions actually made us worse, although I wouldnt have believed that possible in advance!.

Agree with everything in the OP, but this in particular is something that's bothered me for a few weeks. Thought the subs that were made against the Mothers a couple of games ago were just completely wrong. Was probably mentioned at the time, but I'm no apologising for saying it again! Think it probably cost us the 3 points.

PF is, to me anyway, a bit of an enigma. He can spot a good player that'll do a job from smaller teams eg Cairney, Doyle which is great, he seems to sometimes get the best out of players eg the resurgence of Spoony which is also great, however his subbing (if that's a word) and tactical awareness during games can sometimes be shocking.

[Sammy7nil]

Ross County just parked the bus and didn't offer an attacking threat at all, they were pretty fortunate they scored. We just passed the ball about too much instead of hurrying up play when their brutish defenders were exposed. We started playing well in the last 20 minutes but by that point County were defending in even greater numbers than before. I don't think we deserved to lose the match but it was a pretty poor performance, but in most matches this season we have played really well and dug in deep to get results we've just hit a slump in form just now.

I watched the game with the OP and agree with his comments, however the scary thing for me is how anyone can say we played well at any point today.
No positives for me at all, okay they did not look like scoring but that was mainly down to the fact they never really tried score yet still won :rolleyes:

Just a really DIRE performance no excuses.

[lyonhibs]

Today was but my 2nd game of the season, and - going forward - one of the very least inventive Hibs teams I have ever clapped eyes on. I daresay that - in terms of overall mentality - we are better than last season, but our defence is akin to a sieve and the midfield/attack display about as much movement as a bunch of frozen Subbeteo players.

The only player that sporadically looked forward with his head up was Deegan, and on each occasion he was met with a wall of stationary green and white bawbags on their heels. County were poor, and theoretically there for the taking.

Sadly, on that performance, I doubt our capacity to out perform an U-13 team, much less an SPL team. The Celtc match has all the hallmarks of a bumming-in-waiting.

[JohnStephens91]

I watched the game with the OP and agree with his comments, however the scary thing for me is how anyone can say we played well at any point today.
No positives for me at all, okay they did not look like scoring but that was mainly down to the fact they never really tried score yet still won :rolleyes:

Just a really DIRE performance no excuses.

The last 20 minutes were when we woke up and created most of our chances and perhaps should have scored a couple of them. Had we attacked like that and created chances throughout the whole match we probably would have scored a goal or two. To deny we played reasonably well in the last portion of the match is just looking for excuses to bash the team, granted for the first 70 minutes we were very poor though.

[BSEJVT]

The last 20 minutes were when we woke up and created most of our chances and perhaps should have scored a couple of them. Had we attacked like that and created chances throughout the whole match we probably would have scored a goal or two. To deny we played reasonably well in the last portion of the match is just looking for excuses to bash the team, granted for the first 70 minutes we were very poor though.

Maybe its because I was brought up on far better Hibs teams and for that matter far better football in general, but today was truly awful.

The only semblence of improvement I could see in the last 20 minutes was that McGivern (our left back!) got a couple of crosses in and Leigh looked slightly interested.

If that is what we think is creativity that god help us.

I wouldnt blame the laddie at all as he was (I think?) being played out of position but Handling was like a rabbit caught in the headlights.

Our forwards have no idea how to create space and one time Handling got the ball and looked to go forward Doyle stood in his way.

Whether we had won (even to go top of the league!) or not playing like that wont entice people to go back at all and will simply drive them further away.

Truly concerned about where my Hibs team are going and have severe reservations about Pat Fenlon's tactical ability and ability to make substitutions that make any sense.

I appreciate fully that he has very little cash to play with but he needs to sign some guys in the window that can inject some pace and creativity and make us worth watching.

If that means Claros and McGivern and even Griffiths (on recent form) have to go then so be it as IMO we are well covered at LB /Centre Back and yesterday's Leigh is a passenger we cant afford.

[sahib]

The only team I could see that wanted to play any football was Hibs, Ross County just turned up to defend and hope for some luck which they undeservedly got. I thought we brightened when Claros and Handling came on but overall not good enough.

I agree, but we lacked any penetration, both Cairney and Spoony failed to beat their man and get in any crosses etc. Doyle and Griffiths failed to link up. We were the home team but we never really threatened. Worryingly, it looks like that bit of luck we had at the start of the season has swung round to rotten luck at the moment. The poster who said, " not convinced" when we were top of the league, was only stating what many of us felt. I hope Fenlon can turn this around, which is not beyond him I am sure, but Hibs have been in a bit of a depression for so long now that confidence must be fragile at the club - it certainly is with the supporters.

[BSEJVT]

I think the novelty factor Hibs had against other teams with so many new players has worn off and teams now know how to play against us.

As Fenlon doesn't seem to have a plan B, we are very predictable and essentially if you stop Cairney & Wotherspoon you stop Hibs.

None of our central midfielders seem to get ahead of the ball or support the strikers

[Golden Bear]

I think the novelty factor Hibs had against other teams with so many new players has worn off and teams now know how to play against us.

As Fenlon doesn't seem to have a plan B, we are very predictable and essentially if you stop Cairney & Wotherspoon you stop Hibs.

None of our central midfielders seem to get ahead of the ball or support the strikers

:agree:

I couldn't agree more.

As the season has progressed, I've become increasingly bored with the predictable and negative tactics that seem to be favoured by Fenlon. Almost every team in the SPL has more pace and play better football than us . We have crafted very few goals from open play and the truth is that our luck has finally run out. As for the notion that we've made major progress since last season then I'm not entirely convinced and I'll make my judgement at the end of the season.

As things stand, it's simply not good enough and when a diehard fan like me chose not to go yesterday then there is not much chance of the more occasional fan being enticed back to ER.

Finally I apologise in advance that I'm not a fully paid up member of PF's fan club but the thing is -------- I do have eyes in my head.

[NORTHERNHIBBY]

Remember that Ross County had an unbeaten run of 40 games once and I am sure that a lot of their away games were smothering type performances like they produced yesterday. We lacked the guile and craft and more importantly, the pace to deal with that. We just need to to write if off and start again.

[SkintHibby]

Today was but my 2nd game of the season, and - going forward - one of the very least inventive Hibs teams I have ever clapped eyes on. I daresay that - in terms of overall mentality - we are better than last season, but our defence is akin to a sieve and the midfield/attack display about as much movement as a bunch of frozen Subbeteo players.

The only player that sporadically looked forward with his head up was Deegan, and on each occasion he was met with a wall of stationary green and white bawbags on their heels. County were poor, and theoretically there for the taking.

Sadly, on that performance, I doubt our capacity to out perform an U-13 team, much less an SPL team. The Celtc match has all the hallmarks of a bumming-in-waiting.

Bang out of order mate!!!

[Gatecrasher]

We got beat with a team who have mark brown and Gary glen in their starting 11 Ross county are pish and played like it, pish poor from us yesterday but we have played much better this season and urgent improvement is needed to save our season

[neil7908]

Thats probably one of the worst games I've seen this season (to be fair I wasn't at Inverness or Dundee) but I do think that although we have rarely been as bad as that the flaws in the side against County have been around since game 1 but have been masked by a few great goals by Leigh and a run of luck we seemed to get for a wee while. To be honest thinking back to the home games we won against Killie and Dundee Utd this season we were under the cosh for large parts of the game and probably could be considered fortunate to come away with victories.

But we did and I think that masked the fact we got outplayed in both games. Even the Dundee game we won 3-0 at Easter Road was a lot closer than it seems and we only looked secure after the 3rd goal went in. At 0-0 I would never has predicted a 3 goal winning margin for Hibs and suspect a Dundee goal at 1-0 or 2-0 would have made it a very different game.

We won a few games that we probably didnt deserve (away to the Saints is another that springs to mind) but now we are losing/drawing games that we maybe deserve to draw/win. My concern though is that in the same way winning can be a habit so can losing. A lot of the focus has been on keeping the guys on loan which I agree with and is totally understandable but to actually improve the team not only will we need to do that but also sign another 2-3 palyers. With the current finances the way they are I cant see that happening.

[Sammy7nil]

The last 20 minutes were when we woke up and created most of our chances and perhaps should have scored a couple of them. Had we attacked like that and created chances throughout the whole match we probably would have scored a goal or two. To deny we played reasonably well in the last portion of the match is just looking for excuses to bash the team, granted for the first 70 minutes we were very poor though.

We just have different stanadards, I agree that was our best spell and when we created most of our chances but 2 weak headers and a 35 yd shot at goal against a team that have not won in 9 games and sit 2nd bottom of the league is very poor imho.

Sorry I am not having a pop but we must expect better and the team should be producing better. Hibs were simply dire no excuses and performances like that will drive fans away in their droves.