The problems are Milligan, Boyle, Kamberi & Lennon

[MacGruber]

It might not have made the difference today but the main issues for me are

Milligan - came in to our midfield and we instantly looked more solid. Mallan was having better more effective games playing a bit higher and with a bit more creative industry with Mark covering. Slivka and Hyndman looked more assured alongside and had their best games. We won 4 in a row... then we changed him to defence and haven't won since.

Boyle. Not a through the middle striker. Has to play wide right either in a 4 or wing back. Back to Milligan - when Milligan plays in a midfield 3 and Boyle at wing back he can drop back splitting the centre halfs pushing Ambrose/Porteous over to the right when Boyle is in full flow from wing back in attack. Both these players have been moved out of position and we have suffered.

Kamberi - our focal point. We have none when he doesn't play. We can go Flo & Mac in a 2 or Flo up top on his own. We can not go MacLaren as a lone striker. This doesn't work. We need some kind of back up to the role Flo provides come January (along with Scott Allan)

Lennon. Love him. He gets it right more often than not clearly and can manage Hibs for as long as he wants for me. However, just lately playing people out of position and subs that are a bit baffling. Hope he works out his best shape and 11 soon.

Also, maybe a dis-service, I don't know if Porteous is carrying a knock but don't know why he hasnt featured of late.

Anyway today is gone. Have had a beer and a cry and we move on

[StevesFamau5]

Am I allowed 13 beers and a cry/spew?

Great post though. This mix & match is not working at all

[Forza Fred]

I’m sure our coaching staff will be reflecting on what went right/wrong and make any necessary adjustments for the Aberdeen game.

They have certainly got it right much more than they have got it wrong over the past couple of seasons, and I see this as one of those ‘bumps in the road’

[we are hibs]

Is it just be or when Whittaker and efe had the ball on our right in the second half Boyle looked like he didn't want to make the run in behind? He was wanting it to feet when about 3 or 4 times the run in behind the full back was on and the 1 and only time he did it we nearly scored

[judas]

It might not have made the difference today but the main issues for me are

Milligan - came in to our midfield and we instantly looked more solid. Mallan was having better more effective games playing a bit higher and with a bit more creative industry with Mark covering. Slivka and Hyndman looked more assured alongside and had their best games. We won 4 in a row... then we changed him to defence and haven't won since.

Boyle. Not a through the middle striker. Has to play wide right either in a 4 or wing back. Back to Milligan - when Milligan plays in a midfield 3 and Boyle at wing back he can drop back splitting the centre halfs pushing Ambrose/Porteous over to the right when Boyle is in full flow from wing back in attack. Both these players have been moved out of position and we have suffered.

Kamberi - our focal point. We have none when he doesn't play. We can go Flo & Mac in a 2 or Flo up top on his own. We can not go MacLaren as a lone striker. This doesn't work. We need some kind of back up to the role Flo provides come January (along with Scott Allan)

Lennon. Love him. He gets it right more often than not clearly and can manage Hibs for as long as he wants for me. However, just lately playing people out of position and subs that are a bit baffling. Hope he works out his best shape and 11 soon.

Also, maybe a dis-service, I don't know if Porteous is carrying a knock but don't know why he hasnt featured of late.

Anyway today is gone. Have had a beer and a cry and we move on

Top class post agree with it all.

[Onceinawhile]

We won four games in a row, moved Porteous to the bench and put milligan in defence and have conceded 5 in 3 and picked up one point.

[Carheenlea]

Neil Lennon makes quite dramatic changes to the side in line up and formation from week to week rather than just the odd tweak here and there. Always a danger of performances like that yesterday with such practice. Ideally you want a solid, regular line up but not always practical to do so, but I don’t think our injury list and suspensions merit the radical changes. After such a bad day yesterday it’s a stick on for further changes again for Aberdeen, but we really need to get a settled team on the pitch with few surprises.

[JimBHibees]

We won four games in a row, moved Porteous to the bench and put milligan in defence and have conceded 5 in 3 and picked up one point.

2 of those games being the toughest away games. Yesterday was disappointing however saints are playing well and Flo was unfairly missing.

[green day]

2 of those games being the toughest away games. Yesterday was disappointing however saints are playing well and Flo was unfairly missing.

Agreed re the tough matches - we need to reboot the formation to pre-Cletic match v Dons next week (as much as possible).

..........and, sacrilege I know but I would drop Daz

[Sir David Gray]

We won four games in a row, moved Porteous to the bench and put milligan in defence and have conceded 5 in 3 and picked up one point.

Of course you are correct but of the four we won in a row, three were against the worst teams in the league and from the next three fixtures, two of them were against the top two sides in the league away from home and the third match was against a side coming into the game in good form having not lost a goal in three games and winning three in a row.

Whilst factually correct, I think your post is far too simplistic.

[LustForLeith]

Whoever told Lennon that Boyle should be playing upfront may well be the same person who told him he should die his hair peroxide blonde

[danhibees1875]

I agree with everything the OP has said - good post.

Milligan back to midfield is a must for Friday IMO.

[cabbage_88]

It might not have made the difference today but the main issues for me are

Milligan - came in to our midfield and we instantly looked more solid. Mallan was having better more effective games playing a bit higher and with a bit more creative industry with Mark covering. Slivka and Hyndman looked more assured alongside and had their best games. We won 4 in a row... then we changed him to defence and haven't won since.

Boyle. Not a through the middle striker. Has to play wide right either in a 4 or wing back. Back to Milligan - when Milligan plays in a midfield 3 and Boyle at wing back he can drop back splitting the centre halfs pushing Ambrose/Porteous over to the right when Boyle is in full flow from wing back in attack. Both these players have been moved out of position and we have suffered.

Kamberi - our focal point. We have none when he doesn't play. We can go Flo & Mac in a 2 or Flo up top on his own. We can not go MacLaren as a lone striker. This doesn't work. We need some kind of back up to the role Flo provides come January (along with Scott Allan)

Lennon. Love him. He gets it right more often than not clearly and can manage Hibs for as long as he wants for me. However, just lately playing people out of position and subs that are a bit baffling. Hope he works out his best shape and 11 soon.

Also, maybe a dis-service, I don't know if Porteous is carrying a knock but don't know why he hasnt featured of late.

Anyway today is gone. Have had a beer and a cry and we move on

Couldn't have said that better mate, absolutely spot on.

[allezsauzee]

Can't disagree with any of that really aside from that I think Lennon is protecting Ryan to an extent. He is young and you don't want to burn him out at early this stage in his career. Especially with 8 games coming up in December. I'm pretty sure he'll be back in the team soon, think he's just been given a rest.

[Borderhibbie76]

It might not have made the difference today but the main issues for me are

Milligan - came in to our midfield and we instantly looked more solid. Mallan was having better more effective games playing a bit higher and with a bit more creative industry with Mark covering. Slivka and Hyndman looked more assured alongside and had their best games. We won 4 in a row... then we changed him to defence and haven't won since.

Boyle. Not a through the middle striker. Has to play wide right either in a 4 or wing back. Back to Milligan - when Milligan plays in a midfield 3 and Boyle at wing back he can drop back splitting the centre halfs pushing Ambrose/Porteous over to the right when Boyle is in full flow from wing back in attack. Both these players have been moved out of position and we have suffered.

Kamberi - our focal point. We have none when he doesn't play. We can go Flo & Mac in a 2 or Flo up top on his own. We can not go MacLaren as a lone striker. This doesn't work. We need some kind of back up to the role Flo provides come January (along with Scott Allan)

Lennon. Love him. He gets it right more often than not clearly and can manage Hibs for as long as he wants for me. However, just lately playing people out of position and subs that are a bit baffling. Hope he works out his best shape and 11 soon.

Also, maybe a dis-service, I don't know if Porteous is carrying a knock but don't know why he hasnt featured of late.

Anyway today is gone. Have had a beer and a cry and we move onPerfect summary for me and 100%agree with everything...it's baffling why Lennon has moved Milligan into defence tho...must get him back in midfield for Fri night in Aberdeen

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[wookie70]

Neil Lennon makes quite dramatic changes to the side in line up and formation from week to week rather than just the odd tweak here and there. Always a danger of performances like that yesterday with such practice. Ideally you want a solid, regular line up but not always practical to do so, but I don’t think our injury list and suspensions merit the radical changes. After such a bad day yesterday it’s a stick on for further changes again for Aberdeen, but we really need to get a settled team on the pitch with few surprises.

He didn't make many changes to shape or personnel during the period where we won four league games on the spin. Injuries have definitely played a part but it is puzzling seeing players on the bench who have been brilliant and seeing players shuffling about between or during games to accommodate more changes. We look disjointed at the moment and that needs some thought from our management team.

[MWHIBBIES]

Boyle as a striker has to stop. It's so bad.

[brog]

It might not have made the difference today but the main issues for me are

Milligan - came in to our midfield and we instantly looked more solid. Mallan was having better more effective games playing a bit higher and with a bit more creative industry with Mark covering. Slivka and Hyndman looked more assured alongside and had their best games. We won 4 in a row... then we changed him to defence and haven't won since.

Boyle. Not a through the middle striker. Has to play wide right either in a 4 or wing back. Back to Milligan - when Milligan plays in a midfield 3 and Boyle at wing back he can drop back splitting the centre halfs pushing Ambrose/Porteous over to the right when Boyle is in full flow from wing back in attack. Both these players have been moved out of position and we have suffered.

Kamberi - our focal point. We have none when he doesn't play. We can go Flo & Mac in a 2 or Flo up top on his own. We can not go MacLaren as a lone striker. This doesn't work. We need some kind of back up to the role Flo provides come January (along with Scott Allan)

Lennon. Love him. He gets it right more often than not clearly and can manage Hibs for as long as he wants for me. However, just lately playing people out of position and subs that are a bit baffling. Hope he works out his best shape and 11 soon.

Also, maybe a dis-service, I don't know if Porteous is carrying a knock but don't know why he hasnt featured of late.

Anyway today is gone. Have had a beer and a cry and we move on

Saved me having to post this, agree 100%. We didn't concede a goal in 4 games. In 3 of those we played a back 4, in the other we had 3 genuine centre backs. Milligan played in front of the defence in all 4 games & Porteous played in 3 of them. We go to Celtc & play a back 3, one of which is Louie. Change to a back 4 with Milligan at centre back before half time, take Milligan off & bring on Whittaker before the end. I should add we bring back Darren, who I love but who had a mare at Celtc & we don't see Porteous for the last 3 games. I've been hugely impressed with Lennon since his arrival but i think he's been guilty of over thinking things for his last 3 selections.

[MacGruber]

Can't disagree with any of that really aside from that I think Lennon is protecting Ryan to an extent. He is young and you don't want to burn him out at early this stage in his career. Especially with 8 games coming up in December. I'm pretty sure he'll be back in the team soon, think he's just been given a rest.

Yeah take your point. It's been mentioned elsewhere he is carrying a knock but could also be protecting him due to his age

[CentreLine]

Whoever told Lennon that Boyle should be playing upfront may well be the same person who told him he should die his hair peroxide blonde

Phew! For a moment I missed the misspelling of the word “die” and thought we were back to abuse stories. Then I realised you meant “dye his hair” 🤗

[InchHibby]

It might not have made the difference today but the main issues for me are

Milligan - came in to our midfield and we instantly looked more solid. Mallan was having better more effective games playing a bit higher and with a bit more creative industry with Mark covering. Slivka and Hyndman looked more assured alongside and had their best games. We won 4 in a row... then we changed him to defence and haven't won since.

Boyle. Not a through the middle striker. Has to play wide right either in a 4 or wing back. Back to Milligan - when Milligan plays in a midfield 3 and Boyle at wing back he can drop back splitting the centre halfs pushing Ambrose/Porteous over to the right when Boyle is in full flow from wing back in attack. Both these players have been moved out of position and we have suffered.

Kamberi - our focal point. We have none when he doesn't play. We can go Flo & Mac in a 2 or Flo up top on his own. We can not go MacLaren as a lone striker. This doesn't work. We need some kind of back up to the role Flo provides come January (along with Scott Allan)

Lennon. Love him. He gets it right more often than not clearly and can manage Hibs for as long as he wants for me. However, just lately playing people out of position and subs that are a bit baffling. Hope he works out his best shape and 11 soon.

Also, maybe a dis-service, I don't know if Porteous is carrying a knock but don't know why he hasnt featured of late.

Anyway today is gone. Have had a beer and a cry and we move on

Agree totally with this post, if I may I would like to add, Milligan and Bartley shouldn’t be in the same team and why wasn’t Shaw put up front with McLaren from the kick of leaving Boyle where he should be, on the wing.
Great post though.

[Smartie]

Without Kamberi and with the players we have, I can't see any combination up front that would work. That's why I'd have played Lewis Allan - to get more out of Mallan, Boyle and Horgan.

I honestly thought the defensive unit was fine on Saturday. We should be scoring enough goals that giving away a foul outside the box, and defending a good free kick weakly should be a minor inconvenience and consolation goal rather than giving our opponents all 3 points.

[Greenbeard]

2-3 weeks ago I and others were posting on here saying how great it was to have more options than previously in terms of how we set up and who goes where, but with a cautionary warning that that in itself can be a potential problem if there is no established and settled pattern, with players potentially becoming unsure of the system, or their own role in it, and then less effective or lacking confidence. Is it going that way?

I too am surprised that after his good reviews v Livvie Lewis Allan has not had another opportunity.