We are quality but not very good

[MacGruber]

Scott Allan is quality as we know
Omeonga - quality
Docherty - looks real class
Newell - coming good in the middle of the park
Hallberg - good quality, dipped a bit last few, good player.
Boyle - quality star man playing on the right
Doidge - goal machine
Rocky - quality shot stopper
Bogdan - quality keeper, kept out by quality shot stopper
Porteous - future Scotland captain, quality radge
McNulty - quality player last time out

Loads of real quality players at the club just now, should be in the mix for 3rd/4th. We are falling short though as we are not adding up to the sum of our parts just now. If we were we would be beating St Mirren at home. It's Jack's job to make a team out of us, formation, style, identity. We aren't there yet but we are not far away from a good hibs team at all.

Forgot what my point was... been drinking again!

Keep the faith

GGTTH

[DetroitHibs]

A quality team would be playing other teams off the park, sadly not the case. I’d say we are average.

[MacGruber]

A quality team would be playing other teams off the park, sadly not the case. I’d say we are average.

Yeah - I knew I had a point. We are average though we have enough quality not to be IMO. Defence needs a makeover however

[IberianHibernian]

As a fellow Hibby I think I know what you mean by " quality " and I constantly listen to or read comments from Spanish journalists about players with " calidad " though there is no way Doidge would be included as a quality player even if he scores 40 goals this season . Problem is inconsistency . For example Boyle - how many times did he touch the ball today ? One shot and pass for our first goal but nothing else that I can remember . Mc Nulty similar . hardly touched the ball . Not just their fault but quality is only useful if used .

[judas]

I agree with the OP. We have have some decent quality in our squad. Just a bit of an Achilles in defence just now.

Still think a defensive mid would help with that. But then that could stunt our attacking nature somewhat.

I think we will settle a bit now and be top 5 this season.

[H18 SFR]

We are all enthusiastic about the future of hibs however we have a long way to go.

[Smartie]

Imbalanced squad, deficient in places, no obvious style of play suits our imbalanced squad and we're very hot and cold.

You're right though - we have a lot of good players (players who would probably walk into other Hibs teams based on talent alone) and we should have been able to get a tune out of them.

[Eyrie]

Scott Allan is quality as we know
Omeonga - quality
Docherty - looks real class
Newell - coming good in the middle of the park
Hallberg - good quality, dipped a bit last few, good player.
Boyle - quality star man playing on the right
Doidge - goal machine
Rocky - quality shot stopper
Bogdan - quality keeper, kept out by quality shot stopper
Porteous - future Scotland captain, quality radge
McNulty - quality player last time out

Loads of real quality players at the club just now, should be in the mix for 3rd/4th. We are falling short though as we are not adding up to the sum of our parts just now. If we were we would be beating St Mirren at home. It's Jack's job to make a team out of us, formation, style, identity. We aren't there yet but we are not far away from a good hibs team at all.

Forgot what my point was... been drinking again!

Keep the faith

GGTTH
A lot can be explained by the shortage of defenders in that list.

[Unseen work]

We can’t afford to give teams a 2 goal head start, we shouldn’t need to score 3+ goals every game for a win.

Good teams can win 1-0, we seem unable to do this

[California-Hibs]

Scott Allan is quality as we know
Omeonga - quality
Docherty - looks real class
Newell - coming good in the middle of the park
Hallberg - good quality, dipped a bit last few, good player.
Boyle - quality star man playing on the right
Doidge - goal machine
Rocky - quality shot stopper
Bogdan - quality keeper, kept out by quality shot stopper
Porteous - future Scotland captain, quality radge
McNulty - quality player last time out

Loads of real quality players at the club just now, should be in the mix for 3rd/4th. We are falling short though as we are not adding up to the sum of our parts just now. If we were we would be beating St Mirren at home. It's Jack's job to make a team out of us, formation, style, identity. We aren't there yet but we are not far away from a good hibs team at all.

Forgot what my point was... been drinking again!

Keep the faith

GGTTH

Notice all the 'quality' you have highlighted only consists of 1 defender. Therein lies the issue..

[jingler1954]

Notice all the 'quality' you have highlighted only consists of 1 defender. Therein lies the issue..

and he is injured.

[Steve20]

We’re bang average. Some of those listed are not ‘quality’. Some are okay and nothing more. One or two have genuine quality but that’s it.

Defence is a shambles which is the main problem. They’ve been brilliant for us over the years but really need replaced and fast. But of course, we didn’t bother.

[BILLYHIBS]

We are not very good and need more quality but will need to make do until the summer

[Vault Boy]

I agree with the sentiment of the OP and most of the replies. There's now plenty of players that I'm enthused about in our team, particularly the midfield, however the squad balance and overall standard of our performances has not been up to scratch.

I think the signs are good for Ross though. In both the kind of player he and the recruitment team have signed, as well as the improvement in results that've been achieved with a squad that was entirely lost under Hecky. The obvious difference in the performance levels of Newell, Doidge and Boyle* seems to a suggest a better level of tactical awareness from JR. Things can still continue to improve on that front, though.

The summer will likely see some significant changes. I think we will lose Docherty, keep Omeonga, sell Flo and let the likes of James go if possible. We may try and sign a fit-again Naismith, Gray may be phased out of his first team duties (unless there's a swift and significant turnaround in his performances), Whittaker will probably retire at the end of his contact and McNulty may join again permanently, depending on his impact this season. Boyle may well be sold for a figure around £2m. We'll be signing an extra striker, possibly Nisbet if Pars are more willing to sell in the summer.

That's all speculation of course, but I'd say it's based loosely on the most likely outcomes. Given that some amount of it will probably come to fruition, it signals plenty of opportunity for us to improve the squad, but also some hefty challenges, trying to replace the likes of Docherty, Boyle and possibly Omeonga.

I'm more optimistic than anything overall. I think the recruitment team, alongside the board and our HC have shown their intent in the January window. We're once again talenting young, developing talent (Omeonga, Docherty, Nisbet), as well as established SPFL pros like McNulty and McGinn. Time will tell, but I think it bodes well for next season. Ross seems to be acutely aware of our defensive troubles, so we might expect to see a significant turnover there too.

[Waxy]

We do have have a quality squad but we wont win every game we play.
All the teams in the bottom six have decent squads too and are fighting for their lives.There’s no easy games now and we have to battle as well.

[Clarence]

Our team reminds me a bit of the Alex Miller mid 90s team. Quality going forward with Jackson, McAllister, O’Neill, Harper, goal scorer in Keith Wright, but the defence was either a bit too old or just not good enough to cope with the old firm, or teams that were really up for it, hence we conceded a lot of goals against Rantic and often drew against relegation fodder at home. Then when we lost the quality from up front to other teams, we too became relegation fodder. My concern is that all our quality is on loan so we really need to rebuild in the summer or I fear mid table will be the best we can aim for again next season.

[Sir David Gray]

Until we sort out the defence and stop conceding an average of over 1.5 goals per game, we're always going to be distinctly average.

It's just as well we're quite good at the other end of the pitch otherwise we would be in trouble.

[mjhibby]

The number of games we are playing right now is catching us up and Ross is trying his best to rotate but we seem to take one step forward then yesterday. To be fair Jackson might well have made a difference but he had a bug and maybe might have been rested as he's playing a few games quickly after not playing for a while. In all honesty I can see it being like this till the end of the season then hopefully we can sort the issues like centre mid and defence. It's really tricky to solve it in January. The sevco have lost a few players and their form has dipped dramatically so it not just us who are feeling it. I think once we get a free midweek and can prepare properly the likes of mcginn and docherty will shine.
If we finish sixth so be it but the cup is wide open so we can be very hopeful of at least getting to hampden.

[Keith_M]

Scott Allan is quality as we know
Omeonga - quality
Docherty - looks real class
Newell - coming good in the middle of the park
Hallberg - good quality, dipped a bit last few, good player.
Boyle - quality star man playing on the right
Doidge - goal machine
Rocky - quality shot stopper
Bogdan - quality keeper, kept out by quality shot stopper
Porteous - future Scotland captain, quality radge
McNulty - quality player last time out

Loads of real quality players at the club just now, should be in the mix for 3rd/4th. We are falling short though as we are not adding up to the sum of our parts just now. If we were we would be beating St Mirren at home. It's Jack's job to make a team out of us, formation, style, identity. We aren't there yet but we are not far away from a good hibs team at all.
....


Not many defenders in your list of honour.

I think that may be the answer

[mjhibby]

Until we sort out the defence and stop conceding an average of over 1.5 goals per game, we're always going to be distinctly average.

It's just as well we're quite good at the other end of the pitch otherwise we would be in trouble.

The old cliche of as long as we score one more than them seems the right way to sum it up.

[MacGruber]

Notice all the 'quality' you have highlighted only consists of 1 defender. Therein lies the issue..

I think you are right. 4/5 years ago Gray, McGregor, Hanlon and Stevenson all might have made the list.

Strong in the middle of the park. Boyle about the best wide player in the league, Doidge a good goalscorer and good keepers. The defence needs an overhaul and the weakness there has been compounded by lack of an out and out defensive midfielder.

We are also imbalanced. Overloaded in the middle of the park and 4 right backs however only 1 left back, 2 senior strikers & little cover in the wide areas

[MacGruber]

Not many defenders in your list of honour.

I think that may be the answer

Yeah I think it is

[SlickShoes]

Yep we have some good players but the defence is throwing goals into the net so even if we play quite well we aren’t winning games, hence all the draws.

[MWHIBBIES]

Notice all the 'quality' you have highlighted only consists of 1 defender. Therein lies the issue..

Tbf, the one he has mentioned isn't actually our best defender.

[Speedway]

In our last six matches, we’ve won 2, drawn 2, lost 2.

We’re 6th in the league. We’re 5th in the league in home form.

We’re mid table mediocrity at the moment. Hopefully JR will sort that.

[Sir David Gray]

In our last six matches, we’ve won 2, drawn 2, lost 2.

We’re 6th in the league. We’re 5th in the league in home form.

We’re mid table mediocrity at the moment. Hopefully JR will sort that.

Yep we are an average team in an average league. Big summer coming up.

[eastcoasthibby]

We have decent quality and I will refer only to the players we have had all season, the problem in my mind is that they don't work hard enough throughout the game too many seem to flit in and out of the game ....it feels like they are a bit aloof in that hey think they are better than they actually are, instead of showing it all the time. If you look and it's only 45 minutes at the attitude of Docherty and McGinn and for the few games Omeonga has played since coming back, they have a focus and drive about them, while too often we see our players wandering about with little determination, they switch off and don't show a real determination to play for 90 minutes !! Watching a lot of teams and again it might just be me, but I see a higher number of players in all of the teams who appear as though they are giving there all and run/ work themselves into the ground whether they are deemed to have quality or not ....I get a feeling that we get some players who think they don't need to work for hard for their wages ...so their quality is as much a perception as a lived reality, other than in glimpses ....

[Bobby's Cinema]

Know what the OP is saying.

You watch us go forward and much of the time we look capable of scoring and creating chance, more than most in the league. Well done to Jack Ross building from Eddie mays initial selection and seeing us return to this kind of football.

At the back though we look so easy to play against at time. I think the lack of protection for full backs in this system we play is an issue.

JR seems to be of a philosophy that we go out to score more than the opposition at the moment. I’m supportive of this because ultimately it’s what I’d want from a hibs team and it also plays to the strengths of our squad.

I also like that JR is prepared to make his subs early enough to have an impact on the game. We are not far away imo, but too inconsistent result wise.

Every time I want to rule us out of Europe we still hang on not a million miles away. But the reality is we are as close to Hamilton as we are to Motherwell.