BBC analysis on the money

[DickEDastardly]

A pretty accurate summary and hopefully the manager has also understood this and is addressing directly?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49628915




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Glory Lurker]

What a depressing read. To be averaging worse than last season is truly worrying, although the stats just add some science to what seemed clear to the eye.

90% of counter attacks leading to shots on goal is eye watering.

Even the Boyd typo didn't lighten that.

[Brightside]

The article is basically what everyone has said all season. But the part of Bartley playing with Dylan is nonsense. We’ve never been at our best when those two very rarely played in the same starting 11.

[bingo70]

The article is basically what everyone has said all season. But the part of Bartley playing with Dylan is nonsense. We’ve never been at our best when those two very rarely played in the same starting 11.

Yes, it was all going so well until they got the analysis of Bartley wrong, apart form that it was spot on.

I’m just amazed it’s caught Heckingbottom so off guard. I have a feeling we might see Whittaker in midfield today to try and rectify that.

[truehibernian]

The players he has brought in are incredibly poor and for me he has totally underestimated the league and standard up here as well as over-estimating their ability. To fail to realise what's needed for a balanced midfield is incredible. Up top we don't have a 'pest' of a striker, one who harries and plays the 6-yard box, and the full back areas are weak given we without fail have injuries to RB with SDG, and no competition for LB. The wingers we have, other than Boyle, have no pace - Horgan shows flashes (and is a very good player) but blows out his backside after half the game and wants to come inside all the time now. Mallan is regressing and a 'man down' at present, Hanlon is terribly off form, and Whittaker is a spent force.

The recruitment team need a long hard look at themselves as well.

It's game day, obviously want the win and the team to do well, but my interest in this side is on the wane..........change of manager for me as the football is and will be eye-bleeding under him.

[H18 SFR]

It's clear as daylight to me that the fundamental errors were allowing Bartley and Milligan to leave. It was simply confounded by not replacing them.

[we are hibs]

Dont think either bartley or milligan were good enough. Its not letting them go thats the issue its the complete failure to replace them. Incredibly irresponsible and inept from the club we dont have a player in the midfield who is capable of sitting back and breaking up play to let the other midfielders play when its so blindingly obvious to everyone.

[RoYO!]

Proof as well of Stevie Mallan’s passenger status.

[Tyler Durden]

Hecky was asked a question on this the other day. Along the lines of “You’re known as someone who loves the detail, have you taken the opportunity to review some of the analysis and is there data that can help pinpoint where things are going wrong?”

He responded by basically saying no and again focusing on how we’re not doing well enough in “1 vs 1s”. Which is a total red herring to be honest. Hopefully it’s just him putting his own spin on things but he must surely realise that he needs to pick 2 centre midfielders who simply sit deep and let the full backs and front 4 deal with attacking.

Vela and Mallan’s numbers there are grim but entirely what us as fans would have expected

[Keith_M]

"lacked any real physicality in midfield"


Wow, and us amateurs that don't have any professional experience have been saying that all along.

[bigwheel]

Proof as well of Stevie Mallan’s passenger status.

Certainly evidence he is being asked to play a role that is not to his strengths .. Others in the midfield need to be accountable too...Vela not doing enough - we have lost the battling qualities of recent seasons in the centre of the park - it has been obvious since start of our games this season.

[bigwheel]

Building on this thread - most of us are concerned because we see the heart of our team as much weaker than it was even when we were in the championship...let’s hope the players we have brought in , including the newest recruits start to show they can compete at a better level from today onwards..

[Cataplana]

Proof as well of Stevie Mallan’s passenger status.

What annoys me is he was making more interceptions last season. So, he knows what's required, but for some reason thinks nobody will notice if he doesn't do it.

He's running out of chances.

[Tyler Durden]

The article is basically what everyone has said all season. But the part of Bartley playing with Dylan is nonsense. We’ve never been at our best when those two very rarely played in the same starting 11.

If you think back to October to January of first season back in top league, we did go on our best run during a period of playing 4-3-3. Bartley anchored midfield with McGinn and McGeouch either side of him. Boyle and Barker wide and Murray as number 9.

So we did play that way very successfully for a few months. Bartley and Dylan also played in the diamond together plenty of times.

Obviously Bartley wasn’t playing last season though and I agree it was right to let him and Milligan go. It’s the lack of replacement and the overall lack of aggression and intensity as a team that have caused our problems.

[The_Horde]

Hecky was asked a question on this the other day. Along the lines of “You’re known as someone who loves the detail, have you taken the opportunity to review some of the analysis and is there data that can help pinpoint where things are going wrong?”

He responded by basically saying no and again focusing on how we’re not doing well enough in “1 vs 1s”. Which is a total red herring to be honest. Hopefully it’s just him putting his own spin on things but he must surely realise that he needs to pick 2 centre midfielders who simply sit deep and let the full backs and front 4 deal with attacking.

Vela and Mallan’s numbers there are grim but entirely what us as fans would have expected

Vela's interceptions aren't great but he's won the most battles of all of our midfielders.

[Heisenberg]

Our midfield has been shocking since McGinn left. Omeonga plugged some gaps last January but it still wasn’t good enough up against the better teams.

Hallberg is going to need to be better than McGeouch at his peak at this rate. I don’t understand how he went from being desperate to get Ojo in to signing Vela. Hallberg isn’t even reported as being the same kind of player as Ojo either.

[Tyler Durden]

Vela's interceptions aren't great but he's won the most battles of all of our midfielders.

He’s been rubbish IMO. Hopefully he was dropped last time out to send a message and he’ll be back in today ready to show what he’s capable of.

Has to be better than what we’ve seen so far.

[GreenCastle]

Didn’t need the stats to back it up but it’s been obvious our midfield has struggled.

88 shots against us in 4 goals is a awful stat too.

Let’s see if anything changes today.

[The_Horde]

He’s been rubbish IMO. Hopefully he was dropped last time out to send a message and he’ll be back in today ready to show what he’s capable of.

Has to be better than what we’ve seen so far.

I don't disagree with you. He hasn't been great, but I'd say he's offered more than Mallan.

Vela's won the most battles of any Hibs player and Slivka has the most interceptions. So between the two of them we might be able to get something working in the middle?

[Greenbeard]

Our midfield has been shocking since McGinn left. Omeonga plugged some gaps last January but it still wasn’t good enough up against the better teams.

Hallberg is going to need to be better than McGeouch at his peak at this rate. I don’t understand how he went from being desperate to get Ojo in to signing Vela. Hallberg isn’t even reported as being the same kind of player as Ojo either.
:dunno:

[we are hibs]

Our midfield has been shocking since McGinn left. Omeonga plugged some gaps last January but it still wasn’t good enough up against the better teams.

Hallberg is going to need to be better than McGeouch at his peak at this rate. I don’t understand how he went from being desperate to get Ojo in to signing Vela. Hallberg isn’t even reported as being the same kind of player as Ojo either.

Omeonga was doing the work of 3 midfielders last season. Theres only so much you can do in a midfield when the other 2 are either work shy or not good enough. Think its become obvious how much we miss him this season as there is a real chronic lack of energy and heart in this current midfield. He had both

[wookie70]

Proof as well of Stevie Mallan’s passenger status.

Last season Mallan balanced his defensive frailties with a brilliant attacking record. This season that is what Scott Allan is doing. He has been great in assists and goals scored but is even more a passenger than Mallan defensively. The two cannot play in the same team particularly if you add Middleton, Horgan and Newell into the mix

[Hibee Mac]

A few things to highlight after that:

1) The fact that we are so far behind where we were last season is incredibly depressing considering last season was widely seen as an absolute failure and regression

2) This just backs up what us fans have been saying for so bloody long yet the people making decisions about it at our club are blind to it. We have no defensive midfielder no wonder we're pish!

[Hibee Mac]

Last season Mallan balanced his defensive frailties with a brilliant attacking record. This season that is what Scott Allan is doing. He has been great in assists and goals scored but is even more a passenger than Mallan defensively. The two cannot play in the same team particularly if you add Middleton, Horgan and Newell into the mix

And yet again, since the start of the window fans on here have been saying that it's Allan OR Mallan, you can't play both. The fact the manager and people at the club didn't see this coming is criminally inept.

[Cataplana]

And yet again, since the start of the window fans on here have been saying that it's Allan OR Mallan, you can't play both. The fact the manager and people at the club didn't see this coming is criminally inept.

Spot on.

[18Craig75]

Wow... although everyone has been saying it, the stats in that article really lay our problems bare.

We apparently have a strong video analysis department, so Hecky must’ve seen these figures, which makes it absolutely astounding that he’s continued to play Mallan in the same role! It’s not as if SM has been contributing at the other end with goals/assists.

Also quite surprising to see Milligan had such a high average, he wasn’t the long term answer but maybe would’ve been worth keeping around this season.

[H18S NX]

The fact that every fan can see this,it is criminal that the manager and everyone at the club can't,disgraceful.

[truehibernian]

The fact that every fan can see this,it is criminal that the manager and everyone at the club can't,disgraceful.

What's even more worrying is after every signing video the player says PH told them exactly what he wants from them - clearly that sales pitch doesn't include doing the basics of football and closing down space, working back, and winning back possession quickly. None of the players look like they know what they are meant to be doing and are happy to pass on defensive responsibilities to another meaning no one does the job.

[JimBHibees]

What's even more worrying is after every signing video the player says PH told them exactly what he wants from them - clearly that sales pitch doesn't include doing the basics of football and closing down space, working back, and winning back possession quickly. None of the players look like they know what they are meant to be doing and are happy to pass on defensive responsibilities to another meaning no one does the job.

Agree totally with that.

[jacomo]

These stats are brutal and validate what a lot of fans have been saying. We’ve looked clueless and unbalanced.

PH best get a grip on it soon because the pressure is on.

[Torto7]

I didn't think there was any chance of us being in a relegation fight despite being poor so far but those numbers are absolutely horrific and if they don't change soon we'll be in big trouble.

[Heisenberg]

Omeonga was doing the work of 3 midfielders last season. Theres only so much you can do in a midfield when the other 2 are either work shy or not good enough. Think its become obvious how much we miss him this season as there is a real chronic lack of energy and heart in this current midfield. He had both

Exactly. He was class. Our midfield hasn’t recovered from losing McGinn and McGeouch. Management and recruitment team to blame.

[Fergus52]

The article is basically what everyone has said all season. But the part of Bartley playing with Dylan is nonsense. We’ve never been at our best when those two very rarely played in the same starting 11.

Pretty sure that bit was Kenny millers opinion, not the writer of the article.

[The Modfather]

It's clear as daylight to me that the fundamental errors were allowing Bartley and Milligan to leave. It was simply confounded by not replacing them.

It was right to move Bartley & Milligan on. Neither of them were good enough, quick enough or athletic enough anymore. It was criminal however not to replace them in any shape or form though.

[HibbyAndy]

88 shots conceded in 4 games ? Really ?
Wow that's more than 20 shots a game Against us

[The_Horde]

Decent information, absolutely ruined by the opinions of Yogi and Miller. Not even sure they've watched Hibs this season.

They should both go back to chewing lego.

[CL0762]

Sometimes stats don’t tell the whole story but jesus some of those are brutal.

[J-C]

Did Heckingbottom actually say he didn't want a DM or is this a .net myth? If he's went into this season thinking that then he's very culpable for the results so far. Its been plain to see the defence is getting overrun due to a soft midfield and like most on here we're hoping Hallberg can go a way to sorting this out.

[BILLYHIBS]

Did Heckingbottom actually say he didn't want a DM or is this a .net myth? If he's went into this season thinking that then he's very culpable for the results so far. Its been plain to see the defence is getting overrun due to a soft midfield and like most on here we're hoping Hallberg can go a way to sorting this out.

I think it all started to go pear shaped for Hecky when he got guzumped in the Ojo deal

He was our sitting holding midfielder enforcer

After a dodgy start he is starting to get good reviews at Aberdeen

With hindsight it looks an error of judgement to let both Bartley and Milligan go

Vela looks like a player that has not played since January he looks unfit and is always looking to the bench for guidance as he is looks to be unsure exactly what his actual role is

He must be getting up to speed fitness wise as he has been at the club for two months now

Credit where credit due he is sometimes found further up the park trying to make things happen

Hallberg had better be good

Lets see what today brings

[Smartie]

Dont think either bartley or milligan were good enough. Its not letting them go thats the issue its the complete failure to replace them. Incredibly irresponsible and inept from the club we dont have a player in the midfield who is capable of sitting back and breaking up play to let the other midfielders play when its so blindingly obvious to everyone.

Whilst you first sentence is arguably true, watching our games I still get the feeling that either of those players would improve our side immensely.

I'm not unhappy with the players we've added but all of our players are struggling from our failure to replace those 2.

[Eyrie]

It was right to move Bartley & Milligan on. Neither of them were good enough, quick enough or athletic enough anymore. It was criminal however not to replace them in any shape or form though.
Exactly.


Did Heckingbottom actually say he didn't want a DM or is this a .net myth? If he's went into this season thinking that then he's very culpable for the results so far. Its been plain to see the defence is getting overrun due to a soft midfield and like most on here we're hoping Hallberg can go a way to sorting this out.
I pay attention to what a manager does and not what he says. In this case the manager had plenty of time and enough budget to ensure we had a defensive midfielder if he'd wanted one but didn't sign anyone for that role. QED.

[Hibee Mac]

Did Heckingbottom actually say he didn't want a DM or is this a .net myth? If he's went into this season thinking that then he's very culpable for the results so far. Its been plain to see the defence is getting overrun due to a soft midfield and like most on here we're hoping Hallberg can go a way to sorting this out.

My view on this is that it's irrelevant what the manager has or hasn't said, the fact is he let our two defensive midfielders go and did not replace either of them.

Thems the facts and he is solely to blame

[ancient hibee]

Just proves Netters aren't Nutters.

[GreenCastle]

Kilmarnock 12 shots today.

Add that to the 81 and 93 shots against us in 5 games.

93 shots !!!!!!