This is how it feels (Aberdeen 23 12 2021)

[Jonnyboy]

The first match of Shaun Maloney’s reign was both interesting and uplifting with Hibs overcoming an in form Aberdeen to win 1-0 thanks to a Ryan Porteous header. Many an eyebrow would have been raised when it was announced Scotty Allan would start in midfield in place of Joe Newell as that necessitated a bit of a reshuffle with Josh Campbell dropping deeper and Scott taking the role behind the strikers in a 3-4-1-2 formation. I believe Joe was unavailable due to suspension.

It seemed to me, from a very early stage of the game that Hibs were playing with more energy and positivity. Certainly, the work rate in closing players down was in evidence from the first whistle and the desire to build from the back was clear in the tactics of both sides. Given the very short time that Maloney had with the players it still looked as though his message had gotten through. There were a few times during the game that Hibs dallied at the back a bit but for the most part the ball was played forward with purpose although the last ten minutes was tense as Hibs defended their narrow lead.

In the early exchanges, the play centred around the midfield area with Hibs just edging it in terms of possession. It was, however, Aberdeen that had the first attempt on goal JET found space at the edge of the Hibs box and let loose a left footed shot that was deflected wide for a corner. JET is not the most cultured footballer but for a big laddie he can certainly protect the ball when it is in his possession. For all Hibs’ possession they just couldn’t manufacture any decent chances and Joe Lewis looked comfortable in the Aberdeen goal.

Midway through the first half, Funso Ojo who was playing at right back got the chance to have a pop at goal but saw his effort charged down by Paul Hanlon. Moments later, Dean Campbell sent a rasping drive just wide of Macey’s left hand post but even though the Dons had threatened the Hibs defence was looking secure. Macey was though brought into action saving low from a Lewis Ferguson strike whilst at the other end Boyle and Nisbet both saw efforts fail to trouble Lewis to any great extent.

Injury forced Jake Doyle-Hayes to leave the pitch and be substituted by Alex Gogic who was just a little slow in a challenge that allowed Watkins a huge chance to score from close range, but the Aberdeen man took an instant too long and was closed down by Porteous. With half time approaching, Gogic was booked for a pretty innocuous foul on Ramirez and seconds later, Scott Allan was brought down by Lewis Ferguson, but referee Muir didn’t deem that worthy of a yellow. Prior to the whistle going, Hibs forced a couple of corners but the delivery from Scott Allan was not great.

Hibs made no changes at half time whilst Aberdeen replaced JET with the highly rated Calvin Ramsay who went to right back with Ojo playing further forward. The play wasn’t flowing well with a series of free kicks being given for daft fouls one of which saw Scott Allan feed Boyle whose effort on target was saved by Lewis. On the hour mark, Allan was replaced by Jamie Murphy, and I have to say that Scott impressed me with his work rate as he ran himself into the ground. Referee Muir was right on top of things at corners coming into the box as he awarded both defending sides free kicks for ridiculous and obvious grappling. He got that right, but he was annoying both sets of fans with a number of his decisions. I’m tempted to say that at times he was inept.

Around the sixty fifth minute, Hibs won a couple of corners which Boyle took following Allan’s substitution. The first was delivered deep and was headed back into the centre of the box by Paul Hanlon only for Gallagher to clear at the expense of the second corner. On this occasion, Boyle sent the ball in on a lower trajectory and at pace whereupon Ryan Porteous rose above Gallagher to bullet the ball home from six yards.

Aberdeen now had to be a lot more adventurous than they had been so far but five minutes after taking the lead, Hibs almost doubled it when Nisbet was hauled down by Jonny Hayes out on the right. Boyle sent in another inviting ball at pace and Nisbet got his head to it but couldn’t get any power on the ball and Lewis saved comfortably. The Dons then created three chances in the space of three minutes with Hayes having an effort blocked; Ramsay shooting wide of the post and Watkins seeing a header saved by Macey in the centre of the goal.

It was going to be a nervy last fifteen minutes or so with the Dons gaining possession of the midfield where Lewis Ferguson tried (and failed miserably) to do a Scott Brown by driving his team mates forward. Both Ferguson and Ojo had pop shots from distance, and both cleared the bar by some margin before Hibs broke away down the right and a crossed ball found Doig charging into the box, but he couldn’t control his headed attempt which cleared the bar.

When Kevin Nisbet went down injured it was from a Bates challenge minutes earlier that was clearly causing the Hibs man problems. Doidge came on to replace Nisbet and found himself sitting deeper and deeper as the minutes ticked down before Hedges got himself booked for a foul on Campbell and then right at the death, Ferguson was booked for trying to charge down a clearance from hand by Macey. Ferguson complained long and loud, but he’d lifted his foot as the keeper cleared and that is foul play. Mind you, the ref didn’t see it and nor did his West Stand assistant with the fourth official providing the information to Muir which led to the booking.

A nervy finish but a cracking three points that lift Hibs to fifth in the table and heading in the right direction again. As I said earlier, I thought we played with more intensity for the most part and the work rate from all of our players was impressive to witness.

The players

Macey – Matt had a couple of very decent saves and right at the death came for a high ball, taking the pressure off his team mates in the process. Those are all positive things but there’s a couple of negatives too. His failure to release the ball from hand when he has players in space to receive it and his general distribution from foot is really very poor.

McGinn – Solid throughout against a tricky Marley Watkins, I thought this was the McGinn of last season.

Porteous – On a couple of occasions my grey hair count increased but over the piece I thought he was excellent, and his towering header won us the points so he’s my man of the match.

Hanlon – A couple of shaky moments but by and large he defended very well over the ninety minutes.

Cadden – I know he has his doubters but there was little to pick fault with tonight as he ran himself into the ground and performed his defensive duties very well.

Doyle-Hayes – I’m a fan of Jake but I have to confess that he needs to stop making his go to pass a backwards one. He has the ability to take the ball on the turn and move it forward. Perhaps the new manager will encourage that in future.

Campbell – Josh played deeper tonight, and he was found wanting a couple of times but over the piece he can be pleased with his night’s work.

Doig – I confess Josh annoyed me a few times, mostly in the first half when he seemed unwilling to try and get past his marker. He has the pace and the control so it’s not clear to me why he sometimes hesitates to use them.

Allan – That is the hardest work rate I’ve ever seen Scotty display in a Hibs shirt. Oft accused of not tracking runners there was none of that tonight and he was inches away from one of his trade mark passes to release Boyle on goal.

Boyle – Frustratingly, I felt Martin gave the ball away too easily at times but ten out of ten for effort, commitment and that fabulous corner for the winning goal.

Nisbet – I’ve praised the team for it’s work rate and I felt Kevin deserves that for his part in it. He shuttled between central defenders as they tried to build from the back and on a good few occasions caused alarm in the Aberdeen defence and yet still a goon sitting along from me berated him throughout the game.

Gogic – Not as cultured as Newell but performed the Newell job pretty well tonight. Very unlucky in my view to have been booked.

Murphy – After his quite dismal performance at Hampden I was feeling I’d be happy not to see him play for us again. The Murphy I saw tonight was a hundred times better than the Hampden Murphy. We just need to see that every time, Jamie.

Doidge – I felt his frustration when he followed the instruction from Macey to position himself for the keeper’s kick outs only to see the ball arrive nowhere near where Christian was standing.

Shaun Maloney – Clearly delighted with his players and rightly so. I’m really looking forward to seeing the fruits of his labours in taking Hibs forward.

Referee – Alan Muir was tough on Gogic, not tough enough on Scott Allan for a pretty dreadful challenge and certainly not tough on Lewis Ferguson who fouled and moaned his way through the game.

[...WentToMowAnSPL]

The first match of Shaun Maloney’s reign was both interesting and uplifting with Hibs overcoming an in form Aberdeen to win 1-0 thanks to a Ryan Porteous header. Many an eyebrow would have been raised when it was announced Scotty Allan would start in midfield in place of Joe Newell as that necessitated a bit of a reshuffle with Josh Campbell dropping deeper and Scott taking the role behind the strikers in a 3-4-1-2 formation. I believe Joe was unavailable due to suspension.

It seemed to me, from a very early stage of the game that Hibs were playing with more energy and positivity. Certainly, the work rate in closing players down was in evidence from the first whistle and the desire to build from the back was clear in the tactics of both sides. Given the very short time that Maloney had with the players it still looked as though his message had gotten through. There were a few times during the game that Hibs dallied at the back a bit but for the most part the ball was played forward with purpose although the last ten minutes was tense as Hibs defended their narrow lead.

In the early exchanges, the play centred around the midfield area with Hibs just edging it in terms of possession. It was, however, Aberdeen that had the first attempt on goal JET found space at the edge of the Hibs box and let loose a left footed shot that was deflected wide for a corner. JET is not the most cultured footballer but for a big laddie he can certainly protect the ball when it is in his possession. For all Hibs’ possession they just couldn’t manufacture any decent chances and Joe Lewis looked comfortable in the Aberdeen goal.

Midway through the first half, Funso Ojo who was playing at right back got the chance to have a pop at goal but saw his effort charged down by Paul Hanlon. Moments later, Dean Campbell sent a rasping drive just wide of Macey’s left hand post but even though the Dons had threatened the Hibs defence was looking secure. Macey was though brought into action saving low from a Lewis Ferguson strike whilst at the other end Boyle and Nisbet both saw efforts fail to trouble Lewis to any great extent.

Injury forced Jake Doyle-Hayes to leave the pitch and be substituted by Alex Gogic who was just a little slow in a challenge that allowed Watkins a huge chance to score from close range, but the Aberdeen man took an instant too long and was closed down by Porteous. With half time approaching, Gogic was booked for a pretty innocuous foul on Ramirez and seconds later, Scott Allan was brought down by Lewis Ferguson, but referee Muir didn’t deem that worthy of a yellow. Prior to the whistle going, Hibs forced a couple of corners but the delivery from Scott Allan was not great.

Hibs made no changes at half time whilst Aberdeen replaced JET with the highly rated Calvin Ramsay who went to right back with Ojo playing further forward. The play wasn’t flowing well with a series of free kicks being given for daft fouls one of which saw Scott Allan feed Boyle whose effort on target was saved by Lewis. On the hour mark, Allan was replaced by Jamie Murphy, and I have to say that Scott impressed me with his work rate as he ran himself into the ground. Referee Muir was right on top of things at corners coming into the box as he awarded both defending sides free kicks for ridiculous and obvious grappling. He got that right, but he was annoying both sets of fans with a number of his decisions. I’m tempted to say that at times he was inept.

Around the sixty fifth minute, Hibs won a couple of corners which Boyle took following Allan’s substitution. The first was delivered deep and was headed back into the centre of the box by Paul Hanlon only for Gallagher to clear at the expense of the second corner. On this occasion, Boyle sent the ball in on a lower trajectory and at pace whereupon Ryan Porteous rose above Gallagher to bullet the ball home from six yards.

Aberdeen now had to be a lot more adventurous than they had been so far but five minutes after taking the lead, Hibs almost doubled it when Nisbet was hauled down by Jonny Hayes out on the right. Boyle sent in another inviting ball at pace and Nisbet got his head to it but couldn’t get any power on the ball and Lewis saved comfortably. The Dons then created three chances in the space of three minutes with Hayes having an effort blocked; Ramsay shooting wide of the post and Watkins seeing a header saved by Macey in the centre of the goal.

It was going to be a nervy last fifteen minutes or so with the Dons gaining possession of the midfield where Lewis Ferguson tried (and failed miserably) to do a Scott Brown by driving his team mates forward. Both Ferguson and Ojo had pop shots from distance, and both cleared the bar by some margin before Hibs broke away down the right and a crossed ball found Doig charging into the box, but he couldn’t control his headed attempt which cleared the bar.

When Kevin Nisbet went down injured it was from a Bates challenge minutes earlier that was clearly causing the Hibs man problems. Doidge came on to replace Nisbet and found himself sitting deeper and deeper as the minutes ticked down before Hedges got himself booked for a foul on Campbell and then right at the death, Ferguson was booked for trying to charge down a clearance from hand by Macey. Ferguson complained long and loud, but he’d lifted his foot as the keeper cleared and that is foul play. Mind you, the ref didn’t see it and nor did his West Stand assistant with the fourth official providing the information to Muir which led to the booking.

A nervy finish but a cracking three points that lift Hibs to fifth in the table and heading in the right direction again. As I said earlier, I thought we played with more intensity for the most part and the work rate from all of our players was impressive to witness.

The players

Macey – Matt had a couple of very decent saves and right at the death came for a high ball, taking the pressure off his team mates in the process. Those are all positive things but there’s a couple of negatives too. His failure to release the ball from hand when he has players in space to receive it and his general distribution from foot is really very poor.

McGinn – Solid throughout against a tricky Marley Watkins, I thought this was the McGinn of last season.

Porteous – On a couple of occasions my grey hair count increased but over the piece I thought he was excellent, and his towering header won us the points so he’s my man of the match.

Hanlon – A couple of shaky moments but by and large he defended very well over the ninety minutes.

Cadden – I know he has his doubters but there was little to pick fault with tonight as he ran himself into the ground and performed his defensive duties very well.

Doyle-Hayes – I’m a fan of Jake but I have to confess that he needs to stop making his go to pass a backwards one. He has the ability to take the ball on the turn and move it forward. Perhaps the new manager will encourage that in future.

Campbell – Josh played deeper tonight, and he was found wanting a couple of times but over the piece he can be pleased with his night’s work.

Doig – I confess Josh annoyed me a few times, mostly in the first half when he seemed unwilling to try and get past his marker. He has the pace and the control so it’s not clear to me why he sometimes hesitates to use them.

Allan – That is the hardest work rate I’ve ever seen Scotty display in a Hibs shirt. Oft accused of not tracking runners there was none of that tonight and he was inches away from one of his trade mark passes to release Boyle on goal.

Boyle – Frustratingly, I felt Martin gave the ball away too easily at times but ten out of ten for effort, commitment and that fabulous corner for the winning goal.

Nisbet – I’ve praised the team for it’s work rate and I felt Kevin deserves that for his part in it. He shuttled between central defenders as they tried to build from the back and on a good few occasions caused alarm in the Aberdeen defence and yet still a goon sitting along from me berated him throughout the game.

Gogic – Not as cultured as Newell but performed the Newell job pretty well tonight. Very unlucky in my view to have been booked.

Murphy – After his quite dismal performance at Hampden I was feeling I’d be happy not to see him play for us again. The Murphy I saw tonight was a hundred times better than the Hampden Murphy. We just need to see that every time, Jamie.

Doidge – I felt his frustration when he followed the instruction from Macey to position himself for the keeper’s kick outs only to see the ball arrive nowhere near where Christian was standing.

Shaun Maloney – Clearly delighted with his players and rightly so. I’m really looking forward to seeing the fruits of his labours in taking Hibs forward.

Referee – Alan Muir was tough on Gogic, not tough enough on Scott Allan for a pretty dreadful challenge and certainly not tough on Lewis Ferguson who fouled and moaned his way through the game.

Great perspective - I'd sum it up somewhat differently "No Porto No Party"

[The Harp Awakes]

Bang on the money JB.

Quite a few on here have said Scott Allan is finished. I'm not so sure based on tonight's performance. You are spot on that his work rate was top drawer tonight. Maybe he needs game time and Maloney may just be the coach to spur him on.

Porteous is young and raw with rough edges, but he is a very good player. He will improve lots in the years ahead and priority must be to get him on a new contract.

[...WentToMowAnSPL]

Bang on the money JB.

Quite a few on here have said Scott Allan is finished. I'm not so sure based on tonight's performance. You are spot on that his work rate was top drawer tonight. Maybe he needs game time and Maloney may just be the coach to spur him on.

Porteous is young and raw with rough edges, but he is a very good player. He will improve lots in the years ahead and priority must be to get him on a new contract.

Playing Scott Allan from the kick off, rather than expecting him to come on and save the game is so much more optimistic

[Onceinawhile]

Josh doig from last season is better than Lewis.

Josh doig from this season, should not be in the team ahead of him.

Josh Campbell needs to show more on the ball.

Scott Allan was poor, Jamie Murphy did well defensively, but awful on the ball.

Porto was imperious.

[JoeT]

Like the use of the inept word. Formation for me suited us. We all want to see Allan involved. In a front 3 rotating for 40 mins he was great. We made more passes in that 40 mins than we have in the last 3 matches. Good first steps for the new setup. Defensive shape will take place. Please give Porto an uplift in contract. We won't replace with better for the money we'll take/get for him.

[Hermit Crab]

The first match of Shaun Maloney’s reign was both interesting and uplifting with Hibs overcoming an in form Aberdeen to win 1-0 thanks to a Ryan Porteous header. Many an eyebrow would have been raised when it was announced Scotty Allan would start in midfield in place of Joe Newell as that necessitated a bit of a reshuffle with Josh Campbell dropping deeper and Scott taking the role behind the strikers in a 3-4-1-2 formation. I believe Joe was unavailable due to suspension.



Maloney said pre match Newell was injured and failed a fitness test in the morning, never mentioned a suspension.

[NAE NOOKIE]

A very decent effort from Hibs considering we played a cup final at the weekend. I haven't handed out many big scores here, it was very much a team effort tonight without any real standouts, but with near enough everybody at least trying to put a shift in.

Macey .... 6 ..... His handling was good and he pulled off a couple of good saves, but wow his kicking was woeful at times and at one point he could have sent McGinn racing up the pitch but for whatever reason didn't throw the ball to him.

McGinn .... 6 ..... Played ok and impressed me at one point by matching an Aberdeen forwards run into the box to nip a really dangerous situation in the bud.

Porteous .... 8 .... One of his best games of the season for me and what a header for the goal ... couldn't see the incident folk are on about so can't comment.

Hanlon ... 7 .... OK had a couple of shaky moments, but overall I thought he had a solid game.

Doig ... 6 .... A pretty average game from him, with no Murphy in front of him I thought he might get into forward areas more, but it didn't really happen much.

Doyle - Hayes ... 5 .... I can't say we saw much from him before having to go off.

Allan .... 5 .... Barely got a kick and had little influence on the game .... mind you, if that pass had come off he would be getting an 8 he was an inch from Hibs pass of the season.

Campbell ... 6 ... As we have come to expect tons of hard work, but didn't really catch the eye in any significant way.

Cadden ..... 6 ..... He was involved quite a lot, but I cant say he did much that stood out for me.

Boyle ... 7 .... A super corner for Porto's goal but didn't have a lot of luck up front sometimes due to a poor touch, but defensively in the last 20 minutes he worked his socks off chasing everything, great attitude from him.

Nisbet .... 5 .... I don't have an axe to grind with Kevin, I want him to succeed, I want him to be the player folk were talking about paying 3 million quid for and who forced his way into the Scotland set up. But at the moment he's a million miles away from that player and I saw little tonight to change that. If he is worth a place in the Scotland squad he simply cant come up with headers as poor as the one he offered in front of goal tonight and in all honesty I'm struggling to agree that his workrate was any higher tonight than it has been in recent weeks. I would also say that for most of this season if Hibs get the ball into the box and you are looking for Kevin Nisbet don't bother watching the ball because you know he'll be nowhere near it.

I know it's widely accepted that he isn't a lone striker and I would agree, but even so he really needs to up his game. Sorry Kev.

Gogic .... 5 .... A bit quick to get himself booked, but overall I thought he did ok.

Murphy ... 4 .... Not as bad as at Hampden, how could he have been, but there was one point the ball came to him in a really good position and his woeful attempt to control it cost us a very decent attacking opportunity.

Doidge ... 4 .... Didn't have a lot of opportunity to show anything up front because we were pressed into our own half for most of the time he was on.

[AZhibee]

Thanks Jonnyboy

[Allant1981]

Dont want to sound harsh but yet another game that ive came away from still not knowing what josh campbell brings to the team, yip he covers a lot of ground but doesnt really do much, i appreciate he is still finding his feet at this level but i think if we had signed him from another team he would be getting slated

[Sir David Gray]

Maloney said pre match Newell was injured and failed a fitness test in the morning, never mentioned a suspension.

Yeah he wasn't suspended last night, he's only received 4 bookings in the league and it's 6 before a suspension's triggered.

[number9dream]

Let's chalk it down as 'a hard fought three points' and move on. Allan, Cadden & Doig could do with a decent run of games to improve sharpness. Macey was good, although he must spend more time practicing his kicking - or just throw it. He's a huge guy, surely he can bowl the ball from hand to at least halfway.

[BILLYHIBS]

Thanks for posting Jonnyboy

As others have said Nisbet heading woeful and Macey distribution pathetic

Looks to me as if some could do with being taken out of the group and given a rest but only one game to go now and Maloney is still assessing his squad with Tait, Mueller and hopefully further additions reenforcing us in January

Maloney said the Chairman was delighted after the game and that will do for me

The futures bright the futures green and white

Merry Christmas and a Hibby New Year

Stay safe

[Tambo]

Good report as ever Johnny, when JDH went off I was a little worried about a CM of Gogic and Campbell but I thought Gogic was good when he came on.

[Unseen work]

Allan is the only player I know that gets a lot of praise for something he nearly done well.

The crux of it is he was non existent last tonight and needs to impose himself far more on the game. In fairness the occasions he got into a space the defenders or midfielder on the ball never fancied the slightly riskier pass through to him.

It does take a while to get upto speed and you can’t be too critical on him as he needs a run but if any other player offered so little over 60 minutes they’d get slated.

[bigwheel]

Allan is the only player I know that gets a lot of praise for something he nearly done well.

The crux of it is he was non existent last tonight and needs to impose himself far more on the game. In fairness the occasions he got into a space the defenders or midfielder on the ball never fancied the slightly riskier pass through to him.

It does take a while to get upto speed and you can’t be too critical on him as he needs a run but if any other player offered so little over 60 minutes they’d get slated.

Fair post - for me , Allan is t at this best when he is played as forward as he was last night . Think he likes to be facing the game …he was poor though , didn’t do enough to start in next game against United

[Greenbeard]

Dont want to sound harsh but yet another game that ive came away from still not knowing what josh campbell brings to the team, yip he covers a lot of ground but doesnt really do much, i appreciate he is still finding his feet at this level but i think if we had signed him from another team he would be getting slated
Think it was Campbell who, when in the first half Boyle skipped through on the right of the box and fired a quick low cross towards the six yard box, delayed his run into the box and was clearly looking for more of an acute (and more difficult) cut back. He should have been steaming in towards goal full pelt anticipating the quick squared ball. Great work by Boyle wasted. But maybe being harsh on the lad (especially if it wasn't him!).
EDIT: Just seen the highlights. It was Scott Allan, not Campbell. Should have gone to Specsavers.

[Brightside]

Dont want to sound harsh but yet another game that ive came away from still not knowing what josh campbell brings to the team, yip he covers a lot of ground but doesnt really do much, i appreciate he is still finding his feet at this level but i think if we had signed him from another team he would be getting slated

He spent most of the game making up for Scott Allan when he was on the pitch. The fact we are talking about him having his best ever work rate last night tells you how far he’s dropped. No player would get the free pass Scott Alan gets from Hibs fans.

[Greenbeard]

Thanks for posting Jonnyboy

As others have said Nisbet heading woeful and Macey distribution pathetic

Looks to me as if some could do with being taken out of the group and given a rest but only one game to go now and Maloney is still assessing his squad with Tait, Mueller and hopefully further additions reenforcing us in January

Maloney said the Chairman was delighted after the game and that will do for me

The futures bright the futures green and white

Merry Christmas and a Hibby New Year

Stay safe
The two main criticisms but a VG 3 points in what overall was a 50/50 game.
Nisbet needs to get down the sheds for an hour-long headers game every day over the winter break. I like him but his headers are like softened pass-backs to the goalie.

[B.H.F.C]

Fair post - for me , Allan is t at this best when he is played as forward as he was last night . Think he likes to be facing the game …he was poor though , didn’t do enough to start in next game against United

I’d start him. Needs games to get sharpness, the hour will have helped him. It’s probably a choice between him, Murphy and Scott for that position at the moment so I’d be inclined to give him a proper chance.

Thought he was poor last night but he needs the ball and I think one of our biggest issues is how slow the ball moves through the middle of the park. Something will need to change in there to play the way Maloney wants to play IMO.

[bigwheel]

I’d start him. Needs games to get sharpness, the hour will have helped him. It’s probably a choice between him, Murphy and Scott for that position at the moment so I’d be inclined to give him a proper chance.

Thought he was poor last night but he needs the ball and I think one of our biggest issues is how slow the ball moves through the middle of the park. Something will need to change in there to play the way Maloney wants to play IMO.

That’s a very supportive view ..I think when Newall is back Campbell can play in that space .

I’d let Allan move on . Somewhere he can play regularly . Unfortunately I just can’t see it happening here .

[Libby Hibby]

I thought generally we played quicker with more zip about our passing. Definitely a press going on without possession. Individually I thought Josh Campbell was good, probably in his correct position, McGinn was solid and Porteous excellent.

Josh Doig, am I harsh? But I just don’t see it with him.

[Unseen work]

I’d start him. Needs games to get sharpness, the hour will have helped him. It’s probably a choice between him, Murphy and Scott for that position at the moment so I’d be inclined to give him a proper chance.

Thought he was poor last night but he needs the ball and I think one of our biggest issues is how slow the ball moves through the middle of the park. Something will need to change in there to play the way Maloney wants to play IMO.

Honestly, I’d be tempted to try Scott.

He’s hardly kicked a ball in ages and can’t offer much less than Murphy and Allan have.

He started off not bad when Nisbet and Doidge were out but never seemed to kick on, he was then played in the 10 which isn’t his position.

Left of a front 3 might suit him if he can get back to his Motherwell days

Gullan is another but it was interesting to see he never even made the bench last night.

[Brightside]

I thought generally we played quicker with more zip about our passing. Definitely a press going on without possession. Individually I thought Josh Campbell was good, probably in his correct position, McGinn was solid and Porteous excellent.

Josh Doig, am I harsh? But I just don’t see it with him.

Doig work rate was top class again. He’s not a great defender but for me that’s not his future. Wide left in the 4 is where we will see more of him. Providing defensive cover but also stretching play to allow those gaps that SM is talking about.

[superfurryhibby]

Allan was sometimes the most attacking player through the middle and was played so far forward that it reduced his role to one of harrying defenders. For me he was was wasted so far up the pitch.

Our midfield three weren’t very impressive overall. Plenty effort, no creativity. Gogic didn’t add to that, but he did help contain contain Aberdeen and was pretty effective at shielding the defence in the closing 20 minutes.

Our best performers were Porto, Hanlon and Mc Ginn, all defended well, with Porto and Hanlon ( mostly) effective at spreading play with cross field passes.

Macey’s kicking was indeed woeful. He had a couple of saves and took crosses well when under pressure, but FFS, launching it aimlessly at Nisbet and getting nowhere near him was in effect just returning the ball back to Aberdeen.n

Overall, we defended well and worked hard. The game ebbed and flowed a bit and there was little between the sides. A hard earned win was a great result for the Hibs.

[Green_one]

No-one has mentioned Aberdeen. Think they look like the mid table side they are. So the result was great but would have been better against the Aberdeen of old.

Why, when we know Macey cannot kick the ball, do we constantly give him it? Certain Maloney will work on that early.

Porto and Hanlon were excellent. Wing backs were poor, gave nothing offensively particularly Cadden. Boyle drives a lonely creative role up front.

Hibs lack of threat from open play is painfully obvious. Barely registered a shot in the first half. Another goal from a corner

Will take 3 points and 5th happily but loads of work on training ground needed over quiet period. Should work in Hibs favour.

[Tyler Durden]

I think people are being quite unfair on Doig this season. If Stevenson had performed exactly the same as Doig did last night, he'd be getting very positive comments on here.

Doig set up the best chance of the first half - which Boyle made a mess of. And he put some great balls across in the 2nd half. It wasn't a great attacking performance but he was solid and certainly more of a threat than Cadden, whilst also doing everything well defensively.

[Crunchie]

I think people are being quite unfair on Doig this season. If Stevenson had performed exactly the same as Doig did last night, he'd be getting very positive comments on here.

Doig set up the best chance of the first half - which Boyle made a mess of. And he put some great balls across in the 2nd half. It wasn't a great attacking performance but he was solid and certainly more of a threat than Cadden, whilst also doing everything well defensively.
The right coaching and mindset will see that boy reach the top level imo.

[Tyler Durden]

Allan was sometimes the most attacking player through the middle and was played so far forward that it reduced his role to one of harrying defenders. For me he was was wasted so far up the pitch.

Our midfield three weren’t very impressive overall. Plenty effort, no creativity. Gogic didn’t add to that, but he did help contain contain Aberdeen and was pretty effective at shielding the defence in the closing 20 minutes.

Our best performers were Porto, Hanlon and Mc Ginn, all defended well, with Porto and Hanlon ( mostly) effective at spreading play with cross field passes.

Macey’s kicking was indeed woeful. He had a couple of saves and took crosses well when under pressure, but FFS, launching it aimlessly at Nisbet and getting nowhere near him was in effect just returning the ball back to Aberdeen.n

Overall, we defended well and worked hard. The game ebbed and flowed a bit and there was little between the sides. A hard earned win was a great result for the Hibs.

If we're playing this 3-4-3 system then that is the role available to Allan. He can't play in the central midfield pairing, he just won't have the legs for it.

I think he needs to do much much more. When he did get on the ball he was pretty ineffective but then the same could be said for Boyle and Nisbet. Lots of work to do with that front 3 and how we get them in the game more. If nothing else, hopefully getting that 60 minutes in the tank will have done Allan some good ahead of Boxing Day.

[The Wireless]

Dont want to sound harsh but yet another game that ive came away from still not knowing what josh campbell brings to the team, yip he covers a lot of ground but doesnt really do much, i appreciate he is still finding his feet at this level but i think if we had signed him from another team he would be getting slated

I actually thought the tireless work rate and energy from Josh was immense. Always aware of what was going on around him. Tracking runners and covering gaps. Off the ball this lad covered more ground than anybody and for me is the find of the season.

[onfire]

Great match summary as usual - the players gave it their all and some must have been running close to empty but found the reserve tank when needed. A cold wet and bleak night to watch football - but the result was all that counted - great Shaun got off to a winning start.

[I_Love_Latapy]

Nisbet - dropping deep which I understand but does that mean he's not as clinical when he gets a chance as he's got too much going on?
Boyle - double marked every time he got the ball
Campbell - I like him, hope he learns quickly, we need someone to influence a game

Ref - "Inept" witty but unfair. I thought he had a good game and got all the big calls right and did not make a bloody drama out of everything and make game-changing errors like B**t*n. Low bar I know.

[PeeJay]

Good read as ever - think the team were probably playing with more energy in order to impress the new manager, we seemed to pass the ball a lot more than in previous games - a decent, workmanlike team effort overall . three welcome points. Massive amount of work to do still though clearly ...

[Mick O'Rourke]

Cheers again John for your great match reports here, ala Stewart Brown (an old hero and friend of mine in my youth!)



I get nervy when players pass back to Matt when opposing players are nearby.
He seriously needs to work on his control and then his distribution. He it seems would prefer to pass the ball with his hands.
Bar that ,i like him !

I think Ryan is one of the best CBs we have had in years .
On the "incident!
Watched it over.Lucky laddie not to see red.
He clearly kicks the player in the belly when both are on the ground.

Mind you made a comparison with our old centre half, big John McNamee.
John going South because he felt persecuted by officialdom and refs and i said i felt Ryan was getting a similar raw deal.

Well Ryan is going to have to resist the red mist and control himself a bit.
Or he will get a similar reputation and may feel the need to leave like John did .



Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours John and all here on the Hibsnet.

:xwave:snowman:tree

[h1bs4life]

I think people are being quite unfair on Doig this season. If Stevenson had performed exactly the same as Doig did last night, he'd be getting very positive comments on here.

Doig set up the best chance of the first half - which Boyle made a mess of. And he put some great balls across in the 2nd half. It wasn't a great attacking performance but he was solid and certainly more of a threat than Cadden, whilst also doing everything well defensively.

Definitely people are being harsh on Josh Doig , the laddie is young and eager to learn same with Josh Campbell , thankfully the new boss has seen it and is no doubt keen to work with them and improve them.
I can mind another left back when he way young getting ripped a new one against Celtic and taken off before half time.
These guys are the future , its some of the old guard that need moved on , if Maloney decides to move some of them on there will be a few who will need to go and get grief counselling.

[Since452]

I thought Allan was anonymous. Almost playing a good pass doesn't quite cut it for me. Opinions eh.