Sitting back against the OF

[Diclonius]

Doesn't work and hopefully Heckingbottom has clicked for Friday.

Celtic aren't a good enough team to sit back against and giving them the ball made no discernible difference to the result. Fair enough if we're playing for a point and it's 2012 but this is still a semi decent Hibs team (and a poor Celtic side) and we showed flashes of that on the occasions when we did go forward.

[SChibs]

Doesn't work and hopefully Heckingbottom has clicked for Friday.

Celtic aren't a good enough team to sit back against and giving them the ball made no discernible difference to the result. Fair enough if we're playing for a point and it's 2012 but this is still a semi decent Hibs team (and a poor Celtic side) and we showed flashes of that on the occasions when we did go forward.

I wouldn't say Celtic are poor. Not playing well fair enough but they aren't a poor team by any means.

[CallumLaidlaw]

I thought our tactics were decent enough. We were very organised for an hour but were always gonna tire.


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[bigwheel]

I thought our tactics were decent enough. We were very organised for an hour but were always gonna tire.


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Thought it was fine for first half...but lacked the right level of adventure or ambition in the second half for me....thought our Manager called it wrong. Also Should have made a change or two before the first goal.


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[roo62]

I thought our tactics were decent enough. We were very organised for an hour but were always gonna tire.


Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkAgreed especially after our efforts on Wednesday night with ten men last half hour or so

[CmoantheHibs]

Thought our tactics were ok but we just didn't use the ball well enough. By giving it back to them so easily it meant we were chasing too much and couldn't counter effectively.

[hibIBZ]

With our aging back line and its lack of pace coupled with Milligan's lack of pace in front of them, if we had pressed high their front 4 would of had a field day. On the times we did get forward it was a scramble to get back. There is no way we could of done that for prolonged periods of time

[we are hibs]

There is absolutely no excuses for not having a go on friday. Rangers are nowhere near as good as Celtic and we should be viewing it as a winnable game and going about it as such. Second half today was as boring/defensive as I've seen since Calderwood.

[truehibernian]

Did you see the pace Celtic had up top ? I'm not surprised, given our limited squad, we set up to perhaps frustrate and defend territory. Forrest, Burke, Edouard and Sinclair........that's around £20 million of talent against our ageing (and injury prone) back line.

I don't think anyone can blame PH for tonight - he kept a settled, winning side together bar one change - he simply thought we may be better placed to maybe sneak a goal and try and defend and counter.

The squad assembled by Neil Lennon this season was/is poor so you cannot blame PH for that. If anything I'm happy that games like this highlight where needs strengthened and who needs to go in summer. Plus, Celtic are a very very good side. No shame in losing to them.

[roo62]

Did you see the pace Celtic had up top ? I'm not surprised, given our limited squad, we set up to perhaps frustrate and defend territory. Forrest, Burke, Edouard and Sinclair........that's around £20 million of talent against our ageing (and injury prone) back line.

I don't think anyone can blame PH for tonight - he kept a settled, winning side together bar one change - he simply thought we may be better placed to maybe sneak a goal and try and defend and counter.

The squad assembled by Neil Lennon this season was/is poor so you cannot blame PH for that. If anything I'm happy that games like this highlight where needs strengthened and who needs to go in summer. Plus, Celtic are a very very good side. No shame in losing to them.

Agreed and also it didn't help that our decision making in the final third was poor and our crossing was as bad as its been all season. We are normally better than that and that was the disappointing thing for me. We usually test the keeper but not tonight.

[500miles]

Thought it was fine for first half...but lacked the right level of adventure or ambition in the second half for me....thought our Manager called it wrong. Also Should have made a change or two before the first goal.


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It was an injury that Milligan picked up that forced his substitution. Until then, I thought he stuck to his task pretty well, and kept the ball under pressure. When Bartley came in, he couldn't retain the ball, and celtic had to many quick players going forward.

I would've had Bigiramana on for Milligan. From the limited experience I have of him, he would've made much better use of the ball than Bartley.

Horgan was OK, but always came up against a second defender as soon as he beat the first.

We didn't have Efe this time either, so we didn't have that special player who carries the ball out from centre half.

Without Boyle and Agyepong, we're also lacking the pace for effective counter attacks against teams with Celtic's quality.

I think the tactics were fine, based on the players we had available, but we could possibly have made different subs. Would it have made a difference? It's not a guarantee, we'll see what Heckingbottom makes of his squad going forward.

[Hi Heid Yin]

Did you see the pace Celtic had up top ? I'm not surprised, given our limited squad, we set up to perhaps frustrate and defend territory. Forrest, Burke, Edouard and Sinclair........that's around £20 million of talent against our ageing (and injury prone) back line.

I don't think anyone can blame PH for tonight - he kept a settled, winning side together bar one change - he simply thought we may be better placed to maybe sneak a goal and try and defend and counter.

The squad assembled by Neil Lennon this season was/is poor so you cannot blame PH for that. If anything I'm happy that games like this highlight where needs strengthened and who needs to go in summer. Plus, Celtic are a very very good side. No shame in losing to them.

That so-called poor squad convincingly beat Celtic at Easter Road under Neil Lennon in December!

That same "poor squad" has just won 3 league games on the trot for Paul Heggingbottom.

This is Paul Heckingbottom's reign and he has inherited a fairly decent squad, with some "quality players".

The blame for performances, set-ups, and results during his reign lie solely with him.

Today he set us up to contain Celtic and hopefully catch them on the break.

The bottom line is that he (and our boys) failed.

This happens.

Talk of blaming an ex manager for having left PH with a "poor squad" is disingenuous.

[Carheenlea]

I was quite happy at HT with how things were,but looking back, while we contained Celtic alright we didn’t pose any threat ourselves, and that continued into second half. Didn’t get out my seat once which is not what we have been accustomed to in these big games in recent seasons.

[renato]

It was an injury that Milligan picked up that forced his substitution. Until then, I thought he stuck to his task pretty well, and kept the ball under pressure. When Bartley came in, he couldn't retain the ball, and celtic had to many quick players going forward.

I would've had Bigiramana on for Milligan. From the limited experience I have of him, he would've made much better use of the ball than Bartley.

Horgan was OK, but always came up against a second defender as soon as he beat the first.

We didn't have Efe this time either, so we didn't have that special player who carries the ball out from centre half.

Without Boyle and Agyepong, we're also lacking the pace for effective counter attacks against teams with Celtic's quality.

I think the tactics were fine, based on the players we had available, but we could possibly have made different subs. Would it have made a difference? It's not a guarantee, we'll see what Heckingbottom makes of his squad going forward.

Yep, agree with (and said earlier) pretty much all of those points. It’s abundantly clear and obvious re where we need to improve the team, with all the current deficiencies exposed today.

Very frustrating way to exit the cup.

[wookie70]

Thought our tactics were ok but we just didn't use the ball well enough. By giving it back to them so easily it meant we were chasing too much and couldn't counter effectively.
I agree with this. We tired probably due to Wednesday's efforts and they found a bit of quality we never.

[Shrekko]

That so-called poor squad convincingly beat Celtic at Easter Road under Neil Lennon in December!

That same "poor squad" has just won 3 league games on the trot for Paul Heggingbottom.

This is Paul Heckingbottom's reign and he has inherited a fairly decent squad, with some "quality players".

The blame for performances, set-ups, and results during his reign lie solely with him.

Tactics were pretty much the same as the game we beat them.

Anyone thinks we have the players to go ‘gung ho’ against them is beyond deluded.

We’re also short of Boyle and Porteous and lost Efe... 3 massive players.

[Borderhibbie76]

With our aging back line and its lack of pace coupled with Milligan's lack of pace in front of them, if we had pressed high their front 4 would of had a field day. On the times we did get forward it was a scramble to get back. There is no way we could of done that for prolonged periods of timeFar too sensible a post for on here 2nite mate...it will never catch on

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[JimBHibees]

That so-called poor squad convincingly beat Celtic at Easter Road under Neil Lennon in December!

That same "poor squad" has just won 3 league games on the trot for Paul Heggingbottom.

This is Paul Heckingbottom's reign and he has inherited a fairly decent squad, with some "quality players".

The blame for performances, set-ups, and results during his reign lie solely with him.

Today he set us up to contain Celtic and hopefully catch them on the break.

The bottom line is that he (and our boys) failed.

This happens.

Talk of blaming an ex manager for having left PH with a "poor squad" is disingenuous.

No it isn't Lennon had us in a shocking run with an unbalanced squad. Yes we were good against Celtic but that was very much a one off. Heck has us more organised but still very early days. Tonight was disappointing second half however we tired and lost poor goals, it happens.

[Lago]

:aok:
No it isn't Lennon had us in a shocking run with an unbalanced squad. Yes we were good against Celtic but that was very much a one off. Heck has us more organised but still very early days. Tonight was disappointing second half however we tired and lost poor goals, it happens.

[HibeeHibernian4]

I do worry, over the course of Heckingbottom’s era, if we might revert to the sort of pre-Stubbs performances against the Old Firm. That is to say that, we’re just there to make up numbers and we might beat them once every four or five years.

That’s not a slight on Heckingbottom, by the way. He’s started life very well at Hibs. I just really hope that he’s learned from today.

Off the ball we were far too deep today. It contained them well in the first half, but there was very little chance of us springing something on the counter when Celtic has at least 3 or 4 behind the ball at all times.

[Smartie]

Lennon was at his best against Celtic and Rangers. He showed them little respect and got torn in.

[madhatter]

They have Burke, Forrest and others with pace while we have a slow midfield and defence. If we had been adventurous we would’ve been destroyed. Tactics and organisation were really good for 50mins or so. We just needed to pass the ball better. Celtic’s possession in the first 50mins was largely them shifting it from Lustig to Tierney.

The problem today was actually our players began to tire big time and that was because we didn’t keep the ball well enough.

[MinceAndTatties]

Sums it up well

[Lancs Harp]

Lennon was at his best against Celtic and Rangers. He showed them little respect and got torn in.

Agreed apart from Parkhead last time out where we offered far less than we did today.

[roo62]

Let's hope Hecky gets more wins against the so called lesser teams than Lenny

[HibeeHibernian4]

Let's hope Hecky gets more wins against the so called lesser teams than Lenny

I mean, he already has? Between October and the day Lennon left, we picked up 9 points against the ‘lesser teams’ (every team outside of the Old Firm, Aberdeen and Hearts) in eight games. Two wins against Accies and home draws against Dundee, St Mirren and Livingston

In his first three league games, Heckingbottom has matched this.

[J-C]

Heckinbottom wants a high 90 min press game, you need very fit players for that, Mallan, Milligan and Horgan can't do it for more than 60 mins per game.

[roo62]

Heckinbottom wants a high 90 min press game, you need very fit players for that, Mallan, Milligan and Horgan can't do it for more than 60 mins per game.

Think the way Celtic use the width of the pitch and their quality on the ball makes it difficult for most teams.That was a hard shift for Hibs tonight on the back of a hard shift on Wednesday. Against lesser quality teams we will get more opportunities and goals. Going ahead in games you tend to knock the ball about and do less pressing so it's not a 90 minute press ever your only pressing off the ball. Ball retention was a self inflicted problem tonight. I can see how Milligan and Horgan struggled after an hour. Maybe time to give Birgiramana and Nelom a run out and see what their fitness is like.