When our best players depart

[Smartie]

We've often struggled to replace players when they have departed.

I suppose Scott Allan is the great exception to the rule - his departure gave us Liam Henderson on loan and the money to secure Dylan McGeouch (and I suppose SJM although he was already at the club by this point).

Losing Paul Wright to gain Keith Wright would have to be considered a success.

We struggled to replace the "golden generation" within the budget available and went into a long decline, and our history appears to be littered with us struggling to effectively spend the money gained from selling our best players, or pulling off some pretty bizarre deals that did not benefit us.

I hope we're not looking at such a situation right now, having lost a truly outstanding midfield from last year.

We managed to secure McGinn and McGeouch before - surely players like these are out there and we can do the same again?

[makaveli1875]

We've often struggled to replace players when they have departed.

I suppose Scott Allan is the great exception to the rule - his departure gave us Liam Henderson on loan and the money to secure Dylan McGeouch (and I suppose SJM although he was already at the club by this point).

Losing Paul Wright to gain Keith Wright would have to be considered a success.

We struggled to replace the "golden generation" within the budget available and went into a long decline, and our history appears to be littered with us struggling to effectively spend the money gained from selling our best players, or pulling off some pretty bizarre deals that did not benefit us.

I hope we're not looking at such a situation right now, having lost a truly outstanding midfield from last year.

We managed to secure McGinn and McGeouch before - surely players like these are out there and we can do the same again?

Thinking about just midfielders weve lost in my time . Collins was the 1st and it took over a decade before we got another Collins - Scott Brown , then almost another decade to get another Collins/Brown - McGinn

I guess the point im trying to make is special players like the above only come around once in a while , every decade or so . could be a long while until we have that sort of quality in our midfield again

[Smartie]

Thinking about just midfielders weve lost in my time . Collins was the 1st and it took over a decade before we got another Collins - Scott Brown , then almost another decade to get another Collins/Brown - McGinn

I guess the point im trying to make is special players like the above only come around once in a while , every decade or so . could be a long while until we have that sort of quality in our midfield again

That's my fear, although I'd say that between Brown and McGinn you'd have to say that Scott Allan was a fairly inspired signing.

I suppose we should really pay tribute once more to Alan Stubbs - he brought Allan, McGinn and McGeouch to Hibs in the Championship. These were top drawer acquisitions.

Sadly our history seems littered with problems replacing certain players - O'Rourke through Iain Munro to Jackson, Hunter and Leighton under Duffy, to Sauzee and Latapy, to the golden generation, to the goals of Griffiths, even when we might appear to have a decent budget to do so.

[eastmainsmsh]

Losing Paul Wright to gain Keith Wright would have to be considered a success.

Wouldve loved to seen Keith Keith and Paul up front along with Darren Jackson behind

[Geo_1875]

Our problem is we can't spend the money we get in a replacement. For instance we can't spend £1,000,000 on a midfielder to take SJM's place. We'll either look for promising youngsters who we can develop or a stale older player who we can maybe bring back to their best. Clubs will hold out for big money for their better players knowing we have money to spend and expensive players will demand bigger wages than we can pay. Always been that way and I'm happy to see what the manager and scouting staff come up with.

[jacomo]

It’s not just losing individual players but the team adapting to play in a different way.

Quite often across both ties v Molde, you had two Hibs players going for the same ball and almost tripping over each other.

At other times, when Big Marv won possession, neither Slivka nor Mallan seemed well placed to receive the ball.

All this can improve but a lot of coaching work to be done I think.

[killie-hibby]

We've often struggled to replace players when they have departed.

I suppose Scott Allan is the great exception to the rule - his departure gave us Liam Henderson on loan and the money to secure Dylan McGeouch (and I suppose SJM although he was already at the club by this point).

Losing Paul Wright to gain Keith Wright would have to be considered a success.

We struggled to replace the "golden generation" within the budget available and went into a long decline, and our history appears to be littered with us struggling to effectively spend the money gained from selling our best players, or pulling off some pretty bizarre deals that did not benefit us.

I hope we're not looking at such a situation right now, having lost a truly outstanding midfield from last year.

We managed to secure McGinn and McGeouch before - surely players like these are out there and we can do the same again?


Your concern brings back painful menories from the late 50's /early 60's. Virtually every decent player left ER,usually without prior warning or media leaks. No social media back then. Nothing since, has had the impact of Joe Baker,s transfer to Torino. Hibby veterans,myself included still await his replacement.

[Jones28]

Lennon has brought in quality, but no real replacements for Mcgeouch or McGinn. As has been pointed out I think we are lacking a balance to the midfield at the moment which could be helped by adding a deeper lying playmaker in the Mcgeouch mould.

We aren't far away but have got work to do yet.

[NAE NOOKIE]

Our problem is we can't spend the money we get in a replacement. For instance we can't spend £1,000,000 on a midfielder to take SJM's place. We'll either look for promising youngsters who we can develop or a stale older player who we can maybe bring back to their best. Clubs will hold out for big money for their better players knowing we have money to spend and expensive players will demand bigger wages than we can pay. Always been that way and I'm happy to see what the manager and scouting staff come up with.

The historical problem, not just at Hibs but clubs similar to us. As you say it doesn't matter if you can afford to spend a million quid on a player if signing him means you have to absolutely trash the clubs wage structure to pay him.

You are far better using that million quid to increase the wage budget and hope that will give you an edge on a few more of the clubs you are in direct competition with …. In that regard Aberdeen and Hearts are our nearest competitors, but ( Hearts insane spending on some players notwithstanding ) the difference appears to be within about £1000 a week, which if you have a regular squad of 20 first team players equates to another £1,040,000 a year.

Of course, if that increases our average wage to £3,500 quid a week for example and we sign 3 duds on 3 year contracts that's £1,638,000 down the pan …. which only goes to show what an insane tightrope walk it is running a professional football club like Hibs :greengrin

[ballengeich]

It's financially inherent to a club of our size that we'll only have truly top-class players at the beginning of their careers when we can then sell them on (McGinn, Brown etc) or near the end when the wealthier clubs no longer want them (Sauzee, Latapy etc).

We'll not be able to sign a direct replacement for McGinn but the transfer fee will let us bring in a slightly higher calibre of signing than we'd have got without it.

[CockneyRebel]

It's financially inherent to a club of our size that we'll only have truly top-class players at the beginning of their careers when we can then sell them on (McGinn, Brown etc) or near the end when the wealthier clubs no longer want them (Sauzee, Latapy etc).

We'll not be able to sign a direct replacement for McGinn but the transfer fee will let us bring in a slightly higher calibre of signing than we'd have got without it.



Not what the melters want to hear - far too sensible.

[Sioux]

Is it really so difficult to comprehend that replacing the players we've lost this summer, and in years gone by, is anything but difficult, bordering on impossible sometimes.

History tells us and that we rarely do, or can't, which sort of suggests that it is difficult.

[Smartie]

Is it really so difficult to comprehend that replacing the players we've lost this summer, and in years gone by, is anything but difficult, bordering on impossible sometimes.

History tells us and that we rarely do, or can't, which sort of suggests that it is difficult.

Alan Stubbs managed it.

I remember the meltdown during the Scott Allan saga - he was the first really good player we'd had for a while and was leaving us after a season.

What did Stubbs have/ do that we've struggled so badly to do throughout our entire history?

How do we expect Lennon to do? He pulled a few rabbits out of the hat in January, but can he rebuild an entire midfield?

He'll probably have resources that most previous Hibs managers would only be able to dream of.

[Sioux]

Alan Stubbs managed it.

I remember the meltdown during the Scott Allan saga - he was the first really good player we'd had for a while and was leaving us after a season.

What did Stubbs have/ do that we've struggled so badly to do throughout our entire history?

How do we expect Lennon to do? He pulled a few rabbits out of the hat in January, but can he rebuild an entire midfield?

He'll probably have resources that most previous Hibs managers would only be able to dream of.

That's all very well, but replacing the ones we've lost this year is a step beyond bringing SA in on a loan deal. Replacing quality like for like is always a no no financially, unless you're replacing bog standard average.

This isn't about replacing these players, its about creating a new midfield that fits with the rest of the squad. Not an easy task. Players like McGinn etc don't come within our grasp too often.