Hibs 2 Aberdeen 0

[G B Young]

A year ago...

"A Scott Allan-inspired Hibs boosted their European hopes with a dominant display against Aberdeen at a packed Easter Road"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImvgsYAJuKs

Even those brief highlights underline how the loss of a handful of top quality players (McGinn, Allan, Ambrose) can so quickly impact on a team's fortunes...and upon the confidence of those they leave behind (Kamberi). The lack of pace due to Boyle's absence is also very noticeable.

[emerald green]

No Ambrose, McGinn, Boyle, Allan, McGeouch or McLaren yesterday, and it really showed.

[G B Young]

No Ambrose, McGinn, Boyle, Allan, McGeouch or McLaren yesterday, and it really showed.

When you compare the highlights of that game and yesterday you can also see how many empty seats there now are in the home stands, whereas a year ago we were even filling the seats allocated to Hibs fans in the South. Crowds have been superb in recent years, but they can fall away just as quickly - although record season ticket sales will ensure we don't really notice that decline until next season. That's why it's so important we get the right man in place to help us finish the season on a positive note. Another Scottish Cup win would do the trick :wink:

[Onion]

When you compare the highlights of that game and yesterday you can also see how many empty seats there now are in the home stands, whereas a year ago we were even filling the seats allocated to Hibs fans in the South. Crowds have been superb in recent years, but they can fall away just as quickly - although record season ticket sales will ensure we don't really notice that decline until next season. That's why it's so important we get the right man in place to help us finish the season on a positive note. Another Scottish Cup win would do the trick :wink:

That's the problem the Hibs Board must address. Their most important task from a revenue viewpoint is to maintain the feel good from the 2016 cup win and that can only be done by making the right appointment and supporting them. We've had decades of false economies by the Board (aka penny pinching) that's seen bust follow boom, and some dreadful managerial appointments. The Cup win in 16 was a once in a lifetime opportunity for the Board that fell into their lap. Essential that they don't **** it up.

[erin go bragh]

A year ago...

"A Scott Allan-inspired Hibs boosted their European hopes with a dominant display against Aberdeen at a packed Easter Road"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImvgsYAJuKs

Even those brief highlights underline how the loss of a handful of top quality players (McGinn, Allan, Ambrose) can so quickly impact on a team's fortunes...and upon the confidence of those they leave behind (Kamberi). The lack of pace due to Boyle's absence is also very noticeable.
That’s the only time we have beat them in the league in 14 games now .
That team of a year ago would hammer this seasons team imo.

[G B Young]

That’s the only time we have beat them in the league in 14 games now .
That team of a year ago would hammer this seasons team imo.

Yet apart from a real off day at Pittodrie last season there have been numerous games in that sequence where we really should have beaten them yet have ended up drawing or losing by a single goal. What I mean by that is that until Saturday I have never thought we looked a poorer side than Aberdeen. Saturday was the first time in recent years when I've thought we were simply beaten by a significantly stronger side. Just shows how quickly we've declined since key players moved on or got injured.

[CockneyRebel]

Yet apart from a real off day at Pittodrie last season there have been numerous games in that sequence where we really should have beaten them yet have ended up drawing or losing by a single goal. What I mean by that is that until Saturday I have never thought we looked a poorer side than Aberdeen. Saturday was the first time in recent years when I've thought we were simply beaten by a significantly stronger side. Just shows how quickly we've declined since key players moved on or got injured.

Fair points and good post.

[Unseen work]

God that’s depressing.

Scary to show how much we have slumped in a year. Losing key players and replacing them with no one near the same standard (which I appreciate was next to impossible)

The main thing is just how different we are to that team though

Pace, athleticism, creativity, power, skill - Probably everything we’re not at the moment.

You really do have to ask questions when you see it in comparison. Aberdeen lost key players too but have done fine.

Also is it just me or does Kamberi look a lot leaner in that video? Maybe part of the reason he was playing better /scoring more

[18Craig75]

Actually sad watching that. How far we’ve regressed is frightening. I thought the whole restructuring was put in place to safeguard the first team against losing our best players, by having a strategy in place to replace them, leading to continuity.


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[G B Young]

God that’s depressing.

Scary to show how much we have slumped in a year. Losing key players and replacing them with no one near the same standard (which I appreciate was next to impossible)

The main thing is just how different we are to that team though

Pace, athleticism, creativity, power, skill - Probably everything we’re not at the moment.

You really do have to ask questions when you see it in comparison. Aberdeen lost key players too but have done fine.

Also is it just me or does Kamberi look a lot leaner in that video? Maybe part of the reason he was playing better /scoring more

While McGinn's drive in midfield is clearly a huge miss, it's the absence of Scott Allan's ability to see a pass that, for me, is the biggest miss of all. Kamberi and Maclaren, I would suggest, thrived on Allan's creativity. Had we managed to bring him back at the start of the season, who's to say we wouldn't have seen their striking partnership continue to blossom? Instead, we're toiling through the season without Allan, have seen Maclaren leave and Kamberi is left looking like a shadow of the player he was last year.

[allezsauzee]

We've failed to replace the players we lost in the summer with sufficient quality. Seems to be a few on here that want to blame Lennon for that but if have a wage cap that stops us from competing with similar sized clubs like Aberdeen and Hearts , then he was always having to sign players that weren't his first choice.

[basehibby]

While McGinn's drive in midfield is clearly a huge miss, it's the absence of Scott Allan's ability to see a pass that, for me, is the biggest miss of all. Kamberi and Maclaren, I would suggest, thrived on Allan's creativity. Had we managed to bring him back at the start of the season, who's to say we wouldn't have seen their striking partnership continue to blossom? Instead, we're toiling through the season without Allan, have seen Maclaren leave and Kamberi is left looking like a shadow of the player he was last year.

Good post and pretty much as I see it - although the all round midfield qualities of McGinn should not be understated, Allan's incisive creativity allowed the forward players to shine that bit more - and the more industrious qualities that McGinn brought to the table (in addition to his own attacking prowess) are perhaps slightly easier to replace in the market we operate in. McGinn is a great player who I believe will go on to much greater things but with the right mix and a player like Allan picking the passes through to the forwards we can and will get over him.

Like you say it's a bloody shame we couldn't have got Allan in from the start of the season as he would have made a big difference. The financial realities at Hibs though would have made that a big gamble to take - and maybe these kind of restrictions contributed to Lennon's frustrations and his early departure but that's another discussion. I'm looking forward to Allan's arrival in the pre-season - for now the challenge for the incoming manager will be to get that midfield engine ticking. Early doors yet but Bigigigalo (spelling?) looked a step in the right direction on Sat.

[basehibby]

God that’s depressing.

Scary to show how much we have slumped in a year. Losing key players and replacing them with no one near the same standard (which I appreciate was next to impossible)

The main thing is just how different we are to that team though

Pace, athleticism, creativity, power, skill - Probably everything we’re not at the moment.

You really do have to ask questions when you see it in comparison. Aberdeen lost key players too but have done fine.

Also is it just me or does Kamberi look a lot leaner in that video? Maybe part of the reason he was playing better /scoring more

As Emerald Green points out <No Ambrose, McGinn, Boyle, Allan, McGeouch or McLaren yesterday, and it really showed> - that's more than half a team there (although I'd argue that McLaren was not a key player in the same way as the others quoted).

While it's true that adequately replacing ALL of them straight away is a tall order one or two would have been good! Boyle's injury couldn't be forseen but you could not say the same for the rest - and two windows down the line we are still a long way off.

With record ST sales etc I am somewhat scratching my head as to why this is proving so difficult.