Gray is now outperforming this squad

[Ozyhibby]

Watching the options we had available today it’s clear this squad is nowhere near strong enough and Gray has done well to keep us competitive at this stage. We need some very strong Ianuary recruitment now though.
Missed a chance to go 5th today due to poor recruitment that sees us with no strikers available to start.
Well done to David Gray though on turning things around.


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[Unseen work]

Watching the options we had available today it’s clear this squad is nowhere near strong enough and Gray has done well to keep us competitive at this stage. We need some very strong Ianuary recruitment now though.
Missed a chance to go 5th today due to poor recruitment that sees us with no strikers available to start.
Well done to David Gray though on turning things around.


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I agree to a certain degree, but our strikers are injured it’s not just like we never signed any

Bowie, Myk and Youan being available completely changes our threat

[Ozyhibby]

I agree to a certain degree, but our strikers are injured it’s not just like we never signed any

Bowie, Myk and Youan being available completely changes our threat

All three are notorious for their long run of being unavailable. Might have been an idea to recruit a more robust option.
We looked light up front before last window closed.


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[Smartie]

Don’t think today tells us that much about Gray.

We got a break with them having to play so long with 10 but the injuries ravaged us to a point that it was difficult to put a competitive team out.

Gray’s doing well and I accept that the squad isn’t strong enough… but we were short in the final third - how many strikers should a squad have to cope with absences of Myko, Bowie and Youan, with Gayle only fit to make fleeting (but highly effective) appearances? That would stretch the strongest and best prepared squad.

[SHODAN]

Missed a trick naming the thread "the squad is out of Gray's depth"

[Unseen work]

All three are notorious for their long run of being unavailable. Might have been an idea to recruit a more robust option.
We looked light up front before last window closed.


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No they’re not. Youan had been an ever present since he signed for us and Bowie had one hamstring injury last season

Bowie played 44 games last season and 37 the year before

Youan played 31 and 36

That’s not including cup competitions

Absolutely not notorious for long runs of being unavailable

[Ozyhibby]

No they’re not. Youan had been an ever present since he signed for us and Bowie had one hamstring injury last season

Absolutely not notorious for long runs of being unavailable

Bowie arrived after a long period out with injury. He never recovered from it. Myko was injured loads last time he was here.


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[MacGruber]

Not the point of the thread but thought Gray was full of poor choices today. From the initial team set up to being far far to slow to change it. Think it was the right subs in the end, just too late with them. Saying that, options were limited with injury and Gray has called so much right over this brilliant month. Just frustrated with today

[Ozyhibby]

Not the point of the thread but thought Gray was full of poor choices today. From the initial team set up to being far far to slow to change it. Think it was the right subs in the end, just too late with them. Saying that, options were limited with injury and Gray has called so much right over this brilliant month. Just frustrated with today

The fact Hoillet is starting shows what he is having work with and that all he could replace him with was McKirdy. That would be difficult for the world’s best managers.


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[sambajustice]

Bowie arrived after a long period out with injury. He never recovered from it. Myko was injured loads last time he was here.


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Really? He played in Northamptons last game of the season!

[Unseen work]

Really? He played in Northamptons last game of the season!

Exactly, its nonsense

He played 44 games last season. Notorious for injuries though…

[NAE NOOKIE]

Considering we have no fit strikers, if you consider Gayle can't do 90 minutes, and we have had guys like Newell and now by the looks of it Iredale playing injured, we are doing ok. Our big problem is that it doesn't take much in the way of injuries or suspensions to drastically reduce what we can put on the park quality wise and that showed up big time today.

Kwon .... his first few touches in a Hibs shirt had you thinking we had a decent player on our hands ... since then sod all.

Hoilett .... First few games looked like a good signing .... little or nothing since, apart from a propensity for missing sitters.

Levitt .... I'm happy to concede that he hasn't had much game time, but when you pay 300K for a player you expect him to be able to force his way into a team that was utter Tom Kite for 14 matches, especially over a year into his contract.

McKirdy ... The fact he got on today at all shows just how short we are at the moment.

Myko ..... I don't know how much of his wages we are paying, but it's too much .... ship him back to Wales ASAP ... there must be a 3rd choice striker at Bournemouth who can be more of a threat than him able to take us through to the summer.

When you look at that lot perhaps SDG deserves more credit than he has been getting .... we need to get busy, not to mention creative, in the next few weeks.

Edit. Oh and you can probably chuck Chris Cadden into that mix, I've never been impressed with his ability to hit the first defender with a cross, or his inability to pick out a Hibs player when he does miss the first man ..... also he can't defend for toffee. We can surely do better than him.

[HIBS NUTS]

Did anyone at any point think, that McKirdy, coming on would make a difference.
This was the game, that a big strong centreforward , would have made a huge difference.

[Ozyhibby]

Exactly, its nonsense

He played 44 games last season. Notorious for injuries though…

I’ll retract on Bowie and Youan. Wasn’t my main point anyway. My point was the squad is miles away from where it should be and that Gray is doing well with what he has but we will regress again if we don’t sort it.
And we def need a striker who is fit. And we can’t wait until the end of Jan to bring one in.


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[Steve20]

We knew we had a poor squad for a while.

Gray has done excellent with recent results but that never changed the fact we needed players brought in this month.

Today was a reminder that we are still a long way off, but we’re in a far better position that I thought we’d be in at the start of December.

[sambajustice]

Exactly, its nonsense

He played 44 games last season. Notorious for injuries though…

LOL!

It's brilliant when folk come out with absolute nonsense.

[may 21/05/2016]

Considering we have no fit strikers, if you consider Gayle can't do 90 minutes, and we have had guys like Newell and now by the looks of it Iredale playing injured, we are doing ok. Our big problem is that it doesn't take much in the way of injuries or suspensions to drastically reduce what we can put on the park quality wise and that showed up big time today.

Kwon .... his first few touches in a Hibs shirt had you thinking we had a decent player on our hands ... since then sod all.

Hoilett .... First few games looked like a good signing .... little or nothing since, apart from a propensity for missing sitters.

Levitt .... I'm happy to concede that he hasn't had much game time, but when you pay 300K for a player you expect him to be able to force his way into a team that was utter Tom Kite for 14 matches, especially over a year into his contract.

McKirdy ... The fact he got on today at all shows just how short we are at the moment.

Myko ..... I don't know how much of his wages we are paying, but it's too much .... ship him back to Wales ASAP ... there must be a 3rd choice striker at Bournemouth who can be more of a threat than him able to take us through to the summer.

When you look at that lot perhaps SDG deserves more credit than he has been getting .... we need to get busy, not to mention creative, in the next few weeks.

Edit. Oh and you can probably chuck Chris Cadden into that mix, I've never been impressed with his ability to hit the first defender with a cross, or his inability to pick out a Hibs player when he does miss the first man ..... also he can't defend for toffee. We can surely do better than him.What player get pass marks from you

[Itsnoteasy]

What player get pass marks from you
None

[NAE NOOKIE]

What player get pass marks from you

It depends on what you mean by 'pass marks' .... The fact is every one of them has made mistakes, done things that are beyond daft, or simply been off their game more often than not.


The fact is You could make a case for replacing practically any player in this squad for one reason or another. The ones I highlighted are in my opinion players who have either contributed nothing, or in the case of Hoilett and Cadden maintained a consistently below standard performance compared to what they could bring and what you expect from them. I don't follow Hibs away, but go to every game at ER and Hoilett for example has had one game where he stood out that I can recall.

Hell ... if you binned every player in this squad with a mistake in them, or indeed who has made a daft mistake this season, we would have nobody left. That's why the ability to make mistakes wasn't a consideration when I picked the players I did.

[Ozyhibby]

It depends on what you mean by 'pass marks' .... The fact is every one of them has made mistakes, done things that are beyond daft, or simply been off their game more often than not.


The fact is You could make a case for replacing practically any player in this squad for one reason or another. The ones I highlighted are in my opinion players who have either contributed nothing, or in the case of Hoilett and Cadden maintained a consistently below standard performance compared to what they could bring and what you expect from them. I don't follow Hibs away, but go to every game at ER and Hoilett for example has had one game where he stood out that I can recall.

Hell ... if you binned every player in this squad with a mistake in them, or indeed who has made a daft mistake this season, we would have nobody left. That's why the ability to make mistakes wasn't a consideration when I picked the players I did.

Nicky Cadden has been good?[emoji2369]


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[NAE NOOKIE]

Nicky Cadden has been good?[emoji2369]


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He has ... our best signing of the season by some distance.

[AdidasHibernian]

He has ... our best signing of the season by some distance.

Agreed 👍

[The Spaceman]

Watching the options we had available today it’s clear this squad is nowhere near strong enough and Gray has done well to keep us competitive at this stage. We need some very strong Ianuary recruitment now though.
Missed a chance to go 5th today due to poor recruitment that sees us with no strikers available to start.
Well done to David Gray though on turning things around.


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Hard to disagree. At HT I looked at our bench and it felt a bit depressing seeing the lack of options we had to come on and break a team down sitting deep. Glad we ground out a point today and credit again to SDG for the run he’s got us on.

[sauzee1989]

Shows how limited when Amos on bench a guy that’s tried to flog himself on internet

[Keith_M]

Shows how limited when Amos on bench a guy that’s tried to flog himself on internet


TBF, what the guy does in his own time is none of our business.

[Viva_Palmeiras]

All three are notorious for their long run of being unavailable. Might have been an idea to recruit a more robust option.
We looked light up front before last window closed.


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is Bowie old enough to have notoriety for being injured?

Anyway many teams could point to injuries - it’s the one thing you only have a certain amount of input/control over. That said I think these recent seasons have been the worst in my memory.

Pity we couldn’t have secured McCowan some reports suggested it could have gone our way had Celtics prime target fallen through - who knows and I don’t blame the club for going for him and only him - let’s say Sauzee was available for a eye-watering fee - it would have been him and only him with such qualities. Who could have offered the same capability and potential as McCowan? I think circumstances meant he was potentially available - and then not. c’est la vie

[B.H.F.C]

is Bowie old enough to have notoriety for being injured?

Anyway many teams could point to injuries - it’s the one thing you only have a certain amount of input/control over. That said I think these recent seasons have been the worst in my memory.

Pity we couldn’t have secured McCowan some reports suggested it could have gone our way had Celtics prime target fallen through - who knows and I don’t blame the club for going for him and only him - let’s say Sauzee was available for a eye-watering fee - it would have been him and only him with such qualities. Who could have offered the same capability and potential as McCowan? I think circumstances meant he was potentially available - and then not. c’est la vie

Bowie isn’t notorious for being injured. 45 games last season. 40 the season before. He had an injury at the end of last season which they thought they could manage. Obviously didn’t work out like that but nearly every player will have had some kind of injury at some point.

[matty_f]

I thought we were ok before the penalty - not brilliant by a long stretch, but the better of two pretty poor teams at that point. The penalty following their red card totally spoiled the game as a spectacle. St Johnstone scoring and getting to half time with something to hold onto made it really difficult to break them down in the second half, where they just shut up shop and we didn't really have an answer to that until Gayle's goal.

The draw was entirely our own doing, if we don't concede the penalty, I think we'd have won the match comfortably.

[Winston Ingram]

Watching the options we had available today it’s clear this squad is nowhere near strong enough and Gray has done well to keep us competitive at this stage. We need some very strong Ianuary recruitment now though.
Missed a chance to go 5th today due to poor recruitment that sees us with no strikers available to start.
Well done to David Gray though on turning things around.


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What utter pish. He decided to play the first 16 minutes of the 2nd half with a back 5 and without a centre forward. We were a goal down to the side that are bottom of the league who were down to 10 men.

That was the choice of our deeply under qualified management team.

[Keepthefaith]

it was looking tough when you saw what we had on the bench. are none of our young strikers able to step up? Hearts lad is 17 and knocking them in.

also wondered about starting with Gayle to really go for a positive start against saints, had they gone a goal or two down I'm not sure they would have been so structured in defence. I know Gayle can't get through more than say 60 mins but surely it's an option to start him and replace him with a young prospect like Landers or Cleland? (just to acknowledge I've not seen them myself, just raising it based on what I've read on here re positive comments

[Paulie Walnuts]

Na.

This squad is a top 6 squad. Until we’re a top 6 side, we’re not out performing that.

[superfurryhibby]

Shows how limited when Amos on bench a guy that’s tried to flog himself on internet

Keeping it classy :aok:

[MacGruber]

it was looking tough when you saw what we had on the bench. are none of our young strikers able to step up? Hearts lad is 17 and knocking them in.

also wondered about starting with Gayle to really go for a positive start against saints, had they gone a goal or two down I'm not sure they would have been so structured in defence. I know Gayle can't get through more than say 60 mins but surely it's an option to start him and replace him with a young prospect like Landers or Cleland? (just to acknowledge I've not seen them myself, just raising it based on what I've read on here re positive comments

I would have started Gayle personally. Just needed to get a lead to break their spirit. You say 60 mins, if it is as much as 45 you have to ask why he wasn't brought on at half time.

[Northernhibee]

Na.

This squad is a top 6 squad. Until we’re a top 6 side, we’re not out performing that.

If we’re expecting a manager to get top six out of this squad then we may as well sack Gray and also whoever his successor will be now and save the hassle.

We rely on a 35 year old who admits his body is breaking down for goals and are still in a position where Harry McKirdy is in and around the first team squad.

[Springbank]

I thought we were ok before the penalty - not brilliant by a long stretch, but the better of two pretty poor teams at that point. The penalty following their red card totally spoiled the game as a spectacle. St Johnstone scoring and getting to half time with something to hold onto made it really difficult to break them down in the second half, where they just shut up shop and we didn't really have an answer to that until Gayle's goal.

The draw was entirely our own doing, if we don't concede the penalty, I think we'd have won the match comfortably.

Personally I thought St J deserved their half time lead & their overall draw

Our midfield was a full 10 yards off theirs in the first half

Lewis Miller taking 85 touches when this sport is about control & pass (2 touches max mate)

Kwon looks lost

It was a sobering performance to watch

We need to work harder

[Bridge hibs]

Shows how limited when Amos on bench a guy that’s tried to flog himself on internet

He is a footballer who is saying he will be available, he knows his time at hibs is up so to be honest the guy has done **** all wrong, Gray picked him as we are desperately short of numbers, he didnt pick himself

[theonlywayisup]

I feel yesterday confirmed what I've felt for a couple of seasons that our problem is we have little creativity or energy in midfield to breakdown the well organised teams.

At the start of the season, I felt we competed OK against most teams, but our failure to create good enough chances, plus obvious errors by players either defensive or in attack, resulted in the poor results.

We've obviously done better recently, and maybe part of that is due to playing teams that at least try to attack us.

I feel SDG is doing OK and agree with the OP. Moving forward, we need to recruit better in midfield.

[B.H.F.C]

If we’re expecting a manager to get top six out of this squad then we may as well sack Gray and also whoever his successor will be now and save the hassle.

We rely on a 35 year old who admits his body is breaking down for goals and are still in a position where Harry McKirdy is in and around the first team squad.

We haven’t been relying on that all season. We wasted too many games persisting with something that wasn’t working.

It’s not unreasonable to expect us to get in to the top six with this squad IMO. It’s only a couple of points of being in it and I don’t accept that it’s weaker than the two squads directly above us in Motherwell and St Mirren. Dundee Utd have also managed to land on something and over performed once they’ve got a bit momentum.

I’m not saying our squad is all that but I still believe it’s better than 6 wins out of 21 given the general lack of quality opposition throughout the league.

[Paulie Walnuts]

If we’re expecting a manager to get top six out of this squad then we may as well sack Gray and also whoever his successor will be now and save the hassle.

We rely on a 35 year old who admits his body is breaking down for goals and are still in a position where Harry McKirdy is in and around the first team squad.

Gayle has scored 7% of our goals this season and there’s 3 players who have scored either the same or more than him. We’re also the 6th top scorers in the league despite the fact he’s only scored 4 goals. We’re not relying on him any more than any other team relies on their attacking players for goals.

[Dashing Bob S]

Did anyone else feel that the team looked tired compared to St J who had a similar schedule?

Two games in a row we’ve played the bulk against 10 men and not looked like scoring. That might concern DG.

[B.H.F.C]

Did anyone else feel that the team looked tired compared to St J who had a similar schedule?

Two games in a row we’ve played the bulk against 10 men and not looked like scoring. That might concern DG.

I didn’t think tiredness was an issue.

Agree lack of threat playing against 10 men both yesterday and Sunday which isn’t really a surprise to me. St Johnstone just went really narrow and we’re happy to let us cross it, which is our main tactic most of the time anyway. Not enough variation in our play or creativity centrally for games like that. We are much better when the game is more open and there is space for players like Boyle.

[Phil MaGlass]

I don't know if we looked tired but someone mentioned St.J rested players for the game against sellik, no idea if that's true? I can see why we would be tired, not enough quality to support the players on the pitch. Hopefully Youan and Newell back soon.

[Hibernian Verse]

I don't know if we looked tired but someone mentioned St.J rested players for the game against sellik, no idea if that's true? I can see why we would be tired, not enough quality to support the players on the pitch. Hopefully Youan and Newell back soon.

There were 4 changes for yesterday's game.

[Nicho87]

Thought we looked a bit slow, bit one paced yesterday. With them going down to ten we really needed to show more urgency and a higher tempo.

I think the squad depth isn’t there just now and gray having to bring on mckirdy and levitt who are both no where near a first team start says we are low on numbers.

Striker
Goalie
Centre half
Midfielder

IMO the priority in that order for us as it stands

[Victor]

Named Manager of the month. Waiting for the doombots to come on and tell us it’s because everyone else was poor.

[B.H.F.C]

Named Manager of the month. Waiting for the doombots to come on and tell us it’s because everyone else was poor.

Why would anyone say something stupid like that? I think everyone is capable of acknowledging that form throughout December isn’t the issue and it’s well deserved.

[Victor]

Why would anyone say something stupid like that? I think everyone is capable of acknowledging that form throughout December isn’t the issue and it’s well deserved.

Because that’s the level we are at. Certain posters have decided that he is not the manager we need and no matter what he does, they won’t change their minds. Just scroll through this and other threads and you will see numerous posts. Of course he deserves the accolade and hopefully it’s the first of many. Just hope he doesn’t succumb to the MOM curse!

[Wilson]

Named Manager of the month. Waiting for the doombots to come on and tell us it’s because everyone else was poor.

He was forced into changes and luckily fell upon a formation that worked. Thereby fluking manager of the month, an accolade he is too inexperienced to merit. Or something.

[blackpoolhibs]

Well deserved SDG. :hibees:top marks:top marks

[B.H.F.C]

Because that’s the level we are at. Certain posters have decided that he is not the manager we need and no matter what he does, they won’t change their minds. Just scroll through this and other threads and you will see numerous posts. Of course he deserves the accolade and hopefully it’s the first of many. Just hope he doesn’t succumb to the MOM curse!

There are still plenty of doubts around him, fairly IMO, and he still has a hell of a lot to prove. Those doubts are based on six months rather than one though. Nobody will disagree that his/our work through December was good which is why I don’t quite get the point of your initial post.

[Donegal Hibby]

Well deserved :applause::applause::applause:…

https://spfl.co.uk/news/david-gray-wins-december-award

[Allant1981]

Hopefully many more to come

[kentao]

After the poor start with a threadbare squad at times its a miracle how he has managed to turn it around and i am delighted he is still here. Well deserved on the MOTM and hopefully with some new recruits you can bag another award.

[richard_pitts]

After the poor start with a threadbare squad at times its a miracle how he has managed to turn it around and i am delighted he is still here. Well deserved on the MOTM and hopefully with some new recruits you can bag another award.

Indeed. We have 13 points from the last 6 games. Same as Rangers. Only Celtic have taken more points from the last 6.

Regarding his luck in changing formation etc. I doubt Montgomery would have changed the formation and sometimes luck takes a hand: Whilst managing England in a world cup, Bobby Robson picked a sweeper formation and a young Paul Gascoine in a key game because injuries meant that's what he effectively had to put out. They won 3-0. He wanted to change back to a 442. The players rebelled and he went with the new formation.They made the Semis and were considered unlucky not to make the final.

[basehibby]

What utter pish. He decided to play the first 16 minutes of the 2nd half with a back 5 and without a centre forward. We were a goal down to the side that are bottom of the league who were down to 10 men.

That was the choice of our deeply under qualified management team.

David Gray manager of the month for December - will step aside for Winston to lead the chorus of congratulations to our deeply under qualified management team :greengrin :wink:

https://www.hibernianfc.co.uk/news/2025/january/03/david-gray-named-scottish-premiership-manager-of-the-month/