Jonnyboy
29-01-2022, 07:13 PM
Frustration, disappointment and an undercurrent of concern summarises my feelings after watching Hibs this afternoon. Frustrated at the lack of urgency as the clock ticked down; disappointment at the manner of the goals conceded and at losing the opportunity to leapfrog Motherwell into fourth place with a degree of concern that the players are sticking too rigidly to the play out from the back scenario when there are times when that just isn’t on.
The first surprise ahead of the game was finding out that Shaun Maloney had made four changes to the starting eleven with Porteous, Mitchell, Henderson and Doidge getting the nod. It seems the manager is fond of making numerous changes for each eleven he picks. I was disappointed that Bushiri and Newell were confined to the bench as I thought that pair were our best performers against Motherwell.
Hibs started the game well enough, and I thought Nouble was very lucky not to get a yellow card after he’d been outwitted by Porteous and decided to take his frustration out on Ryan by scything him down as the ball was being played. It was a poor decision by referee Grant Irvine, and it wouldn’t be his last.
On six minutes a Henderson corner reached Doidge at the back post and the big striker struck the post with his shot. Livingston failed to clear the danger and Demetri Mitchell pounced to fire home from close range, his first goal for the club on his home debut. Moments later, Porteous made a hash of heading the ball back to his keeper and Bailey nipped in between the two with Macey getting to the ball first and putting it behind for a corner, given by the East Stand assistant. Referee Irvine took a differing view and awarded Livingston a penalty. Macey rushed to the assistant to plead his case and Irvine was persuaded to have a chat with the assistant, after which he reversed the penalty decision and bizarrely restarted the game with a drop ball rather than a corner.
The visitors sought to get level and had shots by Devlin and Forrest blocked before Doyle-Hayes conceded a needless free kick which allowed Livingston to load the box for a delivery. Bailey hoisted the ball in to the box and Macey flapped at it allowing Obileye a free header to make it 1-1. It can be argued that Macey was blocked in his efforts to reach the ball but the player he crashed into was Paul McGinn. My view is that Macey should have stayed put as the header from Obileye had no pace on it and there’s every chance the keeper would have collected it safely had he stayed on his line. As it was, the damage to McGinn meant he could not continue, and he was replaced by Bushiri.
A Henderson foul on Omeonga allowed Nouble a sight of goal but his effort was blocked and soon after, Hibs took the lead in bizarre circumstances. Campbell and Cadden traded passes wide on the right and close to the goal line before Cadden whipped the ball across and the flight of the ball caught Max Stryjek out, flying over his head and into the net at his back post. Jason Holt and Joel Nouble seemed to be taking it in turns to foul the Hibs man on the ball, but referee Irvine took no action against either of them. As the minutes ticked down, both Bailey and Campbell saw efforts drift wide of target before Forrest was unlucky to see his shot on target but nudged wide by Bushiri.
Livingston came out in the second half and immediately set about putting Hibs under pressure. The home side was making life difficult for itself by persisting with the directive to play out from the back and the visitors found it easy to pressure the Hibs men into making mistakes. It seemed to me that Omeonga was running the midfield and often got the better of Doyle-Hayes and Campbell. So much so that I was desperate for Maloney to bring Newell on for Campbell to help steady the ship. He didn’t and Livingston continued to dominate.
With just seen minutes of the half played, Hibs struggled to get the ball clear and twice in succession Forrest had a shot at goal with the efforts twice being cleared off the line by Kevin Nisbet. Not since the days of Alex Miller have I seen Hibs have all eleven players in their own box to defend corners, free kicks and long throw ins. Having eleven made no difference when Nouble flicked on a ball in from their right which found Jack Fitzwater in space and heading the equaliser.
It really was all Livingston now and understandably the home fans were getting more and more restless. Playing out from the back was not working and yet Hibs persisted with it, bringing serious pressure in the process. As the hour mark approached, Forrest was denied by Macey but moments later the same player put the visitors ahead for the first time in the game. Possession was surrendered in midfield and the ball reached Forrest at the angle of the eighteen yard box. The Livi man waltzed past his marker and struck a fine shot into the far corner of Macey’s net. What irked me most about this was that Forrest dropped his shoulder to get the ball onto his right foot and he’d pretty much done that for the whole game and yet he was not shown to the outside.
In response to going behind, Shaun Maloney replaced Doidge and Campbell with Murphy and Mueller, but the flow of the game was predominantly towards the Hibs goal with a brief respite coming when Mueller got on the end of a Cadden cross but couldn’t get any real power on his header. It seemed that every time the ball came into the Hibs box, a level of panic broke out and clearing the lines was almost non-existent. Further changes came when Stevenson and Mitchell gave way to Doig and Scott and soon after their introduction, Nisbet strode on to a Porteous pass and got a strike away that Stryjek managed to save with his legs.
With fifteen minutes left, Jason Holt finally got a yellow card after bringing down Doyle-Hayes with what seemed like his tenth foul of the game. Nisbet then had another strike but got underneath the ball and sent it over the bar before the lively Forrest once again tested Macey with the keeper winning that duel. Hibs were pushing more men forward when they got the ball but the insistence on playing from the back made such positions all too rare. Bushiri headed over from a corner and a double effort from Nisbet saw a block and then a save denying him a goal. Into time added on and Cadden fed Mueller, but the latter couldn’t get his shot past a defender’s leg and the game was over.
A generally poor performance from Hibs got the result it deserved and the irony of it all was that Stephane Omeonga bossed our midfield for most of the game, showing that his own level of performance has risen since he spent time on loan at Easter Road.
The players
Macey – Terrible decision making for the first goal, and he looked a bit static for the second.
McGinn – Paul was having a solid game before Macey flattened him and caused him to leave the field injured.
Porteous – To me, Ryan looked a little ring rusty and despite my hope that he would do, he pretty much never broke forward with the ball at his feet to challenge the stranglehold Livi had on our midfield.
Stevenson – Lewis had a decent first half, sending a couple of excellent passes down the line for Mitchell to chase. His second half performance was, however, possibly the worst I’ve seen from him in a long while.
Cadden – Chris is a willing worker and does his fair share of defending in addition to his attacking play. A few good crosses with no takers and though there was an element of luck surrounding his goal, at least he was putting the ball into the danger area which a good number of his colleagues failed to do.
Campbell – I kinda like Josh but I think he was poor today and maybe it should have been him left out rather than Joe Newell.
Doyle-Hayes – I keep saying this but nothing changes. As a midfield player part of the job is to take the ball in, turn and then head for the opponents’ goal or pass it to a forward based team mate. Our coaching staff must see his failure to do that, surely?
Mitchell – Demetri had a good first half, scored a debut goal but tired badly in the second and was replaced.
Henderson – One or two lovely passes and a decent work rate but he was too easily edged off the ball.
Nisbet – Today, Kevin did all of the things he’s accused of not doing with the exception of scoring of course. He was taking the ball in well, protecting it and finding a team mate with a pass. No sign whatsoever of him being ‘lazy’ in my view.
Doidge – I felt the game just passed him by a lot of the time. Never really caused them much difficulty in the air, bar one excellent header that drifted just wide.
Bushiri – Replaced McGinn and took up the central role in the back three with Porteous moving to his right. A good display but has to share the blame for the loss of that second goal as the header was made right in the centre of the box.
Murphy – Once or twice he looked like he might provide a telling pass but never actually did so.
Mueller – Chris has some rough edges, but he chased and harried and was unlucky not to get a goal near the end.
Scott – I’m not sure what he was asked to do, and his contribution offered no clues.
Doig – One scorching run down the left but little else of note.
Shaun Maloney – Going by his post-match comments he was obviously disappointed, correctly identifying our inability to defend properly from two set plays. Is it just me or is he missing the fact that our horrendous record of ‘building from the back’ is the principal reason for conceding these free kicks and corners?
Referee – Grant Irvine is a new one on me and guess what – he was as inept as virtually all of his refereeing colleagues.
The first surprise ahead of the game was finding out that Shaun Maloney had made four changes to the starting eleven with Porteous, Mitchell, Henderson and Doidge getting the nod. It seems the manager is fond of making numerous changes for each eleven he picks. I was disappointed that Bushiri and Newell were confined to the bench as I thought that pair were our best performers against Motherwell.
Hibs started the game well enough, and I thought Nouble was very lucky not to get a yellow card after he’d been outwitted by Porteous and decided to take his frustration out on Ryan by scything him down as the ball was being played. It was a poor decision by referee Grant Irvine, and it wouldn’t be his last.
On six minutes a Henderson corner reached Doidge at the back post and the big striker struck the post with his shot. Livingston failed to clear the danger and Demetri Mitchell pounced to fire home from close range, his first goal for the club on his home debut. Moments later, Porteous made a hash of heading the ball back to his keeper and Bailey nipped in between the two with Macey getting to the ball first and putting it behind for a corner, given by the East Stand assistant. Referee Irvine took a differing view and awarded Livingston a penalty. Macey rushed to the assistant to plead his case and Irvine was persuaded to have a chat with the assistant, after which he reversed the penalty decision and bizarrely restarted the game with a drop ball rather than a corner.
The visitors sought to get level and had shots by Devlin and Forrest blocked before Doyle-Hayes conceded a needless free kick which allowed Livingston to load the box for a delivery. Bailey hoisted the ball in to the box and Macey flapped at it allowing Obileye a free header to make it 1-1. It can be argued that Macey was blocked in his efforts to reach the ball but the player he crashed into was Paul McGinn. My view is that Macey should have stayed put as the header from Obileye had no pace on it and there’s every chance the keeper would have collected it safely had he stayed on his line. As it was, the damage to McGinn meant he could not continue, and he was replaced by Bushiri.
A Henderson foul on Omeonga allowed Nouble a sight of goal but his effort was blocked and soon after, Hibs took the lead in bizarre circumstances. Campbell and Cadden traded passes wide on the right and close to the goal line before Cadden whipped the ball across and the flight of the ball caught Max Stryjek out, flying over his head and into the net at his back post. Jason Holt and Joel Nouble seemed to be taking it in turns to foul the Hibs man on the ball, but referee Irvine took no action against either of them. As the minutes ticked down, both Bailey and Campbell saw efforts drift wide of target before Forrest was unlucky to see his shot on target but nudged wide by Bushiri.
Livingston came out in the second half and immediately set about putting Hibs under pressure. The home side was making life difficult for itself by persisting with the directive to play out from the back and the visitors found it easy to pressure the Hibs men into making mistakes. It seemed to me that Omeonga was running the midfield and often got the better of Doyle-Hayes and Campbell. So much so that I was desperate for Maloney to bring Newell on for Campbell to help steady the ship. He didn’t and Livingston continued to dominate.
With just seen minutes of the half played, Hibs struggled to get the ball clear and twice in succession Forrest had a shot at goal with the efforts twice being cleared off the line by Kevin Nisbet. Not since the days of Alex Miller have I seen Hibs have all eleven players in their own box to defend corners, free kicks and long throw ins. Having eleven made no difference when Nouble flicked on a ball in from their right which found Jack Fitzwater in space and heading the equaliser.
It really was all Livingston now and understandably the home fans were getting more and more restless. Playing out from the back was not working and yet Hibs persisted with it, bringing serious pressure in the process. As the hour mark approached, Forrest was denied by Macey but moments later the same player put the visitors ahead for the first time in the game. Possession was surrendered in midfield and the ball reached Forrest at the angle of the eighteen yard box. The Livi man waltzed past his marker and struck a fine shot into the far corner of Macey’s net. What irked me most about this was that Forrest dropped his shoulder to get the ball onto his right foot and he’d pretty much done that for the whole game and yet he was not shown to the outside.
In response to going behind, Shaun Maloney replaced Doidge and Campbell with Murphy and Mueller, but the flow of the game was predominantly towards the Hibs goal with a brief respite coming when Mueller got on the end of a Cadden cross but couldn’t get any real power on his header. It seemed that every time the ball came into the Hibs box, a level of panic broke out and clearing the lines was almost non-existent. Further changes came when Stevenson and Mitchell gave way to Doig and Scott and soon after their introduction, Nisbet strode on to a Porteous pass and got a strike away that Stryjek managed to save with his legs.
With fifteen minutes left, Jason Holt finally got a yellow card after bringing down Doyle-Hayes with what seemed like his tenth foul of the game. Nisbet then had another strike but got underneath the ball and sent it over the bar before the lively Forrest once again tested Macey with the keeper winning that duel. Hibs were pushing more men forward when they got the ball but the insistence on playing from the back made such positions all too rare. Bushiri headed over from a corner and a double effort from Nisbet saw a block and then a save denying him a goal. Into time added on and Cadden fed Mueller, but the latter couldn’t get his shot past a defender’s leg and the game was over.
A generally poor performance from Hibs got the result it deserved and the irony of it all was that Stephane Omeonga bossed our midfield for most of the game, showing that his own level of performance has risen since he spent time on loan at Easter Road.
The players
Macey – Terrible decision making for the first goal, and he looked a bit static for the second.
McGinn – Paul was having a solid game before Macey flattened him and caused him to leave the field injured.
Porteous – To me, Ryan looked a little ring rusty and despite my hope that he would do, he pretty much never broke forward with the ball at his feet to challenge the stranglehold Livi had on our midfield.
Stevenson – Lewis had a decent first half, sending a couple of excellent passes down the line for Mitchell to chase. His second half performance was, however, possibly the worst I’ve seen from him in a long while.
Cadden – Chris is a willing worker and does his fair share of defending in addition to his attacking play. A few good crosses with no takers and though there was an element of luck surrounding his goal, at least he was putting the ball into the danger area which a good number of his colleagues failed to do.
Campbell – I kinda like Josh but I think he was poor today and maybe it should have been him left out rather than Joe Newell.
Doyle-Hayes – I keep saying this but nothing changes. As a midfield player part of the job is to take the ball in, turn and then head for the opponents’ goal or pass it to a forward based team mate. Our coaching staff must see his failure to do that, surely?
Mitchell – Demetri had a good first half, scored a debut goal but tired badly in the second and was replaced.
Henderson – One or two lovely passes and a decent work rate but he was too easily edged off the ball.
Nisbet – Today, Kevin did all of the things he’s accused of not doing with the exception of scoring of course. He was taking the ball in well, protecting it and finding a team mate with a pass. No sign whatsoever of him being ‘lazy’ in my view.
Doidge – I felt the game just passed him by a lot of the time. Never really caused them much difficulty in the air, bar one excellent header that drifted just wide.
Bushiri – Replaced McGinn and took up the central role in the back three with Porteous moving to his right. A good display but has to share the blame for the loss of that second goal as the header was made right in the centre of the box.
Murphy – Once or twice he looked like he might provide a telling pass but never actually did so.
Mueller – Chris has some rough edges, but he chased and harried and was unlucky not to get a goal near the end.
Scott – I’m not sure what he was asked to do, and his contribution offered no clues.
Doig – One scorching run down the left but little else of note.
Shaun Maloney – Going by his post-match comments he was obviously disappointed, correctly identifying our inability to defend properly from two set plays. Is it just me or is he missing the fact that our horrendous record of ‘building from the back’ is the principal reason for conceding these free kicks and corners?
Referee – Grant Irvine is a new one on me and guess what – he was as inept as virtually all of his refereeing colleagues.