Jonnyboy
08-11-2022, 11:02 PM
Depressing, utterly depressing watching that shower tonight. We are missing one ‘less’ and perhaps the most important one. Gutless, heartless, directionless are words I heard around me tonight and understandably so. The ‘less’ we are missing and have been for some weeks now is ruthless. We are so powder puff that it matters not who we are facing. We are there to be beaten by any other club we face, no matter their position in the league. Playing pretty football between the two boxes is all good and well but our play in both of those boxes is torturous. We can’t defend and we can’t score goals so if this form continues, and I see no reason to think it won’t, we could well be fighting to retain our position in the top flight.
I accept that it’s only November and there are plenty of games and a transfer window to go but even in my most optimistic glass half full guise, I fear the worst, I really do. Until now, I’ve been inclined to try and focus on the positives, even in defeat, but that performance tonight has knocked the heart out of me. The capitulation at Aberdeen was a hard pill to swallow but tonight was 100 times harder to stomach. Someone said to me earlier that it’s like watching Hibs under Terry Butcher and we all know how that panned out.
Negative attention will be directed towards Lee Johnson and that is hardly surprising. Five defeats in the last six determines it so. As an example of why I’m so disgruntled tonight I offer the view that when making substitutions the aim should be to try and improve the performance and yet tonight, he replaced poor performers with even poorer ones. I accept it’s all he has player wise, and I also accept that Kuharevich was likely replaced because he was one bad challenge away from a second yellow, but he works with these guys every day and must surely see that they are not up to whatever it is he is asking them to do. Youan and Tavares were awful, and Josh Campbell wasn’t much better. Ironically, given the criticism he gets from some quarters, Stevenson provided the best chance of the night with his low angled cross towards the near post.
My rant now over, I’ll turn to the game itself though I’m hardly in the mood to do so. Selection wise. There was no Magennis, and I’m told there’s a chance it’s because he was injured. Again? Really? Mitchell made a rare appearance and didn’t last more than forty minutes. He didn’t look injured, so I have to assume he was hooked because he looked knackered and dead on his feet. Should he have started? On the evidence at hand the answer is surely no. Johnson had two other players on the bench who were up to speed and could have taken that starting berth but, no, we went with a player that’s hardly kicked a ball for months and pitched him against a speedy winger who has been a recent goal scorer for Ross County.
I understand Lee Johnson felt we started the game well and to an extent he is right, but that bright start didn’t last long. A Kuharevich shot was easily blocked and then Mitchell blasted high and wide from a decent position. County were happy to let us have the ball as we stroked it about at the back before moving on to midfield before running out of ideas and going backwards again. It seems astonishing to say that even this early, Ross County were happy to time waste, something they did for the entire game with no warnings from referee Alan Muir inciting howls of derision from the home support. Muir was the focal point again soon after when a fierce drive from Cadden felled an opponent before the ball arrived at the feet of Henderson. Muir stopped the game, checked the County player was ok and then gave County possession of the ball.
Around twenty minutes, Jordan Tillson committed his umpteenth foul of the match in bringing down Joe Newell and this time, Muir booked the County man. In taking the resultant free kick, Porteous hammered the ball straight into the wall and felled another player with Muir once again giving possession to County after he’d stopped the game with Hibs in possession. On the half hour mark, Kuharevich was rightly booked for a foul on Harmon and seconds later, Danda fouled Mitchell but escaped punishment. Two quick fire fouls by Edwards on Bushiri went unpunished just before Mitchell was hooked and replaced by Stevenson. County were getting a bit bolder now and White saw a decent effort blocked brilliantly by Hanlon at the expense of a corner which, when delivered, allowed White a second go at scoring but his header drifted wide.
At the other end, both Melkersen and Bushiri tried their luck but both efforts were blocked. County then put the Hibs defence under pressure, just as the fourth official held up the board to signify one minute of time added on and the visitors used that time to maximum advantage. Newell conceded a corner which was met by Kuharevich who knocked the ball behind for a second corner. When that corner came in there were two County players in the near post area and only Kuharevich trying to mark them. He failed and Harmon angled a low shot past Marshall to earn County a half time lead. Right on the whistle, Kuharevich was lucky to escape a second yellow when he went into a challenge leading with his forearm. In all likelihood, that was why he was replaced at half time by Youan as the big Ukrainian was one more foul away from being sent off. Nohan Kenneh also failed to reappear and was replaced by Josh Campbell.
Hibs started quickly without threatening the County goal as Ross Laidlaw set about enjoying an easy night between the sticks. From a corner, Bushiri swivelled in the six yard box but was off balance as he prodded the ball straight into Laidlaw’s arms. Soon after, Campbell cushioned a header into the path of Henderson whose shot at goal almost sent the ball into the top tier of the FF Stand. County were still time wasting when the opportunity arose, but they were also offering the odd attack and from one of those, Danda narrowly missed the target. Another ballooned effort from Henderson saw him replaced by Tavares.
Jordan White, who had pretty much fouled his way through the game escaped punishment again when he fouled Lewis Stevenson and then a tame effort from Porteous sailed harmlessly into Laidlaw’s grateful arms. Porteous soon had another go, from a Stevenson cross, but his header was weak. I doubt the howls from the stands, regarding blatant timewasting, had anything to do with it when Alan Muir finally brandished a yellow card at Harmon for delaying a throw in.
Around ten minutes from the end, Hanlon was caught in possession out by the corner flag and then Porteous failed to track the run of Harmon who took the ball to the byeline before cutting it back to Alex Iacovetti who had the easiest of jobs in firing a left footed shot past Marshall. At that point, many Hibs fans decided to head for home and in truth, who could blame them? Two weak headed efforts from Porteous and Melkersen almost woke Laidlaw up and the keeper would have been happy to see appalling attempts at crosses from Cadden and Porteous as the ball sailed over everyone and out for throws on the far side. Late efforts from various Hibs players contributed to Laidlaw’s easy night whilst Marshall had to be on his toes to save a shot from County’s Akio.
It was no surprise that the boo’s rang out at the final whistle with both the player’s and the manager the victims of collective ire. We play Killie on Saturday. Derek McKinnes must be licking his lips in anticipation.
The players – No man of the match for me.
Marshall – Beaten twice when it mattered but was rarely troubled otherwise.
Porto – Huffed and puffed but offered nothing.
Bushiri – Had a decent first half but struggled against White in the second.
Hanlon – See Porteous.
Cadden – If you got points for crap crosses, we’d have won the game through his contributions alone.
Henderson – Rightly hooked and it should have been sooner.
Kenneh – Only got the first half.
Newell – No doubt we’ll hear he had the most successful pass rate etc, but the truth is that, apart from one cracker, they achieved nothing.
Mitchell – Should never have started and didn’t beat his man once.
Kuharevich – Kept getting dragged wide and so any ball into the box meant he was absent. Really needs to calm down in terms of leading with the forearm.
Melkersen – He’s got plenty of stamina and … erm …..
Stevenson – Offered one super low cross from that beautiful Newell pass and generally kept danger man Edwards quiet.
Campbell – See Porteous and Hanlon.
Youan – Ran about a lot and lost possession a lot.
Tavares – Lost possession a lot.
Lee Johnson – I’m fed up hearing him say he’s disappointed and that we are not good enough in critical areas, but we’ll work hard to correct that. Presumably you’ve worked hard to correct that over the last six games, five of which ended in defeat.
Referee – Alan Muir is a joke – end of.
I accept that it’s only November and there are plenty of games and a transfer window to go but even in my most optimistic glass half full guise, I fear the worst, I really do. Until now, I’ve been inclined to try and focus on the positives, even in defeat, but that performance tonight has knocked the heart out of me. The capitulation at Aberdeen was a hard pill to swallow but tonight was 100 times harder to stomach. Someone said to me earlier that it’s like watching Hibs under Terry Butcher and we all know how that panned out.
Negative attention will be directed towards Lee Johnson and that is hardly surprising. Five defeats in the last six determines it so. As an example of why I’m so disgruntled tonight I offer the view that when making substitutions the aim should be to try and improve the performance and yet tonight, he replaced poor performers with even poorer ones. I accept it’s all he has player wise, and I also accept that Kuharevich was likely replaced because he was one bad challenge away from a second yellow, but he works with these guys every day and must surely see that they are not up to whatever it is he is asking them to do. Youan and Tavares were awful, and Josh Campbell wasn’t much better. Ironically, given the criticism he gets from some quarters, Stevenson provided the best chance of the night with his low angled cross towards the near post.
My rant now over, I’ll turn to the game itself though I’m hardly in the mood to do so. Selection wise. There was no Magennis, and I’m told there’s a chance it’s because he was injured. Again? Really? Mitchell made a rare appearance and didn’t last more than forty minutes. He didn’t look injured, so I have to assume he was hooked because he looked knackered and dead on his feet. Should he have started? On the evidence at hand the answer is surely no. Johnson had two other players on the bench who were up to speed and could have taken that starting berth but, no, we went with a player that’s hardly kicked a ball for months and pitched him against a speedy winger who has been a recent goal scorer for Ross County.
I understand Lee Johnson felt we started the game well and to an extent he is right, but that bright start didn’t last long. A Kuharevich shot was easily blocked and then Mitchell blasted high and wide from a decent position. County were happy to let us have the ball as we stroked it about at the back before moving on to midfield before running out of ideas and going backwards again. It seems astonishing to say that even this early, Ross County were happy to time waste, something they did for the entire game with no warnings from referee Alan Muir inciting howls of derision from the home support. Muir was the focal point again soon after when a fierce drive from Cadden felled an opponent before the ball arrived at the feet of Henderson. Muir stopped the game, checked the County player was ok and then gave County possession of the ball.
Around twenty minutes, Jordan Tillson committed his umpteenth foul of the match in bringing down Joe Newell and this time, Muir booked the County man. In taking the resultant free kick, Porteous hammered the ball straight into the wall and felled another player with Muir once again giving possession to County after he’d stopped the game with Hibs in possession. On the half hour mark, Kuharevich was rightly booked for a foul on Harmon and seconds later, Danda fouled Mitchell but escaped punishment. Two quick fire fouls by Edwards on Bushiri went unpunished just before Mitchell was hooked and replaced by Stevenson. County were getting a bit bolder now and White saw a decent effort blocked brilliantly by Hanlon at the expense of a corner which, when delivered, allowed White a second go at scoring but his header drifted wide.
At the other end, both Melkersen and Bushiri tried their luck but both efforts were blocked. County then put the Hibs defence under pressure, just as the fourth official held up the board to signify one minute of time added on and the visitors used that time to maximum advantage. Newell conceded a corner which was met by Kuharevich who knocked the ball behind for a second corner. When that corner came in there were two County players in the near post area and only Kuharevich trying to mark them. He failed and Harmon angled a low shot past Marshall to earn County a half time lead. Right on the whistle, Kuharevich was lucky to escape a second yellow when he went into a challenge leading with his forearm. In all likelihood, that was why he was replaced at half time by Youan as the big Ukrainian was one more foul away from being sent off. Nohan Kenneh also failed to reappear and was replaced by Josh Campbell.
Hibs started quickly without threatening the County goal as Ross Laidlaw set about enjoying an easy night between the sticks. From a corner, Bushiri swivelled in the six yard box but was off balance as he prodded the ball straight into Laidlaw’s arms. Soon after, Campbell cushioned a header into the path of Henderson whose shot at goal almost sent the ball into the top tier of the FF Stand. County were still time wasting when the opportunity arose, but they were also offering the odd attack and from one of those, Danda narrowly missed the target. Another ballooned effort from Henderson saw him replaced by Tavares.
Jordan White, who had pretty much fouled his way through the game escaped punishment again when he fouled Lewis Stevenson and then a tame effort from Porteous sailed harmlessly into Laidlaw’s grateful arms. Porteous soon had another go, from a Stevenson cross, but his header was weak. I doubt the howls from the stands, regarding blatant timewasting, had anything to do with it when Alan Muir finally brandished a yellow card at Harmon for delaying a throw in.
Around ten minutes from the end, Hanlon was caught in possession out by the corner flag and then Porteous failed to track the run of Harmon who took the ball to the byeline before cutting it back to Alex Iacovetti who had the easiest of jobs in firing a left footed shot past Marshall. At that point, many Hibs fans decided to head for home and in truth, who could blame them? Two weak headed efforts from Porteous and Melkersen almost woke Laidlaw up and the keeper would have been happy to see appalling attempts at crosses from Cadden and Porteous as the ball sailed over everyone and out for throws on the far side. Late efforts from various Hibs players contributed to Laidlaw’s easy night whilst Marshall had to be on his toes to save a shot from County’s Akio.
It was no surprise that the boo’s rang out at the final whistle with both the player’s and the manager the victims of collective ire. We play Killie on Saturday. Derek McKinnes must be licking his lips in anticipation.
The players – No man of the match for me.
Marshall – Beaten twice when it mattered but was rarely troubled otherwise.
Porto – Huffed and puffed but offered nothing.
Bushiri – Had a decent first half but struggled against White in the second.
Hanlon – See Porteous.
Cadden – If you got points for crap crosses, we’d have won the game through his contributions alone.
Henderson – Rightly hooked and it should have been sooner.
Kenneh – Only got the first half.
Newell – No doubt we’ll hear he had the most successful pass rate etc, but the truth is that, apart from one cracker, they achieved nothing.
Mitchell – Should never have started and didn’t beat his man once.
Kuharevich – Kept getting dragged wide and so any ball into the box meant he was absent. Really needs to calm down in terms of leading with the forearm.
Melkersen – He’s got plenty of stamina and … erm …..
Stevenson – Offered one super low cross from that beautiful Newell pass and generally kept danger man Edwards quiet.
Campbell – See Porteous and Hanlon.
Youan – Ran about a lot and lost possession a lot.
Tavares – Lost possession a lot.
Lee Johnson – I’m fed up hearing him say he’s disappointed and that we are not good enough in critical areas, but we’ll work hard to correct that. Presumably you’ve worked hard to correct that over the last six games, five of which ended in defeat.
Referee – Alan Muir is a joke – end of.