This is how it feels (St Johnstone 230820)

[Jonnyboy]

As Jimmy Greaves famously used to say, “It’s a funny old game.” Here we are five games in and joint top; undefeated and having conceded only two goals with neither conceded from open play and yet I’m still not totally happy with what I’m seeing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m delighted with our start to the season but am a bit nonplussed regarding the level of quality we are producing. Having said that I’m a glass half full kinda person and so I like to look for the positives.

Away to St. Johnstone is always a tester, though given the lack of fan attendance at games I’m not sure that the venue really matters so much. For this game we were without the services of Kevin Nisbet, the lad having to be withdrawn due to injury. This necessitated a change of shape with Scott Allan in the starting eleven and only really Doidge as a natural striker.

The game had an interesting start with the home side creating a half chance before Martin Boyle stung the fingertips of Elliot Parish with a low shot that the Saints keeper touched around the post. Thereafter, both sides enjoyed spells of possession without really causing the other too much of a problem. The young lad McNamara was showing up well for Saints but can maybe consider himself lucky to get only a booking for a straight leg lunge on Scott Allan. Thankfully, Scotty saw it coming and got out of the way. If full contact had been made it was a stick on red and even without full contact it was borderline.

Around the half hour mark a series of disallowed goals started when Boyle charged down an attempted clearance from Parish. The ball spun high into the air and as it dropped, Horgan was the first to it but he sclaffed his effort, with the ball reaching Boyle who tapped it home from what was clearly an offside position. At the other end, Conway sent over an inviting cross which tempted Rocky into making some sort of Superman leap. He missed it completely and Callum Hendry nodded the ball into the empty net. It looked onside but the assistant raised his flag and it was disallowed. TV replays showed Hendry was clearly onside and so he and his manager would be rightly aggrieved by the outcome. At the other end a deep cross was brilliantly met by the high flying Doidge but his header struck Parish and when the resultant rebound reached Doidge the big fella used an arm to control the ball before knocking it into the net.

McNamara showed again when his fierce drive from the edge of the box brought out a fine save from Marciano, who tipped the ball over the bar.

The second half was not great if truth be told. St Johnstone enjoyed possession but did nothing with it whilst Hibs were taking far too long to work the ball from back to front and as a result, goal scoring opportunities were at a premium.

When Callum Hendry was booked for persistent fouling I recall thinking to myself that it wasn’t before time. Seconds later he clipped the heels of Joe Newell, right in front of John Beaton but no card was shown, despite the fact he later booked Scott Allan for a similar offence.

Just as I thought I was back in the days of Alex Miller with endless 0-0 games being the norm, Hibs finally made the breakthrough. A corner from Mallan was headed towards goal by Gogic who watched on as the ball struck the inside of the post and was cleared by Liam Craig as it looked to be going in. Craig’s clearance was poor, giving Gogic the chance to lob the ball back into the area where Ben Gordon rashly felled both Porteous and Hanlon with a push. John Beaton was perfectly placed and pointed to the spot, allowing Stevie Mallan the chance to hammer the ball home and win Hibs the points.

The hosts threw everything at Hibs but the men in green and white survived. Immediately after the final whistle, Liam Craig whom we all know likes a moan, got himself booked and then sent off for dissent. Strangely the Sky graphic showed a little red line under Hibs!

It wasn’t a great performance by any means and I’m no different from anyone else who says they want better football but, to coin another much used phrase in football I’ve seen us play better and lose. My half full glass tells me that when Hibs do reach the heights we all look for we are going to have one helluva season.

The players

Marciano – Rocky was very lucky with the disallowed goal because he was flapping big style in trying to reach a cross he should never have come for. Having said that he played well afterwards and had a couple of decent saves.

McGinn – Yet another fine performance from a guy that surely doesn’t always get the credit he deserves. His defending is very good and he gets forward a lot to support attacks.

Porteous – I thought Ryan was a bit off it today, charging out of defence in trying to stay with the very mobile O’Halloran. I also thought he was guilty of ball watching a couple of times but given he was part of a defence that once again kept a clean sheet the good parts of his game clearly outweighed the bad.

Hanlon – As I was watching on TV it gave me the chance at half and full time to read some of the comments about him. For my money he was outstanding and my man of the match. I don’t do Twitter but I’m told there’s a real vendetta of sorts against Paul, something I find absolutely incredible if truth be told.

Doig – After a few excellent performances leading up to this game I thought Josh was not nearly as eye catching. He’s just a kid and still learning so it’s to be expected he won’t shine in every game.

Boyle – Martin was largely anonymous for portions of the game with his trademark runs being at a premium. I’m sure he’s aware of all the transfer talk and that will certainly be on his mind so I hope Hibs can offer him a deal that will tie him down sooner rather than later.

Allan – It was good to see Scotty back in action but once again I was left a bit disappointed by his performance. In his defence he seemed to be the main target in St Johnstone’s Aberdeen like approach of consistent fouling.

Gogic – It’s amazing how many times he breaks up opposition play and I’m mightily impressed by his positional sense. Alex was unlucky that his late header hit the post and was cleared off the line.

Newell – After a bit of a purple patch at the end of last season, Joe seems to be less influential in terms of creativity but to his credit today he did provide well enough when they had the ball.

Horgan – Daryl works his socks off and always seems to be available for a pass but today his final ball was horrendous and I wasn’t surprised he got hooked after an hour.

Doidge – Christian had to work on slim pickings but he still managed to impress with both his work rate and in holding up the ball until support arrived.

Wright – I was a bit surprised to see him there today given that some on here had written him off as a high level user of the treatment table! I thought he looked sharp and that he offered excellent cover down our left when they had the ball.

Mallan – The enigma that is Stevie Mallan will have enjoyed crashing that penalty in. I felt he contributed well in his time on the park and I’m delighted to see him back and playing.

Gullan – Hammer’s movement is excellent and more than once he lost his marker but the ball didn’t arrive. He looks very assured for one so young and I anticipate him having a good season for Hibs.

Halberg - Melker is the sub of the season, having come on in every game so far. Did his bit in winning the ball and I was pleased to see him get further forward than he usually does

John Beaton – Other than leniency towards Callum Hendry, I thought he reffed the game well.

Jack Ross – It would have been easy for Jack just to say he was delighted with three points but he was quick to add that we are nowhere near our best yet. It’s important he acknowledges that and addresses the matter in an open way. His two predecessors were never that honest in my opinion.

The fans – I’m willing to bet that the overwhelming percentage of Hibbies watching that game shouted at least once at Andy Walker’s drivel. I know I did.

[RoYO!]

Three word review: smash and grab.

[BILLYHIBS]

Brilliant Jonnyboy as ever

Good to see JR not afraid to ring the changes

Andy Walker defo disnae like us

Will take the 3 points but you just know a doin is just around the corner

It’s HIBS ! 😃

[CMurdoch]

As usual good to read your take on things.
The most interesting of the performances for me were the subs with Wright particularly good and Gullan not far behind. Wright did enough to start next week and Gullan will be in the managers thoughts.
FWIW I thought Mallan did very little before injury time but am pleased to see you thought he made a decent contribution. Which ever of us is right, time on the pitch will have done him good. What we will agree on is, we were happy he was on the pitch when the penalty was awarded.
Onwards and upwards.

[bordergreen]

As Jimmy Greaves famously used to say, “It’s a funny old game.” Here we are five games in and joint top; undefeated and having conceded only two goals with neither conceded from open play and yet I’m still not totally happy with what I’m seeing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m delighted with our start to the season but am a bit nonplussed regarding the level of quality we are producing. Having said that I’m a glass half full kinda person and so I like to look for the positives.

Away to St. Johnstone is always a tester, though given the lack of fan attendance at games I’m not sure that the venue really matters so much. For this game we were without the services of Kevin Nisbet, the lad having to be withdrawn due to injury. This necessitated a change of shape with Scott Allan in the starting eleven and only really Doidge as a natural striker.

The game had an interesting start with the home side creating a half chance before Martin Boyle stung the fingertips of Elliot Parish with a low shot that the Saints keeper touched around the post. Thereafter, both sides enjoyed spells of possession without really causing the other too much of a problem. The young lad McNamara was showing up well for Saints but can maybe consider himself lucky to get only a booking for a straight leg lunge on Scott Allan. Thankfully, Scotty saw it coming and got out of the way. If full contact had been made it was a stick on red and even without full contact it was borderline.

Around the half hour mark a series of disallowed goals started when Boyle charged down an attempted clearance from Parish. The ball spun high into the air and as it dropped, Horgan was the first to it but he sclaffed his effort, with the ball reaching Boyle who tapped it home from what was clearly an offside position. At the other end, Conway sent over an inviting cross which tempted Rocky into making some sort of Superman leap. He missed it completely and Callum Hendry nodded the ball into the empty net. It looked onside but the assistant raised his flag and it was disallowed. TV replays showed Hendry was clearly onside and so he and his manager would be rightly aggrieved by the outcome. At the other end a deep cross was brilliantly met by the high flying Doidge but his header struck Parish and when the resultant rebound reached Doidge the big fella used an arm to control the ball before knocking it into the net.

McNamara showed again when his fierce drive from the edge of the box brought out a fine save from Marciano, who tipped the ball over the bar.

The second half was not great if truth be told. St Johnstone enjoyed possession but did nothing with it whilst Hibs were taking far too long to work the ball from back to front and as a result, goal scoring opportunities were at a premium.

When Callum Hendry was booked for persistent fouling I recall thinking to myself that it wasn’t before time. Seconds later he clipped the heels of Joe Newell, right in front of John Beaton but no card was shown, despite the fact he later booked Scott Allan for a similar offence.

Just as I thought I was back in the days of Alex Miller with endless 0-0 games being the norm, Hibs finally made the breakthrough. A corner from Mallan was headed towards goal by Gogic who watched on as the ball struck the inside of the post and was cleared by Liam Craig as it looked to be going in. Craig’s clearance was poor, giving Gogic the chance to lob the ball back into the area where Ben Gordon rashly felled both Porteous and Hanlon with a push. John Beaton was perfectly placed and pointed to the spot, allowing Stevie Mallan the chance to hammer the ball home and win Hibs the points.

The hosts threw everything at Hibs but the men in green and white survived. Immediately after the final whistle, Liam Craig whom we all know likes a moan, got himself booked and then sent off for dissent. Strangely the Sky graphic showed a little red line under Hibs!

It wasn’t a great performance by any means and I’m no different from anyone else who says they want better football but, to coin another much used phrase in football I’ve seen us play better and lose. My half full glass tells me that when Hibs do reach the heights we all look for we are going to have one helluva season.

The players

Marciano – Rocky was very lucky with the disallowed goal because he was flapping big style in trying to reach a cross he should never have come for. Having said that he played well afterwards and had a couple of decent saves.

McGinn – Yet another fine performance from a guy that surely doesn’t always get the credit he deserves. His defending is very good and he gets forward a lot to support attacks.

Porteous – I thought Ryan was a bit off it today, charging out of defence in trying to stay with the very mobile O’Halloran. I also thought he was guilty of ball watching a couple of times but given he was part of a defence that once again kept a clean sheet the good parts of his game clearly outweighed the bad.

Hanlon – As I was watching on TV it gave me the chance at half and full time to read some of the comments about him. For my money he was outstanding and my man of the match. I don’t do Twitter but I’m told there’s a real vendetta of sorts against Paul, something I find absolutely incredible if truth be told.

Doig – After a few excellent performances leading up to this game I thought Josh was not nearly as eye catching. He’s just a kid and still learning so it’s to be expected he won’t shine in every game.

Boyle – Martin was largely anonymous for portions of the game with his trademark runs being at a premium. I’m sure he’s aware of all the transfer talk and that will certainly be on his mind so I hope Hibs can offer him a deal that will tie him down sooner rather than later.

Allan – It was good to see Scotty back in action but once again I was left a bit disappointed by his performance. In his defence he seemed to be the main target in St Johnstone’s Aberdeen like approach of consistent fouling.

Gogic – It’s amazing how many times he breaks up opposition play and I’m mightily impressed by his positional sense. Alex was unlucky that his late header hit the post and was cleared off the line.

Newell – After a bit of a purple patch at the end of last season, Joe seems to be less influential in terms of creativity but to his credit today he did provide well enough when they had the ball.

Horgan – Daryl works his socks off and always seems to be available for a pass but today his final ball was horrendous and I wasn’t surprised he got hooked after an hour.

Doidge – Christian had to work on slim pickings but he still managed to impress with both his work rate and in holding up the ball until support arrived.

Wright – I was a bit surprised to see him there today given that some on here had written him off as a high level user of the treatment table! I thought he looked sharp and that he offered excellent cover down our left when they had the ball.

Mallan – The enigma that is Stevie Mallan will have enjoyed crashing that penalty in. I felt he contributed well in his time on the park and I’m delighted to see him back and playing.

Gullan – Hammer’s movement is excellent and more than once he lost his marker but the ball didn’t arrive. He looks very assured for one so young and I anticipate him having a good season for Hibs.

John Beaton – Other than leniency towards Callum Hendry, I thought he reffed the game well.

Jack Ross – It would have been easy for Jack just to say he was delighted with three points but he was quick to add that we are nowhere near our best yet. It’s important he acknowledges that and addresses the matter in an open way. His two predecessors were never that honest in my opinion.

The fans – I’m willing to bet that the overwhelming percentage of Hibbies watching that game shouted at least once at Andy Walker’s drivel. I know I did.


Andy Walker, whingeing little welt. Can't stand him.

[superfurryhibby]

Great summary, thank you.

I never watched the game but it sounds like Hibs matched a side intent as always on making it a real battle to play. Another tough match under our belt and as you say, there is more to come from Hibs. We're maybe just lacking that bit dynamism in the centre of the park, but we've got a long window left to address that.

[brog]

Excellent John & in particular with reference to Paul Hanlon. Paul is leading by example this season, in the last few minutes he was driving to the goal line & producing a cross that a winger would have envied. Long may it continue.

[Sir David Gray]

Good account although the St Johnstone player is Liam Gordon.

Signed A. Pedant. :greengrin

[MartinfaePorty]

Can't really argue with most of that, except to say that maybe Hallberg deserves a mention? [emoji106]

Sent from my EML-L29 using Tapatalk

[Greenbeard]

Too often the midfield are passing it back to the defence without giving them an option and Hanlon, Porto or McGinn end up firing long speculative balls. Having said that Porto drilled a few accurate passes forward. J

[davemcbain]

As always, a grand report - for my money St Johnstone didn't appear to be playing for the win. All about breaking down the away team, niggling fouls and hoping for something on the break. Against that, you need to be both resilient and lucky - Hibs were both, but could easily have been playing against nine men at the end.

Gogic is the link we've been missing for a while - ain't pretty, but I suspect in two years time no-one will be talking about the matty jack role.

[3pm]

Thought Porto played well tbh.

[Iggy Pope]

Good reading Jonny as always but you’re being kind on most of them. Poor all over today and I’m not making anything of the clean sheet. I thought they were all pretty much “off it”. No idea how we got the 3 points but glad we did.

[007]

As always, a grand report - for my money St Johnstone didn't appear to be playing for the win. All about breaking down the away team, niggling fouls and hoping for something on the break. Against that, you need to be both resilient and lucky - Hibs were both, but could easily have been playing against nine men at the end.

Gogic is the link we've been missing for a while - ain't pretty, but I suspect in two years time no-one will be talking about the matty jack role.

Exactly. St Johnstone can rightly be aggrieved at getting a perfectly good goal disallowed however they got the luck of the decisions with not getting a red card (except for Liam Craig's after the whistle). They know themselves after their game v Killie how much a red can change the game in favour of the team with a man advantage.

[Ronniekirk]

A win is all the matters when we are joint top But compare that performance to the Eddie May team performance when we turned them over 4 1
So plenty room to improve and a few quality players still needed through the door
But I suspect we will need to improve to take anything from Aberdeen away and Old Firm back to back
But Ross deserves credit for making us difficult to beat .Something we have Moaned about in the past
We now need to find. a way to get the best out of our creative players
Scott Allan isn’t at his best ,Boyle s head is clearly elsewhere but bigger teams may bring out the best in those two


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BILLYHIBS]

Excellent John & in particular with reference to Paul Hanlon. Paul is leading by example this season, in the last few minutes he was driving to the goal line & producing a cross that a winger would have envied. Long may it continue.

Some may laugh but I tried to vote for PH as POTY last season but when I logged in there was only three options and PH wasn’t one of them ?

Didnae bother voting .......might have voted for Doidge?

Said it last week PH was one of the few who refused to be bullied and he was the same today and he didn’t give up kept going till the final whistle

[Jonnyboy]

Good account although the St Johnstone player is Liam Gordon.

Signed A. Pedant. :greengrin

ooops :greengrin


Can't really argue with most of that, except to say that maybe Hallberg deserves a mention? [emoji106]

Sent from my EML-L29 using Tapatalk

Can't believe I missed him out! I'm away to add him in :thumbsup:

[JohnM1875]

Excellent review as always! So thanks again, but disagree that it's a cross Rocky shouldn't be coming for. He 100% should be coming for crosses like that. He should just be gathering/clearing them. Not punching the opposing attacker in the head!

Still though. Three points is all that matters! Roll on Aberdeen.

[number9dream]

Another absolutely honking match, that’s three in a row now.
St Johnstone pinned us back with their aggression in the second half but didn’t really create any chances.
I thought Gray and Gullan made a difference and got us up the park when we changed to a back three.
Hanlon and McGinn were solid again, with Gogic covering a lot of ground.

[B.H.F.C]

Good reading Jonny as always but you’re being kind on most of them. Poor all over today and I’m not making anything of the clean sheet. I thought they were all pretty much “off it”. No idea how we got the 3 points but glad we did.

You could argue that they scored a perfectly good goal but, again, Marciano has hardly had a save to make so I think we have to take something from the clean sheet.

We were poor but they weren’t any better. Thought we were all right in the first half, lacked quality in the final third but were the better side. Doidge should actually have scored with his header IMO, as much as folk will say it was unlucky.

Delighted with 13 points but we do need to improve performance wise or the results will turn. Been really fine margins and we’ve carried a wee bit of luck.

[NAE NOOKIE]

Nobody can complain about 4 wins and a draw, especially with 3 of those games being away from home, for what that's worth these days.

There's a lot of folk commenting on social media that folk shouldn't be moaning about the style of football because the results are good. That would be fair enough if that style was sustainable as a route to a good season, but it isn't.
No team can continue to pass the ball as poorly as we did today, fail to put together any cohesive football through the midfield as we have been doing, fail to retain any kind of sustained possession, fail to win second balls in the midfield so consistently, allow teams to get 60 to 70 yards up the pitch before putting in a meaningful challenge and allow ball after ball after ball into it's box and expect to continue to win or even draw games.

I've seen three games this season and from what I've seen there's no way we can continue to play like this before it catches up with us. Yes the defending has been heroic at times, but we have also been extremely lucky, I've lost count of the number of balls into our box that should have been scored from, but for whatever reason have eluded the other sides attackers ... That's not going to last forever and if we don't address a number of issues that are leading to our defence being under incredible pressure in every game we are going to pay for it in the end.

Winning when you play badly is indeed the sign of a good team .... but that's in the odd game, you cannot continually play badly and continue to win, as we are going to learn that the hard way unless we recognise things have to improve.

[Dunbar Hibee]

As Jimmy Greaves famously used to say, “It’s a funny old game.” Here we are five games in and joint top; undefeated and having conceded only two goals with neither conceded from open play and yet I’m still not totally happy with what I’m seeing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m delighted with our start to the season but am a bit nonplussed regarding the level of quality we are producing. Having said that I’m a glass half full kinda person and so I like to look for the positives.

Away to St. Johnstone is always a tester, though given the lack of fan attendance at games I’m not sure that the venue really matters so much. For this game we were without the services of Kevin Nisbet, the lad having to be withdrawn due to injury. This necessitated a change of shape with Scott Allan in the starting eleven and only really Doidge as a natural striker.

The game had an interesting start with the home side creating a half chance before Martin Boyle stung the fingertips of Elliot Parish with a low shot that the Saints keeper touched around the post. Thereafter, both sides enjoyed spells of possession without really causing the other too much of a problem. The young lad McNamara was showing up well for Saints but can maybe consider himself lucky to get only a booking for a straight leg lunge on Scott Allan. Thankfully, Scotty saw it coming and got out of the way. If full contact had been made it was a stick on red and even without full contact it was borderline.

Around the half hour mark a series of disallowed goals started when Boyle charged down an attempted clearance from Parish. The ball spun high into the air and as it dropped, Horgan was the first to it but he sclaffed his effort, with the ball reaching Boyle who tapped it home from what was clearly an offside position. At the other end, Conway sent over an inviting cross which tempted Rocky into making some sort of Superman leap. He missed it completely and Callum Hendry nodded the ball into the empty net. It looked onside but the assistant raised his flag and it was disallowed. TV replays showed Hendry was clearly onside and so he and his manager would be rightly aggrieved by the outcome. At the other end a deep cross was brilliantly met by the high flying Doidge but his header struck Parish and when the resultant rebound reached Doidge the big fella used an arm to control the ball before knocking it into the net.

McNamara showed again when his fierce drive from the edge of the box brought out a fine save from Marciano, who tipped the ball over the bar.

The second half was not great if truth be told. St Johnstone enjoyed possession but did nothing with it whilst Hibs were taking far too long to work the ball from back to front and as a result, goal scoring opportunities were at a premium.

When Callum Hendry was booked for persistent fouling I recall thinking to myself that it wasn’t before time. Seconds later he clipped the heels of Joe Newell, right in front of John Beaton but no card was shown, despite the fact he later booked Scott Allan for a similar offence.

Just as I thought I was back in the days of Alex Miller with endless 0-0 games being the norm, Hibs finally made the breakthrough. A corner from Mallan was headed towards goal by Gogic who watched on as the ball struck the inside of the post and was cleared by Liam Craig as it looked to be going in. Craig’s clearance was poor, giving Gogic the chance to lob the ball back into the area where Ben Gordon rashly felled both Porteous and Hanlon with a push. John Beaton was perfectly placed and pointed to the spot, allowing Stevie Mallan the chance to hammer the ball home and win Hibs the points.

The hosts threw everything at Hibs but the men in green and white survived. Immediately after the final whistle, Liam Craig whom we all know likes a moan, got himself booked and then sent off for dissent. Strangely the Sky graphic showed a little red line under Hibs!

It wasn’t a great performance by any means and I’m no different from anyone else who says they want better football but, to coin another much used phrase in football I’ve seen us play better and lose. My half full glass tells me that when Hibs do reach the heights we all look for we are going to have one helluva season.

The players

Marciano – Rocky was very lucky with the disallowed goal because he was flapping big style in trying to reach a cross he should never have come for. Having said that he played well afterwards and had a couple of decent saves.

McGinn – Yet another fine performance from a guy that surely doesn’t always get the credit he deserves. His defending is very good and he gets forward a lot to support attacks.

Porteous – I thought Ryan was a bit off it today, charging out of defence in trying to stay with the very mobile O’Halloran. I also thought he was guilty of ball watching a couple of times but given he was part of a defence that once again kept a clean sheet the good parts of his game clearly outweighed the bad.

Hanlon – As I was watching on TV it gave me the chance at half and full time to read some of the comments about him. For my money he was outstanding and my man of the match. I don’t do Twitter but I’m told there’s a real vendetta of sorts against Paul, something I find absolutely incredible if truth be told.

Doig – After a few excellent performances leading up to this game I thought Josh was not nearly as eye catching. He’s just a kid and still learning so it’s to be expected he won’t shine in every game.

Boyle – Martin was largely anonymous for portions of the game with his trademark runs being at a premium. I’m sure he’s aware of all the transfer talk and that will certainly be on his mind so I hope Hibs can offer him a deal that will tie him down sooner rather than later.

Allan – It was good to see Scotty back in action but once again I was left a bit disappointed by his performance. In his defence he seemed to be the main target in St Johnstone’s Aberdeen like approach of consistent fouling.

Gogic – It’s amazing how many times he breaks up opposition play and I’m mightily impressed by his positional sense. Alex was unlucky that his late header hit the post and was cleared off the line.

Newell – After a bit of a purple patch at the end of last season, Joe seems to be less influential in terms of creativity but to his credit today he did provide well enough when they had the ball.

Horgan – Daryl works his socks off and always seems to be available for a pass but today his final ball was horrendous and I wasn’t surprised he got hooked after an hour.

Doidge – Christian had to work on slim pickings but he still managed to impress with both his work rate and in holding up the ball until support arrived.

Wright – I was a bit surprised to see him there today given that some on here had written him off as a high level user of the treatment table! I thought he looked sharp and that he offered excellent cover down our left when they had the ball.

Mallan – The enigma that is Stevie Mallan will have enjoyed crashing that penalty in. I felt he contributed well in his time on the park and I’m delighted to see him back and playing.

Gullan – Hammer’s movement is excellent and more than once he lost his marker but the ball didn’t arrive. He looks very assured for one so young and I anticipate him having a good season for Hibs.

Halberg - Melker is the sub of the season, having come on in every game so far. Did his bit in winning the ball and I was pleased to see him get further forward than he usually does

John Beaton – Other than leniency towards Callum Hendry, I thought he reffed the game well.

Jack Ross – It would have been easy for Jack just to say he was delighted with three points but he was quick to add that we are nowhere near our best yet. It’s important he acknowledges that and addresses the matter in an open way. His two predecessors were never that honest in my opinion.

The fans – I’m willing to bet that the overwhelming percentage of Hibbies watching that game shouted at least once at Andy Walker’s drivel. I know I did.

Porteous poor but Hanlon MOTM🤣🤣 Jesus Christ

[Jonnyboy]

Porteous poor but Hanlon MOTM🤣🤣 Jesus Christ

Opinions eh?

[Forza Fred]

Porteous poor but Hanlon MOTM🤣🤣 Jesus Christ

I thought that was a fair call.

Porto STILL is learning the top level game, and is not yet the finished article.

That’s not a criticism, but he is still raw enough to continue to rush into tackles and give free kicks away in dangerous areas.

The more experience he gains, and hopefully learns from, the better he will be.

[Col L]

Good stuff John. Disagree about your assessment of Paul Hanlon though. I thought he was shaky for the most part and made a number of mistakes until we took Doig off and went to 3 at her back - after which he was assured and outstanding. He has been in really good in the other games this season, but for me he was way off that level today until the switch, so I saw his overall display differently.

I also thought Ryan Porteous, apart from one or two misplaced passes and the free kick he rashly conceded, was pretty good today!

It’s a funny old game indeed and that’s why we love it :)


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[Brightside]

Porteous poor but Hanlon MOTM🤣🤣 Jesus Christ

Well based on some of your posts I’m guessing you enjoyed a few beers yesterday? Even Hanlons harshest critics would struggle to come up with an argument against him now. But as Johnny says a wee look on twitter and FB will show all the fruit loops in our support.

[Smartie]

Porteous was generally excellent, with the occasional daft or poor moment.

Hanlon was brilliant again.

As a pair they are having an outstanding season so far. Very little to be critical of.

That midfield though. Quite a lot of work still required there.

[B.H.F.C]

Nobody can complain about 4 wins and a draw, especially with 3 of those games being away from home, for what that's worth these days.

There's a lot of folk commenting on social media that folk shouldn't be moaning about the style of football because the results are good. That would be fair enough if that style was sustainable as a route to a good season, but it isn't.
No team can continue to pass the ball as poorly as we did today, fail to put together any cohesive football through the midfield as we have been doing, fail to retain any kind of sustained possession, fail to win second balls in the midfield so consistently, allow teams to get 60 to 70 yards up the pitch before putting in a meaningful challenge and allow ball after ball after ball into it's box and expect to continue to win or even draw games.

I've seen three games this season and from what I've seen there's no way we can continue to play like this before it catches up with us. Yes the defending has been heroic at times, but we have also been extremely lucky, I've lost count of the number of balls into our box that should have been scored from, but for whatever reason have eluded the other sides attackers ... That's not going to last forever and if we don't address a number of issues that are leading to our defence being under incredible pressure in every game we are going to pay for it in the end.

Winning when you play badly is indeed the sign of a good team .... but that's in the odd game, you cannot continually play badly and continue to win, as we are going to learn that the hard way unless we recognise things have to improve.

We’ve no been pleasing on the eye but I’m not sure about all these crosses that other teams should have been converting, Marciano has had about half a dozen saves to make all season. We must be doing something right defensively rather than us being lucky.

I totally agree we need to improve a fair bit. But although we’ve been quite poor, the other teams we’ve faced haven’t been any better. We’ve given away very little and it’s generally been us that have created the more clear cut chances in games.

[PeeJay]

Another good read - another 3 points with another poor performance - we are too slow in moving the ball forward, too indecisive and too many of our players don't really have a connection with their team mates - I'd like to see us pressing teams higher up the park too, but I don't think the team is fit enough. The Aberdeen game should be an interesting one - we will need to improve by some to take 3 points from them, even at home ... w

[Numptie]

With Gogic we are strong defensively through the middle but weak on the wings. McGinn and Doig are asked to get up the wing and we are wide open up both wings when defending. When we move to a 3/5 at the back then the likes of Hanlon can cover but our midfield should be working back as well. Too many crosses coming into our box.

[oneone73]

Another good read - another 3 points with another poor performance - we are too slow in moving the ball forward, too indecisive and too many of our players don't really have a connection with their team mates - I'd like to see us pressing teams higher up the park too, but I don't think the team is fit enough. The Aberdeen game should be an interesting one - we will need to improve by some to take 3 points from them, even at home ... w

What makes you think the team isn't fit enough?

[Unseen work]

How was Ali McCann for St Johnstone?

[Jonnyboy]

How was Ali McCann for St Johnstone?

Pretty ineffectual I thought

[KingPat4]

What makes you think the team isn't fit enough?

I'm worried about Scott Allan, I think the diabetes is affecting him more and more as time goes by. He never looks fit, but not sure that is something he can do much about.

[stantonhibby]

Pretty ineffectual I thought

Yep......didn't think he did much against Aberdeen or us.

[JimBHibees]

Pretty ineffectual I thought

Very quiet in both games.

[PeeJay]

What makes you think the team isn't fit enough?

Maybe it is just me, but it seems our work rate drops as the game goes on and we have tended to get boxed in (home and away) - if we were "fitter" (physically and mentally), I think we could push back up field, press more and maybe even control the game more ... other teams seem to have more legs as the games draw to a close??

[B.H.F.C]

Maybe it is just me, but it seems our work rate drops as the game goes on and we have tended to get boxed in (home and away) - if we were "fitter" (physically and mentally), I think we could push back up field, press more and maybe even control the game more ... other teams seem to have more legs as the games draw to a close??

I don’t think it’s a fitness issue, just the way we play.

We’ve managed late goals yesterday and at Livi. Second half winner at Utd as well. Mentally, we definitely look a lot better than last year in terms of concentration and seeing games out.

[Smartie]

Maybe it is just me, but it seems our work rate drops as the game goes on and we have tended to get boxed in (home and away) - if we were "fitter" (physically and mentally), I think we could push back up field, press more and maybe even control the game more ... other teams seem to have more legs as the games draw to a close??

I thought we finished strongly yesterday, and were probably at our best during the first 5 and last 10 minutes of the game.

The subs had a big role in our late improvement, right enough.

Not sure I've seen much evidence of players being too slow, or not fit enough though.

[brog]

Porteous poor but Hanlon MOTM🤣🤣 Jesus Christ


HSL also made Paul Hanlon MOTM. Maybe you're the outlier.