Perspective of sorts

[NAE NOOKIE]

For all yesterday was a missed opportunity and disappointing it shouldn't define our season. We had no Boyle, no CJ Egan-Riley and throughout the match we continually had to chop and change as players went off injured. Chuck in the fact that the game was played on the one pitch in Scotland you would absolutely choose if you had 10 men and needed to defend a result.

The fact we got to the stage of being a win away from overtaking the Gorgie Galacticos on the last day shouldn't be ignored and without looking it up I wouldn't be surprised to find that our haul of 8 points from out 5 post split games is the best we have managed since the split was introduced.

Don't get me wrong, there's a ton of stuff that can and needs to be done to improve what we have seen this season, but 8th to 5th is progress of sorts and if we can get the players we need, bin as many as we can of those we don't, and at least reduce the horrendous injury problems we have had this season we can do better in 23/24.

Lets hope :confused:

[MelbourneHibees]

100%.

[madhatter]

Problem is we need to improve simple to stay put.

Aberdeen and Hearts will improve and they, on the league placements, this season are better than us already.

Hibs need to look to improve to be better, not simple to stay put. 5th isn't good enough.

I do agree with the overall sentiment though.

[Stevie Reid]

Problem is we need to improve simple to stay put.

Aberdeen and Hearts will improve and they, on the league placements, this season are better than us already.

Hibs need to look to improve to be better, not simple to stay put. 5th isn't good enough.

I do agree with the overall sentiment though.

Aberdeen will need to manage the Thursday - Sunday European and SPL fixtures that Hearts struggled badly with this year. Hearts had that huge financial injection from Europe (some of which I’m sure they’re still to spend) but didn’t use it wisely.

No guarantees of anything but Hearts went backwards this year, there is no doubt of that. Aberdeen could easily suffer the same fate.

We definitely improved despite some huge amounts of bad luck this season. Excited to see how we move forward under LJ and BM.

[Stubbsy90+2]

Problem is we need to improve simple to stay put.

Aberdeen and Hearts will improve and they, on the league placements, this season are better than us already.

Hibs need to look to improve to be better, not simple to stay put. 5th isn't good enough.

I do agree with the overall sentiment though.

Will Hearts improve? They got the European money last year and still managed to regress.

We need improvement. I wouldn’t worry too much about anyone else though, I’d very surprised if there’s a run away 3rd place team next year.

[Walkerbaws]

We did get to a league cup final and a Scottish cup semi final last year though. We failed at the first hurdle of both this season. It’s been a season of inconsistency, until that gets sorted and the lack of quality addressed then we ain’t going anywhere fast.

[madhatter]

Will Hearts improve? They got the European money last year and still managed to regress.

We need improvement. I wouldn’t worry too much about anyone else though, I’d very surprised if there’s a run away 3rd place team next year.

No but that's my point. No matter how much we improve we are doubtful to be runaway 3rd next year which means regardless of budget the league is tight and all will look to improve in the summer.

It seems like we're always 2-3 bad signings away from being in a relegation fight.

Club do need to worry about other clubs, we need to get to a position where we beat most of the league with some regularity. Knowing what they are doing helps on that front.

If we are only signing 2-3 players in the summer then I don't think we will be contending for Europe. That's the number LJ mentioned in his interview.

[Stubbsy90+2]

No but that's my point. No matter how much we improve we are doubtful to be runaway 3rd next year which means regardless of budget the league is tight and all will look to improve in the summer.

It seems like we're always 2-3 bad signings away from being in a relegation fight.

Club do need to worry about other clubs, we need to get to a position where we beat most of the league with some regularity. Knowing what they are doing helps on that front.

If we are only signing 2-3 players in the summer then I don't think we will be contending for Europe. That's the number LJ mentioned in his interview.

Agree with your last paragraph. We need at least 5 or 6 starters and that would only have us around where we are now standard wise imo.

[B.H.F.C]

Up until Christmas was an absolute disaster, predominantly down to the mess of things we made last summer.

Things have improved since the turn of the year. After the last derby at Tynecastle I wanted Johnson gone. He’s done enough since to give me a bit of hope for next season.

I’m not happy with the season but it isn’t what we’ve done in the last few weeks that has killed us.

We need to be decisive in the window (hopefully getting Youan tied up is a positive sign we will) and get off to a quick start next season.

[MWHIBBIES]

Problem is we need to improve simple to stay put.

Aberdeen and Hearts will improve and they, on the league placements, this season are better than us already.

Hibs need to look to improve to be better, not simple to stay put. 5th isn't good enough.

I do agree with the overall sentiment though.

Will they? Hearts are worse than last season and have no manager. Why wont they continue to get worse?

[Ozyhibby]

Yesterday was the highlight of the season though. The fact we were in with an unexpected chance turned out to be as exciting as it got all season. The football has been dreadful to watch and the cups were nothing short of disastrous. I’m all for a positive spin but it’s thin gruel I’m afraid.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Stevie Reid]

No but that's my point. No matter how much we improve we are doubtful to be runaway 3rd next year which means regardless of budget the league is tight and all will look to improve in the summer.

It seems like we're always 2-3 bad signings away from being in a relegation fight.

Club do need to worry about other clubs, we need to get to a position where we beat most of the league with some regularity. Knowing what they are doing helps on that front.

If we are only signing 2-3 players in the summer then I don't think we will be contending for Europe. That's the number LJ mentioned in his interview.

LJ said 3-4 bits of quality in in the Hibs TV interviews. If Youan isn’t counted in that, and it didn’t sound like he was, I’d be happy enough with four players of real quality right through the team.

Who we can move on will be just as important IMO.

[Stevie Reid]

Yesterday was the highlight of the season though. The fact we were in with an unexpected chance turned out to be as exciting as it got all season. The football has been dreadful to watch and the cups were nothing short of disastrous. I’m all for a positive spin but it’s thin gruel I’m afraid.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Can’t agree that the football has been dreadful. It was at times, no doubt - but we’ve played some excellent stuff as well.

[Skol]

Yesterday was the highlight of the season though. The fact we were in with an unexpected chance turned out to be as exciting as it got all season. The football has been dreadful to watch and the cups were nothing short of disastrous. I’m all for a positive spin but it’s thin gruel I’m afraid.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I agree on the cups. However the quality of football on offer is much improved on that which we witnessed under maloney

Lots still to do and a key summer transfer window. We do however start next season in a better place than we started the one just gone.

[He's here!]

For all yesterday was a missed opportunity and disappointing it shouldn't define our season. We had no Boyle, no CJ Egan-Riley and throughout the match we continually had to chop and change as players went off injured. Chuck in the fact that the game was played on the one pitch in Scotland you would absolutely choose if you had 10 men and needed to defend a result.

The fact we got to the stage of being a win away from overtaking the Gorgie Galacticos on the last day shouldn't be ignored and without looking it up I wouldn't be surprised to find that our haul of 8 points from out 5 post split games is the best we have managed since the split was introduced.

Don't get me wrong, there's a ton of stuff that can and needs to be done to improve what we have seen this season, but 8th to 5th is progress of sorts and if we can get the players we need, bin as many as we can of those we don't, and at least reduce the horrendous injury problems we have had this season we can do better in 23/24.

Lets hope :confused:

For me McGeady's absence has been telling too. He'd become an influential presence and was making up to some extent for Boyle's absence before getting injured again himself. Magennis of course is another who had the potential to be a game changer but has simply never been able to sustain an injury-free run in the team.

[MWHIBBIES]

Yesterday was the highlight of the season though. The fact we were in with an unexpected chance turned out to be as exciting as it got all season. The football has been dreadful to watch and the cups were nothing short of disastrous. I’m all for a positive spin but it’s thin gruel I’m afraid.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is where you fall to bits. That's just rubbish. Played some great football this season.

[B.H.F.C]

Can’t agree that the football has been dreadful. It was at times, no doubt - but we’ve played some excellent stuff as well.

Agree. Since the turn of the year there has been more good than bad.

Scored 3 at Motherwell, 6 against Aberdeen, 4 at Livingston, 4 against Celtic.

There are other games we’ve not scored quite so freely but won and played pretty well in over that time. Decent head to head record against the other teams in the top six (out with the big 2). We’ve obviously missed a huge chance yesterday and we’ve had some poor performances (Motherwell and Dundee Utd jump out) but there has been a noticeable improvement second half of the season for me.

[HIBS NUTS]

It’s been a poor season overall.
But we have gradually improved, and had an excellent split.
It’s time to stay with the manager, some fans would sack the manager after every defeat, and bad display.
But disappear after after a good result, unfortunately this is society today.

[JohnM1875]

Looked like we had no chance of Europe around January time but barring one of the biggest Scottish cup upsets we'll have achieved that target.

Absolutely improved second half of the season as well. Genuinely gutted the seasons ended as we've hit some good form. Looking forward to next season and a busy summer transfer window.

[Stevie Reid]

It’s been a poor season overall.
But we have gradually improved, and had an excellent split.
It’s time to stay with the manager, some fans would sack the manager after every defeat, and bad display.
But disappear after after a good result, unfortunately this is society today.

It hasn’t felt like a particularly good season for much of it, but Europe is not exactly a regular occurrence for us, so if we do get that, that’s a huge boost and a decent return.

Think we’re 6th in the all time SPL table, so league finish is actually above average for us. Cups definitely a huge disappointment.

Finished the season on an upwards trajectory, which hopefully we can carry on into next season. Looked like a good football team in the last few months too.

[weecounty hibby]

Agree with the OP. At the risk of being accused if being a mediocrity accepting happy clapper I think we have had the ****ty end if the injury stick this season. Boyle, Nisbet, McGeady, Myk, MaGennis. All big players for us and all have had very long periods out this season. Add in injuries like CJ that cone along at the worst time then I think we can count ourselves pretty unlucky.

[neil7908]

Aberdeen will need to manage the Thursday - Sunday European and SPL fixtures that Hearts struggled badly with this year. Hearts had that huge financial injection from Europe (some of which I’m sure they’re still to spend) but didn’t use it wisely.

No guarantees of anything but Hearts went backwards this year, there is no doubt of that. Aberdeen could easily suffer the same fate.

We definitely improved despite some huge amounts of bad luck this season. Excited to see how we move forward under LJ and BM.

We have a massive rebuilding job this summer but one thing that cheers me is that I think both Aberdeen and Hearts have pish managers. The one shinning light from yesterday is that Naismith might get the gig permanently.

I'll be delighted if that's the case as I think he's dog poo and Robson will struggle. He's had his new manager bounce but they looked poor against us and Hearts smashed them. Plus the extra games in Europe are hard for anyone outwith the OF to manage.

We still have an awful lot to do but I don't think either of them will be putting out great sides next year.

That is why it's so important we get it right. We've wasted so many chances to kick on over the years (yesterday is a prime example). It's been clear for some time at we have a huge amount of deadwood that needs moved on, and we now have the structure that has been talked about for a while. I just pray we can get it right.

[Lago]

Will they? Hearts are worse than last season and have no manager. Why wont they continue to get worse?
Agree

[JimBHibees]

For all yesterday was a missed opportunity and disappointing it shouldn't define our season. We had no Boyle, no CJ Egan-Riley and throughout the match we continually had to chop and change as players went off injured. Chuck in the fact that the game was played on the one pitch in Scotland you would absolutely choose if you had 10 men and needed to defend a result.

The fact we got to the stage of being a win away from overtaking the Gorgie Galacticos on the last day shouldn't be ignored and without looking it up I wouldn't be surprised to find that our haul of 8 points from out 5 post split games is the best we have managed since the split was introduced.

Don't get me wrong, there's a ton of stuff that can and needs to be done to improve what we have seen this season, but 8th to 5th is progress of sorts and if we can get the players we need, bin as many as we can of those we don't, and at least reduce the horrendous injury problems we have had this season we can do better in 23/24.

Lets hope :confused:

Agree with that important context

[Lago]

This is where you fall to bits. That's just rubbish. Played some great football this season.
Agree again

[NAE NOOKIE]

Yesterday was the highlight of the season though. The fact we were in with an unexpected chance turned out to be as exciting as it got all season. The football has been dreadful to watch and the cups were nothing short of disastrous. I’m all for a positive spin but it’s thin gruel I’m afraid.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It wasn't even really 'positive spin' and certainly not an attempt at happy clapping Ozzy.

All I'm saying is that it can't all be negative all the time and some folk on here have added stuff onto what I said that I didn't really factor in. EG Nisbet being missing for a big chunk of the season, McGeady hardly featuring and the never ending inability of Magennis to string more than a few games together, all of whom could have been big players for us if they had played the whole season .. though with Magennis that's based on a few flashes of what he might be capable of when he has played.

I cant agree the football has been dreadful to watch either. Yes when we were bad we were awful, but there has been games where we have played well and the football has been pretty good in them. It's just a case of finding out what it is that makes our standard drop so low at times and address that problem, I think it can be addressed.

Unfortunately when it comes to McGeady and Magennis we simply can't plan for next season with them central to any plans we have, IMO McGeady will at best be no more than an impact sub and Magennis has a long way to go to show he can be relied on to stay fit for any length of time.

I'm not denying for a second that we have a hell of a lot of work to do to improve on this season and yes, we simply have to do better in the cups as a minimum.

[SlickShoes]

Problem is we need to improve simple to stay put.

Aberdeen and Hearts will improve and they, on the league placements, this season are better than us already.

Hibs need to look to improve to be better, not simple to stay put. 5th isn't good enough.

I do agree with the overall sentiment though.

I find this incredibly negative, we didn't have a great season at all and still finished within touching distance of both of these teams that people seem to think are miles ahead of us.

No doubt we need to improve but it's not as bad as some are making out, and I think everyone at Hibs knows we are a work in progress.

[ElginHibbie]

I find this incredibly negative, we didn't have a great season at all and still finished within touching distance of both of these teams that people seem to think are miles ahead of us.

No doubt we need to improve but it's not as bad as some are making out, and I think everyone at Hibs knows we are a work in progress.

It's gonna be a interesting to see what happens

Aberdeen will get the finical benefit from Europe but as Hearts showed this season doesn't mean they are gonna suddenly gonna run away with third because of it. Jury still out on Robson as well.

Hearts I am not sure how much of this squad they will have next season, but with needing a new manager gonna be a rebuilding job of sorts at least for them. Even if it is Naismith he is a bit of a punt of whether or not it will work out

With us a lot of work needs to be done, if we can keep some of the loans we might at least get a bit of benefit from consistency but need to get rid of dead weight, and add the quality and depth we need to progress. Expectations of Johnson need to be higher as well, needs to do better in the cups for a starter anyway.

I hope the fact we seem to have a proper structure in place now we can make good progress and optimistic we will... but ask me again at start of the season!

[JimBHibees]

I find this incredibly negative, we didn't have a great season at all and still finished within touching distance of both of these teams that people seem to think are miles ahead of us.

No doubt we need to improve but it's not as bad as some are making out, and I think everyone at Hibs knows we are a work in progress.

Absolutely

[Garymcl]

I dunno why but Im genuinely upbeat about next season downside injury to Cadden yesterday and Egan Riley if coming back but we’ll have Boyler back genuinely like a new signing Elie signing at least we’ll have a bit of continuity in the management and combined with new DOF in hopefully we’ll not hang around with new and better signings would like Nisbet to stay if not would be happy with someone like Van Veen coming in :thumbsup:

[McGruber]

For all yesterday was a missed opportunity and disappointing it shouldn't define our season. We had no Boyle, no CJ Egan-Riley and throughout the match we continually had to chop and change as players went off injured. Chuck in the fact that the game was played on the one pitch in Scotland you would absolutely choose if you had 10 men and needed to defend a result.

The fact we got to the stage of being a win away from overtaking the Gorgie Galacticos on the last day shouldn't be ignored and without looking it up I wouldn't be surprised to find that our haul of 8 points from out 5 post split games is the best we have managed since the split was introduced.

Don't get me wrong, there's a ton of stuff that can and needs to be done to improve what we have seen this season, but 8th to 5th is progress of sorts and if we can get the players we need, bin as many as we can of those we don't, and at least reduce the horrendous injury problems we have had this season we can do better in 23/24.

Lets hope :confused:

It hasn't felt like we have been great this season yet, in the league anyway, we were a bounce the other side of the post from 4th and probably 3rd with a converted penalty and correct VAR calls. Yes, if buts and maybe, Auntie had balls and all that but there is certainly not much of anything between the teams outwith the old firm chasing European places.

This time last close season it felt like Hearts were miles ahead of us. Doesn't feel like there is anything in it now. We have improved slightly and they have regressed.

Looking forward to next year knowing it is all to play for for 3rd. Bit stability this time with no manager change likely and especially with Brian McDermott's influence on recruitment.

[Donegal Hibby]

Don't think there's that much between us , Aberdeen and hertz . 5 points between us this year just and if you take into account injuries , bad decisions we'd probably have more points. In our league meetings with hertz we have won 1 , lost 1 and drawn 2 . Goals for 3 and 5 against. Aberdeen we have won 2 , lost 1 and drawn 1 . Goals for 10 and 5 against. Doesn't suggest that they are that much better imo .

[Stuart93]

Don't think there's that much between us , Aberdeen and hertz . 5 points between us this year just and if you take into account injuries , bad decisions we'd probably have more points. In our league meetings with hertz we have won 1 , lost 1 and drawn 2 . Goals for 3 and 5 against. Aberdeen we have won 2 , lost 1 and drawn 1 . Goals for 10 and 5 against. Doesn't suggest that they are that much better imo .

You’re probably right but we’ve gave hearts the chance by giving them a few million head start. Now Aberdeen with have a few million head start next season which is concerning considering we tend to shop in the same market as them

[500miles]

We need to replace Nesbit, Fish, CJ, Cadden.

We shouldn't be expecting 40 games out of Stevenson, so a left back that improves on Cabraja.

Time is clearly catching up with Marshall, so a new 1st choice keeper.

A midfielder who can really create to give us an alternative to Newell or Campbell.

Busy summer ahead!

[McGruber]

We need to replace Nesbit, Fish, CJ, Cadden.

We shouldn't be expecting 40 games out of Stevenson, so a left back that improves on Cabraja.

Time is clearly catching up with Marshall, so a new 1st choice keeper.

A midfielder who can really create to give us an alternative to Newell or Campbell.

Busy summer ahead!

Yeah, busy summer. Have a feeling though we will get Fish and CJ back and with Cadden having played predominantly as a right back, Miller looks set to take over and improve that position.

[Jones28]

Problem is we need to improve simple to stay put.

Aberdeen and Hearts will improve and they, on the league placements, this season are better than us already.

Hibs need to look to improve to be better, not simple to stay put. 5th isn't good enough.

I do agree with the overall sentiment though.

Hearts made an arse of European money once, they’ll do it again.

I think that Scottish football has shown us one thing and that’s that no one will ever race away from the pack. It’s too big a gap to bridge and everyone out with Celtic and rangers has too low a ceiling.

[Spike Mandela]

Perspective

Your typical Hearts fan is paying more for a season ticket then add in their pledges to FoH probably adding in minimum £240. They are paying minimum £700-800 a season to watch a team desperately clinging on to 4th whilst watching us outplay them.

Hibs improved after Christmas.

If Celtic win the cup we are in Europe. Positive spin on earlier qualifying round, assuming we win tie, is we get an extra trip to Europe.

Glad this season is over but already looking forward to next season.

[Leith Green]

Im really looking forward to next season already … I think we will definitely have a better team next season , think our manager will have a year of Scottish football under his belt , squad will be lighter which is to the managers liking. Also looking pretty likely that we have European football to throw into the mix. Hopefully the fantastic backing from our supporters continues to get even better and we have something exciting happening..

Roll on the 2023 / 2024 season and hopefully a white away kit next season 😁

[ScottB]

The damning part for both clubs in Edinburgh is how dead and buried Aberdeen looked after conceding, what, 11 goals combined to Hibs and Hearts? And they managed to finish ahead of both.

We’re the only side to stick with the manager we started with, but it doesn’t seem consistency helped all that much! 5th is better than last year, but ultimately, it’s about the minimum acceptable result for the money spent. The two clubs ahead of us had seasons that were deemed bad enough to get managers sacked, both rallied to finish ahead of us.

Johnson has, in the end, done well enough to avoid the sack, it remains to be seen if he can take a step forward and do better next season, I hope so, but wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up sacked before Christmas and we face yet another year of transistion / rebuilding etc.

[Donegal Hibby]

You’re probably right but we’ve gave hearts the chance by giving them a few million head start. Now Aberdeen with have a few million head start next season which is concerning considering we tend to shop in the same market as them
Its probably not a ideal situation last year and this one though the year hertz qualified for the European prize money they finished I think it was something like 16 points ahead of us , this year we were only 2 points behind them .

Aberdeen will also have the advantage of a few million quid though with a stadium that's falling a part the bulk of it might be needed for a new stadium or revamping pittodrie. Only guessing there btw .

Both have bigger budgets than ours anyways and while we shop in the same market it's a big market and I'm very optimistic since Brian McDermott's appointment that he has good contacts in the game that will see us sign some exciting players .

I think our owners the Gordon's will give as much financial backing as they can to make Hibs successful. They've already shown they have ambition and Hibs best interests at heart in getting Boyle back and the signing of Youan. A exciting summer ahead in which I think we will come out off a much stronger team 🇳🇬 👍

[I'm Spartacus]

At one point we looked like we'd miss top 6, the rage from yesterday was we'd missed 4th place, mental when you think of it.

The Thursday/Sunday thing for Aberdeen will be huge, I think they will see how Hearts ****** it up and may then over spend as a result to counter that. It will be interesting to see how Robson does in the transfer market and picking his own players.

Hearts will be stronger and I only say that as they have Gordon, Beningamie, Boyce and Halkett coming back before any other player is brought in, those 4 players alone would strengthen every squad outside the Bigot Brothers.

St Mirren - they'll dip into the market and stock up on absolute hammer throwers

Motherwell will lose Van Veen, if Kev is to leave they we have to target him surely?

[marinello59]

The Thursday/Sunday thing for Aberdeen will be huge, I think they will see how Hearts ****** it up and may then over spend as a result to counter that. It will be interesting to see how Robson does in the transfer market and picking his own players.


I will be amazed if Barry Robson is still the Aberdeen manager at Christmas. I was delighted when they made his appointment permanent, it is going to end in tears for him.

[Shrekko]

We’ve finished a very difficult season where we genuinely were in transition pretty strongly but still people define it as ‘poor’.

It wasn’t great, it was a rollercoaster but it just wasn’t anything like ‘poor’. When you improve by 3 places and probably qualify for Europe and have decent record against the other biggish club that is definite progress.

We probably have the 5th highest wage bill so it’s no disgrace to finished where we have.

[basehibby]

Yesterday was the highlight of the season though. The fact we were in with an unexpected chance turned out to be as exciting as it got all season. The football has been dreadful to watch and the cups were nothing short of disastrous. I’m all for a positive spin but it’s thin gruel I’m afraid.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The cups were a disaster this season alright - particularly the early League Cup exit in which Johnson was culpable even if he was still getting to know his players at that stage. The SC exit vs Hearts was galling but actually less damning in my opinion as in many ways the performance was very good on the day - we just couldn't score!

And that's why I can't agree with the bit I've highlighted in bold there. The football has actually been pretty exciting in many games for me with 20-odd shots a game far from unusual - in that cup derby for instance McGeady and Youan were running riot and it was perplexing how we somehow managed to lose the game 0-3. Results started to match up with improved performances over subsequent weeks though starting with that 6-0 humping of Aberdeen (which was an absolute joy to watch by the way).

There have been some poor performances in there for sure with a couple of really bad runs around Oct/Nov, but even in those runs we were dominating posession in most games and creating plenty of chances. That's because the underlying style has been a lot more direct this season under Johnson and when that's clicked the football has been very entertaining.

The recruitment last summer was crazy resulting in a plethora of project signings cluttering up the squad. This was rectified to a large extent in Jan though and I think LJ deserves much of the credit for that. Signings like Egan-Riley and Jeggo made sense and have made an immediate impact on the first team - this together with the appointment of Brian McDermott as DOF is cause for optimism that we will see further progress in the summer IMO.

Maybe I'm a glass half full kind of guy, but I see progress from last season. I'm glad Johnson managed to turn things round and we will get to see a consistency of approach as a result going forward with (probably/hopefully) some European Football to provide an additional challenge (and some longer cup runs).

[flash]

https://twitter.com/pieandbov/status/1552552053062483968?t=Mz0uWQDnYiPY3wWBvAnzFA&s=19

Here's how fans of all teams thought the league would turn out just before the first game.

Vast majority thought we would finish lower than we have with a few even predicting bottom two.

Maybe, considering the state we were in at the start of the season, we haven't done so badly after all.

[WhileTheChief..]

Just throwing this thought out here for a min...

Would ER not be busier, and have more of an atmosphere, if Hibs fans collectively thought the football was good / exciting?

I know there's no way of measuring it, but I still get the feeling the vast majority of us are finding things a bit boring / meh just now.

There's been the odd exception throughout the season, but the general feeling around the club hasn't been great.

Finishing a couple of places higher i, the league is progress technically but it's hardly the type of progress that has us pumping our chests or selling more STs.

Even the prospect of Euro qualification this season hasn't caught the imagination in the way it has done previously.

I hope we have an exciting transfer window. A couple of names that make us go 'Nice one Hibs, didn't see that coming'.

Real progress, for me, would be consistently beating the smaller teams in the league, decent cup runs, and taking more points off the OF, Hearts and Aberdeen.

[CentreLine]

The cups were a disaster this season alright - particularly the early League Cup exit in which Johnson was culpable even if he was still getting to know his players at that stage. The SC exit vs Hearts was galling but actually less damning in my opinion as in many ways the performance was very good on the day - we just couldn't score!

And that's why I can't agree with the bit I've highlighted in bold there. The football has actually been pretty exciting in many games for me with 20-odd shots a game far from unusual - in that cup derby for instance McGeady and Youan were running riot and it was perplexing how we somehow managed to lose the game 0-3. Results started to match up with improved performances over subsequent weeks though starting with that 6-0 humping of Aberdeen (which was an absolute joy to watch by the way).

There have been some poor performances in there for sure with a couple of really bad runs around Oct/Nov, but even in those runs we were dominating posession in most games and creating plenty of chances. That's because the underlying style has been a lot more direct this season under Johnson and when that's clicked the football has been very entertaining.

The recruitment last summer was crazy resulting in a plethora of project signings cluttering up the squad. This was rectified to a large extent in Jan though and I think LJ deserves much of the credit for that. Signings like Egan-Riley and Jeggo made sense and have made an immediate impact on the first team - this together with the appointment of Brian McDermott as DOF is cause for optimism that we will see further progress in the summer IMO.

Maybe I'm a glass half full kind of guy, but I see progress from last season. I'm glad Johnson managed to turn things round and we will get to see a consistency of approach as a result going forward with (probably/hopefully) some European Football to provide an additional challenge (and some longer cup runs).

Nail hit firmly on the head. Great post👍🏻

[Donegal Hibby]

Nail hit firmly on the head. Great post👍🏻
I 2nd that :agree:

[Smartie]

Just throwing this thought out here for a min...

Would ER not be busier, and have more of an atmosphere, if Hibs fans collectively thought the football was good / exciting?

I know there's no way of measuring it, but I still get the feeling the vast majority of us are finding things a bit boring / meh just now.

There's been the odd exception throughout the season, but the general feeling around the club hasn't been great.

Finishing a couple of places higher i, the league is progress technically but it's hardly the type of progress that has us pumping our chests or selling more STs.

Even the prospect of Euro qualification this season hasn't caught the imagination in the way it has done previously.

I hope we have an exciting transfer window. A couple of names that make us go 'Nice one Hibs, didn't see that coming'.

Real progress, for me, would be consistently beating the smaller teams in the league, decent cup runs, and taking more points off the OF, Hearts and Aberdeen.

I’m quite enjoying the football right now.

Funnily enough I get a hunch that lessons are being learned across the board at Hibs right now, after a wobbly first few years of the Gordon era.

I think we’ve actually got quite a lot to look forward to and I don’t see any of what you have listed above as being beyond us.