How have Aberdeen got it so right whilst we have got it so wrong?

[Spike Mandela]

Watching the Aberdeen game tonight. Fast paced full of desire, fight and exciting to watch.

Last year they were as crap as us and lost their best player in the window but now one window and a new manager and boom. We meanwhile are as lacklustre as ever.

[MWHIBBIES]

CEO who has a clue, appointed by an owner who at least tries to do things right.

That usually leads to good recruitment and managers.

Our owners are incompetent clowns.

[SHODAN]

CEO who has a clue, appointed by an owner who at least tries to do things right.

That usually leads to good recruitment and managers.

Our owners are incompetent clowns.

Nail on head.

We're run by a 34 year old and his wannabe lad mate.

[Unseen work]

They appointed an experienced manager who has had success

Proper experience, not just one or two seasons

[Spike Mandela]

CEO who has a clue, appointed by an owner who at least tries to do things right.

That usually leads to good recruitment and managers.

Our owners are incompetent clowns.

They’ve had some pretty crappy appointments in recent years though as well.

[Glory Lurker]

They've got lucky. Look at the last couple of seasons.

[Heisenberg]

They actually did a proper external review of the club and took the advice on board.

[Coco Bryce]

Watching the Aberdeen game tonight. Fast paced full of desire, fight and exciting to watch.

Last year they were as crap as us and lost their best player in the window but now one window and a new manager and boom. We meanwhile are as lacklustre as ever.

Signed a real football manager and not some guy that scored a header in a cup final.

[Jones28]

They've got lucky. Look at the last couple of seasons.

Pretty much it. Struck gold with their manager.

[blackpoolhibs]

They've got lucky. Look at the last couple of seasons.

When is it our turn?

[Jones28]

Signed a real football manager and not some guy that scored a header in a cup final.

Come on ffs.

[Coco Bryce]

Come on ffs.

Harsh reality. Gray is a Hibs legend as a player.

End off.

[Scottie]

They've got lucky. Look at the last couple of seasons.
:agree: They even signed Neil Warnock last season ffs.

[Speedy]

Would love to know if Jimmy Thelin put his hat in the ring for the Hibs job.

[Jones28]

Harsh reality. Gray is a Hibs legend as a player.

End off.

Always a worry that a legend doesn’t succeed as a manager but hoped it would be different with SDG.

[DIXIHIBS]

Aberdeen are doing fantastic this season but have been pretty rank for years. Let's not rewrite history.

[NC1875]

They've got lucky. Look at the last couple of seasons.

Yeah like they’ve been lucky in every game this season too 🙄

Just watched the last 15 minutes of there game. What a breath of fresh air compared to the dross we’re being served up by Gray.

[JohnM1875]

Harsh reality. Gray is a Hibs legend as a player.

End off.

That's it for me. I'll still love the man when this inevitably comes to an end. But he's nowhere near good enough to be manager or head coach or whatever we're calling it.

[RIP]

Would love to know if Jimmy Thelin put his hat in the ring for the Hibs job.

He did. But David Gray's 150 minute presentation wowed the board! 😉

[Gmack7]

The sheep haven't got it right, it takes multiple transfer windows to fix a mess not 1 window

[GreenGray]

Aberdeen have been well run for a few years now, just failed at getting a good manager in. Even Robson finished third with them.

The final piece was a competent manager and they have certainly found one.

We are miles behind them on the park, in the dug out and at board level.


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[CapitalGreen]

They've got lucky. Look at the last couple of seasons.

This. Glass, Goodwin, Robson, Warnock is as bad as us for appointments.

Post Covid to the end of last season we had won more league points than Aberdeen.

They stopped the buck of daft appointments and appointed a proper manager with experience in the summer while we promoted a set piece coach.

[CapitalGreen]

Would love to know if Jimmy Thelin put his hat in the ring for the Hibs job.

He already had the Aberdeen job.

[Kato]

Watching the Aberdeen game tonight. Fast paced full of desire, fight and exciting to watch.

Last year they were as crap as us and lost their best player in the window but now one window and a new manager and boom. We meanwhile are as lacklustre as ever.Given Aberdeens track record they've struck lucky. He could be headhunted away and they might well get another donut in. There are plenty around, as we know.

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[HarpOnHibee]

Aberdeen were poor for a number of years. But it just goes to show how nonsensical all the "long term plan" chat we've had to endure is. There never was any real long term plan. When you get things right, the effects are almost entirely immediate. We have people at the club who simply don't get things right and until that changes, we'll continue to not get things right.

[Glory Lurker]

It's a shame they can't be forced to bring their stadium up to 1990s quality. That would about sink them.

[Viva_Palmeiras]

Aberdeen are doing fantastic this season but have been pretty rank for years. Let's not rewrite history.

sense right there.

[TrinityHFC]

This. Glass, Goodwin, Robson, Warnock is as bad as us for appointments.

Post Covid to the end of last season we had won more league points than Aberdeen.

They stopped the buck of daft appointments and appointed a proper manager with experience in the summer while we promoted a set piece coach.

It is a combination of them having good players that they’ve paid a fortunate for over the past few years and getting an appointment right to manage them - so far anyway. Every appointment is a gamble and they, and us, have also tried experienced managers before - it isn’t just as simple as that.

They have been able to build some good momentum and winning can become a habit. We will see how long it is sustainable for…

[ekhibee]

Aberdeen look a good side at the moment, the 2 sides you would normally expect to be their biggest challengers for 3rd place are both really poor teams and there's a real chance they could finish 2nd in the league, even though there's still a long way to go. As for us, we're just not very good in any part of the club apart from the hospitality.

[Trinity Hibee]

Aberdeen not lost in league since March apparently

[JohnM1875]

Aberdeen not lost in league since March apparently

We must only have a couple of wins in that period? Unacceptable stuff.

[Viva_Palmeiras]

This. Glass, Goodwin, Robson, Warnock is as bad as us for appointments.

Post Covid to the end of last season we had won more league points than Aberdeen.

They stopped the buck of daft appointments and appointed a proper manager with experience in the summer while we promoted a set piece coach.

Add to the Skovdahl and Pele. they really turned it on when it came to awful appointments - they even gave Miller a punt, Aitken iirc and Hegarty, McGhee I think had a stint too.

[Northernhibee]

Aberdeen have football people in important positions.

[Scotty Leither]

This is the question that should be asked of Mackay at the AGM. I was up in Dingwall tonight and I’ve never seen a Hibs team so bereft of creativity since Mogadon Miller’s halcyon days of stellar draws against Dumbarton.

[Chorley Hibee]

We must only have a couple of wins in that period? Unacceptable stuff.

6 wins in our last 31 league games.

Yet people still believe we're not relegation material.

[Nakedmanoncrack]

Aberdeen were poor for a number of years. But it just goes to show how nonsensical all the "long term plan" chat we've had to endure is. There never was any real long term plan. When you get things right, the effects are almost entirely immediate. We have people at the club who simply don't get things right and until that changes, we'll continue to not get things right.

Spot on, get recruitment of staff right and things turn around very quickly.

[SHODAN]

Aberdeen have football people in important positions.

Fitba folk ken what's going on.

[Pagan Hibernia]

Aberdeen not lost in league since March apparently

26 games unbeaten in all competitions (if you discount a penalty shootout defeat).

In a country where everyone outside of Glasgow struggles for consistency that is outstanding.

[TrinityHFC]

Spot on, get recruitment of staff right and things turn around very quickly.

They’ve also been building this team for some time and have put up with them being terrible for a long time to get to this stage.

[erin go bragh]

We should throw the money offered for McCowan at the Bodo glint manager.

[DH1875]

We should have signed Mitov in the summer for starters.

[GreenGray]

They’ve also been building this team for some time and have put up with them being terrible for a long time to get to this stage.

They finished 3rd two seasons ago? Last season they were poor but it was clear to everyone that they were underperforming with the squad they had.

They’ve also reached more semis and finals than us recently.

It isn’t luck this season, they’ve actually recruited well over the years unlike us, it’s depressing but true.


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[JohnM1875]

We should throw the money offered for McCowan at the Bodo glint manager.

Probably would have been as embarrassing as Hearts getting kb’d from their manager who they were miles away being able to afford.

[Trinity Hibee]

That’s Aberdeen half way to 3rd place already

[Northernhibee]

We should have signed Mitov in the summer for starters.

They sign Mitov, we sign Bursik.

We both go to Benfica - we sign Jair, they sign Duk.

I could continue.

[7Hero]

CEO who has a clue, appointed by an owner who at least tries to do things right.

That usually leads to good recruitment and managers.

Our owners are incompetent clowns.

We have enough to fill a circus to be fair ..

[Chorley Hibee]

We should throw the money offered for McCowan at the Bodo glint manager.

I don't think we ever had any intention of signing McCowan.

It was all performative bull**** in a bid to con the support once again.

Bidding nearly a million quid on a player we knew we had no hope of getting (once Celtic were involved) and yet there was no fallback option in place?

It was bull**** from the start, they never had any intention of spending that money.

[CallumHibs07]

They hired some group last season to do a full internal review of their football operations. Looks like its paid off.

Just got "lucky" though..

[Cooshed Kid]

Great manager and an external review apparently which I presume made recommendations they have found beneficial. It's early so anything can happen but I hope they win the Premiership. I'd prefer that it was us ending the Uglies' dominance but our competition is at the other end of the table.

This Dons' team has formidable character whereas we have a squad of characters struggling to function as a team.

[PHeffernan]

Hibs and our american owners went deep down the moneyball rabbit hole and the results of that wrong turn won't clear our system for a further 7 months.
However, with good recruitment next summer we should finally be back in the game.

P.S. the elephant in the room for Aberdeen is their ****-tip stadium and the issue will have to be addressed at some point

[Yorkshire HFC]

CEO who has a clue, appointed by an owner who at least tries to do things right.

That usually leads to good recruitment and managers.

Our owners are incompetent clowns.

I think football is largely luck - and they seem to have had some good luck (up until now) with this appointment. The manager certainly seems to have something.

But this is also the genius owner who sacked McInnes, appointed Robson, sacked Robson, appointed Warnock and then sacked Warnock.

Aberdeen were a laughing stock this time last year. And now we're expected to believe that they know what they're doing?

Maybe one day the gambles the Hibs board will pay off.............

[joe breezy]

That’s Aberdeen half way to 3rd place already

Hope they finish above 3rd personally

[danhibees1875]

Hope they finish above 3rd personally

Interesting as it would be to see, them doing so would only give them further advantage in the seasons to come against teams chasing for a European spot (ambitiously/naively believing this could be Hibs...).

There's an unfortunate convenience to the 2 financial powerhouses of the league maintaining their status quo - unless it's us who break it.

[Nicho87]

We’re sitting with a pile of players who the club, manager, board, fans don’t want. They know it themselves. Recipe for disaster.

When the sporting director comes out and says you wait it’s all on next year. Just you wait till all these imposters are out.

Not highly motivating I would think for players regardless if you like them or not.

Rookie manager, bunch of players that must be thinking I won’t be here very long.

Recipe for disaster. We don’t help ourselves much.

[Gmack7]

We managed to sign 8 or 9 players and we are still garbage

[tonyrougier123]

I wouldn’t be lauding the Aberdeen model tbh, the manager seems to be a very good appointment though, got his tactics spot on last night and the players look full of energy and urgency to break forward.

It helps when you take in bundles of cash for your star players even when you’ve largely been guff as the dons have.

Couple of sensible same division signings and filling the midfield with grafters has helped, not to mention a favourable fixture list to start the season and they’ve grasped that.

It’s easy to compare and say that’s how it’s done but that wouldn’t be a fair comparison in my opinion. What it does show is that small margins and a winning mentality breeds confidence and that in turn rubs off on the whole club.

[JimBHibees]

I don't think we ever had any intention of signing McCowan.

It was all performative bull**** in a bid to con the support once again.

Bidding nearly a million quid on a player we knew we had no hope of getting (once Celtic were involved) and yet there was no fallback option in place?

It was bull**** from the start, they never had any intention of spending that money.

Complete nonsense

[MWHIBBIES]

Complete nonsense

Agreed. One thing about these owners is they'll spend money. Just very badly most of the time.

[Trinity Hibee]

Aberdeen are hard working and well organised. That goes a long way in this league

[The Modfather]

They hired some group last season to do a full internal review of their football operations. Looks like its paid off.

Just got "lucky" though..

I think that’s the actual difference. A proper review of the football side of things v our pretend review. I think our review was just PR to justify doing all appointments on the cheap to cut costs and address the losses.

How can it be a proper review to address our failings but only if we can do so without paying any compensation and as a result promote the set piece coach, the retiring goalie and the chairman’s friend to positions they haven’t done before. Plus a coaching team that looked under qualified upon their appointment.

It’s like when Petrie used the cheapest strip template available and then spun it as it being a homage to the Famous Five.

Assuming we somehow survive this season. Next summers golden opportunity to re-shape the squad frightens me unless we get the Black Knights running the show now and the time needed to actual get next summer right.

[flash]

This is the question that should be asked of Mackay at the AGM. I was up in Dingwall tonight and I’ve never seen a Hibs team so bereft of creativity since Mogadon Miller’s halcyon days of stellar draws against Dumbarton.

It wasn't great but it's hardly the worst in 30 years or did I imagine what I witnessed under Calderwood, Butcher and Maloney to name but three.

[Chorley Hibee]

Agreed. One thing about these owners is they'll spend money. Just very badly most of the time.

We were spending money.

Then they're realised how much we have wasted, the accounts show/will show this, and this summer they reverted to the cheap option, on all fronts.

Why was there no backup plan to McCowan?

[blackpoolhibs]

We were spending money.

Then they're realised how much we have wasted, the accounts show/will show this, and this summer they reverted to the cheap option, on all fronts.

Why was there no backup plan to McCowan?

Exactly, I had a leak under the sink, I phoned my mate who's a great plumber, he couldn't get here he's on holiday,I didn't bother with getting anyone else, my cellar is full of water.

[He's here!]

We got it wrong by not appointing McInnes when it was a realistic possibility. That's the simple answer to the question.

[Bostonhibby]

Exactly, I had a leak under the sink, I phoned my mate who's a great plumber, he couldn't get here he's on holiday,I didn't bother with getting anyone else, my cellar is full of water.Trust the process BH.

The water will eventually turn into a golden quadrant and everyone will live happily ever after.

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[Jock O]

Exactly, I had a leak under the sink, I phoned my mate who's a great plumber, he couldn't get here he's on holiday,I didn't bother with getting anyone else, my cellar is full of water.

If only football was as simple and exciting as plumbing, this place would be so much more fun.

[easty]

Exactly, I had a leak under the sink, I phoned my mate who's a great plumber, he couldn't get here he's on holiday,I didn't bother with getting anyone else, my cellar is full of water.

But you’ve got a sandbag, it’s been chucked on the cellar floor and isn’t doing anything, as expected. You’re telling the rest of the family that you have faith in the sandbag.

The sandbag is Josh Campbell.

[Chorley Hibee]

Exactly, I had a leak under the sink, I phoned my mate who's a great plumber, he couldn't get here he's on holiday,I didn't bother with getting anyone else, my cellar is full of water.

A great analogy.

A signing so critical they were prepared to pay circa a million pound.

It wasn't critical enough to have a plan B though.

They're all full of *****.

[Jock O]

A great analogy.

A signing so critical they were prepared to pay circa a million pound.

It wasn't critical enough to have a plan B though.

They're all full of *****.

YOu are just making things up now to help your frustration. It is getting silly. Hammer Hibs for what you want but MacKay explained this perfectly clearly, and it makes perfect sense. I can just imagine the furore on here now if we had spent that on a punt of a couple of players none of who get a game.

McGowan is already proving he is a player normally way beyond our means, any close equivalent is already way beyond our means, Tough to hear maybe but that's life. It was a unique opportunity that we nearly pulled off, but that is not really suiting the current narrative.

[joe breezy]

Interesting as it would be to see, them doing so would only give them further advantage in the seasons to come against teams chasing for a European spot (ambitiously/naively believing this could be Hibs...).

There's an unfortunate convenience to the 2 financial powerhouses of the league maintaining their status quo - unless it's us who break it.


Totally get that. I love Hibs but I also love football.
I learned to stop relying on Hibs for happiness many years ago.
And I remember jumping in the air with my Mum and Dad when Aberdeen won the cup Winners Cup in 1983.

So I'd personally enjoy seeing Aberdeen above the Huns at the end of the season.

Hopefully we can finish top half - seriously thought we'd be vying for 3rd this season after the Bill Foley investment.

[Since452]

Interesting as it would be to see, them doing so would only give them further advantage in the seasons to come against teams chasing for a European spot (ambitiously/naively believing this could be Hibs...).

There's an unfortunate convenience to the 2 financial powerhouses of the league maintaining their status quo - unless it's us who break it.

Absolutely. The best thing for us is Aberdeen finishing bottom 6 and out of the Euro positions. It's galling seeing them do so well.

[Chorley Hibee]

YOu are just making things up now to help your frustration. It is getting silly. Hammer Hibs for what you want but MacKay explained this perfectly clearly, and it makes perfect sense. I can just imagine the furore on here now if we had spent that on a punt of a couple of players none of who get a game.

McGowan is already proving he is a player normally way beyond our means, any close equivalent is already way beyond our means, Tough to hear maybe but that's life. It was a unique opportunity that we nearly pulled off, but that is not really suiting the current narrative.

You expect me to believe, that in the entire world of football, the only option available to us was Luke McCowan?

As for McKay, he's as big a bull****ter as the owner, Kensell and McPherson.

All this is showing is how utterly incompetent each and everyone of them are.

[Jones28]

I don't think we ever had any intention of signing McCowan.

It was all performative bull**** in a bid to con the support once again.

Bidding nearly a million quid on a player we knew we had no hope of getting (once Celtic were involved) and yet there was no fallback option in place?

It was bull**** from the start, they never had any intention of spending that money.

Tin foil hat bull****.

[GreenGray]

I wouldn’t be lauding the Aberdeen model tbh, the manager seems to be a very good appointment though, got his tactics spot on last night and the players look full of energy and urgency to break forward.

It helps when you take in bundles of cash for your star players even when you’ve largely been guff as the dons have.

Couple of sensible same division signings and filling the midfield with grafters has helped, not to mention a favourable fixture list to start the season and they’ve grasped that.

It’s easy to compare and say that’s how it’s done but that wouldn’t be a fair comparison in my opinion. What it does show is that small margins and a winning mentality breeds confidence and that in turn rubs off on the whole club.

You mention they’ve taken in bundles of cash for players. That’s exactly why their model is working. Miovski is the perfect example of that.


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[Jock O]

You expect me to believe, that in the entire world of football, the only option available to us was Luke McCowan?

As for McKay, he's as big a bull****ter as the owner, Kensell and McPherson.

All this is showing is how utterly incompetent each and everyone of them are.

That is not why I said, or even what the club said. It was an unexpected opportunity they seen and went for outside of what was normal business.

But you crack on and keep making things up. You sound exactly like the kind of "fan" I have had to move my seat three times to escape.

[Scotty Leither]

It wasn't great but it's hardly the worst in 30 years or did I imagine what I witnessed under Calderwood, Butcher and Maloney to name but three.

2 shots on target, & 2 corners is prime Alex Miller for me.

[Since90+2]

Tin foil hat bull****.

Agreed.

[Jock O]

2 shots on target, & 2 corners is prime Alex Miller for me.

That for me is much more worrying than what MacKay is saying or McCowan is doing elsewhere, we just cannot seem to get past this. I haven't been at a game since Motherwell where I thought until the collapse the intention was there but once in the final third everything just stopped, this is the most pressing problem at ER for everyone surely now.

[One Day Soon]

Aberdeen are doing fantastic this season but have been pretty rank for years. Let's not rewrite history.

We don’t need to, they and their manager are literally doing that themselves.

[joe breezy]

Malky McKay was a bigger mistake than SDG.

Partly because Malky McKay was the mistake.

The CEO needs to take responsibility too.

[Chorley Hibee]

That is not why I said, or even what the club said. It was an unexpected opportunity they seen and went for outside of what was normal business.

But you crack on and keep making things up. You sound exactly like the kind of "fan" I have had to move my seat three times to escape.

I've no interest in what any of them have to say.

It's another cock and bull story from the biggest chancers ever to set foot in Easter Road since the Duff and Gray era.

Don't worry, there's going to be a lot more available seats very soon.

[Paulie Walnuts]

That is not why I said, or even what the club said. It was an unexpected opportunity they seen and went for outside of what was normal business.

But you crack on and keep making things up. You sound exactly like the kind of "fan" I have had to move my seat three times to escape.

A club like Hibs doesn’t just throw £1m at an unusual opportunity.

If we’re throwing £1m at a plauer, it’s because it’s an absolutely critical position that needs filled.

[DH1875]

Agreed. One thing about these owners is they'll spend money. Just very badly most of the time.

Who's fault is that though. That's one of the key questions as don't think anyone can say the manager hasn't been financially backed.

[.Sean.]

Because they’re not lumbered by a pair of clowns like Ian Gordon and Kensell

[Paulie Walnuts]

Because they’re not lumbered by a pair of clowns like Ian Gordon and Kensell

:agree:

[One Day Soon]

We were spending money.

Then they're realised how much we have wasted, the accounts show/will show this, and this summer they reverted to the cheap option, on all fronts.

Why was there no backup plan to McCowan?

Because they are literally making it up as they go along, performatively saying the right things but then serially kneecapping any good intentions with random acts of stupidity. Almost, bear with me here, almost as though there are a couple of individuals at the heart of the club acting however they feel on personnel matters at any level they fancy, regardless of reality, enabled by having in place around them a bunch of unqualified yes men and mates they appointed who won’t say boo for fear of losing the golden salary eggs they are ripping out of the club.

[Jones28]

Who's fault is that though. That's one of the key questions as don't think anyone can say the manager hasn't been financially backed.

If you look at the ins and outs over the last few seasons I think it's clear there has been a change in strategy. We've dropped bringing in youngsters to improve and sell, we've moved in to a more traditional oven-ready players strategy but with some young potential coming in to supplement that in the likes of Bowie.

I think we've been really unlucky with Bowie being injured, but it doesn't excuse the lack of a creative midfielder, that is a shocking miscalculation from the club.

There's no shame in missing out on a player who goes to Celtic, but not having a plan B was a really ****ty move. Now we have a midfield that will, in fairness, scrap for the ball, but there's very little in the way of creativity.

[Chorley Hibee]

Tin foil hat bull****.

The only folk who are deluded are the folk who believe the bull**** that this lot of con men continue to peddle to our support.

How bad does it have to get before you remove the blinkers and see the mess these clowns have created.

[Jones28]

The only folk who are deluded are the folk who believe the bull**** that this lot of con men continue to peddle to our support.

How bad does it have to get before you remove the blinkers and see the mess these clowns have created.

I can see they're making a mess of things without resorting to suggesting that we had no intentions of signing a player we were reportedly chasing for months.

[Paulie Walnuts]

I can see they're making a mess of things without resorting to suggesting that we had no intentions of signing a player we were reportedly chasing for months.

I think both things can be true.

I do think we went into the negotiations with the intention of signing him. Carrying on trying to battle Celtic for signature was ludicrous though and I don’t think it’s out with the realms of possibility that the continued pursuit became performative at that point, maybe even with the intention of being able to use it as an excuse for not having a plan B.

[superfurryhibby]

That is not why I said, or even what the club said. It was an unexpected opportunity they seen and went for outside of what was normal business.

But you crack on and keep making things up. You sound exactly like the kind of "fan" I have had to move my seat three times to escape.

It was hardly an unexpected opportunity, the whole of Scottish football knew McCowan was out of contract. Here's a wild suggestion, maybe we could have decided to bid for him early and if our efforts failed, we then moved on to another target?

In terms of transfer fee, it wasn't really outside of normal business. We have paid fees in excess of half a million pounds for Vente, Youan and Bowie in recent windows.

The idea that there were no decent options available elsewhere is laughable nonsense. The club failed to address a glaring deficit in a midfield that is devoid of creativity and has been for a long time. Instead of McCowan, we get Kwon and Triantis.

[Paulie Walnuts]

It was hardly an unexpected opportunity, the whole of Scottish football knew McCowan was out of contract. Here's a wild suggestion, maybe we could have decided to bid for him early and if our efforts failed, we then moved on to another target?

In terms of transfer fee, it wasn't really outside of normal business. We have paid fees in excess of half a million pounds for Vente, Youan and Bowie in recent windows.

The idea that there were no decent options available elsewhere is laughable nonsense. The club failed to address a glaring deficit in a midfield that is devoid of creativity and has been for a long time. Instead of McCowan, we get Kwon and Triantis.

:agree:

[One Day Soon]

I can see they're making a mess of things without resorting to suggesting that we had no intentions of signing a player we were reportedly chasing for months.

It was a Hail Mary attempted out of desperation that didn’t come off. I don’t blame anyone for that. Having no plan b, c or d was unprofessional to the point of a dereliction of duty. Spending so long on only that despite the signals was ludicrous. Taken together, the pursuit of one and the inactivity on the other at least puts in play the question as to real intent. Particularly when the background unfolding financial situation is considered. Outfit this way, we were either incredibly incompetent or incredibly disingenuous - and quite possibly both.

[allezsauzee]

It's because their signings are much better targeted than ours. We've had a very chaotic approach to recruitment in the last few years and very rarely do we sign a player knowing exactly what we are getting. For instance, we've got about 10 midfielders on our books and find ourselves with 2 loan players as regulars. One of them a failed centre half. We can switch managers as often as we like but until we actually fix the recruitment issue, nothing changes.

[Jones28]

I think both things can be true.

I do think we went into the negotiations with the intention of signing him. Carrying on trying to battle Celtic for signature was ludicrous though and I don’t think it’s out with the realms of possibility that the continued pursuit became performative at that point, maybe even with the intention of being able to use it as an excuse for not having a plan B.

I'll stick the boot in for not having a back up plan, but I don't believe at all that we were trying to sign him despites Celtics interest as a performative gesture.

Nobody wins in that scenario.

Anyone who's watched Sunderland Till I Die has seen first hand how difficult these windows can be.

[Jones28]

It was a Hail Mary attempted out of desperation that didn’t come off. I don’t blame anyone for that. Having no plan b, c or d was unprofessional to the point of a dereliction of duty. Spending so long on only that despite the signals was ludicrous. Taken together, the pursuit of one and the inactivity on the other at least puts in play the question as to real intent. Particularly when the background unfolding financial situation is considered. Outfit this way, we were either incredibly incompetent or incredibly disingenuous - and quite possibly both.

It wasn't a hail mary, we were chasing McGowan before the season started. For all we know Celtic came in with hours to go and as far as we were aware the deal was as good as done.

It's a murky world and a total **** up on our part but I don't believe the clubs intentions can be disputed.

What a ****ing mess it's left behind though.

[matty_f]

Aberdeen were poor for a number of years. But it just goes to show how nonsensical all the "long term plan" chat we've had to endure is. There never was any real long term plan. When you get things right, the effects are almost entirely immediate. We have people at the club who simply don't get things right and until that changes, we'll continue to not get things right.

That’s almost completely wrong. Aberdeen aren’t an overnight success, they took a couple of years to get there, and accelerated things at the start of last year by bringing in Burrows from Motherwell.

They’ve gone through a lot of pain to get to this point, albeit they got spectacular results early with the new manager, but it’s not the case that they hired this guy and did nothing else and all of a sudden were brilliant.

Your last sentence is spot on, though. Couldn’t agree more with it.

[Ozyhibby]

Aberdeen are doing fantastic this season but have been pretty rank for years. Let's not rewrite history.

They were third in 2023? Is it not you re-writing history?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Paulie Walnuts]

I'll stick the boot in for not having a back up plan, but I don't believe at all that we were trying to sign him despites Celtics interest as a performative gesture.

Nobody wins in that scenario.

Anyone who's watched Sunderland Till I Die has seen first hand how difficult these windows can be.

I suppose the argument is that the board and Mackay ‘win’ because they can use the excuse of focusing all their efforts on a signing that was never coming off once Celtic were involved as reason for not signing anyone else for a pivotal role.

It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if Celtic got involved and their was a stark realisation behind the scenes that we didn’t have a plan B and we needed to be seen to be trying something, even if it was something that was never coming off.

It becomes performative when you’re publicly trying to sign a player that everybody knows you won’t sign. I suppose the argument could be that the Gordon’s, Kensell and Mackay thought McCowan would view us as a more attractive proposition than Celtic, but even they aren’t that stupid.

It’s been done before at Hibs with Naismith. I don’t think it’s that outlandish to suggest it could have been done again.

[MWHIBBIES]

We were spending money.

Then they're realised how much we have wasted, the accounts show/will show this, and this summer they reverted to the cheap option, on all fronts.

Why was there no backup plan to McCowan?

I'm not defending them whatsoever. We were signing better players for half the money in the championship.

But they have spent money and did again in the summer. I do think they tried for McCowan and we're willing to sign him. Not having a back up play is inexcusable, I agree.

[.Sean.]

Hibs and our american owners went deep down the moneyball rabbit hole and the results of that wrong turn won't clear our system for a further 7 months.
However, with good recruitment next summer we should finally be back in the game.

P.S. the elephant in the room for Aberdeen is their ****-tip stadium and the issue will have to be addressed at some point
Sorry, still not stopped laughing at the bit about good recruitment 😂😂😂

[Jones28]

I suppose the argument is that the board and Mackay ‘win’ because they can use the excuse of focusing all their efforts on a signing that was never coming off once Celtic were involved as reason for not signing anyone else for a pivotal role.

It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if Celtic got involved and their was a stark realisation behind the scenes that we didn’t have a plan B and we needed to be seen to be trying something, even if it was something that was never coming off.

It becomes performative when you’re publicly trying to sign a player that everybody knows you won’t sign. I suppose the argument could be that the Gordon’s, Kensell and Mackay thought McCowan would view us as a more attractive proposition than Celtic, but even they aren’t that stupid.

It’s been done before at Hibs with Naismith. I don’t think it’s that outlandish to suggest it could have been done again.

The Transfer thread on the PM board had McGowan as good as done until the last hours of the window IIRC.

The performative stuff I suppose we will have to agree to disagree. I don't think an ambitious signing attempt that doesn't come off for whatever reason should be labelled performative.

[matty_f]

I'm not defending them whatsoever. We were signing better players for half the money in the championship.

But they have spent money and did again in the summer. I do think they tried for McCowan and we're willing to sign him. Not having a back up play is inexcusable, I agree.

I don’t think it’s inexcusable, £1m+ is a lot of money for Hibs, we were going to spend it on a player who was proven in this league, reaching his peak years and ready to go, from a Scottish club who by virtue of their own standing in the game, made the player affordable and within our reach.

The equivalent player from elsewhere would have cost a lot more, or we spend that money elsewhere but don’t get anywhere near the quality (apparently).

Despite evidence to the contrary, we are told that we don’t to make signings for signings’ sake and definitely not for that money.

I think the club saw McCowan as an opportunity to sign that player profile for a fee that represented excellent value that wasn’t readily available elsewhere.

I think the fact that Celtic were happy to sign him, with vastly greater resources than us, is indicative of the value for money he was seen as.

[Paulie Walnuts]

The Transfer thread on the PM board had McGowan as good as done until the last hours of the window IIRC.

The performative stuff I suppose we will have to agree to disagree. I don't think an ambitious signing attempt that doesn't come off for whatever reason should be labelled performative.

There might well have been but as good as done doesn’t get a deal over the line. And I would also say I only think it became performative once Celtic were in for him. Publicly pursuing him when Celtic decided they were in left us looking silly. It left us looking even sillier seeing as we done it and then didn’t have a back up.

And I’m not buying this nonsense that McCowan was some sort of unique opportunity and that’s why we didn’t bother having a back up (I know you didn’t suggest that btw).

[Jones28]

There might well have been but as good as done doesn’t get a deal over the line. And I would also say I only think it became performative once Celtic were in for him. Publicly pursuing him when Celtic decided they were in left us looking silly. It left us looking even sillier seeing as we done it and then didn’t have a back up.

And I’m not buying this nonsense that McCowan was some sort of unique opportunity and that’s why we didn’t bother having a back up (I know you didn’t suggest that btw).

No I agree on this 100%. It's ridiculous to imagine we couldn't have taken the million or whatever we were prepared to spend and found someone else as good - actually better for that kind of money, Dundee were taking the piss at the end IMO.

Experienced in Scottish football was the only USP on McGowan.

Agree that we did look silly over the whole thing.

[Paulie Walnuts]

No I agree on this 100%. It's ridiculous to imagine we couldn't have taken the million or whatever we were prepared to spend and found someone else as good - actually better for that kind of money, Dundee were taking the piss at the end IMO.

Experienced in Scottish football was the only USP on McGowan.

Agree that we did look silly over the whole thing.

Thing is for me, it didn’t even need to be the full million.

By its very nature, your first target should be the player you deem best value for money and preferably at the highest price point you can stretch to for that position. In this case, that was McCowan. After that, you have to then decide what back up option represents better value for money. Is it another £1m player who’s 90% of the player McCowan is? Or is it a £500k player who’s 75% of the player McCowan is? Is it a player on a free who’s 65% of the player?

The fact we didn’t have anyone, at any price point between £0 and £1m to fall back on is a complete and utter failure. I could understand if he never moved from Dundee and we were keeping our powder dry until January, but he’s gone, so it’s going to have to be a backup option going forward.

[MWHIBBIES]

I don’t think it’s inexcusable, £1m+ is a lot of money for Hibs, we were going to spend it on a player who was proven in this league, reaching his peak years and ready to go, from a Scottish club who by virtue of their own standing in the game, made the player affordable and within our reach.

The equivalent player from elsewhere would have cost a lot more, or we spend that money elsewhere but don’t get anywhere near the quality (apparently).

Despite evidence to the contrary, we are told that we don’t to make signings for signings’ sake and definitely not for that money.

I think the club saw McCowan as an opportunity to sign that player profile for a fee that represented excellent value that wasn’t readily available elsewhere.

I think the fact that Celtic were happy to sign him, with vastly greater resources than us, is indicative of the value for money he was seen as.

I think you've got to have a plan if a real difficult transfer doesnt come off. I understand it's difficult but we're not in a position of 1 or 2 key targets required to improve us. We're talking not 1 player is really cutting it. Putting all our eggs in one basket was naive.

We should set a deadline for McCowan and been working on number 2 in the meantime imo.

[matty_f]

Thing is for me, it didn’t even need to be the full million.

By its very nature, your first target should be the player you deem best value for money and preferably at the highest price point you can stretch to for that position. In this case, that was McCowan. After that, you have to then decide what back up option represents better value for money. Is it another £1m player who’s 90% of the player McCowan is? Or is it a £500k player who’s 75% of the player McCowan is? Is it a player on a free who’s 65% of the player?

The fact we didn’t have anyone, at any price point between £0 and £1m to fall back on is a complete and utter failure.

That player has to be better than Kwon, Triantis, and Newell for starters though, McCowan would have started every game he was fit and available for, not I don’t think Celtic or Sunderland sell Kwon or Triantis for much under a million each, while Newell would take a six figure fee to buy from us.

This is where we’re talking about making a signing for signing’s sake - they would need to be available, better than we have, and within our budget for wages. It’s not that easy to find.

We spent six figures on Melkersen, Levitt, and Vente and none of them made a great impact on the team.

[Paulie Walnuts]

That player has to be better than Kwon, Triantis, and Newell for starters though, McCowan would have started every game he was fit and available for, not I don’t think Celtic or Sunderland sell Kwon or Triantis for much under a million each, while Newell would take a six figure fee to buy from us.

This is where we’re talking about making a signing for signing’s sake - they would need to be available, better than we have, and within our budget for wages. It’s not that easy to find.

We spent six figures on Melkersen, Levitt, and Vente and none of them made a great impact on the team.

Essentially what you’re arguing is that we couldn’t improve on any of our current midfield without spending north of £1m. Unless you think we have the best non Old Firm midfield in Scotland, then I’d suggest the other teams are pretty clear evidence this isn’t the case, as there’s not one non Old Firm player who has cost any club as much as £1m.

Triantis and Kwon probably come with the over inflated price tag that comes from playing for big clubs. Their actual ability is nowhere near that of a £1m player and there’ll be stacks of players out there for less than £1m that are better than them, likewise with Newell.

[sauzeelegod]

We should throw the money offered for McCowan at the Bodo glint manager.

Or the SK Brann manager.

Erik Horneland.

Just for the name.

They play great football though and beat Bodø 4-1 last month.

[TrinityHFC]

Essentially what you’re arguing is that we couldn’t improve on any of our current midfield without spending north of £1m. Unless you think we have the best non Old Firm midfield in Scotland, then I’d suggest the other teams are pretty clear evidence this isn’t the case, as there’s not one non Old Firm player who has cost any club as much as £1m.

Triantis and Kwon probably come with the over inflated price tag that comes from playing for big clubs. Their actual ability is nowhere near that of a £1m player and there’ll be stacks of players out there for less than £1m that are better than them, likewise with Newell.

Why didn’t Celtic sign one of those stacks of players that were available for better value than McCowan? They aren’t daft.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Why didn’t Celtic sign one of those stacks of players that were available for better value than McCowan? They aren’t daft.

:confused:

At no point have I suggested there was better value available than McCowan. Infact I specifically said earlier that McCowan was clearly deemed the best value for £1m.

McCowan however, is gone. Unless you think we get our first choice target every time we sign someone then we move on to players that we deem lesser value for money all the time. The same should have happened here.

[easty]

Why didn’t Celtic sign one of those stacks of players that were available for better value than McCowan? They aren’t daft.

I don't really understand this post. They aren't daft? Celtc have wasted plenty money, they're no some kind of geniuses in the transfer market.

Celtc signed McCowan because he was relatively cheap to them, and proven in our league, and Scottish.

[MrRobot]

It was hardly an unexpected opportunity, the whole of Scottish football knew McCowan was out of contract. Here's a wild suggestion, maybe we could have decided to bid for him early and if our efforts failed, we then moved on to another target?

In terms of transfer fee, it wasn't really outside of normal business. We have paid fees in excess of half a million pounds for Vente, Youan and Bowie in recent windows.

The idea that there were no decent options available elsewhere is laughable nonsense. The club failed to address a glaring deficit in a midfield that is devoid of creativity and has been for a long time. Instead of McCowan, we get Kwon and Triantis.

It’s absolutely ridiculous that we didn’t have a back up for our top target tbh.

[matty_f]

Essentially what you’re arguing is that we couldn’t improve on any of our current midfield without spending north of £1m. Unless you think we have the best non Old Firm midfield in Scotland, then I’d suggest the other teams are pretty clear evidence this isn’t the case, as there’s not one non Old Firm player who has cost any club as much as £1m.

Triantis and Kwon probably come with the over inflated price tag that comes from playing for big clubs. Their actual ability is nowhere near that of a £1m player and there’ll be stacks of players out there for less than £1m that are better than them, likewise with Newell.

That’s not the argument at all.

We’re overloaded with midfielders, signed in that window Kwon and Triantis and made Newell captain with a new deal. We’d also only recently signed Amos and Moriah-Welsh. We added Cadden and Hoilett as well.

McCowan was a unique opportunity where a proven player was available for a good fee, we could afford his wages and he was willing to come. We only went for him because of those factors and he was clearly better than what we had.

If we look elsewhere, even ignoring the fee, you’re taking those factors out the equation (proven in the league/peak age/affordable) and then compromising on them.

Kwon and Triantis are valued what they’re valued at because they’re good enough to have been signed by those clubs. The stacks of better players need to also be available to sign and willing to come. I actually think most players that come to Scotland outside of the top couple of clubs are much of a muchness in terms of ability.

Kwon, Triantis, and Newell get in virtually any other team in the league’s midfield - they might not massively improve them but neither would they massively weaken them.

McCowan would undoubtedly have improved our team.

[Paulie Walnuts]

That’s not the argument at all.

We’re overloaded with midfielders, signed in that window Kwon and Triantis and made Newell captain with a new deal. We’d also only recently signed Amos and Moriah-Welsh. We added Cadden and Hoilett as well.

McCowan was a unique opportunity where a proven player was available for a good fee, we could afford his wages and he was willing to come. We only went for him because of those factors and he was clearly better than what we had.

If we look elsewhere, even ignoring the fee, you’re taking those factors out the equation (proven in the league/peak age/affordable) and then compromising on them.

Kwon and Triantis are valued what they’re valued at because they’re good enough to have been signed by those clubs. The stacks of better players need to also be available to sign and willing to come. I actually think most players that come to Scotland outside of the top couple of clubs are much of a muchness in terms of ability.

Kwon, Triantis, and Newell get in virtually any other team in the league’s midfield - they might not massively improve them but neither would they massively weaken them.

McCowan would undoubtedly have improved our team.

It is the argument. Hence why you referenced our 3 midfielders and then referenced the fact you think they would all command fees around £1m and pointed out they’d “need to be better than what we have”.

We still need a number 10 and Luke McCowan is no longer an option. We’re going to have to take those factors out the equation and compromise on them anyway. We should have done that in the summer rather than leaving ourselves short.

The unique opportunity stuff is a cop out imo. He was an easy option, much like Mackay, Gray and Marshall were. That’s not to say there’s always something wrong with the easy option, but he wasn’t a unique one.

And I don’t believe for a second the 3 of them get in virtually every other teams midfield.

[blackpoolhibs]

That’s not the argument at all.

We’re overloaded with midfielders, signed in that window Kwon and Triantis and made Newell captain with a new deal. We’d also only recently signed Amos and Moriah-Welsh. We added Cadden and Hoilett as well.

McCowan was a unique opportunity where a proven player was available for a good fee, we could afford his wages and he was willing to come. We only went for him because of those factors and he was clearly better than what we had.

If we look elsewhere, even ignoring the fee, you’re taking those factors out the equation (proven in the league/peak age/affordable) and then compromising on them.

Kwon and Triantis are valued what they’re valued at because they’re good enough to have been signed by those clubs. The stacks of better players need to also be available to sign and willing to come. I actually think most players that come to Scotland outside of the top couple of clubs are much of a muchness in terms of ability.

Kwon, Triantis, and Newell get in virtually any other team in the league’s midfield - they might not massively improve them but neither would they massively weaken them.

McCowan would undoubtedly have improved our team.

They dont make us good, they are part of a team that are 2nd bottom. I just dont see what it is that any of them are good at that gets them in any other teams, teams that have assembled their own midfields for much less money?

[easty]

That’s not the argument at all.

We’re overloaded with midfielders, signed in that window Kwon and Triantis and made Newell captain with a new deal. We’d also only recently signed Amos and Moriah-Welsh. We added Cadden and Hoilett as well.

McCowan was a unique opportunity where a proven player was available for a good fee, we could afford his wages and he was willing to come. We only went for him because of those factors and he was clearly better than what we had.

If we look elsewhere, even ignoring the fee, you’re taking those factors out the equation (proven in the league/peak age/affordable) and then compromising on them.

Kwon and Triantis are valued what they’re valued at because they’re good enough to have been signed by those clubs. The stacks of better players need to also be available to sign and willing to come. I actually think most players that come to Scotland outside of the top couple of clubs are much of a muchness in terms of ability.

Kwon, Triantis, and Newell get in virtually any other team in the league’s midfield - they might not massively improve them but neither would they massively weaken them.

McCowan would undoubtedly have improved our team.

If we were limited the number of midfielders we could bring in, due to what we already have, then we shouldn't have signed one of Kwon and Triantis, and shouldve prioritised a guy who could pick the ball up in the middle of the park, take it into the final third and make things happen. Neither Kwon or Triantis are that kind of player, and that's what we needed. It's what we're clearly missing, and it's something that's costing us.

[H18S NX]

The only folk who are deluded are the folk who believe the bull**** that this lot of con men continue to peddle to our support.

How bad does it have to get before you remove the blinkers and see the mess these clowns have created....Absolutely spot on m8.:aok:

[DIXIHIBS]

They were third in 2023? Is it not you re-writing history?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It was in reference to comments that their CEO etc are great decision makers/football men etc. They recently had two 9th places and appointed Robson. Glass, Goodwin, Warnock. Even Hibs stuck 6 past them.

[matty_f]

If we were limited the number of midfielders we could bring in, due to what we already have, then we shouldn't have signed one of Kwon and Triantis, and shouldve prioritised a guy who could pick the ball up in the middle of the park, take it into the final third and make things happen. Neither Kwon or Triantis are that kind of player, and that's what we needed. It's what we're clearly missing, and it's something that's costing us.

I agree with that but it’s a different argument.

[lyonhibs]

That is not why I said, or even what the club said. It was an unexpected opportunity they seen and went for outside of what was normal business.

But you crack on and keep making things up. You sound exactly like the kind of "fan" I have had to move my seat three times to escape.

Sensible "normal business" would've told anyone 1 more forward thinking midfielder was a necessity. The sum rumoured for McCowan may have outside "normal" business the need for a midfielder was not. The idea that the only midfielder they were looking at was McCowan unfortunately makes them amateurs.

[matty_f]

They dont make us good, they are part of a team that are 2nd bottom. I just dont see what it is that any of them are good at that gets them in any other teams, teams that have assembled their own midfields for much less money?

Last night we played the second half in Ross County’s half. Their midfield couldn’t dominate ours.
Against Hearts it was much of a muchness between the midfields.
Against Motherwell and Dundee United, we were the better team before Red cards swung it.
Against Rangers the midfield was excellent.
At Kilmarnock we were at least as good as their midfield, would say we are better than Dundee’s.

There’s not much in it though, which is the point. You could swap players with those midfields and not see a huge difference either way.

[One Day Soon]

It wasn't a hail mary, we were chasing McGowan before the season started. For all we know Celtic came in with hours to go and as far as we were aware the deal was as good as done.

It's a murky world and a total **** up on our part but I don't believe the clubs intentions can be disputed.

What a ****ing mess it's left behind though.

You're missing my point I think. It was a Hail Mary in the sense that there was little chance it would come off, it became pretty obvious that this was the case after repeated attempts to get him over the line and certainly as soon as possible Celtic interest became apparent. All this in the context of apparently having no alternative plane. A Hail Mary is a very long odds last chance that is unlikely to work. I am suggesting that is what they attempted rather than something more achievable.

Given that no remotely equivalent alternative was attempted - and given our broader financial issues - a cynic would be perfectly entitled to be suspicious about the motives and real intentions behind this saga.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Last night we played the second half in Ross County’s half. Their midfield couldn’t dominate ours.
Against Hearts it was much of a muchness between the midfields.
Against Motherwell and Dundee United, we were the better team before Red cards swung it.
Against Rangers the midfield was excellent.
At Kilmarnock we were at least as good as their midfield, would say we are better than Dundee’s.

There’s not much in it though, which is the point. You could swap players with those midfields and not see a huge difference either way.

If you could swap the midfields and not see much difference either way then does that not suggest our midfielders aren’t each in the region of £1m midfielders seeing as the vast majority of midfielders in our league wouldn’t command that type of fee? Unless you think our league is awash with million pound midfielders of course.

[matty_f]

If you could swap the midfields and not see much difference either way then does that not suggest our midfielders aren’t each in the region of £1m midfielders seeing as the vast majority of midfielders in our league wouldn’t command that type of fee? Unless you think our league is awash with million pound midfielders of course.

No, it highlights the point I was making about why McCowan resisted particularly good value for the money he was going for.


He’s better than Kwon, evidenced by the fact Kwon is not at Celtic while McCowan is.

We can sell players for more than St Johnstone or St Mirren can. Celtic and Sunderland can sell them for more than we can.

If we go to the Championship in England we pay more than we would for McCowan to get the same standard of player. When you lower that cost, the difference in quality lessens.

I can’t remember what we paid for Levitt, but had he become a regular in our first team we would make a profit on the sale by virtue of who we are. Had Celtic signed him and he became a first team player there, they’d make a bigger profit than we would.

[PHeffernan]

That’s not the argument at all.

We’re overloaded with midfielders, signed in that window Kwon and Triantis and made Newell captain with a new deal. We’d also only recently signed Amos and Moriah-Welsh. We added Cadden and Hoilett as well.

McCowan was a unique opportunity where a proven player was available for a good fee, we could afford his wages and he was willing to come. We only went for him because of those factors and he was clearly better than what we had.

If we look elsewhere, even ignoring the fee, you’re taking those factors out the equation (proven in the league/peak age/affordable) and then compromising on them.

Kwon and Triantis are valued what they’re valued at because they’re good enough to have been signed by those clubs. The stacks of better players need to also be available to sign and willing to come. I actually think most players that come to Scotland outside of the top couple of clubs are much of a muchness in terms of ability.

Kwon, Triantis, and Newell get in virtually any other team in the league’s midfield - they might not massively improve them but neither would they massively weaken them.

McCowan would undoubtedly have improved our team.

Agreed, unless you take risks in more obscure markets you are unlikely to bring in any player better than very low level English Championship quality.
Hoilett has far better ability than any other Hibs player and is only here because he is 34 which should be the age limit for middle to front signings.
Gayle has a similar pedigree but is 35, which is too old, hence he is already injured after light use. He was signed to cover for the injured Bowie.
Bowie looked good but his documented hamstring issues were the backstory and that blew up in our face.

Triantes and Kwon were plan B for McCowan and allowed the can to be kicked down the road until all the bed blockers leave at the end of their contracts in the summer. The likelyhood is we won't get a better standard of midfield player in the summer unless they are old or there is a back story.
Outside of the OF Lennon Miller is probably the only star midfield player and his team only have him because he is homegrown.

Hibs are stuck between a rock and a hard place for another 7 months and i'm afraid we just have to suck it up until then. A load of players taking up the budget will leave at that point and I suspect the manager will be moved on at the same time. Wasn't expecting things to be so grim this season but still expect us to finish 5th or 6th.

P.S. Foley has too date given us the slaver Marcondes, the very average NMW and the broken Bevan. In short he dumped his rubbish on us.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Agreed, unless you take risks in more obscure markets you are unlikely to bring in any player better than very low level English Championship quality.
Hoilett has far better ability than any other Hibs player and is only here because he is 34 which should be the age limit for middle to front signings.
Gayle has a similar pedigree but is 35, which is too old, hence he is already injured after light use. He is only here to cover until Bowie is repaired.
Bowie looked good but his documented hamstring issues were the backstory and that blew up in our face.

Triantes and Kwon were plan B for McCowan and allowed the can to be kicked down the road until all the bed blockers leave at the end of their contracts in the summer. The likelyhood is we won't get a better standard of midfield player in the summer unless they are old or there is a back story.
Outside of the OF Lennon Miller is probably the only star player, who his team only have because he is homegrown.

Hibs are stuck between a rock and a hard place for another 7 months and i'm afraid we just have to suck it up until then. A load of players taking up the budget will leave at that point and I suspect the manager will be moved on at the same time. Wasn't expecting things to be so grim this season but still expect us to finish 5th or 6th.

P.S. Foley has too date given us the slaver Marcondes, the very average NMW and the broken Bevan. In short he dumped Marcondes and NMW's on us.

Triantis and Kwon weren’t plan B for McCowan. By all accounts they were coming in anyway and they play a completely different role.

[Paulie Walnuts]

No, it highlights the point I was making about why McCowan resisted particularly good value for the money he was going for.


He’s better than Kwon, evidenced by the fact Kwon is not at Celtic while McCowan is.

We can sell players for more than St Johnstone or St Mirren can. Celtic and Sunderland can sell them for more than we can.

If we go to the Championship in England we pay more than we would for McCowan to get the same standard of player. When you lower that cost, the difference in quality lessens.

I can’t remember what we paid for Levitt, but had he become a regular in our first team we would make a profit on the sale by virtue of who we are. Had Celtic signed him and he became a first team player there, they’d make a bigger profit than we would.

So we go out to the whole world of football and sign a player that represents decent value rather than going to bigger clubs where we have to pay a premium. Luke McCowan being the only option is a cop out.

[NAE NOOKIE]

Luck plays a part .... It's taken Aberdeen long enough to get to this state of affairs. Lets not forget they haven't won a damned thing since 2014 ... at the end of the day you cant polish 2nd or 3rd place or have a parade for it.

As for them winning the league. Not a hope, the last time they did it 2nd placed Celtic lost 6 and drew 8. This Aberdeen side will get no help from other teams ... Celtic made 5 changes last night and still utterly dominated Dundee.

As for Hibs. The football side of this club is simply badly run, appointing a rookie manager after a series of failures has proved to be as dumb a move as you can make. We have a team of mostly highly experienced players and yet we have the manager last night saying we were braver on the ball in the 2nd half last night and that even then we lacked composure.

With the experience our players have bravery on the ball should be a 90 minute thing ... not for a half or 30 minutes out of 90.... and on the wages we pay added to that experience keeping the heid in front of goal in the white hot atmosphere at Ross County should be a sodding given. Why the hell do we have so many players the manager doesn't think can last 90 minutes? Many of his subs aren't just tactical, he's taking off players because they are running out of steam ... Newell was allegedly on his game in the 2nd half last night and actually making a difference ... he subbed him off .. why?

In the end:
Badly coached
Unfit
No confidence in their own ability.
Seemingly no team bonding or ethic and no leadership on the park

For the money we pay in transfer fees and wages we should be getting far better than that ... the fact we aren't shows a lack of ability that goes all the way to the top of this club.

[Stokesy's on fire]

They have a had a fair amount of luck of late they are still a pretty poor side and still as dull as mud. But I'd rather be in their position than ours.

[21May16]

Agreed, unless you take risks in more obscure markets you are unlikely to bring in any player better than very low level English Championship quality.
Hoilett has far better ability than any other Hibs player and is only here because he is 34 which should be the age limit for middle to front signings.
Gayle has a similar pedigree but is 35, which is too old, hence he is already injured after light use. He is only here to cover until Bowie is repaired.
Bowie looked good but his documented hamstring issues were the backstory and that blew up in our face.

Triantes and Kwon were plan B for McCowan and allowed the can to be kicked down the road until all the bed blockers leave at the end of their contracts in the summer. The likelyhood is we won't get a better standard of midfield player in the summer unless they are old or there is a back story.
Outside of the OF Lennon Miller is probably the only star player, who his team only have because he is homegrown.

Hibs are stuck between a rock and a hard place for another 7 months and i'm afraid we just have to suck it up until then. A load of players taking up the budget will leave at that point and I suspect the manager will be moved on at the same time. Wasn't expecting things to be so grim this season but still expect us to finish 5th or 6th.

P.S. Foley has too date given us the slaver Marcondes, the very average NMW and the broken Bevan. In short he dumped Marcondes and NMW's on us.

Marcondes has undoubted ability and how do you work out he "dumped" NMW on us before he had a stake in the club? Are you claiming Foley forced the club to give him a long term contract? No chance.

[Cooshed Kid]

We seem to have meandered off the point. Basically, from top to bottom Aberdeen are better and better run than we are. It's not a new story. That's been the story of the last 50 years. Good luck to them. I hope we beat them whenever we play them but otherwise, whatever the consequences, I want to see them establish themselves as the second force - not the third - in Scottish football UNTIL we can replace them. Clearly, we are nowhere near doing that now, but I want to see the Glasgow duopoly humbled whenever possible.

Aberdeen are already superior to "Rangers". The title is in their sights. Oh, to be a Dons' supporter now. I haven't felt that kind of optimism since the first few days of January '73 before that ghastly afternoon when Brownlie's leg was broken in that desperately dull - and if I recall correctly, damp - game with East Fife. What a dismal follow-up to 0-7.

[hibsbollah]

If you could swap the midfields and not see much difference either way then does that not suggest our midfielders aren’t each in the region of £1m midfielders seeing as the vast majority of midfielders in our league wouldn’t command that type of fee? Unless you think our league is awash with million pound midfielders of course.

It could also suggest that the system they were being asked to play in,and the instructions they are being given and how they are being coached, aren’t working. I watched the whole of Aberdeens hun-bashing last night and one of the most obvious features was the midfielders were taking wee first time touches to release runners, while spinning off their man to join the attack. Everything looked ‘dynamic’ and confusing for defenders. Ourbuild up play is predictable by comparison.

[blackpoolhibs]

Last night we played the second half in Ross County’s half. Their midfield couldn’t dominate ours.
Against Hearts it was much of a muchness between the midfields.
Against Motherwell and Dundee United, we were the better team before Red cards swung it.
Against Rangers the midfield was excellent.
At Kilmarnock we were at least as good as their midfield, would say we are better than Dundee’s.

There’s not much in it though, which is the point. You could swap players with those midfields and not see a huge difference either way.

The problem with all that is no other teams bar the obvious would be able to afford our midfield, they went about their business and brought in players on a fraction of what we pay or their worth in our midfield.

They all manage to do better under these restrictions, and all are performing better than we are as a whole on a much smaller budget.

We dont dominate other midfields or create many chances from them, being as good as other teams is subjective, and i fail to see any combination that we have as good.

[Smartie]

It could also suggest that the system they were being asked to play in,and the instructions they are being given and how they are being coached, aren’t working. I watched the whole of Aberdeens hun-bashing last night and one of the most obvious features was the midfielders were taking wee first time touches to release runners, while spinning off their man to join the attack. Everything looked ‘dynamic’ and confusing for defenders. Ourbuild up play is predictable by comparison.

The highlight of our midfield play last night was one point during the second half when Joe Newell did just that - a first time pass in behind their defence on our left side. It took them by surprise, it probably took us by surprise too. On this occasion I actually forget what eventually came of it (probably a blocked attempted cross) but it stood out as a time when we passed the ball forward at speed.

Imagine that wasn’t a memorable one-off and an actual feature of our general attacking play?

[21May16]

The highlight of our midfield play last night was one point during the second half when Joe Newell did just that - a first time pass in behind their defence on our left side. It took them by surprise, it probably took us by surprise too. On this occasion I actually forget what eventually came of it (probably a blocked attempted cross) but it stood out as a time when we passed the ball forward at speed.

Imagine that wasn’t a memorable one-off and an actual feature of our general attacking play?

It was is as memorable as Youan picking up the ball in the second half on Sunday, head up and played a great ball into Gayle, the first thing he had done effectively most the game. And like Youan soon after Newell was subbed. :confused:

[CathroMustStay]

Interesting as it would be to see, them doing so would only give them further advantage in the seasons to come against teams chasing for a European spot (ambitiously/naively believing this could be Hibs...).

There's an unfortunate convenience to the 2 financial powerhouses of the league maintaining their status quo - unless it's us who break it.

You surely can't be saying you'd rather the huns finish 2nd instead of Aberdeen?

[Paulie Walnuts]

You surely can't be saying you'd rather the huns finish 2nd instead of Aberdeen?

Ordinarily I’d say I would. Aberdeen are a side we should be competing with, rangers aren’t. I’d rather not give Aberdeen that advantage.

I’d make an exception this season though. Finishing third could really be the beginning of Rangers demise.

[Stuart93]

They have a had a fair amount of luck of late they are still a pretty poor side and still as dull as mud. But I'd rather be in their position than ours.

They looked a decent side last night and pretty exciting to watch.

Unsure where you’re getting dull as mud from. I wish we were dull as mud if that’s it

[Jones28]

You surely can't be saying you'd rather the huns finish 2nd instead of Aberdeen?


Ordinarily I’d say I would. Aberdeen are a side we should be competing with, rangers aren’t. I’d rather not give Aberdeen that advantage.

I’d make an exception this season though. Finishing third could really be the beginning of Rangers demise.

I'd take it if you could promise this would be the case.

Last night watching Aberdeen fans celebrate did absolutely nothing for me apart from piss me off at the incompetence of our board.

[HarpOnHibee]

Ordinarily I’d say I would. Aberdeen are a side we should be competing with, rangers aren’t. I’d rather not give Aberdeen that advantage.

I’d make an exception this season though. Finishing third could really be the beginning of Rangers demise.

There's a chance they may not even get third. But i'm sure VAR will swoop in to save them at some point like it did countless times the previous season.

[CathroMustStay]

Ordinarily I’d say I would. Aberdeen are a side we should be competing with, rangers aren’t. I’d rather not give Aberdeen that advantage.

I’d make an exception this season though. Finishing third could really be the beginning of Rangers demise.

I just don't buy the argument that Aberdeen finishing 2nd one season means they'd be much harder for us to catch etc.

McInnes led them to 2nd place finishes in 2016/17 & 2017/18 over the huns. Yet in the following four seasons Aberdeen finished 4th, 4th, 4th and 10th.

[easty]

I honestly have nae preference as to who finishes 2nd out of Rangers and Aberdeen.

I wouldn't want Hearts to finish 2nd, but any other team is the same for me, couldnae care less.

[KeithTheHibby]

They've got lucky. Look at the last couple of seasons.

Nah I am not buying that. You don't win 15 from 16 games and put it down to luck.

[21May16]

Nah I am not buying that. You don't win 15 from 16 games and put it down to luck.

:agree: They have lost once this year - Scottish Cup Semi to Celtic on pens. And even then they were unlucky to not get a clear penalty at the end.

[Paulie Walnuts]

:agree: They have lost once this year - Scottish Cup Semi to Celtic on pens. And even then they were unlucky to not get a clear penalty at the end.

They have lost 6 league games this year.

I don’t necessarily disagree with the point though, they’re certainly not just lucky.

[Trinity Hibee]

:agree: They have lost once this year - Scottish Cup Semi to Celtic on pens. And even then they were unlucky to not get a clear penalty at the end.

Once this year? As in 2024? That can’t be right

Edit - I see it’s 6 defeats. Impressive though

[21May16]

They have lost 6 league games this year.

I don’t necessarily disagree with the point though, they’re certainly not just lucky.

Apologies, since they punted Warnock. I thought that was in January. Carry on :greengrin

[cabbageandribs1875]

Aberdeen looking very good for 3rd, they won't split the old squirm though













i've bookmarked this prediction

[NC1875]

They have a had a fair amount of luck of late they are still a pretty poor side and still as dull as mud. But I'd rather be in their position than ours.

WOW.

Would love to know your thoughts on us as a team 😂😂

[hibsforeurope]

For as much as i can't stand Aberdeen, their owner have done the right thing.

They knew they were failing and went seeking outside help, to do a full review of the club, and weren't too arrogant to follow the advice.

Brought in an Burrows, who knew the league and had a proven track record.

also used external help to find and appoint the right manager for the club and the league, doing their homework to see his style and ethos would work.

As i say i can't stand aberdeen or their over inflated sense of grandeur but they have turned things around, and quickly.

While we're told it'll take x amount of years and windows to sort things out.

[Trinity Hibee]

Had a look, they are 2 points better of than Burleys Hearts team after 10 games

[Chorley Hibee]

For as much as i can't stand Aberdeen, their owner have done the right thing.

They knew they were failing and went seeking outside help, to do a full review of the club, and weren't too arrogant to follow the advice.

Brought in an Burrows, who knew the league and had a proven track record.

also used external help to find and appoint the right manager for the club and the league, doing their homework to see his style and ethos would work.

As i say i can't stand aberdeen or their over inflated sense of grandeur but they have turned things around, and quickly.

While we're told it'll take x amount of years and windows to sort things out.

Our review told us that David Gray, Liam Craig, Craig Samson, Eddie May, Malky McKay and David Marshall were the answer.

Of course, it was just a coincidence they were either already here, cheap, or a pal of someone already here.

Can't wait for the next review.

[hibsforeurope]

Our review told us that David Gray, Liam Craig, Craig Samson, Eddie May, Malky McKay and David Marshall were the answer.

Of course, it was just a coincidence they were either already here, cheap, or a pal of someone already here.

Can't wait for the next review.

:greengrin that is a very specific review that our external reviewers (Ken bensell & partners) produced.

[Trinity Hibee]

:greengrin that is a very specific review that our external reviewers (Ken bensell & partners) produced.

😂

[21May16]

Our review told us that David Gray, Liam Craig, Craig Samson, Eddie May, Malky McKay and David Marshall were the answer.

Of course, it was just a coincidence they were either already here, cheap, or a pal of someone already here.

Can't wait for the next review.

Did we ever get the results of the BKs review? Strange when Monty got sacked the club announced they (the BKs) would conduct a full review but never revealed how that was concluded? I suspect we know why I suppose.

[Trinity Hibee]

Did we ever get the results of the BKs review? Strange when Monty got sacked the club announced they would conduct a full review but never revealed how that was concluded? I suspect we know why I suppose.

A question that should be raised at the next AGM

[21May16]

A question that should be raised at the next AGM

Great shout. And directed to the two Black Knights directors on the board hopefully too so it's not swept aside.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Did we ever get the results of the BKs review? Strange when Monty got sacked the club announced they (the BKs) would conduct a full review but never revealed how that was concluded? I suspect we know why I suppose.

The review was announced as something that would be taken place (not something that had already started) less than 4 weeks prior to Mackay being announced. Mackay was also apparently around about the club long before he was announced.

I’m not convinced there was a review. Wouldn’t even be surprised if the Black Knights weren’t aware they were “going” to be asked.

[21May16]

The review was announced as something that would be taken place (not something that had already started) less than 4 weeks prior to Mackay being announced. Mackay was also apparently around about the club long before he was announced.

I’m not convinced there was a review. Wouldn’t even be surprised if the Black Knights weren’t aware they were going to be asked.

You could be entirely correct mate, either way the questions should be asked at the AGM.

[One Day Soon]

Our review told us that David Gray, Liam Craig, Craig Samson, Eddie May, Malky McKay and David Marshall were the answer.

Of course, it was just a coincidence they were either already here, cheap, or a pal of someone already here.

Can't wait for the next review.


**** me that post nails it. The Chairman, the owner and the Chief Executive have a hell of a lot of explaining to do.

[Keith_M]

CEO who has a clue, appointed by an owner who at least tries to do things right.

That usually leads to good recruitment and managers.

Our owners are incompetent clowns.


Sad but true.

[Jones28]

Our review told us that David Gray, Liam Craig, Craig Samson, Eddie May, Malky McKay and David Marshall were the answer.

Of course, it was just a coincidence they were either already here, cheap, or a pal of someone already here.

Can't wait for the next review.

Difficult to disagree with any of this tbh.

[cabbageandribs1875]

Would love to know if Jimmy Thelin put his hat in the ring for the Hibs job.


i'd love to know if ANY other than DG put his/her hat in the ring

normally those interested have their agents stir up a bit of PR, i can't remember reading of any






i may have missed if any right enough :)

[CentreLine]

I might have got this wrong but was there not something about our bonus system being significantly changed when Ron Gordon took over? Is it possible the incentive is not “good enough” for some in our squad?
Maybe Aberdeen are making it very worthwhile for their players to get results and we are not?

[Alfred E Newman]

Their successful start to the season has a lot to do with confidence. With a new manager in charge they took full advantage of an easy league cup section and a kind opening fixture list and pushed on from there. We have never recovered from the Kelty embarrassment.

[One Day Soon]

Their successful start to the season has a lot to do with confidence. With a new manager in charge they took full advantage of an easy league cup section and a kind opening fixture list and pushed on from there. We have never recovered from the Kelty embarrassment.

This is fair. They got momentum and confidence and that carries a long way.

[Ribs1875]

Aberdeen offered no width last season and addressed that. We offered nothing up top or in the centre mid and failed to address that. Hell mend us.

[PHeffernan]

Triantis and Kwon weren’t plan B for McCowan. By all accounts they were coming in anyway and they play a completely different role.

Did someone at Hibs state this?

[PHeffernan]

Marcondes has undoubted ability and how do you work out he "dumped" NMW on us before he had a stake in the club? Are you claiming Foley forced the club to give him a long term contract? No chance.

Marcondes was given to us because he was coming off a long injury and his contract was ending so he was of no use to Bournemouth. They had also worked out that NMW was never going to make it so again were happy to give him to Hibs.
This was Foley trying to ingratiate himself with the Hibs support before the vote. He has chucked us no other crumbs from his table since his group added a 25% share of our "little" club to their soccer club portfolio.

[JohnM1875]

Did someone at Hibs state this?

They were both signed when we were still bidding for McCowan?

[Brizo]

Our review told us that David Gray, Liam Craig, Craig Samson, Eddie May, Malky McKay and David Marshall were the answer.

Of course, it was just a coincidence they were either already here, cheap, or a pal of someone already here.

Can't wait for the next review.

The appointment of Thelin suggests that a genuine review did take place up in sheep land while the list of appointees above , and the lack of transparency about the outcome of our apparent review, suggests to me that it was little more than a PR exercise designed to appeal to punters who were swithering about renewing STs and corporate packages

[Ozyhibby]

Marcondes was given to us because he was coming off a long injury and his contract was ending so he was of no use to Bournemouth. They had also worked out that NMW was never going to make it so again were happy to give him to Hibs.
This was Foley trying to ingratiate himself with the Hibs support before the vote. He has chucked us no other crumbs from his table since his group added a 25% share of our "little" club to their soccer club portfolio.

To be fair, we have ignored their advice and went our own way in running the club. I’m not surprised they pulled back.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[21May16]

Marcondes was given to us because he was coming off a long injury and his contract was ending so he was of no use to Bournemouth. They had also worked out that NMW was never going to make it so again were happy to give him to Hibs.
This was Foley trying to ingratiate himself with the Hibs support before the vote. He has chucked us no other crumbs from his table since his group added a 25% share of our "little" club to their soccer club portfolio.

We didn’t have to say yes to any of the three players you know, there was no gun held to our back forcing a three year contract for a player who now can’t get a game for the team second bottom of the league.

We are a little club in terms of his portfolio. We are also in a ****ing terrible position under the custodians of the club that has gradually got worse. Let’s not start trying to blame the BKFC for any of this or portray them as the bad guys.

[21May16]

The appointment of Thelin suggests that a genuine review did take place up in sheep land while the list of appointees above , and the lack of transparency about the outcome of our apparent review, suggests to me that it was little more than a PR exercise designed to appeal to punters who were swithering about renewing STs and corporate packages

Perhaps it took place and the recommendations ignored hence the fall out?

[One Day Soon]

Marcondes was given to us because he was coming off a long injury and his contract was ending so he was of no use to Bournemouth. They had also worked out that NMW was never going to make it so again were happy to give him to Hibs.
This was Foley trying to ingratiate himself with the Hibs support before the vote. He has chucked us no other crumbs from his table since his group added a 25% share of our "little" club to their soccer club portfolio.

Unless someone at Hibs was making a nice wee wedge from the deal, the whole point of it was that we would benefit from their network and insight across a range of footballing maters. That's why they ponied up £6 million. We took their money, then appeared to ignore their opinions on a key matter and then also appeared to make a point of snubbing them about who would make the decisions at Hibs.

None of that speaks to a working partnership and if I was Foley I would be inclined to let Hibs stew in their own juice for a while. Particularly if I was aware of just how low calibre the people in key positions at the club were and the almost inevitable medium term consequences of that. Foley didn't need to ingratiate himself with the support because we had literally no role to play in that deal.

[One Day Soon]

Perhaps it took place and the recommendations ignored hence the fall out?

Our club is run on the whim of the owner and the Chief Executive, regardless of public statements about strategy, planning or anything else. Anything that comes from anywhere outside of their heads and their opinions will be ignored, or not, depending on their personal preferences.

[21May16]

Our club is run on the whim of the owner and the Chief Executive, regardless of public statements about strategy, planning or anything else. Anything that comes from anywhere outside of their heads and their opinions will be ignored, or not, depending on their personal preferences.

Pretty much nails it. And us, the support are the simpletons that simply don’t understand.

[Brizo]

Our club is run on the whim of the owner and the Chief Executive, regardless of public statements about strategy, planning or anything else. Anything that comes from anywhere outside of their heads and their opinions will be ignored, or not, depending on their personal preferences.

The evidence certainly points to that, which is a scary position for our club to be in.

[CentreLine]

They were both signed when we were still bidding for McCowan?

That is a fact. Our final bid for McCowan was not rejected until late evening on deadline day.

[21May16]

That is a fact. Our final bid for McCowan was not rejected until late evening on deadline day.

What I don’t understand is Kwon was signed a couple of days after we played Celtic at home and Malky and Rodgers went for dinner after. That’s cool, fair play we get a good player (good is cutting it fine but in terms of this squad good) but they must have discussed McCowan . Hearts walked away when it was evident Celtic were interested, our sporting director has dinner with the Celtic manager as they are interested but still continued with no back up plan until the last minute of the transfer window? Rodgers tells malky he’s plan b to the polish boy, cool but as bloody well make sure we have a plan b too. That’s our sporting director, the guy in charge, who will have inside info on celtics plans who didn’t have any sort of resolution. Same guy that thought it was a great idea to appoint an inexperienced head coach and back room staff and make our retiring goalie his assistant to learn on the job like Ian Gordon is from Ben Kensell.

Someone mentioned Sunderland till I die earlier. This is like Sunderland till I die. A complete car crash shambles that the world would be pissing themselves laughing at if it was recorded. Aye let’s bid for Mitov, didn’t happen oh well let’s go for an Ian Gordon special on loan for a year. ***** at Stoke doesn’t matter, hasn’t played top level football 18 months doesn’t matter let’s make him our number one. And the back up let’s give him a multi year contract even though we are meant to be having a clean slate the end of the season.

[LaMotta]

Aberdeen's season will slowly unravel now and Jimmy Thelin will be out of a job this time next year.:cb

[Carheenlea]

Wheels to come off - can’t buy a win - Hibs beat them 2-0 at Pittodrie just before Christmas and Thelin is dispensed with.

[Houston7]

Wheels to come off - can’t buy a win - Hibs beat them 2-0 at Pittodrie just before Christmas and Thelin is dispensed with.

It certainly will be interesting to see what pyscological impact this result will have on the Aberdeen squad & manager. The last time they took such a thrashing was the day Goodwin lost his job at ER.

[Jim44]

Wheels to come off - can’t buy a win - Hibs beat them 2-0 at Pittodrie just before Christmas and Thelin is dispensed with.


It certainly will be interesting to see what pyscological impact this result will have on the Aberdeen squad & manager. The last time they took such a thrashing was the day Goodwin lost his job at ER.

Wishful thinking, methinks. A freak result against the outstanding team in the league. I reckon Aberdeen will shrug this off as a bad day at the office and continue to be the best of the rest. I frankly couln’t give a toss about this end of the league and just want to see us climb back up to a position of relative safety, which is, by far, not a foregone conclusion.

[Pretty Boy]

It will be interesting to see how Aberdeen react but I think predictions of their demise are somewhat premature (I know some are tongue in cheek). If Hibs got humped like that and people started predicting a tumble down the league, long winless run and managerial sackings plenty would be screaming 'knee jerk'.

I think the same is true here. On their day no one can touch Celtic and today was their day. There will be a few more teams experience a result like that before the season is done.

[7Hero]

28232

[Glory Lurker]

Pop

[chrisski33]

For those who think Aberdeen's bubble has popped I fear that you are wrong. Think they will bounce back against us sadly.

[CentreLine]

For those who think Aberdeen's bubble has popped I fear that you are wrong. Think they will bounce back against us sadly.

Hope they do. Really want to see some team take the Euro place from The Rangers International Football Club.

[Since452]

Said for weeks Aberdeen will still finish 15 points plus behind the Huns. We've all seen teams put up a plucky fight up until around Xmas. They will probably finish 3rd but it will be a distant 3rd.

[Ringothedog]

For those who think Aberdeen's bubble has popped I fear that you are wrong. Think they will bounce back against us sadly.

They have 2 games before playing us. Are you saying they will not win their next 2 games but then beat us?

[Glory Lurker]

Not a chance the orcs would lose six to Celtc in a semi.

[The Spaceman]

Bang.

[Spike Mandela]

I remember Celtic beat us 6-1 in a Scottish Cup Final but we were still the second best team in the country.

[SHODAN]

Hibs' biggest ever defeat in the League Cup is by five goals.

Aberdeen's is not.

[CapitalGreen]

I remember Celtic beat us 6-1 in a Scottish Cup Final but we were still the second best team in the country.

Presumably based on how we did over a full season rather than one round of fixtures?

[judas]

This post cracks me up.

I’ve seen hibs top of the league or very close at Xmas. Thelin or whatever comes along and has sheep joint top in October and bedwetters are soiling themselves too..

Football fans, especially the younger generation have no patience.

Too many dopamine hits on you tube and tik tok.

[MWHIBBIES]

For those who think Aberdeen's bubble has popped I fear that you are wrong. Think they will bounce back against us sadly.

Against us? That's weeks away, don't think that's bouncing back.

[MWHIBBIES]

This post cracks me up.

I’ve seen hibs top of the league or very close at Xmas. Thelin or whatever comes along and has sheep joint top in October and bedwetters are soiling themselves too..

Football fans, especially the younger generation have no patience.

Too many dopamine hits on you tube and tik tok.

Hibs have never started a season as well as Aberdeen have tbh.

[Trinity Hibee]

Hibs have never started a season as well as Aberdeen have tbh.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000%E2%80%9301_Hibernian_F.C._season

2000/01 has to be up there

[Hibernia&Alba]

Said for weeks Aberdeen will still finish 15 points plus behind the Huns. We've all seen teams put up a plucky fight up until around Xmas. They will probably finish 3rd but it will be a distant 3rd.

I’m not so sure. Rangers’ issues go deeper than poor form; the fact is they have significantly downgraded their squad quality this season. It won’t be easy for them to make up ten points on Aberdeen now. If they sack Clement and get a new manager bounce, then possibly.

[AFKA5814_Hibs]

Hibs have never started a season as well as Aberdeen have tbh.

We were top of the league on 6th Oct 2007 after beating the Huns 1-0 at Ibrox, David Murphy header. 6 wins and 3 draws from 9 games after already beaten Celtc 3-2 at ER.

In typical Hibs fashio fell apart after that and only won 1 out of our next 14 league games.

[Hibernia&Alba]

We were top of the league on 6th Oct 2007 after beating the Huns 1-0 at Ibrox, David Murphy header. 6 wins and 3 draws from 9 games after already beaten Celtc 3-2 at ER.

In typical Hibs fashio fell apart after that and only won 1 out of our next 14 league games.

How quickly the time passes.

[MWHIBBIES]

We were top of the league on 6th Oct 2007 after beating the Huns 1-0 at Ibrox, David Murphy header. 6 wins and 3 draws from 9 games after already beaten Celtc 3-2 at ER.

In typical Hibs fashio fell apart after that and only won 1 out of our next 14 league games.

Aberdeen have 9 wins 1 draw.

[judas]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000%E2%80%9301_Hibernian_F.C._season

2000/01 has to be up there

That team would have destroyed this Dons one..

It was the season we beat Hearts 6-2 and faced a strong Celtic and Rangers. My recollection is that we were near the summit and Xmas too.

[CentreLine]

This post cracks me up.

I’ve seen hibs top of the league or very close at Xmas. Thelin or whatever comes along and has sheep joint top in October and bedwetters are soiling themselves too..

Football fans, especially the younger generation have no patience.

Too many dopamine hits on you tube and tik tok.

I don’ t remember Hibs ever winning nine of the first ten matches. It doesn’t make them champions but you’ve got to hand it to them, it’s one hell of a good start.

[linlithgowhibbie]

Hope they do. Really want to see some team take the Euro place from The Rangers International Football Club.


I hope I am misunderstanding this. You hope they beat us so they can split the O.F.?

[CentreLine]

I hope I am misunderstanding this. You hope they beat us so they can split the O.F.?

🫣I certainly didn’t mean that and hope it’s not what came across. I hope we gub every opponent, including Aberdeen. For the broader good of the game, I hope Aberdeen stay above the rangers because someone has to and they have given themselves a good chance. We, on the other hand, need to concentrate on climbing the league. Hopefully with a good start this afternoon.

[Onion]

For those who think Aberdeen's bubble has popped I fear that you are wrong. Think they will bounce back against us sadly.

Agreed. Aberdeen should be praised for making a fantastic appointment and running their club properly. They’re on a mission and will have an outstanding season. We could only dream of this happening at Hibs under our owners.

[Keith_M]

I wonder what effect yesterday's result will have on their league form.

[CentreLine]

Agreed. Aberdeen should be praised for making a fantastic appointment and running their club properly. They’re on a mission and will have an outstanding season. We could only dream of this happening at Hibs under our owners.

I suppose their “American ish” owner took a while to get things together. Maybe BK can be our salvation😊

[He's here!]

Agreed. Aberdeen should be praised for making a fantastic appointment and running their club properly. They’re on a mission and will have an outstanding season. We could only dream of this happening at Hibs under our owners.

Indeed. We're in no position to laugh at them.

[He's here!]

I wonder what effect yesterday's result will have on their league form.

Is Nisbet injured for them or just not featuring?

[Hibees1973]

Just have good people.

Those who are qualified, go about their business quietly, are humble, don't have questionable characters and don't spout about 'game changing deals', etc.

Sadly we don't have people like that running things as Hibs.

[CentreLine]

Is Nisbet injured for them or just not featuring?

Injured… again

[Jim44]

I wonder what effect yesterday's result will have on their league form.

None, in my opinion. Celtic, domestically in that form are untouchable. Aberdeen will give Rangers a good run for their money and continue to dominate the also rans.

[lyonhibs]

I wonder what effect yesterday's result will have on their league form.

Apart from next week, hopefully none. Hate the OF, anyone that's not Hearts splitting them should be begrudgingly encouraged cos it's sure as ***** not going to be us anytime soon

[LaMotta]

More and more evidence emerging that Aberdeen's excellent start to the season was one that relied on a fair bit of fortune. There's not much between them ability wise and the rest of the league.

[TrinityHFC]

More and more evidence emerging that Aberdeen's excellent start to the season was one that relied on a fair bit of fortune. There's not much between them ability wise and the rest of the league.

Who’d have thought that, eh?

[matty_f]

More and more evidence emerging that Aberdeen's excellent start to the season was one that relied on a fair bit of fortune. There's not much between them ability wise and the rest of the league.

Said it at the time that while you couldn’t argue with their results but they carried a huge amount of good luck with it - some earned of course, but it couldn’t last.

Like when we had a wee habit of getting late goals under Johnson - welcome and earned etc but unsustainable.

Aberdeen will go on to have a good season but they’ll be miles behind Celtic and much closer to the pack than their early season results showed.

[LaMotta]

Who’d have thought that, eh?


Said it at the time that while you couldn’t argue with their results but they carried a huge amount of good luck with it - some earned of course, but it couldn’t last.

Like when we had a wee habit of getting late goals under Johnson - welcome and earned etc but unsustainable.

Aberdeen will go on to have a good season but they’ll be miles behind Celtic and much closer to the pack than their early season results showed.

:agree::agree:

When you consider that we have had a fair bit of bad luck ourselves (although some of it self inflicted) you have to wonder what might have been if we could have held on to some of those leads earlier in the season. The winning might have become a bit more contagious like it did for Aberdeen.

[matty_f]

:agree::agree:

When you consider that we have had a fair bit of bad luck ourselves (although some of it self inflicted) you have to wonder what might have been if we could have held on to some of those leads earlier in the season. The winning might have become a bit more contagious like it did for Aberdeen.
Pat Bonnar of all people was more or less making this point in defence of David ahead of the game today on the radio.

People don’t like the phrase and I can understand why, but it really is fine margins - a split second in games that we’ve been very comfortable in has flipped the results so many times. Not saying that’s bad luck, mostly that’s been bad play, but we’ve been punished heavily for them.

[Musselbound]

Said it at the time that while you couldn’t argue with their results but they carried a huge amount of good luck with it - some earned of course, but it couldn’t last.

Like when we had a wee habit of getting late goals under Johnson - welcome and earned etc but unsustainable.

Aberdeen will go on to have a good season but they’ll be miles behind Celtic and much closer to the pack than their early season results showed.

I don't think it's down to luck but rather momentum and confidence and they are losing that now.

[Since452]

They'll be in a fight with Dundee United for 3rd

[Keith_M]

They'll be in a fight with Dundee United for 3rd


Now that would be funny.

[Spike Mandela]

As the original poster of this thread can I ask how we have got things so right and Aberdeen so wrong?:greengrin:flag:

[LaMotta]

Aberdeen's season will slowly unravel now and Jimmy Thelin will be out of a job this time next year.:cb


Wheels to come off - can’t buy a win - Hibs beat them 2-0 at Pittodrie just before Christmas and Thelin is dispensed with.

People questioned us yet here we are:cb:cb

[Keith_M]

I wonder what effect yesterday's result will have on their league form.



Things haven't gone too well for them since that drubbing by Celtc.

[DaveF]

No wins in 6 but still 16 points ahead of us so I doubt he will be emptied anytime soon.

It's great to see them slide though and long may it continue.

[Dashing Bob S]

Good start

[HarpOnHibee]

How have Aberdeen got it so right at getting it so wrong whilst we have got it so right at getting it so right?

[TrinityHFC]

Some class comments on this thread.

[SHODAN]

Lol

[AdidasHibernian]

Unbelievable Jeff

[Glory Lurker]

Pop

Listen to this boy. He kens.

[Murphys Touch]

One things for sure

The quality in the league is absolutely dire! Entertaining but dire

[Itsnoteasy]

One things for sure

The quality in the league is absolutely dire! Entertaining but dire

Got to agree.

[GreenNWhiteArmy]

9 without a win now and a string of difficult games over the next 2 weeks for the sheep...

[HoboHarry]

This thread aged well 🤣🤣🤣

[DIXIHIBS]

They'll be in a fight with Dundee United for 3rd

Good shout...

[TrinityHFC]

This thread is a good illustration of the dangers of taking short term views, good or bad, and thinking it extrapolates out to anything and everything to do with the club.

[Hibernian Verse]

This thread aged well 🤣🤣🤣

Some of the comments are brilliant, in hindsight.

[eastmainsmsh]

What price are we to finish above them 😆

[007]

What price are we to finish above them 😆

A lot shorter than 5 weeks ago.

[Vini1875]

It really shows the value of a squad which is big enough to have replacements in every position, who are as good as the player in position of the shirt. We don't have anything like the depth required and aberdeen have gone off the boil in spectacular fashion with clearly no depth either. Same could be said about hearts, we all have just enough first team players, so it amounts to who can keep the most first choice players fit for the longest period.

[Pagan Hibernia]

It really is a strange league.

Hearts and Aberdeen have been trading incredible runs of good form with horrendous streaks for two or three years now.

[Paulie Walnuts]

It really shows the value of a squad which is big enough to have replacements in every position, who are as good as the player in position of the shirt. We don't have anything like the depth required and aberdeen have gone off the boil in spectacular fashion with clearly no depth either. Same could be said about hearts, we all have just enough first team players, so it amounts to who can keep the most first choice players fit for the longest period.

No squad has that. Every squad has a core of players who are their best and will play every week. When those players aren’t available, the squad gets weaker.

Even Real Madrid and Man City don’t have squads where everyone is of equal ability.

[Keith_M]

This thread is a good illustration of the dangers of taking short term views, good or bad, and thinking it extrapolates out to anything and everything to do with the club.


Totally agree with this.

We had a horrendous start to the season but have turned things around over the last few weeks. That now seems to have raised expectations among some that we're going to be challenging for Europe. so I dread to think what the reaction will be when* we go through another poor run.



* I purposely wrote when, not if, as our squad is still lacking quality in depth, as evidenced by yesterday's performance and result