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View Full Version : Five things the Scotsman learned from last nights Derby



theonlywayisup
17-02-2016, 02:48 PM
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/competitions/scottish-cup/five-things-we-learned-from-hibs-1-0-hearts-1-4032616#ixzz40Q5TlLcg

Alan Stubbs has completely changed thederby culture at Hibs

Eventhough Hibs were favoured to win this game, it’s been no guarantee in yearsgone by. In fact, you could imagine a scenario in the not so distant pastwhere, under the same circumstances, instead of building on the confidence fromsuch a terrific finish at Tynecastle 10 days ago, Hibs actually get crushed bythe weight expectation in a derby. But under Alan Stubbs, that just doesn’thappen.

It’s now five games in a row undefeated against Hearts. It may not sound likemuch to some, but when you consider that the league table has told us for eachand every one of those games that Hearts are the better team, that really is aterrific run. No manager is perfect and if Stubbs is going to overhaul Rangersat the top of the Ladbrokes Championship, he’ll need to figure out how to solvethe issue of failing to put away teams when on top, something which almost costthem tonight. However, when it comes to derbies, Stubbs always knows exactlywhat he is doing.

Rangers should regretletting Darren McGregor go

Thedefender called it the highlight of his career and it’s easy to see why. Notonly did the lifelong Hibs fan get to celebrate his first victory in an Edinburgh derby, he didso after putting in a magnificent performance at the heart of the defence.

Oneof the few positives from the away performance was the amount of gooddeliveries they put into the penalty area. When they barely created a chancefrom any of them, it tells you the Hibs centre back partnership playedterrifically well.

SomeRangers fans will tell you that Rob Kiernan and Danny Wilson are better, andthat may be the case (though I’m not so sure), but wouldn’t it have been betterkeeping McGregor as a third option rather than loaning in a player from theEPL? Anyway, it’s been Hibs’ gain.

Marvin Bartley is king of the midfield

Anotherderby and another superb performance from Hibernian’s midfield enforcer.Bartley not only did the job he’s renowned for: breaking up play, throwing hissizeable weight around and protecting the defence. He also was really strong onthe football, including a terrific pass in behind Igor Rossi for David Gray tocross for the only goal of the game.

Hearts can’t startderbies strongly under Robbie Neilson

That’snow six Edinburghderbies during Neilson’s time as Hearts manager and his side have not startedwell in any of them. In the opening 20 minutes of every single derby going backto the start of last season, Hibs have began the better side. Even in the gameHearts won, a 2-1 win at Tynecastle, Hibs missed an early penalty as the hoststook a while to get into stride. And the match 10 days ago, despite leading 2-0at half-time, it wasn’t until Arnaud Djoum’s terrific opener that Heartsstarted to play.

Threads on the fans forums calling for Neilsonto be sacked are completely ridiculous. You cannot define yourself by resultsagainst one club. However, it’s obvious the reticence some supporters have inembracing their former captain comes down to his record in these matches.
There’sno denying it now, Neilson being unable to beat Hibs is becoming an issue.

Miguel Pallardo is aliability in big matches

TheSpaniard was terrific last season, but even then there was evidence that hestruggled with more high tempo encounters. The games are just too fast for himand his enthusiasm in lunging into challenges makes him a liability. Not onlywas he booked yet again at Easter Road (the biggest certainty prior tokick-off), he also was lucky not to be sent off for a lunge on John McGinn infront of the dugout. Once more, he had to be taken off before he was sent off.He also failed to make much of an impact on or off the football.

steakbake
17-02-2016, 02:55 PM
Love the way the Scotsman has to refer to the ball as "the football". It helps their more rugby oriented readership to understand some of the technicalities involved.

Geo_1875
17-02-2016, 03:25 PM
" You cannot define yourself by results against one club"

Oh yes they can