Jonnyboy
14-09-2019, 08:05 PM
As I left Rugby Park this afternoon, I remarked to my brother that I thought having lost the fans Hecky now seemed to have lost some of the players. A good few had me feeling that all was not well in the camp and although we played well in patches, sadly without ever looking like scoring, there was a lack of edge to the play with too many just not turning in the kind of performance we all know is within them to achieve.
As usual, I was angry that we’d lost again and my initial thoughts were that we were dominated by a hungrier and more motivated team but on the drive home my anger cooled a tad and I found myself agreeing with Derek Ferguson on Sportsound who offered the view that we’d been the better team in the first half but lacked the final killer pass or shot. He also felt that in the second we simply let our heads drop after conceding an eminently avoidable first goal. I still felt Killie looked organised, powerful and above all motivated by their manager which we were not in all three instances.
On the subject of Sportsound, I heard Allan Preston offer the view that Hibs are better than Hearts at the moment and that the home side will win the derby next Sunday. Unlike with Ferguson I cannot agree and feel that if it were possible for both sides to lose, that would be the outcome. I suppose if nothing else, Hibs’ current struggles might temper the number of green tinted claims as to how we are going to thrash them.
Anyway, back to the Killie game where both Naismith and Hallberg made their debuts and Porteous made a welcome return to the centre of defence. Hallberg was joined in the middle by Allan, Vela and Mallan with Horgan playing off Kamberi up top. One thing that became immediately obvious to me was that we were, as Hecky insisted he wanted, defending better from the front with Allan and Hallberg in particular working hard to close defenders down as Killie set themselves to play out from the back.
The first chance of the game saw a Kamberi effort go wrong side of the post before a slip from Porteous allowed McKenzie the chance to shoot but his effort struck a team mate and rolled harmlessly through to Marciano. Two more efforts from Hibs offered some hope to the travelling fans as first Horgan drifted in from the right and struck a fine shot on goal with his left foot that had keeper Branescu acrobatically tipping the effort over the bar. Next, Scott Allan was unceremoniously upended about twenty yards from goal and Mallan’s excellent attempt took a cracking save from the keeper with Vela thundering a shot in from the resultant corner which was blocked to stop Hibs taking the lead. It must be said that at this point, both debutants were catching the eye in a positive way but were let down by poor performers around them but more of that later.
With half time approaching all of Hibs’ huff and puff had produced nothing in terms of goals and they were lucky on the stroke of half time as a Killie player headed a corner wide of target when scoring looked easier. As an aside the male assistant referee on that side of the pitch got the corner call right but was woeful in not noticing that not once but twice the ball had crossed the line for a Hibs throw. He was caught watching the movement of attackers instead of doing his job correctly and watching the position of the ball.
I’ll be honest and say I was amazed that the manager made no changes at half time because at least two of our midfield players were very poor indeed. Those players, Horgan and Allan, contributed next to nothing with the former eliciting the thought that he couldn’t cross two randy dugs after yet another attempt sailed high and wide whilst Allan had clearly left his magic boots in the kit hamper. Perhaps the manager was loathe to replace Scotty given the furore the last time he did it but even the biggest of Scott Allan fans and I include myself amongst them, could see he was miles from his best.
Around ten minutes into the second half, Hibs were caught cold by a high ball forward that Porteous misjudged the flight of and saw Marciano seemingly reluctant to ‘sweeper keep’ allowing Millar to run in on goal and strike the ball home to put his side a goal up. At the game I was angry at Marciano but the incident was at the other end and so maybe he couldn’t come out to clear the danger?
At the other end, Hallberg thrashed the ball home from close range but referee Clancy had already blown for an infringement in the box. I think it was for a push by Kamberi which was ironic because the Killie defenders had been pushing and pulling Kamberi throughout the game without the punishment of a free kick being awarded.
With around twenty minutes still to go the manager finally decided he’d seen enough of Horgan’s contribution and replaced him with Doidge. A Mallan effort went straight to the keeper and then Brophy shot into the side net before Hallberg retired with cramp and Newell replaced him. For me that was yet another baffling decision as having introduced Doidge the manager should have brought on someone that could provide heading opportunities, Middleton being the obvious choice. Instead we left ourselves with no width and a striker whose strength is in the air.
Around ten minutes remained when a shocking error by Hanlon gifted the hosts the ball on the half way line and they wasted no time in surging forward against a now depleted defence, passing their way around it and giving El Makrini the easiest of chances to strike the ball beyond Marciano.
The mood in the away stand markedly changed at this point with many voicing their displeasure at the manager and if I’m honest, that was no real surprise. Another save from Marciano stopped a third goal but the game was petering out when a cut back by Kamberi arrived slightly behind Doidge and the big striker got a foot to it but couldn’t deflect it on goal. It was yet another bad day at the office and the pressure will now surely build on the manager but the players also need to take a long, hard look at themselves.
The players
Marciano – Rocky had a couple of good saves but his distribution remains woeful. Also, until I see the incident again I’m holding him at least partially responsible for the loss of the first goal.
Naismith – He’s a big lad and for a first showing I thought he did well enough to win my man of the match award.
Porteous – My mate said he thought Ryan looked a bit ring rusty and I tend to agree. His misjudgement of the flight of the ball for the opener wasn’t his only error of the day but I’m sure he’ll come good with the passing of time.
Hanlon – Another poor outing from Paul and his mistake leading to the second goal was of schoolboy proportions.
Stevenson – Lewis was fine, got little help from Horgan and was basically as solid as we’ve all (well, maybe not all) come to expect.
Hallberg – Put in a good shift and I wasn’t surprised he suffered from cramp late on. Got about the pitch well and picked out the occasional pass but one thing he is not, despite all of our hopes, is a strong tackling deep lying midfielder.
Vela – Floated around the midfield area but didn’t really contribute a great deal to the game. I’m not sure he clearly understands what his role is or maybe he does and the manager has failed to see he’s not very good at it.
Mallan – If anyone is suffering a drop in form due to the efforts of his team mates it is Stevie Mallan. I know that many see him as a waste of a jersey but get a decent midfield around him and the goals and assists will return.
Allan – That’s the poorest I’ve seen Scott play, across all three of his stints at the club and you have to wonder at this dramatic loss of form. I could speculate but I’ll leave that to others I think.
Horgan – I have to pause when writing about him because he infuriates me like no other player at Easter Road. Yes he scored two goals against Hearts – well done son but today was the Horgan we see in every other game – poor, lacking in desire and very much a passenger.
Kamberi – Once again Flo worked his socks off, got no protection from a referee that penalised every one of Flo’s nudges and tugs, and waited in vain in the box having made the intelligent run only to witness Scotty not picking him out.
Doidge – Brought on but denied the fuel that he needs to perform. Big striker, no width – go figure.
Newell – Guys beside me had written him off before he even touched the ball. I’m for giving him a chance to show he’s got it although I’m sure many will tell me he’s already had it.
Hecky – Who did he blame this week?
Clancy – Appalling referee, end of.
The fans – A very noisy singing section, who practised the Mercer songs for next week. It’s not big and it’s not clever folks.
As usual, I was angry that we’d lost again and my initial thoughts were that we were dominated by a hungrier and more motivated team but on the drive home my anger cooled a tad and I found myself agreeing with Derek Ferguson on Sportsound who offered the view that we’d been the better team in the first half but lacked the final killer pass or shot. He also felt that in the second we simply let our heads drop after conceding an eminently avoidable first goal. I still felt Killie looked organised, powerful and above all motivated by their manager which we were not in all three instances.
On the subject of Sportsound, I heard Allan Preston offer the view that Hibs are better than Hearts at the moment and that the home side will win the derby next Sunday. Unlike with Ferguson I cannot agree and feel that if it were possible for both sides to lose, that would be the outcome. I suppose if nothing else, Hibs’ current struggles might temper the number of green tinted claims as to how we are going to thrash them.
Anyway, back to the Killie game where both Naismith and Hallberg made their debuts and Porteous made a welcome return to the centre of defence. Hallberg was joined in the middle by Allan, Vela and Mallan with Horgan playing off Kamberi up top. One thing that became immediately obvious to me was that we were, as Hecky insisted he wanted, defending better from the front with Allan and Hallberg in particular working hard to close defenders down as Killie set themselves to play out from the back.
The first chance of the game saw a Kamberi effort go wrong side of the post before a slip from Porteous allowed McKenzie the chance to shoot but his effort struck a team mate and rolled harmlessly through to Marciano. Two more efforts from Hibs offered some hope to the travelling fans as first Horgan drifted in from the right and struck a fine shot on goal with his left foot that had keeper Branescu acrobatically tipping the effort over the bar. Next, Scott Allan was unceremoniously upended about twenty yards from goal and Mallan’s excellent attempt took a cracking save from the keeper with Vela thundering a shot in from the resultant corner which was blocked to stop Hibs taking the lead. It must be said that at this point, both debutants were catching the eye in a positive way but were let down by poor performers around them but more of that later.
With half time approaching all of Hibs’ huff and puff had produced nothing in terms of goals and they were lucky on the stroke of half time as a Killie player headed a corner wide of target when scoring looked easier. As an aside the male assistant referee on that side of the pitch got the corner call right but was woeful in not noticing that not once but twice the ball had crossed the line for a Hibs throw. He was caught watching the movement of attackers instead of doing his job correctly and watching the position of the ball.
I’ll be honest and say I was amazed that the manager made no changes at half time because at least two of our midfield players were very poor indeed. Those players, Horgan and Allan, contributed next to nothing with the former eliciting the thought that he couldn’t cross two randy dugs after yet another attempt sailed high and wide whilst Allan had clearly left his magic boots in the kit hamper. Perhaps the manager was loathe to replace Scotty given the furore the last time he did it but even the biggest of Scott Allan fans and I include myself amongst them, could see he was miles from his best.
Around ten minutes into the second half, Hibs were caught cold by a high ball forward that Porteous misjudged the flight of and saw Marciano seemingly reluctant to ‘sweeper keep’ allowing Millar to run in on goal and strike the ball home to put his side a goal up. At the game I was angry at Marciano but the incident was at the other end and so maybe he couldn’t come out to clear the danger?
At the other end, Hallberg thrashed the ball home from close range but referee Clancy had already blown for an infringement in the box. I think it was for a push by Kamberi which was ironic because the Killie defenders had been pushing and pulling Kamberi throughout the game without the punishment of a free kick being awarded.
With around twenty minutes still to go the manager finally decided he’d seen enough of Horgan’s contribution and replaced him with Doidge. A Mallan effort went straight to the keeper and then Brophy shot into the side net before Hallberg retired with cramp and Newell replaced him. For me that was yet another baffling decision as having introduced Doidge the manager should have brought on someone that could provide heading opportunities, Middleton being the obvious choice. Instead we left ourselves with no width and a striker whose strength is in the air.
Around ten minutes remained when a shocking error by Hanlon gifted the hosts the ball on the half way line and they wasted no time in surging forward against a now depleted defence, passing their way around it and giving El Makrini the easiest of chances to strike the ball beyond Marciano.
The mood in the away stand markedly changed at this point with many voicing their displeasure at the manager and if I’m honest, that was no real surprise. Another save from Marciano stopped a third goal but the game was petering out when a cut back by Kamberi arrived slightly behind Doidge and the big striker got a foot to it but couldn’t deflect it on goal. It was yet another bad day at the office and the pressure will now surely build on the manager but the players also need to take a long, hard look at themselves.
The players
Marciano – Rocky had a couple of good saves but his distribution remains woeful. Also, until I see the incident again I’m holding him at least partially responsible for the loss of the first goal.
Naismith – He’s a big lad and for a first showing I thought he did well enough to win my man of the match award.
Porteous – My mate said he thought Ryan looked a bit ring rusty and I tend to agree. His misjudgement of the flight of the ball for the opener wasn’t his only error of the day but I’m sure he’ll come good with the passing of time.
Hanlon – Another poor outing from Paul and his mistake leading to the second goal was of schoolboy proportions.
Stevenson – Lewis was fine, got little help from Horgan and was basically as solid as we’ve all (well, maybe not all) come to expect.
Hallberg – Put in a good shift and I wasn’t surprised he suffered from cramp late on. Got about the pitch well and picked out the occasional pass but one thing he is not, despite all of our hopes, is a strong tackling deep lying midfielder.
Vela – Floated around the midfield area but didn’t really contribute a great deal to the game. I’m not sure he clearly understands what his role is or maybe he does and the manager has failed to see he’s not very good at it.
Mallan – If anyone is suffering a drop in form due to the efforts of his team mates it is Stevie Mallan. I know that many see him as a waste of a jersey but get a decent midfield around him and the goals and assists will return.
Allan – That’s the poorest I’ve seen Scott play, across all three of his stints at the club and you have to wonder at this dramatic loss of form. I could speculate but I’ll leave that to others I think.
Horgan – I have to pause when writing about him because he infuriates me like no other player at Easter Road. Yes he scored two goals against Hearts – well done son but today was the Horgan we see in every other game – poor, lacking in desire and very much a passenger.
Kamberi – Once again Flo worked his socks off, got no protection from a referee that penalised every one of Flo’s nudges and tugs, and waited in vain in the box having made the intelligent run only to witness Scotty not picking him out.
Doidge – Brought on but denied the fuel that he needs to perform. Big striker, no width – go figure.
Newell – Guys beside me had written him off before he even touched the ball. I’m for giving him a chance to show he’s got it although I’m sure many will tell me he’s already had it.
Hecky – Who did he blame this week?
Clancy – Appalling referee, end of.
The fans – A very noisy singing section, who practised the Mercer songs for next week. It’s not big and it’s not clever folks.