This is how it feels (Motherwell 230119)

[Jonnyboy]

I hardly know where to start but as I struggle to do so I’ll quote my Mass Hibsteria friend Grumpy Gibby and offer the view that tonight’s performance was a “loady p!sh” and that kinda does the job for me.

I’m a great believer in the saying that if something ain’t broke it doesn’t need fixed and so I was totally baffled as to why Lenny decided the winning formation from last Saturday needed to be changed. He clearly wanted to play an apparently fit again Porteous and to give Omeonga his debut but in doing that he opted to play Paul Hanlon at left back when he had two left back’s on the bench and to push Ryan Gauld into a wide right position when the laddie had proved he was much more effective sitting off the striker in a more central role. To my mind, both decisions were disastrous. Firstly, Hanlon was like a fish out of water and was repeatedly beaten by young Jake Hastie, a clever and very mobile wide man whilst in midfield Gauld was largely peripheral until things were changed at half time.

The game didn’t start well for Hibs and it became apparent early on that Motherwell were putting in tremendous effort physically in closing Hibs players down. They reminded me of John Collins’ Hibs team that hunted in packs to win the ball back as quickly as possible. Their job was made much easier by the fact that Hibs were pedestrian in possession and seemed hell bent on playing the ball sideways and backwards before heaving it forward to Kamberi, who failed to give the Motherwell defenders any problems at all. The defenders may have felt they had no choice because the midfield was overrun and unable to offer anything in terms of creating chances. I felt that Bartley and Mallan were sitting far too deep, Gauld too wide and Horgan making wrong choices when he occasionally had the ball.

As the half hour approached and the 1,000 plus Hibs fans grew more restless, a challenge around half way saw Porteous go to ground and as a result having to leave the field. I understand his knee popped out again; massively worrying and prompting thoughts that maybe he was brought back too soon and needs to get that fixed before he plays again. Ryan’s departure meant Sean Mackie coming in at left back with Paul Hanlon moving back into the middle. Hanlon may have ‘escaped’ from his Jake Hastie ‘nightmare’ but he walked straight into another as he struggled badly against the power and aggression of Curtis Main. I know Main was discussed on the messageboard as a possible replacement for Maclaren and that a fair few suggested he wasn’t good enough but I have to say that tonight he gave Motherwell everything that Flo Kamberi fails to give Hibs.

With half time looming, Mackie was dispossessed by Hastie on the half way line. The young Motherwell lad strode forward leaving defenders in his wake before delivering a cracking ball into the path of Turnbull who fired a lovely low shot past Rocky to give his side what I have to say was a deserved lead.

At half time, Lenny withdrew debutant Omeonga, who had been booked and replaced him with Slivka which meant the Lithuanian playing wide right and Gauld moving to a more central position. This made a noticeable difference with Hibs seeing much more of the ball but whilst they enjoyed more possession they did not, as Lenny said post-match, dominate Motherwell. Dominating the ball is not the same as dominating your opponents.

Although things had improved a bit after the break, Hibs still struggled to make any real opportunities whilst they remained fragile at the back. Whittaker was having a torrid time against the tricky Ariyibi and in truth I was amazed that Lenny didn’t replace him with a better defender in David Gray. Chances were few and far between but one glorious opportunity presented itself when Gauld found Horgan in space on the left but as the Motherwell keeper advanced, Horgan elected to try and chip the ball over him into an empty net but got it horribly wrong when either driving the ball low for goal or even going round the keeper would have been the right choice.

With time running out fast, Lenny replaced Bartley with Oli Shaw but the service to the front men was still poor and so the substitution had little to no effect. Indeed as Hibs pushed forward, Motherwell tried to capitalise on the gaps at the back and twice had the opportunity to double their lead but Main’s effort was saved by Rocky and then Sammon hit the post with the goal gaping. A long, cold and downright miserable night came to an end as an exhausted Motherwell team left the park to a standing ovation. They gave everything for ninety minutes whilst Hibs seemed strangely subdued.

The players

Rocky – The goal was a beauty and Rocky was left horribly exposed. Other than that and the late save from Main’s effort, he had little to do.

Whitty – In the recent past I have spoken up for Whitty when others have, to my mind, been overly critical but I cannot defend tonight’s performance as it was awful from start to finish. Quite how Lenny could sit and watch that with a better right back on the bench is anybody’s guess.

Daz – The big fella struggled all night with the strength and aggression of Main and the quick feet of both Hastie and Ariyibi. I can kinda see now why some fans think Daz is getting near his sell by date and I have to confess it pains me to say that about him.

Porty – Lenny says Ryan has been fine in training and so was deemed ready to play. In the half hour he had on the park he struggled in my opinion and didn’t look the player we have all come to admire. This knee thing is serious, he’s a young lad with a long career hopefully ahead of him but Hibs need to make a choice as to what happens next.

Paul – Ironically, Paul was left back when he broke into the first team. He had played for and captained Scotland U21’s as a left back but tonight he looked like he’d never played that position before. For my money he should never have been played there and if his move was to accommodate Ryan’s return that move should have been to the bench to allow a natural left back in Sean Mackie take that position.

Ryan – The laddie was almost completely anonymous in the first half, as he was removed from the centre of the park to accommodate Omeonga. What a waste, after seeing him revel in the central position last Saturday. Was much better in the second half when moved into the middle and on a night where nobody deserves man of the match I’d say he was the best of a poor bunch.

Stephane – I’m not going to pass judgement on a guy playing his first game for the club and looking as though he’ll need time to adjust to the pace of the game in Scotland. One positive for me was the fact that he displayed an excellent first touch, something a few of his team mates could do with working on.

Stevie – I just can’t work out where Mallan is meant to be playing. Bartley was the holding midfielder but Mallan was almost always as deep and so the goal threat he carried earlier in the season has basically disappeared.

Marv – I love the big fella but he was not at the races tonight.

Daryl – Many have said he needs to be played wide to get the best out of him. He was played wide tonight and was very poor; missing the one glorious chance we had to score.

Flo – Another nightmare performance from him tonight. The Motherwell centre half had him in his pocket from the off and it fair ripped my knitting to see him struggle to offer anything when at the other end of the park Curtis Main was having a field day.

Sean – Did well enough when he came on and dealt with Hastie a tad better than Hanlon did. I’ve only seen it ‘live’ but there’s a chance he was lucky his yellow card wasn’t a red as he seemed to catch the Motherwell player in the face with a flailing arm.

Slivka – This was a strange one for me because when I was reflecting on his performance I came to the conclusion that apart from turning down a golden opportunity to have a shot from 18 yards he didn’t do much wrong but equally didn’t do anything of real note either.

Oli – As I alluded to earlier, the service to the front men was poor to non-existent and so there’s not a lot I can say about the ten minutes he got.

Lenny – In his post-match interview he said we had dominated the second half. See above for my ‘different’ take on the meaning of the word dominated.

The fans – Over 1,000 on a freezing cold night and to be fair they stuck with it to the end.

The ref – I’ve praised Bobby Madden in the past but I won’t be tonight as I thought this was one of his poorer games.

[franck sauzee]

Can't argue with that. In the car on the way home I said I bet Lennon says we dominated the game and should have won. He must be watching a different game from the rest of us. His decisions are baffling. Hanlon never plays well at left back. Why not play Mackie???

He puts Omeonga straight into the team and he looked miles off it. Why was Slivka dropped. Thought he played well on Saturday albeit against a lesser team

How on earth Whittaker stayed on the whole game is beyond me. He has been decent the last few games but was shocking tonight and we needed some balance on the right which Gray would have provided.

[Hi Heid Yin]

A lot of insightful stuff there Jonnyboy.
The most unforgiving thing was that Motherwell "wanted it" more than our boys.
For the first time this season I really am beginning to feel that there are players who are not playing for the manager.
I really do hope that I am wrong to feel this way.
I will be glad when this transfer window is over and we can see just who we have brought in to "make the difference".

[CMurdoch]

Can't argue with that. In the car on the way home I said I bet Lennon says we dominated the game and should have won. He must be watching a different game from the rest of us. His decisions are baffling. Hanlon never plays well at left back. Why not play Mackie???

He puts Omeonga straight into the team and he looked miles off it. Why was Slivka dropped. Thought he played well on Saturday albeit against a lesser team

How on earth Whittaker stayed on the whole game is beyond me. He has been decent the last few games but was shocking tonight and we needed some balance on the right which Gray would have provided.


IMO opinion Slivka & Gauld were our best players in the 2nd half.
Mallan was non existent for the whole game. He is a worry.

The 1st half was abject. What a mess.

[NAE NOOKIE]

Gave my player ratings elsewhere, but FWIW I thought Bartley at least tried to combat Motherwell's energy and aggression and I actually thought at times Omeonga's touch was poor. As for Horgan, I was one of those who were banging a drum for him to be given a shot on the left wing … bloody hell do I feel stupid now. I totally agree with your assessment of Whittaker and the managers baffling decision not to sub him at half time.

Practically from start to finish this was a woeful performance from a Hibs team who were out battled and who could barely string two passes together until the last quarter of the game, by which time it was too little too late.

As you say, we were better in the second half ( which isn't saying much ) but all that amounts to is yet another game piled on top of all the other games where the manager has had to change things during the 90 minutes because his starting formation, tactics or both haven't worked …. doesn't he have the other teams watched during the season and dossiers compiled on how they play? ….these constant changes of personnel, tactics and formation during practically every game would suggest not.

I have never been a knee jerk sack the manager type …. but this season is turning into a disaster and our results and performances are getting worse, if he cant turn things around by the next derby and we lose it he is going to lose the fans and the board will surely follow … better managers than Neil Lennon have lost their jobs to runs of results like we are on.

[The 90+2]

Bartley saved our skin at least 5 times tonight when the defence went walkabout.

Slivka was our best player when he came on.

Gauld I agree is a disaster on the right and why Mckienisnt being developed instead of smashing Hanlon left back is as baffling as not playing David Gray ahead of Lennon trying to justify a 3 year deal for a right back who served us well and won’t have cost us money in comparison to the £1.2 we got for him but it’s stubborn and arrogant Imo why Lennon is not playing Gray. Sorry, sir David, our leader.

[AZhibee]

Thanks again Jonnyboy, appreciate the comments, despite the result.
:flag:

[IrnBru22]

Can't argue with that. In the car on the way home I said I bet Lennon says we dominated the game and should have won. He must be watching a different game from the rest of us. His decisions are baffling. Hanlon never plays well at left back. Why not play Mackie???

He puts Omeonga straight into the team and he looked miles off it. Why was Slivka dropped. Thought he played well on Saturday albeit against a lesser team

How on earth Whittaker stayed on the whole game is beyond me. He has been decent the last few games but was shocking tonight and we needed some balance on the right which Gray would have provided.


Agree 100% with all of this. Also, Mallan seems undroppable, he was completely anonymous again tonight.

[BILLYHIBS]

Brilliant Jonnyboy as always :aok:

[Brightside]

Spot on.

[Billy Whizz]

100% spot on. Only one who should get pass marks is Slivka. Just wish he would take a shot on

[GreenCastle]

Good summary.

Thinking back keeping Ryan Porteous on when he first did his knee was a bad medical decision.

I’m slightly worried where we are going as a team and as a club right now.

Leadership and some direction is needed to pick us all up again.

[calumhibee1]

100% spot on. Only one who should get pass marks is Slivka. Just wish he would take a shot on

I would have given Gauld pass marks aswell. Nobody else was even close though.

[scoopyboy]

I would have given Gauld pass marks aswell. Nobody else was even close though.

Marciano shocking was he?

[PeeJay]

Good read as ever JC - Motherwell pressed us everywhere and showed us up for the poor footballing team we currently are - the number of misplaced passes alone to teammates only a few yards away was extremely embarassing to watch as was the general lack of any direction or tactical strategy to the game - I keep wondering "what do these guys do at the training ground?"

Motherwell - with limited resources - looked like a team with a passion and a purpose, they had a game plan, they stuck to it and Lennon was unable to alter anything - even after Motherwell started tiring ... no top six with this attitude that's for sure ....

[Radium]

I must admit that when I have missed a game that I now look for you analysis ahead of anyone else.

Like lots of posters it is becoming tiresome having to try to work out what formation the East Mains XBox has thrown out.

KISS principal required: keep it simple st####




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[hibsbollah]

Agree with the assessment, although Grumpy Gibby's analysis covered it too.

What was most obvious was the way the Motherwell back four really didn't have to do any defending in their own box. We just never seemed to have possession anywhere near the last third, let alone in the box. I'd like to see some stats on how many touches in the box we had all night. Can't have been more than a handful.

[calumhibee1]

Marciano shocking was he?

Apologies, and Rocky. Forgot all about him to be honest.

[Ronniekirk]

I hardly know where to start but as I struggle to do so I’ll quote my Mass Hibsteria friend Grumpy Gibby and offer the view that tonight’s performance was a “loady p!sh” and that kinda does the job for me.

I’m a great believer in the saying that if something ain’t broke it doesn’t need fixed and so I was totally baffled as to why Lenny decided the winning formation from last Saturday needed to be changed. He clearly wanted to play an apparently fit again Porteous and to give Omeonga his debut but in doing that he opted to play Paul Hanlon at left back when he had two left back’s on the bench and to push Ryan Gauld into a wide right position when the laddie had proved he was much more effective sitting off the striker in a more central role. To my mind, both decisions were disastrous. Firstly, Hanlon was like a fish out of water and was repeatedly beaten by young Jake Hastie, a clever and very mobile wide man whilst in midfield Gauld was largely peripheral until things were changed at half time.

The game didn’t start well for Hibs and it became apparent early on that Motherwell were putting in tremendous effort physically in closing Hibs players down. They reminded me of John Collins’ Hibs team that hunted in packs to win the ball back as quickly as possible. Their job was made much easier by the fact that Hibs were pedestrian in possession and seemed hell bent on playing the ball sideways and backwards before heaving it forward to Kamberi, who failed to give the Motherwell defenders any problems at all. The defenders may have felt they had no choice because the midfield was overrun and unable to offer anything in terms of creating chances. I felt that Bartley and Mallan were sitting far too deep, Gauld too wide and Horgan making wrong choices when he occasionally had the ball.

As the half hour approached and the 1,000 plus Hibs fans grew more restless, a challenge around half way saw Porteous go to ground and as a result having to leave the field. I understand his knee popped out again; massively worrying and prompting thoughts that maybe he was brought back too soon and needs to get that fixed before he plays again. Ryan’s departure meant Sean Mackie coming in at left back with Paul Hanlon moving back into the middle. Hanlon may have ‘escaped’ from his Jake Hastie ‘nightmare’ but he walked straight into another as he struggled badly against the power and aggression of Curtis Main. I know Main was discussed on the messageboard as a possible replacement for Maclaren and that a fair few suggested he wasn’t good enough but I have to say that tonight he gave Motherwell everything that Flo Kamberi fails to give Hibs.

With half time looming, Mackie was dispossessed by Hastie on the half way line. The young Motherwell lad strode forward leaving defenders in his wake before delivering a cracking ball into the path of Turnbull who fired a lovely low shot past Rocky to give his side what I have to say was a deserved lead.

At half time, Lenny withdrew debutant Omeonga, who had been booked and replaced him with Slivka which meant the Lithuanian playing wide right and Gauld moving to a more central position. This made a noticeable difference with Hibs seeing much more of the ball but whilst they enjoyed more possession they did not, as Lenny said post-match, dominate Motherwell. Dominating the ball is not the same as dominating your opponents.

Although things had improved a bit after the break, Hibs still struggled to make any real opportunities whilst they remained fragile at the back. Whittaker was having a torrid time against the tricky Ariyibi and in truth I was amazed that Lenny didn’t replace him with a better defender in David Gray. Chances were few and far between but one glorious opportunity presented itself when Gauld found Horgan in space on the left but as the Motherwell keeper advanced, Horgan elected to try and chip the ball over him into an empty net but got it horribly wrong when either driving the ball low for goal or even going round the keeper would have been the right choice.

With time running out fast, Lenny replaced Bartley with Oli Shaw but the service to the front men was still poor and so the substitution had little to no effect. Indeed as Hibs pushed forward, Motherwell tried to capitalise on the gaps at the back and twice had the opportunity to double their lead but Main’s effort was saved by Rocky and then Sammon hit the post with the goal gaping. A long, cold and downright miserable night came to an end as an exhausted Motherwell team left the park to a standing ovation. They gave everything for ninety minutes whilst Hibs seemed strangely subdued.

The players

Rocky – The goal was a beauty and Rocky was left horribly exposed. Other than that and the late save from Main’s effort, he had little to do.

Whitty – In the recent past I have spoken up for Whitty when others have, to my mind, been overly critical but I cannot defend tonight’s performance as it was awful from start to finish. Quite how Lenny could sit and watch that with a better right back on the bench is anybody’s guess.

Daz – The big fella struggled all night with the strength and aggression of Main and the quick feet of both Hastie and Ariyibi. I can kinda see now why some fans think Daz is getting near his sell by date and I have to confess it pains me to say that about him.

Porty – Lenny says Ryan has been fine in training and so was deemed ready to play. In the half hour he had on the park he struggled in my opinion and didn’t look the player we have all come to admire. This knee thing is serious, he’s a young lad with a long career hopefully ahead of him but Hibs need to make a choice as to what happens next.

Paul – Ironically, Paul was left back when he broke into the first team. He had played for and captained Scotland U21’s as a left back but tonight he looked like he’d never played that position before. For my money he should never have been played there and if his move was to accommodate Ryan’s return that move should have been to the bench to allow a natural left back in Sean Mackie take that position.

Ryan – The laddie was almost completely anonymous in the first half, as he was removed from the centre of the park to accommodate Omeonga. What a waste, after seeing him revel in the central position last Saturday. Was much better in the second half when moved into the middle and on a night where nobody deserves man of the match I’d say he was the best of a poor bunch.

Stephane – I’m not going to pass judgement on a guy playing his first game for the club and looking as though he’ll need time to adjust to the pace of the game in Scotland. One positive for me was the fact that he displayed an excellent first touch, something a few of his team mates could do with working on.

Stevie – I just can’t work out where Mallan is meant to be playing. Bartley was the holding midfielder but Mallan was almost always as deep and so the goal threat he carried earlier in the season has basically disappeared.

Marv – I love the big fella but he was not at the races tonight.

Daryl – Many have said he needs to be played wide to get the best out of him. He was played wide tonight and was very poor; missing the one glorious chance we had to score.

Flo – Another nightmare performance from him tonight. The Motherwell centre half had him in his pocket from the off and it fair ripped my knitting to see him struggle to offer anything when at the other end of the park Curtis Main was having a field day.

Sean – Did well enough when he came on and dealt with Hastie a tad better than Hanlon did. I’ve only seen it ‘live’ but there’s a chance he was lucky his yellow card wasn’t a red as he seemed to catch the Motherwell player in the face with a flailing arm.

Slivka – This was a strange one for me because when I was reflecting on his performance I came to the conclusion that apart from turning down a golden opportunity to have a shot from 18 yards he didn’t do much wrong but equally didn’t do anything of real note either.

Oli – As I alluded to earlier, the service to the front men was poor to non-existent and so there’s not a lot I can say about the ten minutes he got.

Lenny – In his post-match interview he said we had dominated the second half. See above for my ‘different’ take on the meaning of the word dominated.

The fans – Over 1,000 on a freezing cold night and to be fair they stuck with it to the end.

The ref – I’ve praised Bobby Madden in the past but I won’t be tonight as I thought this was one of his poorer games.


Thanks Johnny Boy Depressing-reading Looks like I made the right decision to go to a Celtic Connections Concert
Agree about Changing in to bring in Porteous and the new lad in midfield
One goes off injured and the other subbed at Half Time (which won’t have done his confidence much good )
Going away to warmer climate is all fine and well but it’s clearly not been that beneficial
Am more worried about the Loss of Effie His runs forward clearly sorely missed and to be fair he was the more consistent defender laterally
Boyle is also a huge miss
Tommy will no doubt get another chance and it remains to be seen if he can remain injury free
Sir David Gray I assume wasn’t risked which begs the question can he last a couple of games
It’s beginning to look like bottom six




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[Smartie]

This is far and away the most negative one of these reports you've done and sadly it is hard to argue with a word of it.

Of greatest concern is that I can't really see anything more positive coming from your report on Sunday.

[B.H.F.C]

I have never been a knee jerk sack the manager type …. but this season is turning into a disaster and our results and performances are getting worse, if he cant turn things around by the next derby and we lose it he is going to lose the fans and the board will surely follow … better managers than Neil Lennon have lost their jobs to runs of results like we are on.

Performances is the especially worrying bit. There was absolutely nothing last night to give any cause for optimism.

There was a total lack of enthusiasm right from the first whistle. Some were just going through the motions last night.

Talking of him losing the fans and board but he already looks like he’s lost the players IMO. They look thoroughly miserable.

[Bostonhibby]

Thanks again John. Waited until this morning to watch the game to see if what I was listening to last night looked as bad as it sounded.

It did, I think your summary is a fair and sorry reflection of what I've just endured. Even allowing for injury I just can't see what the tactics were or how the players were deployed as they were. We are underperforming against the funds / support we have available, seen it all before and if the corner isn't turned soon then another period of mediocrity might well beckon.

I try not to single out players so let's just say we need Gray & Stevenson back asap.
I'd pay Efe a bonus to sign as well.

Post match interviews were a deflection from the reality that we should be performing a whole lot better than that and it's been going on for longer than it should.






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[1620]

Once again a really good report Jonnyboy. I watched the game on ALBA and agree with your comments.
For me the biggest difference between the two sides was pace, strength and aggression. Motherwell had it throughout their team, no more so than in their front three. They had two young, fast, aggressive wingers and “battler” Main in the centre. Up against them we had Whittaker, McGregor and Hanlon! It was no contest. (Young Porteous was there for half an hour but was not fit and the club medics should be having a serious look at themselves for not getting him off the pitch against Livingston when he first put his knee out).
Like many others I can’t get my head around either the manager’s team selection or tactics. There is no consistency in either, as a result of which the players do not appear to know what is expected of them on the pitch and this is reflected in their apparent lack the attributes of pace, strength and aggression.

[Greenbeard]

Great report, if not great reading.
Stats show we could do f... all with our 65% possession - 11 shots to Well's 13, only 3 of which were on target, none of which I recall being serious threats on goal.
Bottom six teams will be happy to give us possession when we can do f*** all with it, then hit our ponderous defence on the break.
Lots of lessons for Lenny (again?), chief of which for me were that Hanlon and Whittaker are not full backs, and Horgan is just sh*** no matter how much running about he does at speed.

[green with envy]

Unfortunately it's exactly how I saw it JB.

[SideBurns]

Great report, if not great reading.
Stats show we could do f... all with our 65% possession - 11 shots to Well's 13, only 3 of which were on target, none of which I recall being serious threats on goal.
Bottom six teams will be happy to give us possession when we can do f*** all with it, then hit our ponderous defence on the break.
Lots of lessons for Lenny (again?), chief of which for me were that Hanlon and Whittaker are not full backs, and Horgan is just sh*** no matter how much running about he does at speed.

Lenny doesn't seem to learn lessons from these defeats though - he either kids on we've played well, or blames the players. It's never his fault, that's a certainty.

[NAE NOOKIE]

Good read as ever JC - Motherwell pressed us everywhere and showed us up for the poor footballing team we currently are - the number of misplaced passes alone to teammates only a few yards away was extremely embarassing to watch as was the general lack of any direction or tactical strategy to the game - I keep wondering "what do these guys do at the training ground?"

Motherwell - with limited resources - looked like a team with a passion and a purpose, they had a game plan, they stuck to it and Lennon was unable to alter anything - even after Motherwell started tiring ... no top six with this attitude that's for sure ....

The manager aside I echo some of your concerns here. It was evident during the game that our passing was poor and I summed that up in my post above where a very poorly played return pass to MacKie caused him to have difficulty controlling it leading to him having to charge in on a Motherwell player .. that incident was indicative of a lot of our passing … underhit, overhit and at times just very poor.

The other issue was our movement, or should I say lack of it. Time after time a Hibs player on the ball had no out ball and that was summed up in the first half when Hanlon gave the ball away in a dangerous area. IMO he didn't want to just lump the ball up the park and he was in possession long enough that someone should have been in an area to receive the ball from him.

The other issue was our slowness on the ball … at least twice watching the game I watched a Hibs player on the ball with a pass on take far too long to play the ball which I found incredibly frustrating.

[Smartie]

The manager aside I echo some of your concerns here. It was evident during the game that our passing was poor and I summed that up in my post above where a very poorly played return pass to MacKie caused him to have difficulty controlling it leading to him having to charge in on a Motherwell player .. that incident was indicative of a lot of our passing … underhit, overhit and at times just very poor.

The other issue was our movement, or should I say lack of it. Time after time a Hibs player on the ball had no out ball and that was summed up in the first half when Hanlon gave the ball away in a dangerous area. IMO he didn't want to just lump the ball up the park and he was in possession long enough that someone should have been in an area to receive the ball from him.

The other issue was our slowness on the ball … at least twice watching the game I watched a Hibs player on the ball with a pass on take far too long to play the ball which I found incredibly frustrating.

Many more times than that.

Our ability to play under pressure and at pace is our biggest weakness right now.

Then sometimes we bring it on ourselves by being to slow when we're NOT under pressure meaning that the player the ball goes to IS under immediate pressure.

It drives me daft.

[Tyler Durden]

The manager aside I echo some of your concerns here. It was evident during the game that our passing was poor and I summed that up in my post above where a very poorly played return pass to MacKie caused him to have difficulty controlling it leading to him having to charge in on a Motherwell player .. that incident was indicative of a lot of our passing … underhit, overhit and at times just very poor.

The other issue was our movement, or should I say lack of it. Time after time a Hibs player on the ball had no out ball and that was summed up in the first half when Hanlon gave the ball away in a dangerous area. IMO he didn't want to just lump the ball up the park and he was in possession long enough that someone should have been in an area to receive the ball from him.

The other issue was our slowness on the ball … at least twice watching the game I watched a Hibs player on the ball with a pass on take far too long to play the ball which I found incredibly frustrating.

I'm not really sure how you can separate that from the manager?

We don't move the ball quickly enough in possession and we don't really press other teams with any aggression or co-ordination. Yet in the past this same group of players has been excellent at both of these things.

The standards have dropped in every department, including attitude and after a while that can only be the responsibility of the manager.

[number9dream]

Many more times than that.

Our ability to play under pressure and at pace is our biggest weakness right now.

Then sometimes we bring it on ourselves by being to slow when we're NOT under pressure meaning that the player the ball goes to IS under immediate pressure.

It drives me daft.


McGinn & McGeouch could take the ball in a tight spot and play their way out trouble, while no one in our current midfield has that touch and strength.
Ambrose and Boyle were the only guys who could go past players - Horgan can too but is erratic to say the least.
Omeonga may give us more drive and Gauld (& Allan?) should provide more creativity but confidence is draining from the team and that's a hard issue to deal with.
Hopefully we can get a really rapid forward in before the end of the month.

[NAE NOOKIE]

I'm not really sure how you can separate that from the manager?

We don't move the ball quickly enough in possession and we don't really press other teams with any aggression or co-ordination. Yet in the past this same group of players has been excellent at both of these things.

The standards have dropped in every department, including attitude and after a while that can only be the responsibility of the manager.

Easily. The reason why only 0.01% of folk who play football or who have ever played it become professional players is that allegedly their ability to play the game is above that of the millions of others who play it. As a guy who never got above the level of pub league and who now plays walking football I still beat myself up when I misplace a pass I know I can make and I'm just as hard on my teammates who do the same.

The very basic level of ability I expect from any professional player is to be able to play a pass where he intends it to go accurately and to have an ability to find space on the pitch. Last night and in too many other games this season far too many of our passes were either under or over hit and far too many times nobody got into the space which would have given our player on the ball options.

You can blame a manager for failing to make best use of players who should by the very fact that they are being paid to play the game have these abilities …. you cant lay the blame at his door for players hitting the ball at 90 miles an hour to a team mate 10 yards away, for hitting a 20 yard pass miles away from its intended target giving him no chance of getting to it and for players standing watching a team mate with no pass on under pressure and not moving in such a way as to give him someone to pass to. Neither is it his fault when a professional player who has an obvious pass on which will either switch the play or move the ball quickly dithers like a bloody amateur and takes 5 seconds too long to play it, as our players did many times last night.

No … I expect the manager to make full and best use of the professionals at his disposal, I don't expect him at the stage they have reached where they are worth putting in the first team to be having to teach them how to pass the ball and move into space.