Europa League.

[mjhibby]

While there is great benefits to the Europa League in the money and the experience for the squad in can be no coincidence that hibs, Aberdeen and sevco are on five points after four games. The dons are in a similar position as us injury wise though not quite as bad. We have six players not available who would be in the team plus I think the likes of porteous I'm sure lenny didn't anticipate having to play so many games in such a short space of time.
That hertz have made a good start has heightened, for some, our frustration at our league start and the same players have played a lot of games quickly so there's no surprise we are not at our best. I'm sure the international break will be a big help and hopefully the likes of kamberi and daz are back in two weeks plus hopefully milligan available. Hertz will be above us for a good while but I'm sure as the season goes on things will look different. I doubt Watford will be anywhere near the top of the Premier league come the end of the season and that man u won't be top four. We have been fortunate to see a cracking team and made huge progress in the last three years. I'm sure we will soon be back winning regularly. Lenny will demand nothing else.

[Crazyhorse]

While there is great benefits to the Europa League in the money and the experience for the squad in can be no coincidence that hibs, Aberdeen and sevco are on five points after four games. The dons are in a similar position as us injury wise though not quite as bad. We have six players not available who would be in the team plus I think the likes of porteous I'm sure lenny didn't anticipate having to play so many games in such a short space of time.
That hertz have made a good start has heightened, for some, our frustration at our league start and the same players have played a lot of games quickly so there's no surprise we are not at our best. I'm sure the international break will be a big help and hopefully the likes of kamberi and daz are back in two weeks plus hopefully milligan available. Hertz will be above us for a good while but I'm sure as the season goes on things will look different. I doubt Watford will be anywhere near the top of the Premier league come the end of the season and that man u won't be top four. We have been fortunate to see a cracking team and made huge progress in the last three years. I'm sure we will soon be back winning regularly. Lenny will demand nothing else.

I hope you are right. We are undeniably weaker than the team that finished last season. The jambos have caught up to an extent, if we finish above them it will be a hell of a lot tighter than last season that is for sure.

[Austinho]

I think the Europa League has affected all of the teams involved.

We played a weakened team against St Johnstone in an attempt to beat Molde away, and had key injuries for the Aberdeen and Livingston games.

Celtic played a weaked team away to Hearts.

Rangers have struggled to pick up points with their busy schedule.

There’s no doubting the extra games have cost us and benefited our rivals. Most of us don’t have the squad depth to juggle so many games. The international break is timely and hopefully we’ll be in full flow again soon.

[BILLYHIBS]

Good luck to The Rangers and fair play to them for getting through against all the odds and yes the OF have helped boost our coefficient but this IS sour grapes I cannot help but feel that if we had their draw we would probably be in the group stages as well. I would go as far to say that Asteris Molde and their old enemies Zenit would have knocked them out.

I am not bitter! :wink:

[Fergos]

Burnley, who only got knocked out last week also had a difficult start in the league.

Its a bonkers tournament where you have to play another half season of games to get anywhere near the final.

[Hibernian Verse]

It's so good to see a rational post on here. What a difference...a day (or 3) makessssss.

[blackpoolhibs]

While there is great benefits to the Europa League in the money and the experience for the squad in can be no coincidence that hibs, Aberdeen and sevco are on five points after four games. The dons are in a similar position as us injury wise though not quite as bad. We have six players not available who would be in the team plus I think the likes of porteous I'm sure lenny didn't anticipate having to play so many games in such a short space of time.
That hertz have made a good start has heightened, for some, our frustration at our league start and the same players have played a lot of games quickly so there's no surprise we are not at our best. I'm sure the international break will be a big help and hopefully the likes of kamberi and daz are back in two weeks plus hopefully milligan available. Hertz will be above us for a good while but I'm sure as the season goes on things will look different. I doubt Watford will be anywhere near the top of the Premier league come the end of the season and that man u won't be top four. We have been fortunate to see a cracking team and made huge progress in the last three years. I'm sure we will soon be back winning regularly. Lenny will demand nothing else.

Great sensible post, and when you add in that we are bedding in a completely new midfield is it any surprise to anyone we wont be flying out the traps?

[worcesterhibby]

good post, we all just need to Keep the Heid and realise that we aren't in a bad position. I would suggest that we were ALWAYS going to be in a weaker position squad wise this season as there was nothing we could do to stop SJM and Dylan from leaving and they were the engine room of our midfield. You just can't go out and replace SJM, we are only ever going to be able to sign a talent like that while he is raw and young, last season he had matured and it was obvious that he was likely to leave, given the wages on offer in other leagues.

I think the club has done very well to get both Kamberi and Maclaren back, it's just a shame that Flo is currently injured as he offers something up from that we don't get from anyone else.

With Flo and Daz back and with Milligan or Bartley giving us some dig in midfield we will be a different proposition.

I also think that both Agyepong and Hyndeman will prove to be excellent signings for us.

For many years we have struggled to get goals from midfield, but with the signings of Mallan and Horgan, we seem to get goals from midfield every week now, which is also a positive.

I do thing Bogdan has done well since he arrived and I don't dislike Laidlaw either, but we will be an even stronger team when Marciano is back too.

50p says that we get Scott Allan in January as well :greengrin

[dalkeith stu]

good post, we all just need to Keep the Heid and realise that we aren't in a bad position. I would suggest that we were ALWAYS going to be in a weaker position squad wise this season as there was nothing we could do to stop SJM and Dylan from leaving and they were the engine room of our midfield. You just can't go out and replace SJM, we are only ever going to be able to sign a talent like that while he is raw and young, last season he had matured and it was obvious that he was likely to leave, given the wages on offer in other leagues.

I think the club has done very well to get both Kamberi and Maclaren back, it's just a shame that Flo is currently injured as he offers something up from that we don't get from anyone else.

With Flo and Daz back and with Milligan or Bartley giving us some dig in midfield we will be a different proposition.

I also think that both Agyepong and Hyndeman will prove to be excellent signings for us.

For many years we have struggled to get goals from midfield, but with the signings of Mallan and Horgan, we seem to get goals from midfield every week now, which is also a positive.

I do thing Bogdan has done well since he arrived and I don't dislike Laidlaw either, but we will be an even stronger team when Marciano is back too.

50p says that we get Scott Allan in January as well :greengrin
100% agree. We all strive to get into Europe but if you you do well it kills your chance domestically. No time on the training field to prepare for games and all the focus is on a Thursday night!!

[Love the Green]

Great sensible post, and when you add in that we are bedding in a completely new midfield is it any surprise to anyone we wont be flying out the traps?

Can you please tell me what the new midfield is as the manager does not seem to know.
Keep the Faith

[ScottB]

Saying that, the other topflight sides all played the League Cup group stage, so a fair few games on top. Less travelling, and some a lesser quality of opposition, but it’s not like Hearts, Killie and Livingston have only played 4 games so far this season.

[Steven79]

We should all smell blood this season as the League Cup is up for grabs for whoever wants it due to the two arse cheeks having Thursday night European games and as for the league itself its' going to be much tighter this year.

I would love to have the team that finished last season for the whole of this one as it would have been challenging/won the title this season.

[dalkeith stu]

Saying that, the other topflight sides all played the League Cup group stage, so a fair few games on top. Less travelling, and some a lesser quality of opposition, but it’s not like Hearts, Killie and Livingston have only played 4 games so far this season.

Are you seriously comparing games against th 42nd best team in Scotland and a non league team to games against the 5th best in Greece and 2nd best in Norway!! FFS!!

[macca70]

Our preparation for this new league campaign does not appear to have been great, 4 games in and we are not in great shape due to injuries or new signings settling in.

I think Europe has provided great experience and buzz, especially the away trips although the Thursday - Sunday schedule has defo impacted our start to the league.

Although, if we weren’t in Europe, we’d be playing in that daft cup Hearts played in with trips up to Highlands and Raith Rovers where players are equally prone to picking up injuries.

IMO our slow league start has been due to not bringing in new players early enough, i’d Love to see the dates hearts signed players compared to the dates our newbies joined. They had new players on the books before they broke up at end of last season, we still have a new signing kicking about in Australia and we’re 4 games into the season!!!

[Ryan69]

Our preparation for this new league campaign does not appear to have been great, 4 games in and we are not in great shape due to injuries or new signings settling in.

I think Europe has provided great experience and buzz, especially the away trips although the Thursday - Sunday schedule has defo impacted our start to the league.

Although, if we weren’t in Europe, we’d be playing in that daft cup Hearts played in with trips up to Highlands and Raith Rovers where players are equally prone to picking up injuries.

IMO our slow league start has been due to not bringing in new players early enough, i’d Love to see the dates hearts signed players compared to the dates our newbies joined. They had new players on the books before they broke up at end of last season, we still have a new signing kicking about in Australia and we’re 4 games into the season!!!

Hes in Turkey.

[danhibees1875]

Hes in Turkey.

He's getting closer at least. :greengrin

[macca70]

Hes in Turkey.

That’s handy to know, maybe get him to pick up a couple of dodgy Hugo Boss polo’s.

So doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing him as a starter anytime soon then.

[Alan62]

That’s handy to know, maybe get him to pick up a couple of dodgy Hugo Boss polo’s.

So doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing him as a starter anytime soon then.

He's at a international training camp and will join the squad shortly. No reason to think that he won't be in good physical condition and, hopefully, he'll have the experience to settle in quickly.