Would we say that's an underachievement?

[Hibernia&Alba]

I can't help but feel the third best team in Scotland should be capable of reaching the group stages of Europe's third tier competition. It doesn't feel right to be pumped in the qualifiers at that level, plus there's the revenue we will now miss out on. However, I find it hard to gauge, as I don't know anything about many of the teams in the Conference League and of what standard they are. Is that Croat team one we should have expected to beat? A nice run of games in that competition shouldn't be beyond us, should it?

[Pagan Hibernia]

I don’t think we should have expected to beat them, we knew they were a tough side with a decent pedigree.

I do however think we should have won last week, possibly by two goals. As usual we’re never ruthless enough.

At 1-1 tonight before the red card we looked reasonably comfortable.

[NORTHERNHIBBY]

They are a decent side. We missed good chances at home and paid the price tonight.

[Sir David Gray]

They are decent but nothing special.

If we had taken our chances last week we would currently be in the play offs.

[Irish_Steve]

Yes

[Alfred E Newman]

Yes. I would rate that result along with Livingston and Ross County taking 3 goals of us last season.
We blew it once again

[Tyler Durden]

They are on par with Aberdeen or Hearts. It’s an awful result.

[Speedy]

Yes

Agreed

[.Sean.]

Total underachievement, they are *****

[neil7908]

They are better than us. We had 2 games against them and couldn't win either. I don't think they are great but the better team went through.

[Stevie Reid]

Missed opportunity for sure. Up until the sending off I think we had been the better home team at ER, and better away team at their patch.

Total collapse after the sending off. Really thought we were on for winning it.

[Callum_62]

Yes. I would rate that result along with Livingston and Ross County taking 3 goals of us last season.
We blew it once againCome off it

Sent from my VOG-L29 using Tapatalk

[Pretty Boy]

I said the failure to take a lead I've there would prove costly. I was proven correct tonight.

They are a decent side. To lose 5-2 on aggregate is a very poor result.

[Since452]

We were unlucky drawing them to be honest

[Onceinawhile]

I didnt think we'd get through when I saw the draw, so based on that no.

After 55 minutes tonight when we're on top, yes it was.

[Hibernia&Alba]

The Europa League groups are probably beyond all Scottish clubs bar the Old Firm, but I hoped this new Conference League would be a good opportunity for us and other Scottish sides to qualify and get some European experience. A 5-2 aggregate certainly hurts.

[Shrekko]

I said the failure to take a lead I've there would prove costly. I was proven correct tonight.

They are a decent side. To lose 5-2 on aggregate is a very poor result.

5-2 was hardly reflective or even relevant though was it? 30 minutes to go and we’re looking like favourites.

We did miss chances in the 1st leg but ultimately a moment of madness by big Daz is what did this.

[Pagan Hibernia]

They’ve beaten some very decent teams in recent years, AC Milan included. It was always going to be difficult.

disappointing certainly, but it’s not like we got Brora’d.

[WeeRussell]

They are better than us. We had 2 games against them and couldn't win either. I don't think they are great but the better team went through.

I think this is spot-on. Was always going to be a really good result if we’d got through over the 2 legs. Disappointing in the sense that we felt like we were in with a right chance during both games and ended up being soundly beaten, but ultimately the better team progressed.

All eyes on making sure we win our next game and then get back to league business where we’ve made the perfect start. (And of course getting our transfer business done 😉)

It’s raw immediately after tonight’s game but this European tie was never going to define our season.

[Alfred E Newman]

Come off it

Sent from my VOG-L29 using Tapatalk

Nope, I think they are mid table Premier at best. This is the third tier of European competition. The teams that weren't good enough to qualify for the Europa league.

[Callum_62]

Nope, I think they are mid table Premier at best. This is the third tier of European competition. The teams that weren't good enough to qualify for the Europa league.You think they are Ross County level?

[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

Respectfully, thats drivel


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[flash]

Nope, I think they are mid table Premier at best. This is the third tier of European competition. The teams that weren't good enough to qualify for the Europa league.

Gies peace.

[Hibernia&Alba]

We were unlucky drawing them to be honest

That's the thing, I don't know anything about them, but it would be just our luck to draw one of the better teams in it.

[Since452]

Nope, I think they are mid table Premier at best. This is the third tier of European competition. The teams that weren't good enough to qualify for the Europa league.

Were they not recently in the Europa group stages beating AC Milan etc?

[Pretty Boy]

5-2 was hardly reflective or even relevant though was it? 30 minutes to go and we’re looking like favourites.

We did miss chances in the 1st leg but ultimately a moment of madness by big Daz is what did this.

If we had won 5-2 it wouldn't have been reflective either but we'd have extolled the result. It is what it is.

[cabbageandribs1875]

i said as soon as we drew tonights mob we need a 4th European competition to get a sniff of any group stage, so much for this reasonably high coefficiency we have, 3rd in our league and we still get turfed out early doors in Europe, even the 3rd division and we only win one tie and the first Scottish side emptied.


good luck to our remaining sides

[Ozyhibby]

They are a smaller club than us with a smaller budget and they are managing to put out a better team than us. Something has gone wrong when that happens.


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[Fergus52]

Nope, I think they are mid table Premier at best. This is the third tier of European competition. The teams that weren't good enough to qualify for the Europa league.

The conference league is full of teams that would have been in the Europa League the past few seasons. It's almost exactly the same level of quality.

Places in the qualifying rounds of the Europe league have been cut from well over 100 to 9. All those sides now missing out on Europa are in the conference this season. Hence why the likes of Roma, Tottenham, Basel, Copenhagen, feynorood, steau Bucharest etc. are in the conference.

[Hibernia&Alba]

Were they not recently in the Europa group stages beating AC Milan etc?

In which case, it certainly sounds like we got a bad draw. There must be much weaker sides at Conference League level. :rolleyes:

[NAE NOOKIE]

Against that team absolutely ... I don't give a crap what the final aggregate score was, the truth is we should have won by at least 2 clear goals in the first leg, that wasn't because they were better than us but because we failed to convert a load of chances we made in that game.

Tonight they scored the first due to poor defending and when we equalised we looked more likely to be the team to get the next one. McGregor's sending off absolutely changed the game as did them scoring almost immediately after from a corner that should never have been given .... folk can say Hibs caved after that, but we had nothing to hold onto that would have enabled us to mount a backs to the wall defence and take it to penalties. Being a goal behind it's almost impossible to chase a game in 30 degree heat and hope not to concede more, as proved to be the case.

It's not sour grapes to say that if you had given Hibs the home leg second in this game with a 1 - 1 first leg score and a full house at Easter Road there is little doubt that we would be the team in the next round tonight, not them ... I for one am absolutely convinced of that ... I don't care what the final score was, they are not a better team than us.

[Smartie]

I can't help but feel the third best team in Scotland should be capable of reaching the group stages of Europe's third tier competition. It doesn't feel right to be pumped in the qualifiers at that level, plus there's the revenue we will now miss out on. However, I find it hard to gauge, as I don't know anything about many of the teams in the Conference League and of what standard they are. Is that Croat team one we should have expected to beat? A nice run of games in that competition shouldn't be beyond us, should it?

I'm not convinced we're the third best team in Scotland.

We finished third in a weird season that saw Aberdeen in transition, Hearts out of the top league, no fans in grounds and everyone having to go with small squads and watch the pennies.

Ultimately we lack quality and have quite a few players who are important to us, who bully smaller teams domestically but who look lost when stepping up a level either in Europe, against the stronger teams in our league or on big occasions.

No team gets away with being as wasteful as we were over the two ties and as crap as I thought Rijeka were, they were competent enough to put us away.

We have a better balance in midfield and that should see us dominate possession more, but we are an injury or two away from being a pretty poor side who would be lucky to get into the top six.

[B.H.F.C]

Missed opportunity. Another one.

[Since452]

I'm not convinced we're the third best team in Scotland.

We finished third in a weird season that saw Aberdeen in transition, Hearts out of the top league, no fans in grounds and everyone having to go with small squads and watch the pennies.

Ultimately we lack quality and have quite a few players who are important to us, who bully smaller teams domestically but who look lost when stepping up a level either in Europe, against the stronger teams in our league or on big occasions.

No team gets away with being as wasteful as we were over the two ties and as crap as I thought Rijeka were, they were competent enough to put us away.

We have a better balance in midfield and that should see us dominate possession more, but we are an injury or two away from being a pretty poor side who would be lucky to get into the top six.

3 hours ago we were all waxing lyrical about our fantastic attacking play and style of football. We've won our first two league games and continued our fantastic league form from last season. If we're not the third best team in the country we're very close to it.

[neil7908]

Against that team absolutely ... I don't give a crap what the final aggregate score was, the truth is we should have won by at least 2 clear goals in the first leg, that wasn't because they were better than us but because we failed to convert a load of chances we made in that game.

Tonight they scored the first due to poor defending and when we equalised we looked more likely to be the team to get the next one. McGregor's sending off absolutely changed the game as did them scoring almost immediately after from a corner that should never have been given .... folk can say Hibs caved after that, but we had nothing to hold onto that would have enabled us to mount a backs to the wall defence and take it to penalties. Being a goal behind it's almost impossible to chase a game in 30 degree heat and hope not to concede more, as proved to be the case.

It's not sour grapes to say that if you had given Hibs the home leg second in this game with a 1 - 1 first leg score and a full house at Easter Road there is little doubt that we would be the team in the next round tonight, not them ... I for one am absolutely convinced of that ... I don't care what the final score was, they are not a better team than us.

But surely good teams take their chances? I'm afraid after 2 legs where we didn't win either, and an aggregate of 5-2 it's silly to suggest they didn't deserve to go through.

They aren't great but us shooting ourselves in the foot by missing chances in the first leg and getting a man sent off in the second is exactly what a gulf in class looks like.

We made so many simple errors in both legs that I can't see how anyone can complain about the result.

[Smartie]

3 hours ago we were all waxing lyrical about our fantastic attacking play and style of football. We've won our first two league games and continued our fantastic league form from last season. If we're not the third best team in the country we're very close to it.

We have a team that flatters to deceive. They might thrill us by being able to lift their performance for 15 minutes against Ross County here and 5 minutes against Rijeka there.

But we have a paper thin squad and a few players who just don't convince when the going gets tough.

I shouldn't really comment on the "third best" stuff when in truth I know so little about the other teams, as that is who it is relative to.

But - as things stand - I don't really rate us, mainly down to the repeat failure to do the business under pressure. That's judging us against the standard I think Hibs should be at.

Against Rijeka we didn't perform nearly well enough. Against teams as weak as some of the teams we play, we get away with playing poorly and occasionally look good when we click.

A few injuries and we look far weaker.

[Stuart93]

Missed opportunity. Another one.

Aye I’ve heard that before

[CHUPPY87]

i can't help but feel the third best team in scotland should be capable of reaching the group stages of europe's third tier competition. It doesn't feel right to be pumped in the qualifiers at that level, plus there's the revenue we will now miss out on. However, i find it hard to gauge, as i don't know anything about many of the teams in the conference league and of what standard they are. Is that croat team one we should have expected to beat? A nice run of games in that competition shouldn't be beyond us, should it?

karma is a bitch

[Hibernia&Alba]

If the Conference League is judged a success and continues, we will definitely get another crack at it, and then the group stages has to be the target. That would mean valuable experience and also be good for the bank balance.

[CHUPPY87]

Tell me something abaut atmosfere?

[Hibernia&Alba]

karma is a bitch

Has a maroon friend joined us? :greengrin

[CHUPPY87]

you have been too cocky last 7 days... i hope you are shamed

[Hibernia&Alba]

you have been too cocky last 7 days... i hope you are shamed

WTF is going on here? :greengrin

[WeeRussell]

Is it Thursday Fudsday or something? A lot of strange characters been let loose on keyboards tonight.

[Sir David Gray]

In which case, it certainly sounds like we got a bad draw. There must be much weaker sides at Conference League level. :rolleyes:

We were unseeded so that didn't help but the seeded teams were;

Rijeka (Croatia)
Gent (Belgium)
Feyenoord (Netherlands)
Pacos de Ferreira (Portugal)

Those were our 4 possible opponents after the initial draw got made.

The other seeded teams were;

Astana (Kazakhstan)
Partizan (Serbia)
Hapoel Be'er Sheva (Israel)
Dinamo Batumi (Georgia)
Basel (Switzerland)
Shakhter Karagandy (Kazakhstan)
Velez Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Santa Clara (Portugal)
Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic)
PAOK (Greece)
Molde (Norway)
Breidablik (Iceland)
Copenhagen (Denmark)
Hammarby IF (Sweden)
Zilina (Slovakia)
Rakow Czestochowa (Poland)
LASK (Austria)
Qarabag (Azerbaijan)
Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel)
CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria)
Anderlecht (Belgium)
Rosenborg (Norway)
Dundalk (Ireland)

[NAE NOOKIE]

But surely good teams take their chances? I'm afraid after 2 legs where we didn't win either, and an aggregate of 5-2 it's silly to suggest they didn't deserve to go through.

They aren't great but us shooting ourselves in the foot by missing chances in the first leg and getting a man sent off in the second is exactly what a gulf in class looks like.

We made so many simple errors in both legs that I can't see how anyone can complain about the result.

The fact is that they deserved to go through because they capitalised on practically every opportunity Hibs gave them. But the question was 'did we underachieve?' and looking at both teams over the two legs I think we did. I saw nothing from them that suggested they were a better team than us, what decided that tie was Hibs failing to convert the chances we made in the first leg and a stupid sending off in the second.

In the end there was nothing between the teams and their win was as much due to our failure to score and a bit of stupidity I disagree that that is an indicator of any 'gulf in class' .... you don't need class to score twice against a team down a goal and a man chasing a game in 30 degree heat ... when it was 11 v 11 Hibs were every bit their equal and at times a good bit better.

I have no complaints about losing what was a closely fought contest ... I do have a complaint about a scoreline which suggests we were totally outplayed, which we certainly were not.

[JohnM1875]

WTF is going on here? :greengrin

Maybe Rijekafan second account? No idea. Weird all the same.

[cabbageandribs1875]

karma is a bitch


you cheeky chuppy you

[NYHibby]

This seems like the kind of mildly disappointing underperformance that isn’t worth getting too disappointed about. Yeah we kind of wasted a reasonable chance to get to playoff round, but we probably had less than a 50% chance of beating POAK to make it to the group stage. Going out one round earlier than we otherwise would have reasonably expected to in a competition we had 0% chance of winning isn’t that disappointing.

[Stuart93]

This seems like the kind of mildly disappointing underperformance that isn’t worth getting too disappointed about. Yeah we kind of wasted a reasonable chance to get to playoff round, but we probably had less than a 50% chance of beating POAK to make it to the group stage. Going out one round earlier than we otherwise would have reasonably expected to in a competition we had 0% chance of winning isn’t that disappointing.

So we aren’t to be disappointed now getting humped 4-1 and put out of Europe because we probably would’ve went out the next round anyway?

****ing hell. If I ever feel that way about football I’d probably just jack it.

[EdinburghHibern]

This seems like the kind of mildly disappointing underperformance that isn’t worth getting too disappointed about. Yeah we kind of wasted a reasonable chance to get to playoff round, but we probably had less than a 50% chance of beating POAK to make it to the group stage. Going out one round earlier than we otherwise would have reasonably expected to in a competition we had 0% chance of winning isn’t that disappointing.

You are missing the economics of it all. Might not have won the tournament but it was worth an awful lot of money to the club to even make the group stages.

[NYHibby]

So we aren’t to be disappointed now getting humped 4-1 and put out of Europe because we probably would’ve went out the next round anyway?

****ing hell. If I ever feel that way about football I’d probably just jack it.

I said mildly disappointed, but yes. And if we had made it to the group stages and lost every game there, I would still be happy that we made it that far.

[EdinburghHibern]

Was the draw we got considered a good one for the potential 3 rounds?

[Stuart93]

I said mildly disappointed, but yes. And if we had made it to the group stages and lost every game there, I would still be happy that we made it that far.

I’d be happy to reach the group stages but more from a financial viewpoint but I’m absolutely disappointed in the way the game went tonight.

[Hibernia&Alba]

This seems like the kind of mildly disappointing underperformance that isn’t worth getting too disappointed about. Yeah we kind of wasted a reasonable chance to get to playoff round, but we probably had less than a 50% chance of beating POAK to make it to the group stage. Going out one round earlier than we otherwise would have reasonably expected to in a competition we had 0% chance of winning isn’t that disappointing.

We had no hope of winning it, but the group stages would have been a good achievement and a good earner.

[basehibby]

I think we did underachieve a bit over the two ties - we were the better side in the first leg but failed to take advantage properly. We were very much still in it after 55 minutes of a much more even second leg - and that was to our credit - but then we proceeded to shoot ourselves in the foot.

In terms of the relative stature of the sides in Europe, it was one that could have gone either way really athough Rjeka would have been slight favourites, and we played well enough for the most part and created enough chances to win through - but didn't! So some encouragement to take from the performances in that we dominated a decent European side for significant spells, but a bit of an underachievement really in terms of our lack of ruthlessness in front of goal and the end result.

[Bobo]

Yes

Another, in the increasing number of, embarrassing European losses in the past 20 years. Our naivety against foreign opponents never changes, we're always too cautious and show them far too much respect.

We're not ruthless enough for me and seldom impose ourselves on games, more often opting to take a cautious approach in an attempt not to concede. I'd rather we played to win European ties by showing more aggression going forward and less defending. There's always the threat of conceding but I'd rather take the risk of being attack minded than ultimately being knocked out through lack of endeavour.

[007]

Has a maroon friend joined us? :greengrin

A maroon friend of the Rijeka variety that has now been punted, like his team will be in the next round. 'Mon the PAOK.

[JammyDoidger]

Too many players don't show up in big games. Nisbet was pony tonight again. Doig the same. Where folk are getting 4m figures from I have no idea. If we got 3m each I'd bite a teams hand off.

[JammyDoidger]

Too many players don't show up in big games. Nisbet was pony tonight again. Doig the same. Where folk are getting 4m figures from I have no idea. If we got 3m each I'd bite a teams hand off.

[flash]

I'm not convinced we're the third best team in Scotland.

We finished third in a weird season that saw Aberdeen in transition, Hearts out of the top league, no fans in grounds and everyone having to go with small squads and watch the pennies.

Ultimately we lack quality and have quite a few players who are important to us, who bully smaller teams domestically but who look lost when stepping up a level either in Europe, against the stronger teams in our league or on big occasions.

No team gets away with being as wasteful as we were over the two ties and as crap as I thought Rijeka were, they were competent enough to put us away.

We have a better balance in midfield and that should see us dominate possession more, but we are an injury or two away from being a pretty poor side who would be lucky to get into the top six.
I know Hertz fans with a higher opinion of our team than this.

[Jones28]

Tell me something abaut atmosfere?

It’s spelt with a PH

[Jones28]

I know Hertz fans with a higher opinion of our team than this.

Yepp. Hibs net at its finest. World beaters one minute, bang average after a poor result. It’s does my ****ing head in and I feel less inclined to bother posting these days because of it. In reality there’s a middle ground of results that we have occupied for the last 40 years and that’s where we will always be.

[Key West]

These days unfortunately getting into Europe is the achievement, you have to walk before you can run.

We need to be consistent and relatively dominant in our own league before we can even think about progress elsewhere.

At the moment we don’t have any depth in the squad to compete on two fronts.

We are far too extreme in-terms of opinions, one minute we are world beaters against Ross County the next we are hopeless against better opposition.

Establishing a place in the top 4 over the next 5 years and gaining valuable experience in Europe is probably a more realistic target.

Only my opinion!

[B.H.F.C]

Yepp. Hibs net at its finest. World beaters one minute, bang average after a poor result. It’s does my ****ing head in and I feel less inclined to bother posting these days because of it. In reality there’s a middle ground of results that we have occupied for the last 40 years and that’s where we will always be.

Why should it always be where we’ll be?

We have loads of advantages that we haven’t enjoyed in those 40 years. An owner who has already outlined plans to be better than that. The facilities we have. The level of support we have (you only need to go back and look at our crowds pre Scottish Cup win).

[WhileTheChief..]

Not sure if it was an under achievement but it certainly feels like an opportunity missed.

I watched the Hibees Buzz yesterday before the game and it felt like everyone was geared up to win this. JR was completely focussed and said all the right things. Ben Jacobs was talking about a real feeling of belief within the squad etc.

To then get beat the way we did sucks, and just feels so typically Hibs when it comes to the games that matter.

I know we’re doing well in the league and I think we’ll have another cracking season, but this was meant to be the start of an adventure, something new, taking us to a new level.

Instead, it’s over in the blink of an eye and back to reality.

Bring on Killie.

[matty_f]

I think by the club’s own targets, this is an under-achievement. I have sympathy for Jack Ross, though - imho, he was left short through injuries, and even despite that, we were in the game, probably on top in the game, up until the red card. If McGregor doesn’t make that mistake then who knows how the game plays out? If yer aunite had baws, i know….

I think we showed we are at their level though, and if we continue to build, I’d fancy us to go further next season. The board have to give Ross the squad to do it though

[J-C]

The last 20 odd years have been bang average for Hibs, gone are the glory days of wins against Leeds, Porto Napoli etc. We have been a regular mid table team for this period with the odd cup win/final thrown in to keep us happy, for the size of the we have under achieved big time since the 80's. What can we do to change this, **** knows, over the many years we've tried umpteen managers all with different philosophies in how the game should be played and none of them were able to succeed long term, just the odd highlight along the way. The only real bit of success we had was in the 50's and 70's when we played an expansive attacking style of football, is this the way to go?

This was always going to be a tricky tie but they were of a similar standard to ourselves and very beatable, not taking our chances and poor defending has let us down and not for the 1st time over the last few years. Yes we need better but to get better w need to pay higher wages, Ron mentioned when he took over he wanted to eventually double our wage budget, at what point will that happen? it neds to be done soon or we'll be also rans again.

[The Harp Awakes]

I thought we had a 50/50 chance of progressing before a ball was kicked, but having now seen the standard of the opposition, 5-2 on agg is pretty poor IMO.

For all the progress we have made since JR came in, we always seem to have a big game complete fail around the corner, where we seem to collapse in adversity. Failure to recruit in key positions has also not helped.

[flash]

The last 20 odd years have been bang average for Hibs, gone are the glory days of wins against Leeds, Porto Napoli etc. We have been a regular mid table team for this period with the odd cup win/final thrown in to keep us happy, for the size of the we have under achieved big time since the 80's. What can we do to change this, **** knows, over the many years we've tried umpteen managers all with different philosophies in how the game should be played and none of them were able to succeed long term, just the odd highlight along the way. The only real bit of success we had was in the 50's and 70's when we played an expansive attacking style of football, is this the way to go?

This was always going to be a tricky tie but they were of a similar standard to ourselves and very beatable, not taking our chances and poor defending has let us down and not for the 1st time over the last few years. Yes we need better but to get better w need to pay higher wages, Ron mentioned when he took over he wanted to eventually double our wage budget, at what point will that happen? it neds to be done soon or we'll be also rans again.

To be fair JC the landscape has changed dramatically and the clubs you mention are in a different world to us now.

[Tambo]

Tie should of been put to bed first leg for me then last night was comical defending again.

No idea what Porteous was doing on a few occasions and ludicrous from Daz to get sent off.

Nisbet a lone striker? Give me a break! Very disappointed last night but season far from over but will be a testing few weeks for Jack as he needs some more quality bodies.

[EdinburghHibern]

For a club our size under this new European Model we should really be qualifying for the Conferencd League when you think about it. It's the third tier of European Competition and replicates the other competitions at higher levels.

[EdinburghHibern]

Yepp. Hibs net at its finest. World beaters one minute, bang average after a poor result. It’s does my ****ing head in and I feel less inclined to bother posting these days because of it. In reality there’s a middle ground of results that we have occupied for the last 40 years and that’s where we will always be.

Totally. There isn't a middle ground and that really impacts the debate and opinions.

[EdinburghHibern]

Out of interest does anyone have any stats on European games played by current players?

Am I right in thinking that these four European games are Jack Ross first as a manager anywhere?

[Heisenberg]

Last night was poor, no getting away from it, but we’ve now got folk saying we’ll be lucky to make top 6 if we get another injury? **** sake 😂 We will sign players. The six that missed out last night through injury will return. Let’s not completely lose it just yet.

[calumhibee1]

Last night was poor, no getting away from it, but we’ve now got folk saying we’ll be lucky to make top 6 if we get another injury? **** sake 😂 We will sign players. The six that missed out last night through injury will return. Let’s not completely lose it just yet.

I’m not sure that’s all that unreasonable a statement.

If that injury comes to Nisbet or Boyle then there’s absolutely no denying that we could really struggle. With Doidge apparently out for months and no other strikers losing Nisbet would be disastrous. Losing Boyle would be disastrous regardless.

Yes, I’m sure we’ll sign others but the later it gets in the window the less hope I have for them being that great.

Would I fancy a Hibs team with no Doidge and Nisbet and them replaced by a loan player from down south to be above Hearts, St Johnstone or Aberdeen? Probably not. That already leaves you in 6th place.

[Jones28]

Why should it always be where we’ll be?

We have loads of advantages that we haven’t enjoyed in those 40 years. An owner who has already outlined plans to be better than that. The facilities we have. The level of support we have (you only need to go back and look at our crowds pre Scottish Cup win).

I hope I’m wrong in that regard and it we are in a great position to build and kick on.

[Smartie]

Last night was poor, no getting away from it, but we’ve now got folk saying we’ll be lucky to make top 6 if we get another injury? **** sake �� We will sign players. The six that missed out last night through injury will return. Let’s not completely lose it just yet.

Depends on who the injury is to though.

An injury to Nisbet (who I thought looked like he was carrying a knock) leaves us with no fit strikers. Playing either Boyle or Murphy there weakens us significantly elsewhere.

Who plays centre-back if Porteous gets injured? McGregor and Gogic?

Whilst we still have plenty of quality elsewhere, that is bare bones stuff and I think a team as understrength as that WOULD struggle - and it's only one injury away from where we are now.

The complaint isn't how good we are when at full strength, and I'm convinced we have a very good first eleven. When that starts to crumble, there's not much under the surface.

It's also worth bearing in mind the fact that we are getting a decent return right now from one injury prone player (Murphy), that we're getting very little from another (Cadden) that we're getting loads from one who seems to have now recovered fully from a serious injury (Magennis) and are getting very little from someone who may not have fully recovered from a fairly recent serious injury (Wright).

[cad]

Just need a bit of luck the efforts there

[The Harp Awakes]

Yepp. Hibs net at its finest. World beaters one minute, bang average after a poor result. It’s does my ****ing head in and I feel less inclined to bother posting these days because of it. In reality there’s a middle ground of results that we have occupied for the last 40 years and that’s where we will always be.

Does the reaction on Hibs.net not pretty much reflect the performance of the team over the past 18 months though?

For a good majority of that time the team has performed well and have had very good results, particularly away from home in the league. However, there's been several crushing defeats/collapses during that time, particularly in big games (cup semis, Final, last night).

It's Jekyll and Hyde performances, so only natural that supporter's reactions follow a similar pattern.

[Pretty Boy]

Last night was poor, no getting away from it, but we’ve now got folk saying we’ll be lucky to make top 6 if we get another injury? **** sake 😂 We will sign players. The six that missed out last night through injury will return. Let’s not completely lose it just yet.

The biggest worry for me is our best striker seems likely to be out for a long time. I don't think you can explain how important Doidge is to us but last night was a clear visual example. We already needed another striker, now we need 2 and one of them has to be capable of starting and hitting the ground running.

We Need to pull a rabbit out the hat and that's easier said than done. Of all the injuries and areas lacking depth that need addressed that is the one that worries me the most.

[hibsforeurope]

We showed over two legs that we had enough to get through this tie, 11v11 in the second half there was only going to be one winner. Rijeka looked devoid of any ideas and we were growing in confidence. Unfortunately the blame for this defeat lies at the feet of Ron Gordon and the Board for lack of signings, after saying on record they want to 'go Deep' in Europe they failed to back this up. Daz's red card was stupid and cost us but at 36/37 we shouldn't be relying on him to start.

this has been impassive opportunity lost to progress. PAOK would have been decent but not one of the really big teams to fear from Greece.

[Heisenberg]

Depends on who the injury is to though.

An injury to Nisbet (who I thought looked like he was carrying a knock) leaves us with no fit strikers. Playing either Boyle or Murphy there weakens us significantly elsewhere.

Who plays centre-back if Porteous gets injured? McGregor and Gogic?

Whilst we still have plenty of quality elsewhere, that is bare bones stuff and I think a team as understrength as that WOULD struggle - and it's only one injury away from where we are now.

The complaint isn't how good we are when at full strength, and I'm convinced we have a very good first eleven. When that starts to crumble, there's not much under the surface.

It's also worth bearing in mind the fact that we are getting a decent return right now from one injury prone player (Murphy), that we're getting very little from another (Cadden) that we're getting loads from one who seems to have now recovered fully from a serious injury (Magennis) and are getting very little from someone who may not have fully recovered from a fairly recent serious injury (Wright).

All of these points are on the basis that we don’t get anyone back from injury and don’t sign anyone else though? Losing Doidge long term is just about the worst injury we could get just now but we will definitely sign to fill the squad in his absence and another centre back is obviously still on the list.

There isn’t a chance we will be bottom six. Injuries or not.

[calumhibee1]

All of these points are on the basis that we don’t get anyone back from injury and don’t sign anyone else though? Losing Doidge long term is just about the worst injury we could get just now but we will definitely sign to fill the squad in his absence and another centre back is obviously still on the list.

There isn’t a chance we will be bottom six. Injuries or not.

Unfortunately I can’t share such a definitive optimism.

I don’t think we will end up bottom 6 but we’re counting on Doidges replacement being a good signing. The closer we get to the end of the window the less likely that is imo.

We’re an injury/loss of form to Nisbet away from being in major bother when it comes to scoring goals and subsequently winning games. Even without that loss of form, he’s our only striker. If we sign a striker and he turns out really good then I’d agree, I can’t see us finishing bottom six but that’s a big if imo.

[Jones28]

Does the reaction on Hibs.net not pretty much reflect the performance of the team over the past 18 months though?

For a good majority of that time the team has performed well and have had very good results, particularly away from home in the league. However, there's been several crushing defeats/collapses during that time, particularly in big games (cup semis, Final, last night).

It's Jekyll and Hyde performances, so only natural that supporter's reactions follow a similar pattern.

The lack of recognition of the mitigating circumstances last night is a ****ing joke. Anyone can see that once you lose a man you’re right up against it. 4-1 is harsh, but it’s a good lesson for these guys who haven’t played at this level before. The amount of posters who can’t wait to stick the boot in after a loss is just mind blowing.

[Since452]

Does the reaction on Hibs.net not pretty much reflect the performance of the team over the past 18 months though?

For a good majority of that time the team has performed well and have had very good results, particularly away from home in the league. However, there's been several crushing defeats/collapses during that time, particularly in big games (cup semis, Final, last night).

It's Jekyll and Hyde performances, so only natural that supporter's reactions follow a similar pattern.

Playing Rijeka away in the searing Croatian heat is a very different proposition to our run of the mill league games as Aberdeen know all too well. As do AC Milan. Going down to ten men made it virtually impossible. The difference between last night and other so called big games is I didn't expect us to win. It was a very big ask against a club well versed in European games. We were extremely unlucky to draw them. A part time side from Iceland like Aberdeen got and we'd have been through. PAOK would have given us a similar tanking. Said it on another thread but the only way to improve from last night is to get straight back to Europe next season so we become a bit more streetwise in ties like that. Europe every three or four seasons is no good.

[Since452]

We showed over two legs that we had enough to get through this tie, 11v11 in the second half there was only going to be one winner. Rijeka looked devoid of any ideas and we were growing in confidence. Unfortunately the blame for this defeat lies at the feet of Ron Gordon and the Board for lack of signings, after saying on record they want to 'go Deep' in Europe they failed to back this up. Daz's red card was stupid and cost us but at 36/37 we shouldn't be relying on him to start.

this has been impassive opportunity lost to progress. PAOK would have been decent but not one of the really big teams to fear from Greece.

You are dreaming if you think PAOK wouldn't have beaten us comfortably.

[EdinburghHibern]

The lack of recognition of the mitigating circumstances last night is a ****ing joke. Anyone can see that once you lose a man you’re right up against it. 4-1 is harsh, but it’s a good lesson for these guys who haven’t played at this level before. The amount of posters who can’t wait to stick the boot in after a loss is just mind blowing.

The mitigating circumstances are McGinns performance last night and playing a hospital pass at the back when trying to play the ball out instead of clearing his lines which then led to the red card.

[calumhibee1]

The lack of recognition of the mitigating circumstances last night is a ****ing joke. Anyone can see that once you lose a man you’re right up against it. 4-1 is harsh, but it’s a good lesson for these guys who haven’t played at this level before. The amount of posters who can’t wait to stick the boot in after a loss is just mind blowing.

I’m not quite sure bad decisions like Daz’s and McGinns performance etc can be put down to ‘mitigating circumstances’. They’re part of the performance. It’s not like the decision was incorrect.

[flash]

You are dreaming if you think PAOK wouldn't have beaten us comfortably.

PAOK will almost certainly beat Rijeka. They are a serious team.

[jacomo]

I can't help but feel the third best team in Scotland should be capable of reaching the group stages of Europe's third tier competition. It doesn't feel right to be pumped in the qualifiers at that level, plus there's the revenue we will now miss out on. However, I find it hard to gauge, as I don't know anything about many of the teams in the Conference League and of what standard they are. Is that Croat team one we should have expected to beat? A nice run of games in that competition shouldn't be beyond us, should it?


:agree:

[SlickShoes]

Flip it around, Hibs won the League in 2017 and competed in the Champions League, the last few years we competed in the group stages of the Europa League, you come up against a team from the country your national team just ejected easily from the Euros, that team has never regularly qualified or ever made it to a group stage. Who is the favourite?

[calumhibee1]

Flip it around, Hibs won the League in 2017 and competed in the Champions League, the last few years we competed in the group stages of the Europa League, you come up against a team from the country your national team just ejected easily from the Euros, that team has never regularly qualified or ever made it to a group stage. Who is the favourite?

I’m not sure their national team has much relevance to their club teams really.

France are better than Spain, doesn’t mean I’d expect Lille to beat Atletico, Lyon to beat Barca etc.

[Jones28]

The mitigating circumstances are McGinns performance last night and playing a hospital pass at the back when trying to play the ball out instead of clearing his lines which then led to the red card.


I’m not quite sure bad decisions like Daz’s and McGinns performance etc can be put down to ‘mitigating circumstances’. They’re part of the performance. It’s not like the decision was incorrect.

McGinns performance, fair comment. McGregors red? You can't legislate for and individual player making an error like that.

And the injuries to our captain and most impressive striker..?

[SlickShoes]

I’m not sure their national team has much relevance to their club teams really.

France are better than Spain, doesn’t mean I’d expect Lille to beat Atletico, Lyon to beat Barca etc.

OK cool that's what to take from the post, just ignore the fact they are a good team.

[calumhibee1]

OK cool that's what to take from the post, just ignore the fact they are a good team.

:faf:

You brought up the whole thing about their national team being good pal. Not me.

[ahibby]

OK cool that's what to take from the post, just ignore the fact they are a good team.

Posters were writing before the tie started that it was unlikely we'd progress beyond this stage. Obviously the first game gave us some hope as we were arguably the better side who just didn't take their chances. However, it was only a little hope because we had to face the away tie, which is never easy against a club with Europa experience/pedigree for the group stage. Then added to that we had those injuries perhaps last minute in a sense to Hanlon and Doidge, significantly weakening us. It's been said many a time on here we need a CB and another forward and last night shows exactly why many of you have been writing that. So it's a case of what could have been had we taken our chances and brought in personnel which many of you have said we need. Still it feels to me that we underachieved even though I didn't feel sure about the outcome of last night, I did have some hope. We did score away and at home but considering the chances we made we should have scored more and that might be a sign that we are weaker in that area than we think, at the moment, but that might improve in time even with no change in personnel.

[flash]

:faf:

You brought up the whole thing about their national team being good pal. Not me.

And you homed right in on the one part of the post you thought you could get a wee dig in about.
Would you agree with the rest of the post because I would.

[calumhibee1]

And you homed right in on the one part of the post you thought you could get a wee dig in about.
Would you agree with the rest of the post because I would.

I would agree with the rest of it, yes. I’m not sure there’ll be many that wouldn’t.

I’m not sure how what I’ve said is a dig in any way though..

[Onion]

When you look at the performance St Johnstone put in against against Galatasaray home and away, yes you could say Hibs underperformed. Not in the least surprised though. Playing in Europe can be tricky, becoming easier with experience. Hibs are wet behind the ears. Daz double error typified that.

IMO some of the backlash last night on .net is a carry over from the SCF. It's the same group of players who let us down so badly and who are still on the road to redemption.

[flash]

I would agree with the rest of it, yes. I’m not sure there’ll be many that wouldn’t.

Exactly I knew you would. We were clear second favourites in the tie yet were more than holding our own until one moment of madness quickly followed by another.
Whilst these mistakes are part of the game they still killed us stone dead.
Personally I saw enough to think we are heading in the right direction though.
We need to get rid of a few and bring in a few and we probably need to sell one of our assets as that's how we operate.

[Jones28]

When you look at the performance St Johnstone put in against against Galatasaray home and away, yes you could say Hibs underperformed. Not in the least surprised though. Playing in Europe can be tricky, becoming easier with experience. Hibs are wet behind the ears. Daz double error typified that.

IMO some of the backlash last night on .net is a carry over from the SCF. It's the same group of players who let us down so badly and who are still on the road to redemption.

It will be an impossible task for some of them. The "big game bottlers" element in our support won't forgive them until they do something 4 Hibs teams have done in the last 100 years.

[Lago]

I can't help but feel the third best team in Scotland should be capable of reaching the group stages of Europe's third tier competition. It doesn't feel right to be pumped in the qualifiers at that level, plus there's the revenue we will now miss out on. However, I find it hard to gauge, as I don't know anything about many of the teams in the Conference League and of what standard they are. Is that Croat team one we should have expected to beat? A nice run of games in that competition shouldn't be beyond us, should it?
It was up there with the cup final as an embarrassment.

[EdinburghHibern]

It will be an impossible task for some of them. The "big game bottlers" element in our support won't forgive them until they do something 4 Hibs teams have done in the last 100 years.

So are you happy the club just merely exists then?

[Jones28]

So are you happy the club just merely exists then?

Yepp. If you're not moaning about it online really helps though :aok:

[Potty78]

It was up there with the cup final as an embarrassment.

Last night? Not even close. This team beat aberdeen 4 0 on aggregate only couple of years ago. Far more experienced in europe recently than hibs too

[flash]

It was up there with the cup final as an embarrassment.

Incredible take on last night.

[calumhibee1]

It will be an impossible task for some of them. The "big game bottlers" element in our support won't forgive them until they do something 4 Hibs teams have done in the last 100 years.

Using historical failures really shouldn’t be a yard stick for going forward.

If it was then as someone else suggested, we’ll generally just sit here and be happy to be existing, kicking about the middle of the league not winning anything, not doing anything in Europe etc.

Yippee. Why does the fact teams previously failed have any bearing on the team now?

[The Modfather]

The lack of recognition of the mitigating circumstances last night is a ****ing joke. Anyone can see that once you lose a man you’re right up against it. 4-1 is harsh, but it’s a good lesson for these guys who haven’t played at this level before. The amount of posters who can’t wait to stick the boot in after a loss is just mind blowing.

There is of course mitigation of the game last light in isolation. There was two incidents that changed the game. The defenders mistake for our equaliser which changed the momentum and we we looked the stronger team. Then the red card and goal within 60 seconds of it which changed the momentum back again.

Someone else called it. I think there’s definitely an element of Ross and this team being flat track bullies. We win most of the games we should win, and as Aberdeen have shown that gets you far in our league. However we don’t win many of the games we shouldn’t be winning or games we’ve every chance of winning. The three cup exits last season and European exit as examples.

I think we’ll be a good and consistent league team, and the early indications are we’ll be good to watch, but won’t win any silverware as when it comes to the crunch we’re simply not ruthless or clinical enough, and liable to give away cheap goals.

I can see that being Ross’ legacy, consistent in the league and hopefully good to watch, but left with a Mowbray-like what could have been when we don’t win anything.

[matty_f]

Using historical failures really shouldn’t be a yard stick for going forward.

If it was then as someone else suggested, we’ll generally just sit here and be happy to be existing, kicking about the middle of the league not winning anything, not doing anything in Europe etc.

Yippee. Why does the fact teams previously failed have any bearing on the team now?

It doesn’t shape where the team is more, but it’s a very good measure of what’s realistic/reasonable to expect and to help place results into some context.

Hibs (like virtually every other football club on the planet) will try to win every game regardless of the previous result. We’ll always try to go further in the Cup competitions and get more points in the league.

Understanding what we usually do and using that to assess things is pretty reasonable and normal, imho.

[The Harp Awakes]

There is of course mitigation of the game last light in isolation. There was two incidents that changed the game. The defenders mistake for our equaliser which changed the momentum and we we looked the stronger team. Then the red card and goal within 60 seconds of it which changed the momentum back again.

Someone else called it. I think there’s definitely an element of Ross and this team being flat track bullies. We win most of the games we should win, and as Aberdeen have shown that gets you far in our league. However we don’t win many of the games we shouldn’t be winning or games we’ve every chance of winning. The three cup exits last season and European exit as examples.

I think we’ll be a good and consistent league team, and the early indications are we’ll be good to watch, but won’t win any silverware as when it comes to the crunch we’re simply not ruthless or clinical enough, and liable to give away cheap goals.

I can see that being Ross’ legacy, consistent in the league and hopefully good to watch, but left with a Mowbray-like what could have been when we don’t win anything.

Good post. I am hoping for a lot better but agree with your analysis which is likely to reflect reality.

[WestStandWillie]

It was up there with the cup final as an embarrassment.

Steady on there sir. That's a bold statement

[Keith_M]

I said the failure to take a lead I've there would prove costly. I was proven correct tonight.

They are a decent side. To lose 5-2 on aggregate is a very poor result.


IMHO, the better side won, but I agree that losing by such a margin is really disappointing.

[calumhibee1]

It doesn’t shape where the team is more, but it’s a very good measure of what’s realistic/reasonable to expect and to help place results into some context.

Hibs (like virtually every other football club on the planet) will try to win every game regardless of the previous result. We’ll always try to go further in the Cup competitions and get more points in the league.

Understanding what we usually do and using that to assess things is pretty reasonable and normal, imho.

Understanding that we have woefully underachieved and recognising that when deciding what our expectations are is more where we should be headed imo.

I wouldn’t like to think Ron is looking at the fact we’ve been a club for 146 years and won 10 major honours and deciding that a trophy every 15 seasons is all that we can realistically hope for.

Thankfully I don’t think he will, but the suggestion that it’s unfair to criticise because we’ve won 4 trophies in 100 years doesn’t really make any sense to me. That’s a woeful record and one that we shouldn’t be looking to match, we should be drastically improving it. If we don’t improve it then criticism is justified. It doesn’t only become justified once we go more than 25 years without a trophy because that’s what the last 100 years has seen us deliver.

[J-C]

To be fair JC the landscape has changed dramatically and the clubs you mention are in a different world to us now.


I was pointing out we've underachieved for the past 30 odd years, for too long in recent years we've been a mid table SPL team which is shocking for a club our size.

[Since452]

It was up there with the cup final as an embarrassment.

Was it? They beat AC Milan at home a couple seasons ago. They have a far better European pedigree than us.

[blackpoolhibs]

I thought 11 v 11 they were a little bit better than us, 11 v 10 they showed us how good they were. Up until the sending off, we matched them well and were well in the game.

Considering we had so many injuries, we were competing well will a side in my opinion slightly better than us, and who play in Europe every season and have a few decent scalps to their name.

We are building a decent side/squad, and i'm pretty confident we will be trying again next season to get into those league places in Europe.

Never in a million years is it an underachievement, but with how well we were doing its certainly disappointing.

[Since452]

The only way to learn from European games is to make sure we're regularly competing in them. I reckon we'll be in the ECL again next season. Hopefully a bit more ruthless and streetwise.

[Hibernia&Alba]

Having reflected on it, I still feel we fell short of expectations. Of course, so much depends on the draw, and perhaps we came up against a decent side. Overall I would say this:

The Champions League is too hot for any Scottish club. The Old Firm both failed. Luckily for one of them, the Scottish champions will be straight in to the groups next season.

The Europa League group stages are a realistic target for the Old Firm. Both are in the qualifying round.

The Europa Conference League groups should be a realistic target for Scottish clubs the size of Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen. There will be plenty of clubs smaller than those three involved.

Fair, or am I underestimating the Conference League?

[Heisenberg]

Having reflected on it, I still feel we fell short of expectations. Of course, so much depends on the draw, and perhaps we came up against a decent side. Overall I would say this:

The Champions League is too hot for any Scottish club. The Old Firm both failed. Luckily for one of them, the Scottish champions will be straight in to the groups next season.

The Europa League group stages are a realistic target for the Old Firm. Both are in the qualifying round.

The Europa Conference League groups should be a realistic target for Scottish clubs the size of Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen. There will be plenty of clubs smaller than those three involved.

Fair, or am I underestimating the Conference League?

I think you are slightly underestimating it. Some of the sides you could face in the UECL playoff round are massive. Aberdeen got one of the better draws. St J face a side with very good recent European pedigree and we would’ve faced a very strong Greek side.

[EdinburghHibern]

Understanding that we have woefully underachieved and recognising that when deciding what our expectations are is more where we should be headed imo.

I wouldn’t like to think Ron is looking at the fact we’ve been a club for 146 years and won 10 major honours and deciding that a trophy every 15 seasons is all that we can realistically hope for.

Thankfully I don’t think he will, but the suggestion that it’s unfair to criticise because we’ve won 4 trophies in 100 years doesn’t really make any sense to me. That’s a woeful record and one that we shouldn’t be looking to match, we should be drastically improving it. If we don’t improve it then criticism is justified. It doesn’t only become justified once we go more than 25 years without a trophy because that’s what the last 100 years has seen us deliver.

You would like to think not.
Surely,he has to look at that and think it is woeful for a club our size.
How many trips to hampden in last 10 years?
Why can't a club our size do a Leicester? Aberdeen were close to winning the league a few years ago.

[calumhibee1]

Having reflected on it, I still feel we fell short of expectations. Of course, so much depends on the draw, and perhaps we came up against a decent side. Overall I would say this:

The Champions League is too hot for any Scottish club. The Old Firm both failed. Luckily for one of them, the Scottish champions will be straight in to the groups next season.

The Europa League group stages are a realistic target for the Old Firm. Both are in the qualifying round.

The Europa Conference League groups should be a realistic target for Scottish clubs the size of Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen. There will be plenty of clubs smaller than those three involved.

Fair, or am I underestimating the Conference League?

Fair imo. Scottish clubs need to start believing they’re good enough to compete at that level. There’ll be a good amount of teams poorer than us in the groups of the ECL

[loanheadhibby]

Against that team absolutely ... I don't give a crap what the final aggregate score was, the truth is we should have won by at least 2 clear goals in the first leg, that wasn't because they were better than us but because we failed to convert a load of chances we made in that game.

Tonight they scored the first due to poor defending and when we equalised we looked more likely to be the team to get the next one. McGregor's sending off absolutely changed the game as did them scoring almost immediately after from a corner that should never have been given .... folk can say Hibs caved after that, but we had nothing to hold onto that would have enabled us to mount a backs to the wall defence and take it to penalties. Being a goal behind it's almost impossible to chase a game in 30 degree heat and hope not to concede more, as proved to be the case.

It's not sour grapes to say that if you had given Hibs the home leg second in this game with a 1 - 1 first leg score and a full house at Easter Road there is little doubt that we would be the team in the next round tonight, not them ... I for one am absolutely convinced of that ... I don't care what the final score was, they are not a better team than us.
You may not give a crap but that's what your talking.
They've just beaten us 5-2 on aggregate of course they were the better team.
Not miles better but better.

[EI255]

Don't like to sound TOO negative, but I don't think I'll ever see us enter any group stages in my lifetime. This was the third level tournament and we faced difficult, experienced opposition. To overcome that and then PAOK would have been extremely difficult, even with all of our best 11 on the park.

Sent from my LG-H870 using Tapatalk

[Stuart93]

Don't like to sound TOO negative, but I don't think I'll ever see us enter any group stages in my lifetime. This was the third level tournament and we faced difficult, experienced opposition. To overcome that and then PAOK would have been extremely difficult, even with all of our best 11 on the park.

Sent from my LG-H870 using Tapatalk

Can finish 3rd this season and you’re guaranteed European groups next season. Not beyond the realms of possibility

[blackpoolhibs]

Can finish 3rd this season and you’re guaranteed European groups next season. Not beyond the realms of possibility

Which is why it's crucial for us to get behind a manager who has improved us in every position from the first day he walked through the front door.

[flash]

Can finish 3rd this season and you’re guaranteed European groups next season. Not beyond the realms of possibility

It's a huge opportunity. No doubt Aberdeen are aware of that too. It would be criminal if we miss out because we haven't addressed the same issues we have had since the start of last season.

[Jones28]

Which is why it's crucial for us to get behind a manager who has improved us in every position from the first day he walked through the front door.

Well said. We move on and go again. The qualifying rounds are always *******s and you will get the odd easy tie but mostly it will be against seasoned opposition. Given time we will become more and more street wise and compete.

[J-C]

Which is why it's crucial for us to get behind a manager who has improved us in every position from the first day he walked through the front door.

It'll be harder this year as Aberdeen have started fairly well and the league will be tougher with Hearts in it, thursday showed we're not quite ready to take the next step up to Europa league yet and also we need 2-3 bodies in to compete and push us forward.

[matty_f]

It'll be harder this year as Aberdeen have started fairly well and the league will be tougher with Hearts in it, thursday showed we're not quite ready to take the next step up to Europa league yet and also we need 2-3 bodies in to compete and push us forward.

Did Aberdeen not get off to a flyer last season as well?

[J-C]

Did Aberdeen not get off to a flyer last season as well?

Honestly can't remember, they do look stronger this season though. 3rd isn't guaranteed as I don't think Aberdeen will be as poor as they were and Heart no matter how much we can't stand them will be no pushovers and will be aiming for a top 4 finish. We have a decent squad for the league but still need 2-3 bodies to compete and make us stronger.

[Since452]

Did Aberdeen not get off to a flyer last season as well?

Lost on the opening day to Rangers then won their next four, including at ER.

[Key West]

We underachieved, we had a great chance to take a lead to Croatia, we were naive in the 2nd league.
Today is a chance to get back on the tracks, the strongest team available should be on at the start and this tournament must be taken seriously, this is a massive game for us in more ways than one.

[hibbydog]

Probably an underachievement to get beat in that tie. We had them at ER but didn’t take that chance.

We should aim to be good enough to get into the group stages of the conference league. It’s about right for Hibs level. Europa league is probably out of our reach.

But they were a decent side. And I think we’d have struggled against PAOK who have a good European pedigree.

Hopefully we learn that a stronger squad is needed to qualify. It takes playing 2 games a week for 6 weeks. And if we qualify, for the group stages, it’s basically 2 games a week right up until Christmas.

Our starting 11 is probably good enough to make the group stages if we play to our potential. But it was really obvious that our squad overall wasn’t up to it.

I really hope Ron Gordon thinks the same.

[Keith_M]

I have to be honest in that I wouldn't fancy our chances much if we were parachuted into the group stages just now.

Yes we would make a decent amount of money but I could see us (most likely) finishing bottom of our group with some pretty dismal results, given the level of opposition we'd be playing.

Not being negative, just realistic.

[Smartie]

I have to be honest in that I wouldn't fancy our chances much if we were parachuted into the group stages just now.

Yes we would make a decent amount of money but I could see us (most likely) finishing bottom of our group with some pretty dismal results, given the level of opposition we'd be playing.

Not being negative, just realistic.

The cash generated could go a long way towards recruiting the players we'd need to be competitive though.

I accept that if we were to go in as we are currently then we'd struggle though, and it would no doubt have a knock on effect on our league form too.