Jonnyboy
05-12-2018, 10:41 PM
Another game, another disappointing outcome as Hibs struggled to earn a share of the points against a bang average St. Mirren side. My pre game initial encouragement at hearing the team news didn’t take long to evaporate as, just like last Saturday at Kilmarnock, Hibs found themselves a goal down after six minutes. What a goal it was, but more of that later.
Wholesale changes saw us lining up with a traditional 4-4-2, Mavrias in the right back position. The midfield four concerned me as with Boyle and Horgan wide it left only Mallan and Bartley in central positions. Ideal for going forward I guess but less than ideal when defending as of the four, only Bartley seemed willing to get involved in the tackling side of the game. Up front we went with the struggling Kamberi and Oli Shaw.
The opening exchanges saw Horgan deliver a super ball into the middle but Kamberi failed to make decent contact with his head and the effort sailed harmlessly over the bar. St. Mirren clearly came to frustrate and they were doing a decent job in the middle of the park until a stunning opener arrived courtesy of Adam Hamill. Oli Shaw was dispossessed, unfairly I thought and when Hamill picked up the loose ball he looked up, saw Bogdan well off his line and drove a high looping shot over the keeper and into the empty net. It was opportunism at its best from Hamill and reminded me of similar efforts by Chic Charnley and Pat McGinlay from years gone by. Needless to say it stunned the home crowd but it has to be said it was as cracker and had a Hibs player done it the roof may have come off.
In setting about chasing an equaliser, Hibs I felt were too pedestrian in their approach with far too many sideways and backward passes. Despite that, a few chances were created with Boyle firing just wide before Mallan wriggled between two St Mirren defenders only to drag his shot wide of the far post. Danny Rogers hadn’t had a lot to do but he had to look lively when a deep cross from Mavrias was driven towards goal by Stevenson. It looked in all the way until Rogers’ acrobatic leap to tip the ball over the bar.
No changes made at half time but it seemed Neil Lennon had had a few words as his charges looked more up for it. An early deep Stevenson cross was headed back across goal by Boyle only for Kamberi to miss it completely and Horgan not to react quickly enough as the ball came off his shin and rolled wide. Just four minutes in the industrious Marvin Bartley went down holding his groin and was unable to continue as Milligan came on as his replacement. Around ten minutes in, Hibs equalised when a quick throw in found Boyle who raced to the bye line before hitting a low cross to the front post which Oli Shaw nudged past Rogers. The St Mirren players were really unhappy as in contesting the throw in that led to the goal, Kyle Magennis seemed to pull his hamstring but he landed off the pitch and so play was allowed to continue.
I honestly felt Hibs now looked to have it in them to go on and win the game but close to the seventy minute mark a daft foul by Porteous on Hammill resulted in the latter sending a free kick deep into the Hibs six yard box where Paul McGinn casually steered his header beyond Bogdan. This is becoming too much of a bad habit by the Hibs defence. The ball was there to be cleared but not one Hibs player, including the keeper, came to attack it.
Once again it took fighting qualities to rescue Hibs from another shocking defeat. Thankfully, Mallan’s corner was bulleted home from the head of Porteous as he lost his marker in Ferdinand. Hibs had the crowd going at last and threw themselves forward at every opportunity. Slivka, who had earlier replaced the struggling Kamberi, was at the root of most of the attacking moves but as the clock ticked down, Hibs looked more and more desperate and were perhaps lucky that the superb Adam Hamill ran out of puff when he looked set to score but was denied well by Mavrias. Jamie Mac got the last few minutes but the clock ran down and another two valuable points were lost.
The players
Adam – I heard one or two folk blaming him for the opening goal but to my mind there wasn’t a lot wrong with his positioning, given the ball was in the St Mirren half at the time. Sometimes you just have to hold your hand up when something so audacious comes off. Could perhaps have done better for the second goal but he had a packed six yard box in front of him.
Harry – Without doing anything particularly brilliantly I thought he had a solid performance and was very prominent down our right hand side in the second half. Certainly, Hibs looked more balanced with a back four.
Efe – I just love the guy and felt he was the best Hibs player on the park by a long way. He is never frightened to break forward and caused the St Mirren midfield a good few problems. Efe was my man of the match.
Ryan – The big fella had a bit of a mixed bag if truth be told. Although he scored a stunning goal he was prone on a number of occasions to hitting wayward passes that got his fellow defenders in trouble. It was naïve of him to foul Hammill for the second goal as the guy was going nowhere and was practically on the shy line.
Lewis – Another good performance from Mr dependable he defended well and linked up with Horgan to good effect, especially in the first half. His driven effort in the first half would have been a wonderful goal, but for the acrobatics of Danny Rogers.
Boyler – At last we were to see Martin back in his natural position as wide right in a four but for long periods he just wasn’t involved and struggled with their left back Ernahon, who was both quick and physical. His delivery for Oli’s goal was good and he had a couple of other efforts but to me he is still some way short of where I think he can be.
Stevie – Lots of effort, lots of movement but next to no product. Stevie struggled in the two man central midfield and seems to have lost his scoring knack.
Marv – Captain for the night, Marv pretty much carried the midfield on his own but he’s human, can’t be everywhere at once and was not well supported by his team mates.
Daryl – Started the game with a bang and for the first twenty five minutes or so he looked dangerous but as with Stevie Mallan there was very little end product. When he was named as the sponsors’ man of the match I wonder if he heard the laughter that swept round the home stands?
Flo – There is something fundamentally wrong with him. Compared to last season his movement is very poor and his first touch even poorer. If he’s playing with an injury I think Hibs should just bite the bullet and get it sorted as on tonight’s display he wouldn’t be missed.
Oli – I like Oli’s movement and I believe he is getting better at the physical side of the game too. Perfectly positioned for his goal I felt he gave the St Mirren defence lots to think about.
Mark – Once again I found Mark to be wanting at times though his pivotal role in the centre of midfield clearly suits him better that a slot in central defence.
Slivka – Was involved in a positive way from the moment he replaced Kamberi. He’s described by those that rate him as a clever footballer and I’m in that camp. He rarely misplaces a pass and his positional play is very good.
Jamie – Didn’t really get enough time to have an effect on the outcome bit I’d wager if he was six inches taller he’d have gotten his head onto a deep Mavrias cross. Alas, he’s not and he didn’t.
Neil – Changed the formation and shuffled the personnel but it was not a good performance and I doubt he’d be happy with it.
The fans – ER was like a morgue at times tonight but I guess if the players don’t perform the fans won’t either.
The ref – Euan Anderson gave a pretty normal Scottish refereeing performance so I’m getting used to just how bad the officials are these days.
Wholesale changes saw us lining up with a traditional 4-4-2, Mavrias in the right back position. The midfield four concerned me as with Boyle and Horgan wide it left only Mallan and Bartley in central positions. Ideal for going forward I guess but less than ideal when defending as of the four, only Bartley seemed willing to get involved in the tackling side of the game. Up front we went with the struggling Kamberi and Oli Shaw.
The opening exchanges saw Horgan deliver a super ball into the middle but Kamberi failed to make decent contact with his head and the effort sailed harmlessly over the bar. St. Mirren clearly came to frustrate and they were doing a decent job in the middle of the park until a stunning opener arrived courtesy of Adam Hamill. Oli Shaw was dispossessed, unfairly I thought and when Hamill picked up the loose ball he looked up, saw Bogdan well off his line and drove a high looping shot over the keeper and into the empty net. It was opportunism at its best from Hamill and reminded me of similar efforts by Chic Charnley and Pat McGinlay from years gone by. Needless to say it stunned the home crowd but it has to be said it was as cracker and had a Hibs player done it the roof may have come off.
In setting about chasing an equaliser, Hibs I felt were too pedestrian in their approach with far too many sideways and backward passes. Despite that, a few chances were created with Boyle firing just wide before Mallan wriggled between two St Mirren defenders only to drag his shot wide of the far post. Danny Rogers hadn’t had a lot to do but he had to look lively when a deep cross from Mavrias was driven towards goal by Stevenson. It looked in all the way until Rogers’ acrobatic leap to tip the ball over the bar.
No changes made at half time but it seemed Neil Lennon had had a few words as his charges looked more up for it. An early deep Stevenson cross was headed back across goal by Boyle only for Kamberi to miss it completely and Horgan not to react quickly enough as the ball came off his shin and rolled wide. Just four minutes in the industrious Marvin Bartley went down holding his groin and was unable to continue as Milligan came on as his replacement. Around ten minutes in, Hibs equalised when a quick throw in found Boyle who raced to the bye line before hitting a low cross to the front post which Oli Shaw nudged past Rogers. The St Mirren players were really unhappy as in contesting the throw in that led to the goal, Kyle Magennis seemed to pull his hamstring but he landed off the pitch and so play was allowed to continue.
I honestly felt Hibs now looked to have it in them to go on and win the game but close to the seventy minute mark a daft foul by Porteous on Hammill resulted in the latter sending a free kick deep into the Hibs six yard box where Paul McGinn casually steered his header beyond Bogdan. This is becoming too much of a bad habit by the Hibs defence. The ball was there to be cleared but not one Hibs player, including the keeper, came to attack it.
Once again it took fighting qualities to rescue Hibs from another shocking defeat. Thankfully, Mallan’s corner was bulleted home from the head of Porteous as he lost his marker in Ferdinand. Hibs had the crowd going at last and threw themselves forward at every opportunity. Slivka, who had earlier replaced the struggling Kamberi, was at the root of most of the attacking moves but as the clock ticked down, Hibs looked more and more desperate and were perhaps lucky that the superb Adam Hamill ran out of puff when he looked set to score but was denied well by Mavrias. Jamie Mac got the last few minutes but the clock ran down and another two valuable points were lost.
The players
Adam – I heard one or two folk blaming him for the opening goal but to my mind there wasn’t a lot wrong with his positioning, given the ball was in the St Mirren half at the time. Sometimes you just have to hold your hand up when something so audacious comes off. Could perhaps have done better for the second goal but he had a packed six yard box in front of him.
Harry – Without doing anything particularly brilliantly I thought he had a solid performance and was very prominent down our right hand side in the second half. Certainly, Hibs looked more balanced with a back four.
Efe – I just love the guy and felt he was the best Hibs player on the park by a long way. He is never frightened to break forward and caused the St Mirren midfield a good few problems. Efe was my man of the match.
Ryan – The big fella had a bit of a mixed bag if truth be told. Although he scored a stunning goal he was prone on a number of occasions to hitting wayward passes that got his fellow defenders in trouble. It was naïve of him to foul Hammill for the second goal as the guy was going nowhere and was practically on the shy line.
Lewis – Another good performance from Mr dependable he defended well and linked up with Horgan to good effect, especially in the first half. His driven effort in the first half would have been a wonderful goal, but for the acrobatics of Danny Rogers.
Boyler – At last we were to see Martin back in his natural position as wide right in a four but for long periods he just wasn’t involved and struggled with their left back Ernahon, who was both quick and physical. His delivery for Oli’s goal was good and he had a couple of other efforts but to me he is still some way short of where I think he can be.
Stevie – Lots of effort, lots of movement but next to no product. Stevie struggled in the two man central midfield and seems to have lost his scoring knack.
Marv – Captain for the night, Marv pretty much carried the midfield on his own but he’s human, can’t be everywhere at once and was not well supported by his team mates.
Daryl – Started the game with a bang and for the first twenty five minutes or so he looked dangerous but as with Stevie Mallan there was very little end product. When he was named as the sponsors’ man of the match I wonder if he heard the laughter that swept round the home stands?
Flo – There is something fundamentally wrong with him. Compared to last season his movement is very poor and his first touch even poorer. If he’s playing with an injury I think Hibs should just bite the bullet and get it sorted as on tonight’s display he wouldn’t be missed.
Oli – I like Oli’s movement and I believe he is getting better at the physical side of the game too. Perfectly positioned for his goal I felt he gave the St Mirren defence lots to think about.
Mark – Once again I found Mark to be wanting at times though his pivotal role in the centre of midfield clearly suits him better that a slot in central defence.
Slivka – Was involved in a positive way from the moment he replaced Kamberi. He’s described by those that rate him as a clever footballer and I’m in that camp. He rarely misplaces a pass and his positional play is very good.
Jamie – Didn’t really get enough time to have an effect on the outcome bit I’d wager if he was six inches taller he’d have gotten his head onto a deep Mavrias cross. Alas, he’s not and he didn’t.
Neil – Changed the formation and shuffled the personnel but it was not a good performance and I doubt he’d be happy with it.
The fans – ER was like a morgue at times tonight but I guess if the players don’t perform the fans won’t either.
The ref – Euan Anderson gave a pretty normal Scottish refereeing performance so I’m getting used to just how bad the officials are these days.