This is how it feels (The Rangers 08 03 23)

[Jonnyboy]

It was down to earth with a very big bang tonight as following a stirring rendition of Sunshine on Leith and a fortuitous opening goal, Hibs were comprehensively outplayed by a stronger, fitter and altogether superior Rangers. The final score of 4-1 could have been much more embarrassing but for some wayward finishing by the visitors, a solitary excellent save from David Marshall and some last ditch tackles predominantly by Fish and Egan-Riley.

Ironically, the first chance of the game fell to Mathew Hoppe who was set up by Jeggo only to shoot his effort wide of the target. A Barasic cross then offered Davies a chance, but his header sailed wide. After eight minutes, a deep cross from Henderson found Hoppe at the back post and the striker fired a low ball into the six yard box where Goldson turned the ball past McGregor to put Hibs 1-0 ahead.

That stung the visitors who were finding tons of space out wide as both Cadden and Stevenson, presumably under instruction to do so by the manager, were pushing high and leaving huge gaps behind them which Rangers exploited to the maximum. The Hibs lead lasted just four minutes and Rangers levelled from the spot when Kent broke into the box and tried to double back when Egan-Riley whipped his standing leg from under him. I thought it was a penalty but Don Robertson had other ideas and waived play on but the VAR official looked at it, sent Robertson to the monitor and the Ref duly pointed to the spot, Tavernier smashing the ball past Marshall to make it 1-1.

From that point forward it was all Rangers as Hibs persisted with the high positioned full back’s whilst Kent and Sakala made use of the space to exploit a weakened defensive line. Kent should have scored but shot wide, then moments later it was Kent again but his shot was straight at David Marshall. Sakala and Kent again were thwarted by positive blocks from Will Fish and still there looked to be no suggestion from the home dugout that our full backs needed to defend rather than wandering up the park and leaving huge gaps behind them.

On the half hour, a cross from the right found Barasic unmarked some eight yards out but his volleyed shot was well saved by Marshall who tipped the ball over the bar for a corner. It seemed only a matter of time before the visitors would strike again and a poor ball from Cadden was shut down in the midfield area by Jack. The ball was quickly shuttled out to the left where Sakala delivered a low cross towards the front post where Colak wandered in front of Hanlon before diverting the ball past Marshall.

A rare break forward by Hibs brought a foul on Hoppe by Cantwell and the kick was taken quickly finding Youan inside the Rangers box with only McGregor between him and the goal. Unfortunately, the ball bounced a little high and in trying to lob the keeper Youan only found the raised arms of the Rangers keeper. I was praying for half time by now as Rangers continued to play around us in midfield and find plentiful space in the forward areas. Colak, Barasic and Sakala all either thwarted chances or we stopped by last ditch blocks or tackles.

Watching the subs warming up at half time it was clear that Lee Johnson wasn’t planning to change personnel which only left the formation to be tweaked to try and earn a foothold in the game. For the first few minutes, Hibs enjoyed some possession but it didn’t last long as a dreadful kick out by Marshall was headed back towards the Hibs goal by Kent. Sakala latched on and in the blink of an eye he’d smashed a low shot past Marshall to put Rangers 3-1 ahead. Five minutes later it was 4-1 as Hibs made a mess of trying to clear their lines and Colak took advantage, poking the ball in from eight yards.

Half an hour to go and we were looking at the real possibility of being totally humiliated. Rangers continued to dominate proceedings and I have to say I lost count of the number of times Hibs players lost out in fifty/fifty challenges. At times we were powderpuff in such challenges, and it was embarrassing to watch. On the hour mark, the impressive Raskin took a sore one from Lewis Stevenson who was booked for the challenge. Rangers continued to play with us as we chased shadows all over the park until twenty minutes from the end, Lee Johnson decided to replace Stevenson with Cabraja. Astonishingly, Cabraja seemed to have been given the same instructions as the man he replaced as he was playing much too far upfield and leaving the same gaps. I mean Tavernier was nearer our goal than Cabraja!

Kent, in a free role had been tormenting defenders all night and it’s surprising it took so long for someone to be booked for a challenge on him, Hanlon the culprit. Rangers then made five changes in the one go with Wright, Hagi, Armstrong, Morales and Lindstrom replacing Sakala, Kent, Raskin, Cantwell and Colak. There was no discernible change to the pattern of play as Hibs remained camped around their eighteen yard box. The next substitution saw Johnson replacing Henderson with McKirdy and that didn’t change anything either. Late efforts by Tavernier and Morelos failed to trouble Marshall and there was a huge sigh of relief when the referee blew for full time.

This was a shocking display and whilst I’m sure the players will be the subject of much discussion, I feel Lee Johnson’s part in this debacle should also go under the spotlight. It was evident from the equaliser onwards that his tactics had failed and yet he did nothing to try and react to the pummelling Hibs were getting, given that the gaps left behind our full backs was criminal and cost us dear.

The players

I’m not going to detail any of them as with a couple of exceptions, every one of them was weak and ineffectual. The two exceptions are Fish, who probably singlehandedly prevented Rangers from scoring two more goals and Josh Campbell who ran himself into the ground from start to finish when others around them had thrown in the towel.

Lee Johnson – He reckons we lacked composure I reckon they lacked being set up to avoid shipping goals left right and centre.

Referee – Don Robertson had a mare in my opinion.

[Billy Whizz]

Good for you JB on this extensive write up, I could have summed up my report in a few words
Did LJ go for damage limitation after the 4th goal
Looked like he moved CJ into a defensive back 5

No one gets pass marks from me tonight, out classed all over the park

[Cat Stanton]

It was down to earth with a very big bang tonight as following a stirring rendition of Sunshine on Leith and a fortuitous opening goal, Hibs were comprehensively outplayed by a stronger, fitter and altogether superior Rangers. The final score of 4-1 could have been much more embarrassing but for some wayward finishing by the visitors, a solitary excellent save from David Marshall and some last ditch tackles predominantly by Fish and Egan-Riley.

Ironically, the first chance of the game fell to Mathew Hoppe who was set up by Jeggo only to shoot his effort wide of the target. A Barasic cross then offered Davies a chance, but his header sailed wide. After eight minutes, a deep cross from Henderson found Hoppe at the back post and the striker fired a low ball into the six yard box where Goldson turned the ball past McGregor to put Hibs 1-0 ahead.

That stung the visitors who were finding tons of space out wide as both Cadden and Stevenson, presumably under instruction to do so by the manager, were pushing high and leaving huge gaps behind them which Rangers exploited to the maximum. The Hibs lead lasted just four minutes and Rangers levelled from the spot when Kent broke into the box and tried to double back when Egan-Riley whipped his standing leg from under him. I thought it was a penalty but Don Robertson had other ideas and waived play on but the VAR official looked at it, sent Robertson to the monitor and the Ref duly pointed to the spot, Tavernier smashing the ball past Marshall to make it 1-1.

From that point forward it was all Rangers as Hibs persisted with the high positioned full back’s whilst Kent and Sakala made use of the space to exploit a weakened defensive line. Kent should have scored but shot wide, then moments later it was Kent again but his shot was straight at David Marshall. Sakala and Kent again were thwarted by positive blocks from Will Fish and still there looked to be no suggestion from the home dugout that our full backs needed to defend rather than wandering up the park and leaving huge gaps behind them.

On the half hour, a cross from the right found Barasic unmarked some eight yards out but his volleyed shot was well saved by Marshall who tipped the ball over the bar for a corner. It seemed only a matter of time before the visitors would strike again and a poor ball from Cadden was shut down in the midfield area by Jack. The ball was quickly shuttled out to the left where Sakala delivered a low cross towards the front post where Colak wandered in front of Hanlon before diverting the ball past Marshall.

A rare break forward by Hibs brought a foul on Hoppe by Cantwell and the kick was taken quickly finding Youan inside the Rangers box with only McGregor between him and the goal. Unfortunately, the ball bounced a little high and in trying to lob the keeper Youan only found the raised arms of the Rangers keeper. I was praying for half time by now as Rangers continued to play around us in midfield and find plentiful space in the forward areas. Colak, Barasic and Sakala all either thwarted chances or we stopped by last ditch blocks or tackles.

Watching the subs warming up at half time it was clear that Lee Johnson wasn’t planning to change personnel which only left the formation to be tweaked to try and earn a foothold in the game. For the first few minutes, Hibs enjoyed some possession but it didn’t last long as a dreadful kick out by Marshall was headed back towards the Hibs goal by Kent. Sakala latched on and in the blink of an eye he’d smashed a low shot past Marshall to put Rangers 3-1 ahead. Five minutes later it was 4-1 as Hibs made a mess of trying to clear their lines and Colak took advantage, poking the ball in from eight yards.

Half an hour to go and we were looking at the real possibility of being totally humiliated. Rangers continued to dominate proceedings and I have to say I lost count of the number of times Hibs players lost out in fifty/fifty challenges. At times we were powderpuff in such challenges, and it was embarrassing to watch. On the hour mark, the impressive Raskin took a sore one from Lewis Stevenson who was booked for the challenge. Rangers continued to play with us as we chased shadows all over the park until twenty minutes from the end, Lee Johnson decided to replace Stevenson with Cabraja. Astonishingly, Cabraja seemed to have been given the same instructions as the man he replaced as he was playing much too far upfield and leaving the same gaps. I mean Tavernier was nearer our goal than Cabraja!

Kent, in a free role had been tormenting defenders all night and it’s surprising it took so long for someone to be booked for a challenge on him, Hanlon the culprit. Rangers then made five changes in the one go with Wright, Hagi, Armstrong, Morales and Lindstrom replacing Sakala, Kent, Raskin, Cantwell and Colak. There was no discernible change to the pattern of play as Hibs remained camped around their eighteen yard box. The next substitution saw Johnson replacing Henderson with McKirdy and that didn’t change anything either. Late efforts by Tavernier and Morelos failed to trouble Marshall and there was a huge sigh of relief when the referee blew for full time.

This was a shocking display and whilst I’m sure the players will be the subject of much discussion, I feel Lee Johnson’s part in this debacle should also go under the spotlight. It was evident from the equaliser onwards that his tactics had failed and yet he did nothing to try and react to the pummelling Hibs were getting, given that the gaps left behind our full backs was criminal and cost us dear.

The players

I’m not going to detail any of them as with a couple of exceptions, every one of them was weak and ineffectual. The two exceptions are Fish, who probably singlehandedly prevented Rangers from scoring two more goals and Josh Campbell who ran himself into the ground from start to finish when others around them had thrown in the towel.

Lee Johnson – He reckons we lacked composure I reckon they lacked being set up to avoid shipping goals left right and centre.

Referee – Don Robertson had a mare in my opinion.

The usual genuine thanks. And you're spot on about the manager!

[Brightside]

The CBs both has good games. The rest not so good.

[He's here!]

Didn't think we were as poor as being made out. Set up to have go but just outclassed. No lack of effort.

[NAE NOOKIE]

One of the most utterly abject clueless and gutless 'performances' as I've witnessed in all my time following Hibs .... it could have been 10 never mind the 4 they did get.

I don't want to hear about budget gaps or player quality, there is simply no excuse for what I had to watch tonight, we were second best all over the park from the minute they scored for us. Our lack of quality on and off the ball was an insult to the word amateurish, with a lack of composure on the ball that would have embarrassed a kids team.

These are supposed to be 'professional' football players .. there was absolutely nothing professional about that mess, you could literally spend the next 5 hours picking it apart and still not run out of materiel ... So comprehensively were they outplayed in every area I can only say it was as bad an effort at competing with the opposition as I've possibly ever seen from a Hibs team at Easter Road .... abject, absolutely abject !!!

I only have one question for the manager ........... What the actual **** was that supposed to be ???

[Fuzzywuzzy]

The space down the right they were given during the first half was mental. Cadden seemed to have no awareness of what or who was near him.

[Iain G]

The space down the right they were given during the first half was mental. Cadden seemed to have no awareness of what or who was near him.

Even watching the game on the wireless it was clear shifting Egan Riley into a back 3/5 would have helped combat that in the first half and help solidify our defence.

[JimBHibees]

The CBs both has good games. The rest not so good.

Thought Fish was ok Hanlon not great for me too easily caught out. How Colak scores second was very poor imo. Only player in the box. So many of their crosses found unmarked players.

[Blaster]

The space down the right they were given during the first half was mental. Cadden seemed to have no awareness of what or who was near him.

It was constantly 2v1 against Cadden. Neither Henderson nor Youan tracked barisic.

[ehf]

One of the most utterly abject clueless and gutless 'performances' as I've witnessed in all my time following Hibs .... it could have been 10 never mind the 4 they did get.

I don't want to hear about budget gaps or player quality, there is simply no excuse for what I had to watch tonight, we were second best all over the park from the minute they scored for us. Our lack of quality on and off the ball was an insult to the word amateurish, with a lack of composure on the ball that would have embarrassed a kids team.

These are supposed to be 'professional' football players .. there was absolutely nothing professional about that mess, you could literally spend the next 5 hours picking it apart and still not run out of materiel ... So comprehensively were they outplayed in every area I can only say it was as bad an effort at competing with the opposition as I've possibly ever seen from a Hibs team at Easter Road .... abject, absolutely abject !!!

I only have one question for the manager ........... What the actual **** was that supposed to be ???

:agree:

The players: simply couldn’t do the basics and continually gave the ball away.

The manager: clueless and tactically inept.

[hibsbollah]

:agree:

The players: simply couldn’t do the basics and continually gave the ball away.

The manager: clueless and tactically inept.

What, he’s generally clueless and inept, or just prior to the current unbeaten run we’ve been on, during which time he’s got almost everything right?

[ehf]

What, he’s generally clueless and inept, or just prior to the current unbeaten run we’ve been on, during which time he’s got almost everything right?

Last night, mainly.

[Blaster]

We were miles off it. 3 goals our own fault. Cadden lost it with a loose pass for the first but I found the 2nd most annoying. We’re getting battered and looking to get to half time level but hurrying to take a quick throw and lose the ball. Slow the game down FFS

Marshall’s poor clearance for the 3rd

Cadden and Stevenson getting no support from Henderson and Youan so 2 v 1 all the time

How can a manager watch that first half and not make any changes

For me I’d have taken hoppe and Henderson off. Put Cabraja left back, Stevenson left midfield. Egan-Riley RB and Cadden right midfield with Youan playing off Nisbet/Myko

Lack of fit midfielders is concerning

[superfurryhibby]

It was a shocking performance last night. I didn’t understand why Johnson failed to respond to what was happening and change the tactics or personnel.

As a few have said, that could easily have been a much greater margin of defeat, they tore us apart down the flanks.

Hate to say it, but the Huns looked like a good football team, a class above us in every part of the field, we were totally outplayed.

[number9dream]

It was just so passive. That’s what I find inexcusable… Most of that is on the players.
The manager took the easy option with his team selection rather than trying to implement an appropriate game plan. If you’re up against a superior opponent you need to adapt. Our rather limited full-backs pushed on with no semblance of protection was crazy.

[GreenGray]

I still think individual errors killed us. We started the game well 1-0 then Cadden gives the ball away in midfield and they go and win a penalty straight away.

Next two goals came from individual errors too.

Henderson and Youan both failed to track back all night, lazy in all honesty.

I thought Campbell struggled but because he gets so involved he’s one that stands out when he has a bad game or a good one.


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[The Harp Awakes]

As ever a good summary JB. Don't agree about Campbell though. He's been much improved this season but thought he was very poor last night. Fish was the only one who got pass marks for me.

The right hand side of our team is a massive weakness for us. I am totally perplexed how Barisic could be left unmarked virtually the entire 90 minutes. If it is a case of the players not doing their job, then why can the Manager not sort this out during the 90 minutes?

[Hibees1973]

We got a hiding, no doubt.

Just relieved it was not 7 or 8 which would have been a more accurate reflection of the game.

Think it was Diconius on another thread who has said it is 23 games since we have beaten Rangers/Celtic/Hearts at home. That's an embarrassing stat.

We are worlds away from the OF. Our squad has huge deficiencies, but it seems we can't even muster the organisation, enthusiasm, fight or desire to beat Rangers/Celtic/Hearts at home. It has now become a psychological issue when these teams come to ER and from what we have in the squad I can't see us winning against this lot in the near future at home.

Roll on the games against the other 8 inferior teams in the league. We will only beat these teams unless there is a drastic upgrade in the playing squad.

[Onceinawhile]

Was absolutely awful.

Not sure what cantwell needed to do to get a booking though.

Had 5 or 6 fouls, at least 2 of which were yellows.

[DaveF]

It should have been a lot worse than 4. An abject, gutless performance and we more or less waved the white flag from the off.

I don't think I'll bother going to the Celtic game post split (assuming we make top 6) if it means sitting through another Johnson tactical debacle like that.

A waste of a night and everyone at the club should be embarrassed by it.

[GreenGray]

It should have been a lot worse than 4. An abject, gutless performance and we more or less waved the white flag from the off.

I don't think I'll bother going to the Celtic game post split (assuming we make top 6) if it means sitting through another Johnson tactical debacle like that.

A waste of a night and everyone at the club should be embarrassed by it.

To be honest I think it just highlights the ever-growing gulf in class between the ugly sisters and the rest of us. It is not going to get smaller any time soon, scottish football is ****ed in all honesty. No change will happen without the old firm accepting it must and we know neither of them will.

I just hope it doesn't derail our season and we can at least make a challenge for third.

[Jones28]

A poor result and dreadful performance. I’m not even sure changes being made would have made a difference. Rangers ripped us apart. Their passing and movement was so far ahead it was frightening.

If we’d gone to a 5-3-2 who would make up the midfield three? Campbell/Jeggo/Henderson? No thanks. Kukharevich and Nisbet came on and achieved nothing.

The squad lacks depth and you can get away with that against the smaller teams but not against the old firm. They brought on 5 subs, all of whom would walk in to our team.

[ancient hibee]

A poor result and dreadful performance. I’m not even sure changes being made would have made a difference. Rangers ripped us apart. Their passing and movement was so far ahead it was frightening.

If we’d gone to a 5-3-2 who would make up the midfield three? Campbell/Jeggo/Henderson? No thanks. Kukharevich and Nisbet came on and achieved nothing.

The squad lacks depth and you can get away with that against the smaller teams but not against the old firm. They brought on 5 subs, all of whom would walk in to our team.

Nisbet should have started. If for some reason he can't play a full game obviously it should be from the start.Pointless to bring on your best forward when the game is lost. Hoppe is too weak to play with his back to goal. Every time the ball was played to him he lost it. Nisbet would have given us some control.

[Iain G]

A poor result and dreadful performance. I’m not even sure changes being made would have made a difference. Rangers ripped us apart. Their passing and movement was so far ahead it was frightening.

If we’d gone to a 5-3-2 who would make up the midfield three? Campbell/Jeggo/Henderson? No thanks. Kukharevich and Nisbet came on and achieved nothing.

The squad lacks depth and you can get away with that against the smaller teams but not against the old firm. They brought on 5 subs, all of whom would walk in to our team.

We were getting overloaded, especially at RB, and we have two players on the pitch who can cover that area. We could have gone to 5 at the back with Campbell and Jeggo sitting in front until we got a foothold back in the game, with Hendo just ahead of them.

LJ didn't change things midway through the first half when he could have taken a pragmatic approach to stemming their flow and giving us a platform to build from, and to give them something to have to adjust to. Get through to half time at 1-1 then make changes to go and stretch the game again.

[Hibernian Verse]

Nisbet should have started. If for some reason he can't play a full game obviously it should be from the start.Pointless to bring on your best forward when the game is lost. Hoppe is too weak to play with his back to goal. Every time the ball was played to him he lost it. Nisbet would have given us some control.

Can't say I've ever seen a player's return from injury managed by giving him a start and hooking him after 30 mins.

[scoopyboy]

Josh Campbell will always run himself into the ground but for me last night he was just as poor as the rest.

Rangers were too good for us.

The biggest disappointment for me was we gave them their four goals on a plate.

[Carheenlea]

I still think individual errors killed us. We started the game well 1-0 then Cadden gives the ball away in midfield and they go and win a penalty straight away.

Next two goals came from individual errors too.

Henderson and Youan both failed to track back all night, lazy in all honesty.

I thought Campbell struggled but because he gets so involved he’s one that stands out when he has a bad game or a good one.


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Individual errors are part of every game, but last night it felt we got punished more often than not for those mistakes.

Not using bad luck as an excuse, but when errors are being punished like they were last night it must drain the confidence out of a side.
We went from a buoyant, quick, robust and cohesive team in recent weeks to a side that went into its shell last night. We’re a lot better than that.

[NAE NOOKIE]

We were getting overloaded, especially at RB, and we have two players on the pitch who can cover that area. We could have gone to 5 at the back with Campbell and Jeggo sitting in front until we got a foothold back in the game, with Hendo just ahead of them.

LJ didn't change things midway through the first half when he could have taken a pragmatic approach to stemming their flow and giving us a platform to build from, and to give them something to have to adjust to. Get through to half time at 1-1 then make changes to go and stretch the game again.

Indeed mate. They had acres of space on both flanks for practically the whole game ... it was literally a case of just stand there coz no Hibs player is going to come within 10 yards of you, at times that was 20 yards. If it was a tactic of Johnson's to simply give up defending the wings it failed spectacularly, but what was worse was his absolute failure to address the situation when it should have been clear to him it wasn't working.

The other thing was our spectacular failure to play out from the back, especially in the 2nd half ..... for almost the whole of it we could barely get out of our own half, never mind threaten the final third .... With half an hour to go he brought on Kukharevych who at least has the height and phyisicality to compete in the air and Nisbet who isn't bad at taking a long ball in and laying it off, but we didn't go long so the two of them spent half an hour watching the play rage in our final third and defending corners.

[Jones28]

We were getting overloaded, especially at RB, and we have two players on the pitch who can cover that area. We could have gone to 5 at the back with Campbell and Jeggo sitting in front until we got a foothold back in the game, with Hendo just ahead of them.

LJ didn't change things midway through the first half when he could have taken a pragmatic approach to stemming their flow and giving us a platform to build from, and to give them something to have to adjust to. Get through to half time at 1-1 then make changes to go and stretch the game again.

We were overloaded at right back because players weren't tracking runners properly. Youan was poor and Henderson shockingly so in that regard. Cadden for me had been told to play as high a line as he could, I saw Campbell waving him back down the pitch when we were in possession last night just so he'd be in position to receive the ball. 5 at the back might have mitigated that to an extent but it still would have meant a 2v1 in the wide areas most of the time. A bit like when Hearts beat us 3-1 at ER just before COVID, they constantly overloaded us in wide areas when we played wing backs vs their full back/midfielders.

[ancient hibee]

Can't say I've ever seen a player's return from injury managed by giving him a start and hooking him after 30 mins.

He’s already had one outing to get him going.What makes you think he would only last 30 minutes?Surely if he’s fit to play a section of a game he should be on when it’s most important not when it’s finished?

[The Harp Awakes]

Indeed mate. They had acres of space on both flanks for practically the whole game ... it was literally a case of just stand there coz no Hibs player is going to come within 10 yards of you, at times that was 20 yards. If it was a tactic of Johnson's to simply give up defending the wings it failed spectacularly, but what was worse was his absolute failure to address the situation when it should have been clear to him it wasn't working.

The other thing was our spectacular failure to play out from the back, especially in the 2nd half ..... for almost the whole of it we could barely get out of our own half, never mind threaten the final third .... With half an hour to go he brought on Kukharevych who at least has the height and phyisicality to compete in the air and Nisbet who isn't bad at taking a long ball in and laying it off, but we didn't go long so the two of them spent half an hour watching the play rage in our final third and defending corners.

It also failed spectacularly v Celtic at home in December when they also destroyed us down the left wing.

Is Johnson deliberately asking Cadden to stay in the centre of the pitch marking no-one when Barisic and Sakala last night (and Maeda in the Celtic game) were marauding down the left wing in acres of space? If so why? If not, why does he not fix this and tell Cadden to get tight on the wing?

Rangers and Celtic are streets ahead of us in terms of quality, but we're not giving ourselves any chance against them with a bewildering team set up tactics.

[3pm]

Josh Campbell will always run himself into the ground but for me last night he was just as poor as the rest.

Rangers were too good for us.

The biggest disappointment for me was we gave them their four goals on a plate.

Not fit IMO, he has a bandage or something on.

[scoopyboy]

Not fit IMO, he has a bandage or something on.

I noticed that at Livingston on Saturday.

[Brightside]

I noticed that at Livingston on Saturday.

He was limping after the game too.

[Dunbar Hibee]

He was limping after the game too.

Probably after that long haired rat Cantwell went through him

[JimBHibees]

Probably after that long haired rat Cantwell went through him

Was that the one in the first half wasn't sure whether it was Raskin? Whoever it was scandalously ignored by the weegie ref who suddenly discovered his yellow card when a Hibs player committed one.

[Liberal Hibby]

Have we now had our good run and can expect the eight game bad run now?

I switched it off after Sevco's second fearing the worst.

[wookie70]

Hard to play against a better team when you only have 8 players outfield that defend. Hoppe was dropping so deep to try and help it guaranteed the next hump up the park would come right back. Manager has to take some responsibility but so many player performed well below Par. I haven't seen any TV highlights but Fish played well, Hanlon scraped pass marks and the rest were a good bit below par. Henderson was beyond poor and Youan not much better and both of their defensive displays caused much of teh space The Thes had our wide. They are so lazy off the ball

[Dunbar Hibee]

Was that the one in the first half wasn't sure whether it was Raskin? Whoever it was scandalously ignored by the weegie ref who suddenly discovered his yellow card when a Hibs player committed one.

Yeah, was Cantwell. He got away with murder all night

[basehibby]

A poor display that Johnson must take the largest share of the blame for. As has been pointed out by many already, Rangers were given a free reign down our flanks and that appeared to be due to a deliberate ruse to have our full backs pushed up the park the whole time. I like to see positive play and this reflects how we've been set up throughout our recent good run of form, but it needs to be tempered with realism when you're playing against (lets face it) superior opposition like the OF, against whom gifting so much space on the flanks is suicidal.

That's how it proved Wed night and I was bemused and bewildered to see Johnson doing nothing at all to plug that gap until it was far too late (ie going 3 at the back at 4-1 down). I've stuck up for him plenty but he deserves criticism in this case for what looked like tactical naivety. He did well to turn the form around and push us up to 4th and I'll remain firmly behind him - needs to wise up for these OF games though and find a way to give us a chance of a result against them.