Aftermath of Ross County Cup Final

[Keith_M]

People are (quite rightly) feeling a bit p1ssed off about Saturday's result so I thought I'd try to inject a bit of optimism into the general mood by recalling a fairly recent situation where I felt the same.

---

Losing in the last minute of the League Cup Final against Ross County was, quite frankly, humiliating. We were in a national final against a team from a village in the Highlands that had been playing in the Highland League as recently as 1994.

I remember the long, depressing walk from Hampden to the centre of Glasgow to catch the train, surrounded by like minded miserable souls. I'd taken a holiday to come over from Germany for the game and was questioning my sanity in doing so.

We then followed this by failing to get promoted for the second year running and I was cursing my Dad for introducing me to football in general, and in particular to Hibs.

As everybody now knows, we managed to get over that disappointment and pull ourselves together enough to win the Scottish Cup. The following season, despite still being in The Championship, we set a new record for Season Ticket sales and had our highest average attendance since the early 70s.

We followed that by finishing fourth in the Premier League with an average attendance that season of 18,000, the highest since the post-war boom of the 1950s.

---

If the pain of losing a national final to Ross County can be wiped out in such a dramatic manner, then who's to say we can't recover from the disappointment of Saturday's game, and of recent derby defeats, and still have a successful season under Jack Ross?

We still have two Cups and a European place to compete for this season... we might even have the opportunity to extract revenge against Hearts in one of those Cups... so let's start looking forward, not back.

[Nakedmanoncrack]

An even better contrast was losing to Falkirk in play-off, and winning the cup a week later.
One of the very lowest moments, to the very highest.

[Irish_Steve]

I agree, far too many on here place too great an importance on the Derby. I couldn’t care if we lost all four a season ( when Hearts are in the same league as us), I would rather finish above them in the league.

Yes, the Hampden results hurt but the fact that we have actually achieved the Holy Grail means I’m not as bothered as I would have been.

I look forward to being called a “happy clapper”

[Nakedmanoncrack]

I was as incandescent with rage as anyone on Sat night, but as hurtful is it was we've still had a decent start to the season, and the sky hasn't really fallen in.
We should have beaten them, and the same game replayed another 10 times would likely result in more wins than loses, that's football - if it was always certain that the better team would win nobody would watch.

There's a fair chance we could play them again soon in the league cup, we should relish this prospect, not fear it. Yes our historic derby record is dire, but the current players & management don't have any responsibility for that, only for the recent record, which whilst not what we want it to be (fairly even over last 20 games) isn't anywhere near the 'always lose' 'always bottle it' 'less up for it than them' 'here we go again' way that it feels in the aftermath of a defeat.

Can still be a good season, and I'm looking forward to Friday, which I couldn't have imagined saying on Sat night.

[Booked4Being-Ugly]

I think the fact we were in all 3 competitions showed we did infact have a great team and manager.

The reason we never beat Ross County and Falkirk was that we ran out of steam at the end of that season. Pretty sure we were playing 3 times a week in all comps and we never had that big a squad to cope and keep things fresh.

Falkirk was particularly difficult to take as we were done again with the penalty that we never got against them at ER. That's one of the worst/blatent decisions i've ever seen recently. If we had scored that we'd have been well out of sight in the 2nd leg.

Ross county was one we should have won also and played well but made a couple of individual errors that cost us.

Was a sickener as well but the SC final made up for the disasppointment in both IMO.

Sat shouldn't define this season, again IMO, depending on what else we achieve this season.

[1875STEVE]

People are (quite rightly) feeling a bit p1ssed off about Saturday's result so I thought I'd try to inject a bit of optimism into the general mood by recalling a fairly recent situation where I felt the same.

---

Losing in the last minute of the League Cup Final against Ross County was, quite frankly, humiliating. We were in a national final against a team from a village in the Highlands that had been playing in the Highland League as recently as 1994.

I remember the long, depressing walk from Hampden to the centre of Glasgow to catch the train, surrounded by like minded miserable souls. I'd taken a holiday to come over from Germany for the game and was questioning my sanity in doing so.

We then followed this by failing to get promoted for the second year running and I was cursing my Dad for introducing me to football in general, and in particular to Hibs.

As everybody now knows, we managed to get over that disappointment and pull ourselves together enough to win the Scottish Cup. The following season, despite still being in The Championship, we set a new record for Season Ticket sales and had our highest average attendance since the early 70s.

We followed that by finishing fourth in the Premier League with an average attendance that season of 18,000, the highest since the post-war boom of the 1950s.

---

If the pain of losing a national final to Ross County can be wiped out in such a dramatic manner, then who's to say we can't recover from the disappointment of Saturday's game, and of recent derby defeats, and still have a successful season under Jack Ross?

We still have two Cups and a European place to compete for this season... we might even have the opportunity to extract revenge against Hearts in one of those Cups... so let's start looking forward, not back.Even better we won the scottish Cup that same season.

We defo have a team this season that can do damage.

Magennis is still to get upto speed and there's still been no official announcement re: Allan, so I'm hoping the rumours are just that.

That defeat was hard to take, but it was still last seasons Cup. We can still have a very good season.

Sent from my G8341 using Tapatalk

[Since452]

The only saving grace from Saturday is that it wasn't the final. Could you imagine that...

[h1bs4life]

Ross County defeat hurt bad but wasn't a humiliation .I felt worse after Livingston final
After a couple of days mopeing about car load of us went up to Inverness midweek for the replay.
Decent Hibs support up there that night a good performance.
May 16 made everything worthwhile
Derby record pisses me off , the few of them I know have been very quiet since 2016 even when they won the odd derby.
Saturday was a chance to push them down further unfortunately some of them are starting to crawl out from under there shells. God forbid theybeat Celtic

[SChibs]

I think the fact we were in all 3 competitions showed we did infact have a great team and manager.

The reason we never beat Ross County and Falkirk was that we ran out of steam at the end of that season. Pretty sure we were playing 3 times a week in all comps and we never had that big a squad to cope and keep things fresh.

Falkirk was particularly difficult to take as we were done again with the penalty that we never got against them at ER. That's one of the worst/blatent decisions i've ever seen recently. If we had scored that we'd have been well out of sight in the 2nd leg.

Ross county was one we should have won also and played well but made a couple of individual errors that cost us.

Was a sickener as well but the SC final made up for the disasppointment in both IMO.

Sat shouldn't define this season, again IMO, depending on what else we achieve this season.

We got beat off Ross County in March so I'm not sure we ran out of steam for that one. They weren't a terrible side they had a decent team it was hardly like we were playing a crap team like some made out at the time. We were very unlucky to concede the goal we did in the game at the death.

[G B Young]

The only reason folk claim the Ross County and Livingston cup final defeats were 'humiliations' is because we're a much bigger club than both.

Livi were a better side than Hibs in 2004 so their win wasn't the 'shock' it was billed. Yes we had 40k fans there but that means nothing if the team aren't good enough on the day - even though we had managed to beat Celtic and Rangers along the way. As for County, they were a top flight side in 2016, while we were a Championship side. The game, IIRC, could have gone either way but we were not really entitled to think of ourselves as favourites.

Neither of those cup final defeats lingered with me for long. And strange as it may sound, neither did the 2012 cup final, largely because we were a very poor side and were always going to lose to Hearts that day. I was more frustrated by the 2006 semi-final defeat because we ended up fielding such a weak team that day, largely due to injuries to Riordan, Brown and Killen (a teenage Benji and Fletch were never going to get any change from that Hearts defence) and having sold Gary O'Connor just before the game. With our strongest side out back then it would never have been the 4-0 thumping it turned out to be.

Set against all the aforementioned games, last Saturday annoyed me more than all of them because I had been confident of winning - and that annoyance was compounded by the fact we fought back to put ourselves on the cusp of victory.

Edit: Two Hampden defeats which also annoyed me more than any of the above were against Dundee United in 2005 and Dunfermline in 2007. Both those sides were bottom of the league at the time and we really blew two great chances to get to the Scottish Cup final.

[erin go bragh]

So we’re winning the double, ya dancer 😁
The highs are always higher after the lowest of the lows.

[h1bs4life]

Never felt embarrassed or humiliated at any Hibs game.
Livingston annoyed me because we had beat the old firm on the way to the final. In fairness I think they were above us in the league but they had gone into administration and paid off a lot of people but held on to there top players.
Ross County were a league above us .
2012 hurt but 2016 made up for everything.

[Nakedmanoncrack]

The only reason folk claim the Ross County and Livingston cup final defeats were 'humiliations' is because we're a much bigger club than both.

Livi were a better side than Hibs in 2004 so their win wasn't the 'shock' it was billed. Yes we had 40k fans there but that means nothing if the team aren't good enough on the day - even though we had managed to beat Celtic and Rangers along the way. As for County, they were a top flight side in 2016, while we were a Championship side. The game, IIRC, could have gone either way but we were not really entitled to think of ourselves as favourites.

Neither of those cup final defeats lingered with me for long. And strange as it may sound, neither did the 2012 cup final, largely because we were a very poor side and were always going to lose to Hearts that day. I was more frustrated by the 2006 semi-final defeat because we ended up fielding such a weak team that day, largely due to injuries to Riordan, Brown and Killen (a teenage Benji and Fletch were never going to get any change from that Hearts defence) and having sold Gary O'Connor just before the game. With our strongest side out back then it would never have been the 4-0 thumping it turned out to be.

Set against all the aforementioned games, last Saturday annoyed me more than all of them because I had been confident of winning - and that annoyance was compounded by the fact we fought back to put ourselves on the cusp of victory.

Correct, both great chances to lift a trophy, but neither should have shocked anyone. Livingston were above us in league, Ross County were a league above us.

[Itsnoteasy]

I think the fact we were in all 3 competitions showed we did infact have a great team and manager.

The reason we never beat Ross County and Falkirk was that we ran out of steam at the end of that season. Pretty sure we were playing 3 times a week in all comps and we never had that big a squad to cope and keep things fresh.

Falkirk was particularly difficult to take as we were done again with the penalty that we never got against them at ER. That's one of the worst/blatent decisions i've ever seen recently. If we had scored that we'd have been well out of sight in the 2nd leg.

Ross county was one we should have won also and played well but made a couple of individual errors that cost us.

Was a sickener as well but the SC final made up for the disasppointment in both IMO.

Sat shouldn't define this season, again IMO, depending on what else we achieve this season.

Professional athletes asked to play 3 times in a week, poor wee souls. There normal Monday - Friday routine 9am until 1pm must have seemed a million miles away.

[eastterrace]

The only reason folk claim the Ross County and Livingston cup final defeats were 'humiliations' is because we're a much bigger club than both.

Livi were a better side than Hibs in 2004 so their win wasn't the 'shock' it was billed. Yes we had 40k fans there but that means nothing if the team aren't good enough on the day - even though we had managed to beat Celtic and Rangers along the way. As for County, they were a top flight side in 2016, while we were a Championship side. The game, IIRC, could have gone either way but we were not really entitled to think of ourselves as favourites.

Neither of those cup final defeats lingered with me for long. And strange as it may sound, neither did the 2012 cup final, largely because we were a very poor side and were always going to lose to Hearts that day. I was more frustrated by the 2006 semi-final defeat because we ended up fielding such a weak team that day, largely due to injuries to Riordan, Brown and Killen (a teenage Benji and Fletch were never going to get any change from that Hearts defence) and having sold Gary O'Connor just before the game. With our strongest side out back then it would never have been the 4-0 thumping it turned out to be.

Set against all the aforementioned games, last Saturday annoyed me more than all of them because I had been confident of winning - and that annoyance was compounded by the fact we fought back to put ourselves on the cusp of victory.

Edit: Two Hampden defeats which also annoyed me more than any of the above were against Dundee United in 2005 and Dunfermline in 2007. Both those sides were bottom of the league at the time and we really blew two great chances to get to the Scottish Cup final.the dundee United semi in 2005 was one we tossed away. Scored with a penalty with about 25 mins to go and got done by McIntyre and Jason Scotland, especially we beat them a week before at Easter road 3-2 .

[SChibs]

Professional athletes asked to play 3 times in a week, poor wee souls. There normal Monday - Friday routine 9am until 1pm must have seemed a million miles away.

I'm not sure people can actually comment on how difficult a season is at full time professional level until they have done it themselves. It must be difficult to strike a balance between being able to be 100% for a game and training to full capacity. Its physical work they are doing 4 or 5 times a week and it takes its toll. It's not just 90 mins 3 times a week like you said.

If you put in 100% every game and put your normal training on top of that you are going to be knackered, that's how the body works. I struggle to believe you have ever played a game of football to be honest

[G B Young]

the dundee United semi in 2005 was one we tossed away. Scored with a penalty with about 25 mins to go and got done by McIntyre and Jason Scotland, especially we beat them a week before at Easter road 3-2 .

Yep, should never have lost that one.

The Dunfermline one was especially irritating as it came just a few weeks after we'd won the League Cup and had a great chance to reach both cup finals, but it also came in the wake of the 'player revolt' against Collins and we were unable to beat the Pars (let alone score against them) over two games.

[G B Young]

I'm not sure people can actually comment on how difficult a season is at full time professional level until they have done it themselves. It must be difficult to strike a balance between being able to be 100% for a game and training to full capacity. Its physical work they are doing 4 or 5 times a week and it takes its toll. It's not just 90 mins 3 times a week like you said.

If you put in 100% every game and put your normal training on top of that you are going to be knackered, that's how the body works. I struggle to believe you have ever played a game of football to be honest

Correct. It wasn't for lack of belief or effort that we didn't win both cups and the play-off. Stubbs was happy to state we were chasing 'the treble' at the time. It just proved to be too much for us, although winning the one that really mattered was what ulitmately made up for the other disappointments.

[Nakedmanoncrack]

the dundee United semi in 2005 was one we tossed away. Scored with a penalty with about 25 mins to go and got done by McIntyre and Jason Scotland, especially we beat them a week before at Easter road 3-2 .

Aberdeen around 2000 was another sickener, Latapy scored to put us 1-0 ahead in second half before the sheep hit back with Andy Dow scoring the winner. Aberdeen were the worst team in the league that season & only avoided relegation due to reconstruction.

[B.H.F.C]

Aberdeen around 2000 was another sickener, Latapy scored to put us 1-0 ahead in second half before the sheep hit back with Andy Dow scoring the winner. Aberdeen were the worst team in the league that season & only avoided relegation due to reconstruction.

See reading all these, if there is a way to make a mess of it at Hampden, we’ve done it!

That was the first time I watched Hibs at Hampden and, since then, there has been some amount of missed opportunities at that place. We should have had more than two trophies in that period.

[CloudSquall]

Celtic were utter humpty against Dunfermline in the 2007 final which made the semi final loss harder to take that year.

[G B Young]

Aberdeen around 2000 was another sickener, Latapy scored to put us 1-0 ahead in second half before the sheep hit back with Andy Dow scoring the winner. Aberdeen were the worst team in the league that season & only avoided relegation due to reconstruction.

Jeez, I'd almost managed to forget about that one. Yes, another one we threw away. A Sunday night kick-off IIRC with barely an Aberdeen fan in the stadium.

[OstKurve Hibs]

I agree, far too many on here place too great an importance on the Derby. I couldn’t care if we lost all four a season ( when Hearts are in the same league as us), I would rather finish above them in the league.

Yes, the Hampden results hurt but the fact that we have actually achieved the Holy Grail means I’m not as bothered as I would have been.

I look forward to being called a “happy clapper”


You do realise that there is 3 points at stake for each league derby ? They're not just meaningless games with only bragging rights up for grabs,
Once the jumbos r back in the spl which will be next season, we go out and lose all the derbys t them we wont be finishing above them.
Sick and tired of folk sayin the dont care if we lose derbys, get a grip ffs

[James Stephen]

50% of the teams in a semi and a final have to lose.

Given we will meet OF in a fair few (and lose way more than we win against them), then our normal win rate in semis and finals should surely be below 50%.

I know people dont like losing big games, but the only solution to that is not to get to them in the first place.

If you get to big games, you will have to deal with losing a high % of them.

[OstKurve Hibs]

50% of the teams in a semi and a final have to lose.

Given we will meet OF in a fair few (and lose way more than we win against them), then our normal win rate in semis and finals should surely be below 50%.



I know people dont like losing big games, but the only solution to that is not to get to them in the first place.

If you get to big games, you will have to deal with losing a high % of them.

We didnt play the either of the old firm tho, we played the championship team from across the city, we had the draw everyone else in the cup woulda bit our hands of for and *****ed it up,
Your post is just pointless mate, we all know there is a gulf in finances, squad size and player quality for all to see between old firm n the rest, that gap is not there versus hearts is it

[Keith_M]

I was trying to lighten the mood, with an example of how things could get better after a real low.


I didn't realise people would start a competition from it over all the miserable events they've experienced in their time following Hibs.

:faf:



Wha's like us?


:greengrin

[B.H.F.C]

50% of the teams in a semi and a final have to lose.

Given we will meet OF in a fair few (and lose way more than we win against them), then our normal win rate in semis and finals should surely be below 50%.

I know people dont like losing big games, but the only solution to that is not to get to them in the first place.

If you get to big games, you will have to deal with losing a high % of them.

Aye but what about all the games at Hampden, we’ve failed to win over the last 20 years, against lesser/struggling sides.

Aberdeen who finished bottom of the league that season. Livingston (despite what has been said they didn’t finish above us that year). Dundee Utd who we were miles in front of that season. Dunfermline who were relegated that season couldn’t be beaten in two attempts. Falkirk beat us despite us missing numerous chances (sound familiar?). Ross County were a league above us but we had better players than them. Then Saturday.

Hearts were a fair bit better than us in 2006 and 2012, but our record against non OF teams at Hampden is pretty dire IMO. Loads of missed opportunities.

[Steve20]

And how many times have we been on the end of a shocking performance and result at Hampden, and not went on to something good? Too many.

This club needs to up it's expectations. We accept mediocrity. We lose a semi final, a derby, or get pumped by someone, it's all okay as long as we scrape a couple of 1-0 wins against bottom six teams. The fans, the players and the management shouldn't be accepting a top four finish every 3-4 years. That's crap. We should be top 3-4 almost every season and getting to cup finals far more.

Can this team get to a final? Maybe. They'll need to up their game a few levels though. We just got knocked out one cup by a championship side.

[James Stephen]

We didnt play the either of the old firm tho, we played the championship team from across the city, we had the draw everyone else in the cup woulda bit our hands of for and *****ed it up,
Your post is just pointless mate, we all know there is a gulf in finances, squad size and player quality for all to see between old firm n the rest, that gap is not there versus hearts is it

Agree about OF, but when playing peer clubs, Hibs are as likely to lose as we are to win, which is my point.

And Hearts being in the championship is, in my view irrelevant, just as it was when Hibs got 2 draws and 2 wins against them in 4 cup games as a 'championship team'.

[James Stephen]

Aye but what about all the games at Hampden, we’ve failed to win over the last 20 years, against lesser/struggling sides.

Aberdeen who finished bottom of the league that season. Livingston (despite what has been said they didn’t finish above us that year). Dundee Utd who we were miles in front of that season. Dunfermline who were relegated that season couldn’t be beaten in two attempts. Falkirk beat us despite us missing numerous chances (sound familiar?). Ross County were a league above us but we had better players than them. Then Saturday.

Hearts were a fair bit better than us in 2006 and 2012, but our record against non OF teams at Hampden is pretty dire IMO. Loads of missed opportunities.

Thats my point, and you have to accept that, and its true of all non OF teams - but there are loads of great ones too.

Hibs have done well in cup competitions in the last 25 years or so, but getting to the latter stages means there will be big game losses, just as there will be big game victories.

Beating Aberdeen against odds in 2012 semi, beating celtic and huns in 2003, beating huns in 2006, beating numerous top flight clubs as a championship team to reach both cup finals in 2016.

[Keith_M]

And how many times have we been on the end of a shocking performance and result at Hampden, and not went on to something good? Too many.

This club needs to up it's expectations. We accept mediocrity. We lose a semi final, a derby, or get pumped by someone, it's all okay as long as we scrape a couple of 1-0 wins against bottom six teams. The fans, the players and the management shouldn't be accepting a top four finish every 3-4 years. That's crap. We should be top 3-4 almost every season and getting to cup finals far more.

Can this team get to a final? Maybe. They'll need to up their game a few levels though. We just got knocked out one cup by a championship side.



Jeezo mate, you really are a ray of sunshine.


:rolleyes:

[hibbydog]

People are (quite rightly) feeling a bit p1ssed off about Saturday's result so I thought I'd try to inject a bit of optimism into the general mood by recalling a fairly recent situation where I felt the same.

---

Losing in the last minute of the League Cup Final against Ross County was, quite frankly, humiliating. We were in a national final against a team from a village in the Highlands that had been playing in the Highland League as recently as 1994.

I remember the long, depressing walk from Hampden to the centre of Glasgow to catch the train, surrounded by like minded miserable souls. I'd taken a holiday to come over from Germany for the game and was questioning my sanity in doing so.

We then followed this by failing to get promoted for the second year running and I was cursing my Dad for introducing me to football in general, and in particular to Hibs.

As everybody now knows, we managed to get over that disappointment and pull ourselves together enough to win the Scottish Cup. The following season, despite still being in The Championship, we set a new record for Season Ticket sales and had our highest average attendance since the early 70s.

We followed that by finishing fourth in the Premier League with an average attendance that season of 18,000, the highest since the post-war boom of the 1950s.

---

If the pain of losing a national final to Ross County can be wiped out in such a dramatic manner, then who's to say we can't recover from the disappointment of Saturday's game, and of recent derby defeats, and still have a successful season under Jack Ross?

We still have two Cups and a European place to compete for this season... we might even have the opportunity to extract revenge against Hearts in one of those Cups... so let's start looking forward, not back.

Didn't even read past the bit that said 'I thought I'd try to inject a bit of optimism'

Nae need for that kind of thing around here.

:-)