Jonnyboy
01-09-2018, 06:52 PM
The first day after the closing of the transfer window took Hibs to newly promoted Livingston where Neil Lennon sprung a surprise in naming Lewis Allan in his starting eleven. Of course, it was another Allan that the large travelling support had hoped to see but as it was, Scott Allan had not been signed and remains a Celtic player. Another surprise was the complete exclusion of David Gray although I did see him sitting on the bench just before the teams came out at the start of the game.
My mate got a text from his son, just prior to the game starting in which the son asked whether the inclusion of Lewis Allan was a choice made by the manager to send the board a message, given the lack of any last day signings. My response to that was and is that Lewis was selected ahead of Oli because he was better equipped to deal with the physicality of the Livingston defence. Given Lewis’ performance I’d suggest the manager got that call spot on. It’s fair to say though that in my view, Lenny went on to make a couple of other decisions which contributed to our 2-1 defeat.
As to the game itself I felt we started brightly enough but I feel I must mention the playing surface which, in my opinion, is appalling and had both sets of players finding the ball sticking under their feet and bouncing off at odd angles. I’m not offering that as the reason we lost but it certainly had a negative impact on proceedings and on both Boyler and Mallan in particular. Boyler’s running with the ball at defences was stunted, although he had a couple of telling runs at the start of the game while Mallan struggled to make any sort of telling pass and on a few occasions sent the ball into touch or no-man’s land.
Livi frequently used the weapon of long throw in’s but in the main our defence coped well enough with them. At the other end the Livi keeper didn’t have a save to make in the first half although Hibs might have taken the lead when a low cross found Stevenson on the right hand side of their box but Lewis blasted his shot just over the bar.
Seven or eight minutes after the break, Hibs took the lead when a ball into the Livi six yard box had players swinging at it but it was Daryl Horgan that made the telling connection and the visitors were 1-0 up. They say you are most vulnerable after you score and Livi pressed for an equaliser which duly arrived about five minutes later. The goal, though well made and taken was only possible because our midfield didn’t track the runner and then both Boyle and Mallan indulged in schoolboy defending by going to ground and letting Byrne dance past them to fire a low shot into Bogdan’s net.
From that moment onwards Hibs appeared to fall apart as Livi swarmed all over them. Players were making poor choices and failing to mark up or track runners and so it was no surprise that with twenty minutes to go another bout of schoolboy defending allowed Pittman to volley home from around fifteen yards. Lunging into tackles like that is the stuff of schoolboys and amateurs and it was painful to watch.
It was around this time, in fact just before the second goal, that I felt Lenny made a couple of bad calls. Replacing the ineffective Mallan with the speedy Agyepong he had the new lad playing through the middle where his pace would surely have less effect than if he’d been pushed wide left with Boyle on the right. The other puzzler was moving Horgan about with the midfielder appearing to take up three different positions in the space of ten minutes. Now, I’m no expert and I trust Lenny to do what’s right for Hibs but in my mind, those decisions contributed to the outcome.
One win, two draws and a defeat has us on five points which isn’t the best of starts and although I was mega disappointed in today’s result I am aware that we’re only four games into the league programme so I’ll not be jumping on the “relegation form” type of posts I’m guessing have been made on both the match thread and others.
The players
Adam – Our keeper was left horribly exposed for both goals and other than one excellent save when he tipped a goal bound header over the bar he had very little to do.
Efe – Was great in the first half and good with his headed clearances and dashes forward but like the majority of his team mates was abysmal after their equaliser.
Ryan – Was a colossus for the most part and though their number 45 was a livewire he dealt with him well enough. It’s a great pity that he seems to have been nutmegged in the lead up to the winning goal.
Paul – Another who had a decent first half but like Efe, his game went to pieces after the equaliser.
Boyler – After some early promising runs he faded a lot and on a couple of occasions could have squared the ball instead of taking the shot on. I’m guessing he’s no fan of synthetic surfaces though.
Whitty – Bizarrely I felt he was very good in the first half, though a single wayward pass soon had fans shouting for him to be replaced. The second half was another story altogether as he just didn’t seem to get anything right at all.
Mallan – I’m surprised he lasted as long as he did before being replaced. Just wasn’t at the races at all today and was culpable for the first goal and possibly so for the second. Strangely, I didn’t hear any “Whitty style” shouts from the crowd.
Daryl – Up until Lenny started moving him all over the pitch I though he was fine. Horgan is very comfortable on the ball and has an incredible engine. I think he should play left centre midfield and be left there, rather than moving him around like a chess piece.
Lewis – Part of a defence that conceded two avoidable goals but even so I don’t think he did anything particularly bad or good throughout the ninety.
Jamie – I’m aware he has his detractors and on today’s form it would be hard to argue with that but lumping a high ball to him is not the answer.
Lewis Allan – As I said earlier, I think his performance proved the manager right to select him. He was up against some giant defenders but still managed to take the ball in with his back to goal before laying it off to a team mate. I’d seen him earlier in his career, pre successive injuries and thought he had a bit about him. I thought that again today and made him my man of the match.
Emerson – Mallan was ineffective and so was Emerson. Poor display but it was bad luck on him that he joined proceedings just as his team mates were imploding.
Thomas – The laddie has pace to burn and looks happy taking players on. Played on the wing he’ll do some damage, played in midfield he’ll get swallowed up.
Oli – Got the last fifteen minutes but unlike Lewis Allan was not able to hold the ball up often enough. Of course by that time Hibs had decided long high balls was the answer.
Lenny – One right and a couple wrong decisions wise and I doubt he’s happy tonight.
The ref – Nothing much to say about Steven McLean. Got most things right.
The fans – We took along a fabulous support and it’s a shame that the team let them down.
And finally ……….. I’ve not looked on the MB yet but I’m sure there will be a lot of gnashing of teeth and Hearts doing so well will add to the ire. We had an off day, hasn’t happened much so I’ll not be joining the gnashing yet.
My mate got a text from his son, just prior to the game starting in which the son asked whether the inclusion of Lewis Allan was a choice made by the manager to send the board a message, given the lack of any last day signings. My response to that was and is that Lewis was selected ahead of Oli because he was better equipped to deal with the physicality of the Livingston defence. Given Lewis’ performance I’d suggest the manager got that call spot on. It’s fair to say though that in my view, Lenny went on to make a couple of other decisions which contributed to our 2-1 defeat.
As to the game itself I felt we started brightly enough but I feel I must mention the playing surface which, in my opinion, is appalling and had both sets of players finding the ball sticking under their feet and bouncing off at odd angles. I’m not offering that as the reason we lost but it certainly had a negative impact on proceedings and on both Boyler and Mallan in particular. Boyler’s running with the ball at defences was stunted, although he had a couple of telling runs at the start of the game while Mallan struggled to make any sort of telling pass and on a few occasions sent the ball into touch or no-man’s land.
Livi frequently used the weapon of long throw in’s but in the main our defence coped well enough with them. At the other end the Livi keeper didn’t have a save to make in the first half although Hibs might have taken the lead when a low cross found Stevenson on the right hand side of their box but Lewis blasted his shot just over the bar.
Seven or eight minutes after the break, Hibs took the lead when a ball into the Livi six yard box had players swinging at it but it was Daryl Horgan that made the telling connection and the visitors were 1-0 up. They say you are most vulnerable after you score and Livi pressed for an equaliser which duly arrived about five minutes later. The goal, though well made and taken was only possible because our midfield didn’t track the runner and then both Boyle and Mallan indulged in schoolboy defending by going to ground and letting Byrne dance past them to fire a low shot into Bogdan’s net.
From that moment onwards Hibs appeared to fall apart as Livi swarmed all over them. Players were making poor choices and failing to mark up or track runners and so it was no surprise that with twenty minutes to go another bout of schoolboy defending allowed Pittman to volley home from around fifteen yards. Lunging into tackles like that is the stuff of schoolboys and amateurs and it was painful to watch.
It was around this time, in fact just before the second goal, that I felt Lenny made a couple of bad calls. Replacing the ineffective Mallan with the speedy Agyepong he had the new lad playing through the middle where his pace would surely have less effect than if he’d been pushed wide left with Boyle on the right. The other puzzler was moving Horgan about with the midfielder appearing to take up three different positions in the space of ten minutes. Now, I’m no expert and I trust Lenny to do what’s right for Hibs but in my mind, those decisions contributed to the outcome.
One win, two draws and a defeat has us on five points which isn’t the best of starts and although I was mega disappointed in today’s result I am aware that we’re only four games into the league programme so I’ll not be jumping on the “relegation form” type of posts I’m guessing have been made on both the match thread and others.
The players
Adam – Our keeper was left horribly exposed for both goals and other than one excellent save when he tipped a goal bound header over the bar he had very little to do.
Efe – Was great in the first half and good with his headed clearances and dashes forward but like the majority of his team mates was abysmal after their equaliser.
Ryan – Was a colossus for the most part and though their number 45 was a livewire he dealt with him well enough. It’s a great pity that he seems to have been nutmegged in the lead up to the winning goal.
Paul – Another who had a decent first half but like Efe, his game went to pieces after the equaliser.
Boyler – After some early promising runs he faded a lot and on a couple of occasions could have squared the ball instead of taking the shot on. I’m guessing he’s no fan of synthetic surfaces though.
Whitty – Bizarrely I felt he was very good in the first half, though a single wayward pass soon had fans shouting for him to be replaced. The second half was another story altogether as he just didn’t seem to get anything right at all.
Mallan – I’m surprised he lasted as long as he did before being replaced. Just wasn’t at the races at all today and was culpable for the first goal and possibly so for the second. Strangely, I didn’t hear any “Whitty style” shouts from the crowd.
Daryl – Up until Lenny started moving him all over the pitch I though he was fine. Horgan is very comfortable on the ball and has an incredible engine. I think he should play left centre midfield and be left there, rather than moving him around like a chess piece.
Lewis – Part of a defence that conceded two avoidable goals but even so I don’t think he did anything particularly bad or good throughout the ninety.
Jamie – I’m aware he has his detractors and on today’s form it would be hard to argue with that but lumping a high ball to him is not the answer.
Lewis Allan – As I said earlier, I think his performance proved the manager right to select him. He was up against some giant defenders but still managed to take the ball in with his back to goal before laying it off to a team mate. I’d seen him earlier in his career, pre successive injuries and thought he had a bit about him. I thought that again today and made him my man of the match.
Emerson – Mallan was ineffective and so was Emerson. Poor display but it was bad luck on him that he joined proceedings just as his team mates were imploding.
Thomas – The laddie has pace to burn and looks happy taking players on. Played on the wing he’ll do some damage, played in midfield he’ll get swallowed up.
Oli – Got the last fifteen minutes but unlike Lewis Allan was not able to hold the ball up often enough. Of course by that time Hibs had decided long high balls was the answer.
Lenny – One right and a couple wrong decisions wise and I doubt he’s happy tonight.
The ref – Nothing much to say about Steven McLean. Got most things right.
The fans – We took along a fabulous support and it’s a shame that the team let them down.
And finally ……….. I’ve not looked on the MB yet but I’m sure there will be a lot of gnashing of teeth and Hearts doing so well will add to the ire. We had an off day, hasn’t happened much so I’ll not be joining the gnashing yet.