Jonnyboy
30-12-2020, 08:46 PM
I confess, I’m struggling to find the words to describe how I feel after that performance. Hibs were poor from start to finish and though County deserved the three points, we handed them over on a plate. Lack of fire; lack of passion; lack of drive and lack of any sort of competitive spirit. County arrived as the basement club and hadn’t won in their last six games and hadn’t even scored in any of those fixtures. Hibs should have been at it from the off, pressurising the man on the ball and using the width of the pitch – but did none of that.
Back in the starting eleven, at the expense of Alex Gogic, was Christian Doidge but the other ten had retained their starting places. Having put on such a good show at Ibrox, no changes was just about right but maybe so many games in such a short period of time was taking its toll on a number of our players. In itself, that’s no excuse as our opponents had been just as busy but there was a heck of a lot of tired legs out there tonight and maybe tired minds too.
Hibs Pass guest Alex Miller explained in detail how Yogi would set up his team and lo and behold that’s exactly what happened. Jack Ross stuck with his 4-4-2 and we were constantly outnumbered in midfield as a result. It was obvious from the off and I felt Ross should change the formation early to 3-5-2 but clearly that was not an option he wanted to take.
We started really slowly and never got any sharper over the next ninety minutes. Cliff and Tam were enthusing about our early play, but I didn’t see what they were seeing. Time after time our keeper rolled the ball out to Hanlon or Porteous who would then exchange passes, allowing County to set their shape. On more occasions than I could count, Barnes rolled the ball to Porteous who took a few small steps forward at walking pace before either firing an aimless ball forward or kicking the ball out of play. To be fair to Ryan, Hanlon pretty much did the same and so our possession caused zero concern to a well drilled County eleven.
An early Hibs corner was easily dealt with and I have to say that for the majority of the game our delivery was shocking. Newell put in the odd decent ball, but Doidge was moving like he had cement in his boots. Christian saw a header blocked and then Wright dallied too long on a through ball from Boyle and couldn’t get his shot away before a defender blocked it. We were puffing and panting and creating the square root of zero and as a result, County got a bit more adventurous in moving men forward.
On twenty five minutes, a poor clearance saw the ball land at the feet of Oli Shaw who quickly played it to Harry Paton on the edge of the box inside the D. Paton shuffled right then left before firing past Barnes and into the bottom corner. Once again, our marking was poor, and our midfield were not tracking runners. I’ve no idea who was meant to be tracking Paton but whoever it was he contributed to the goal being conceded.
At the time, I thought this will wake Hibs up, but it didn’t, and we just plodded along causing County no problems whatsoever. Just past the half hour, a poor headed clearance by Tremarco fell at the feet of Boyle who whipped in a low cross to the feet of the unmarked Christian Doidge who skied a shocking effort well over the bar. It was an absolute sitter and there can be no defence of Doidge for missing it.
Shortly after that miss, Joe Newell tried with a left footed effort from about twenty yards, but the strike was more akin to a passback than a shot. The rest of the first half was quite simply pathetic from Hibs and I wondered what Jack Ross might do to change things for the second half. Of our midfield four, only Newell stood out with Boyle, Hallberg and Wright virtually anonymous.
Whatever was said at the interval the same starting eleven were trusted to go out and play and though there was a few decent minutes after kicking off, they led to nothing positive as County just bossed the midfield with Vigurs pretty much the king of the castle. At half time, Alex Miller said Hibs should put someone on Vigurs to stifle his game but that never happened, and Yogi must have been laughing his socks off.
A weak header from Hanlon was easily saved and then a few minutes later Hibs got a free kick at the angle of the eighteen yard box out on the right. Oh, how I wished Stevie Mallan were playing as neither Hallberg nor Newell, who stood over the ball, had me thinking we’d get level. As it was, Hallberg struck it well and Laidlaw had to look sharp to turn the ball round his post, diving low to his left.
On the hour mark, Vigurs was finally booked by an over tolerant referee as it was about the sixth time the County man had felled a Hibs player. At the same time, Doig and Wright were replaced by Stevenson and Gullan. I understood the Wright change because he had been woeful but Doig was getting some half decent crosses in from the left, not normally Lewis’ forte.
Gullan looked keen and sharp and County doubled up on him but sadly no Hibs player took advantage of the space that made. Soon after, Hallberg also got hooked with Stephen McGinn replacing him.
I’d love to say Hibs put in a rousing finish to try and rescue at least a point but the slow, plodding build up continued and County had no trouble in dealing with that. A tempting cross from Gullan reached Doidge but his header lacked bothy power and direction. Almost from the keeper’s clearance, County broke downfield and doubled their lead. Hylton skinned Hanlon on the goal line before pushing the ball to the feet of Oli Shaw who easily fired home from six yards. Having enjoyed scoring against his former employers, Shaw then tried a cheeky lob from about thirty yards, but Barnes was alert and caught the ball easily.
Another weak header from Doidge was followed by a wayward effort from Gullan but moments later, a super cut back from Stevenson reached the unmarked Joe Newell who swiped and almost missed the ball which I think struck his standing leg. Referee Don Robertson, who had earlier waved away claims for a penalty when Boyle went over in the box, booked two Hibs players in succession. Stephen McGinn for a bog standard foul and Ryan Porteous for shooting his mouth off.
The final whistle was a blessing because I don’t think I could have stomached much more of watching Hibs play so poorly.
I have to say there was no outstanding Hibs player tonight and as such no man of the match award from me. Tam McManus gave it to Ryan Porteous but only Tam could explain why.
The players
Barnes – At first, I thought he should have saved the opening goal but watching the replay I could see he was unsighted until it was too late to dive. Had no chance with the second goal.
McGinn P – Most unlike Paul McGinn who has been a stand out in many of our games to date, but he struggled tonight and hardly ever got forward into a decent position.
Porteous – I love Ryan but somebody needs to tell him to get his arse in gear when the ball is rolled out to him. He dallies far too long and as a result has nobody to aim at with his long punts forward.
Hanlon – Paul was really poor tonight and was badly found wanting at their second goal.
Doig – I thought he was perhaps the one player that might make something happen and I was mystified when Jack Ross replaced him with the much more conservative Lewis Stevenson.
Boyle – Never really at it tonight and it was disappointing that he never took Tremarco on in a foot race.
Wright – Words fail me I’m afraid. I stuck up for him regarding his display at Ibrox but tonight he was just woeful.
Newell – In the first half I felt Joe was the only one of the midfield four who looked as though he was interested. I also thought that for a spell in the second half he dropped out of the game. Joe really needs to work on his shooting, though.
Hallberg – Contributed about the same as Wright.
Doidge – The big fella seems to struggle in putting sitters away as not for the first time this season he skied an effort with the goal gaping in front of him.
Nisbet – Didn’t see enough of the ball but when he did, he generally took the wrong option.
Gullan – As I said, he started his stint brightly but was soon marked out of things by a resolute County defence.
Stevenson – Defended well enough and laid the ball on a plate for Newell only to watch Joe make an unholy mess of his effort.
McGinn S – Replacing Hallberg he pretty much fell into the same trap as his team mates in standing by and watching County pass the ball around the Hibs midfield.
Jack Ross – I’m not sure what he will make of this but as much as he needs to address his players’ shortcomings, he needs to take a look at himself too because a blind man could see that 4-4-2 was not working.
Referee – Don Robertson – Annoying but otherwise hardly noticed him. Should have booked Vigurs much sooner though.
And finally …………………. The irony of Oli Shaw having an excellent game and scoring a goal. Was probably their man of the match.
Back in the starting eleven, at the expense of Alex Gogic, was Christian Doidge but the other ten had retained their starting places. Having put on such a good show at Ibrox, no changes was just about right but maybe so many games in such a short period of time was taking its toll on a number of our players. In itself, that’s no excuse as our opponents had been just as busy but there was a heck of a lot of tired legs out there tonight and maybe tired minds too.
Hibs Pass guest Alex Miller explained in detail how Yogi would set up his team and lo and behold that’s exactly what happened. Jack Ross stuck with his 4-4-2 and we were constantly outnumbered in midfield as a result. It was obvious from the off and I felt Ross should change the formation early to 3-5-2 but clearly that was not an option he wanted to take.
We started really slowly and never got any sharper over the next ninety minutes. Cliff and Tam were enthusing about our early play, but I didn’t see what they were seeing. Time after time our keeper rolled the ball out to Hanlon or Porteous who would then exchange passes, allowing County to set their shape. On more occasions than I could count, Barnes rolled the ball to Porteous who took a few small steps forward at walking pace before either firing an aimless ball forward or kicking the ball out of play. To be fair to Ryan, Hanlon pretty much did the same and so our possession caused zero concern to a well drilled County eleven.
An early Hibs corner was easily dealt with and I have to say that for the majority of the game our delivery was shocking. Newell put in the odd decent ball, but Doidge was moving like he had cement in his boots. Christian saw a header blocked and then Wright dallied too long on a through ball from Boyle and couldn’t get his shot away before a defender blocked it. We were puffing and panting and creating the square root of zero and as a result, County got a bit more adventurous in moving men forward.
On twenty five minutes, a poor clearance saw the ball land at the feet of Oli Shaw who quickly played it to Harry Paton on the edge of the box inside the D. Paton shuffled right then left before firing past Barnes and into the bottom corner. Once again, our marking was poor, and our midfield were not tracking runners. I’ve no idea who was meant to be tracking Paton but whoever it was he contributed to the goal being conceded.
At the time, I thought this will wake Hibs up, but it didn’t, and we just plodded along causing County no problems whatsoever. Just past the half hour, a poor headed clearance by Tremarco fell at the feet of Boyle who whipped in a low cross to the feet of the unmarked Christian Doidge who skied a shocking effort well over the bar. It was an absolute sitter and there can be no defence of Doidge for missing it.
Shortly after that miss, Joe Newell tried with a left footed effort from about twenty yards, but the strike was more akin to a passback than a shot. The rest of the first half was quite simply pathetic from Hibs and I wondered what Jack Ross might do to change things for the second half. Of our midfield four, only Newell stood out with Boyle, Hallberg and Wright virtually anonymous.
Whatever was said at the interval the same starting eleven were trusted to go out and play and though there was a few decent minutes after kicking off, they led to nothing positive as County just bossed the midfield with Vigurs pretty much the king of the castle. At half time, Alex Miller said Hibs should put someone on Vigurs to stifle his game but that never happened, and Yogi must have been laughing his socks off.
A weak header from Hanlon was easily saved and then a few minutes later Hibs got a free kick at the angle of the eighteen yard box out on the right. Oh, how I wished Stevie Mallan were playing as neither Hallberg nor Newell, who stood over the ball, had me thinking we’d get level. As it was, Hallberg struck it well and Laidlaw had to look sharp to turn the ball round his post, diving low to his left.
On the hour mark, Vigurs was finally booked by an over tolerant referee as it was about the sixth time the County man had felled a Hibs player. At the same time, Doig and Wright were replaced by Stevenson and Gullan. I understood the Wright change because he had been woeful but Doig was getting some half decent crosses in from the left, not normally Lewis’ forte.
Gullan looked keen and sharp and County doubled up on him but sadly no Hibs player took advantage of the space that made. Soon after, Hallberg also got hooked with Stephen McGinn replacing him.
I’d love to say Hibs put in a rousing finish to try and rescue at least a point but the slow, plodding build up continued and County had no trouble in dealing with that. A tempting cross from Gullan reached Doidge but his header lacked bothy power and direction. Almost from the keeper’s clearance, County broke downfield and doubled their lead. Hylton skinned Hanlon on the goal line before pushing the ball to the feet of Oli Shaw who easily fired home from six yards. Having enjoyed scoring against his former employers, Shaw then tried a cheeky lob from about thirty yards, but Barnes was alert and caught the ball easily.
Another weak header from Doidge was followed by a wayward effort from Gullan but moments later, a super cut back from Stevenson reached the unmarked Joe Newell who swiped and almost missed the ball which I think struck his standing leg. Referee Don Robertson, who had earlier waved away claims for a penalty when Boyle went over in the box, booked two Hibs players in succession. Stephen McGinn for a bog standard foul and Ryan Porteous for shooting his mouth off.
The final whistle was a blessing because I don’t think I could have stomached much more of watching Hibs play so poorly.
I have to say there was no outstanding Hibs player tonight and as such no man of the match award from me. Tam McManus gave it to Ryan Porteous but only Tam could explain why.
The players
Barnes – At first, I thought he should have saved the opening goal but watching the replay I could see he was unsighted until it was too late to dive. Had no chance with the second goal.
McGinn P – Most unlike Paul McGinn who has been a stand out in many of our games to date, but he struggled tonight and hardly ever got forward into a decent position.
Porteous – I love Ryan but somebody needs to tell him to get his arse in gear when the ball is rolled out to him. He dallies far too long and as a result has nobody to aim at with his long punts forward.
Hanlon – Paul was really poor tonight and was badly found wanting at their second goal.
Doig – I thought he was perhaps the one player that might make something happen and I was mystified when Jack Ross replaced him with the much more conservative Lewis Stevenson.
Boyle – Never really at it tonight and it was disappointing that he never took Tremarco on in a foot race.
Wright – Words fail me I’m afraid. I stuck up for him regarding his display at Ibrox but tonight he was just woeful.
Newell – In the first half I felt Joe was the only one of the midfield four who looked as though he was interested. I also thought that for a spell in the second half he dropped out of the game. Joe really needs to work on his shooting, though.
Hallberg – Contributed about the same as Wright.
Doidge – The big fella seems to struggle in putting sitters away as not for the first time this season he skied an effort with the goal gaping in front of him.
Nisbet – Didn’t see enough of the ball but when he did, he generally took the wrong option.
Gullan – As I said, he started his stint brightly but was soon marked out of things by a resolute County defence.
Stevenson – Defended well enough and laid the ball on a plate for Newell only to watch Joe make an unholy mess of his effort.
McGinn S – Replacing Hallberg he pretty much fell into the same trap as his team mates in standing by and watching County pass the ball around the Hibs midfield.
Jack Ross – I’m not sure what he will make of this but as much as he needs to address his players’ shortcomings, he needs to take a look at himself too because a blind man could see that 4-4-2 was not working.
Referee – Don Robertson – Annoying but otherwise hardly noticed him. Should have booked Vigurs much sooner though.
And finally …………………. The irony of Oli Shaw having an excellent game and scoring a goal. Was probably their man of the match.