I'd still rather be in our position

[Hibspur]

Didn't watch the cup final today. Assumed Celtic would cruise it, having stuck 10 goals past Aberdeen and United in recent weeks as well as winning 6-0 the last time they faced the sheep at Hampden. I can only assume they switched off after winning the league and thought they only had to turn up today to win.

So, yep, a bummer when I saw the result. But it shouldn't deflect from the feelgood factor around Hibs. Comfortably finishing third. A European spot. Unbeaten in the derby. Hearts bottom six. Aside from capping things off with a trophy, seasons for Hibs don't get better than that.

Welcome as the income from guaranteed European group stage football would be, Hearts embarrassed themselves at that level this season - and Aberdeen were little better the previous season. Both endured miserable league seasons on the back of it. A case of being careful what you wish for.

Who knows? We may end up in the group stages anyway. But it might not end up being the worst thing for us to build some momentum in the league first. I'd certainly rather be going into the new season with SDG in charge ahead of the likes of Thelin, Goodwin or McInnes.

GGTTH.

[One Day Soon]

Didn't watch the cup final today. Assumed Celtic would cruise it, having stuck 10 goals past Aberdeen and United in recent weeks as well as winning 6-0 the last time they faced the sheep at Hampden. I can only assume they switched off after winning the league and thought they only had to turn up today to win.

So, yep, a bummer when I saw the result. But it shouldn't deflect from the feelgood factor around Hibs. Comfortably finishing third. A European spot. Unbeaten in the derby. Hearts bottom six. Aside from capping things off with a trophy, seasons for Hibs don't get better than that.

Welcome as the income from guaranteed European group stage football would be, Hearts embarrassed themselves at that level this season - and Aberdeen were little better the previous season. Both endured miserable league seasons on the back of it. A case of being careful what you wish for.

Who knows? We may end up in the group stages anyway. But it might not end up being the worst thing for us to build some momentum in the league first. I'd certainly rather be going into the new season with SDG in charge ahead of the likes of Thelin, Goodwin or McInnes.

GGTTH.

No, I would not rather be in our position. I'd rather were likely going to be £6 million better off. However, there is something to be said for the silver lining of consolidating for a season rather than being thrashed in Europe and weakened domestically. It's a pretty thin stretch of silver lining but it's just about distantly visible. Vaguely.

[Trinity Hibee]

Didn't watch the cup final today. Assumed Celtic would cruise it, having stuck 10 goals past Aberdeen and United in recent weeks as well as winning 6-0 the last time they faced the sheep at Hampden. I can only assume they switched off after winning the league and thought they only had to turn up today to win.

So, yep, a bummer when I saw the result. But it shouldn't deflect from the feelgood factor around Hibs. Comfortably finishing third. A European spot. Unbeaten in the derby. Hearts bottom six. Aside from capping things off with a trophy, seasons for Hibs don't get better than that.

Welcome as the income from guaranteed European group stage football would be, Hearts embarrassed themselves at that level this season - and Aberdeen were little better the previous season. Both endured miserable league seasons on the back of it. A case of being careful what you wish for.

Who knows? We may end up in the group stages anyway. But it might not end up being the worst thing for us to build some momentum in the league first. I'd certainly rather be going into the new season with SDG in charge ahead of the likes of Thelin, Goodwin or McInnes.

GGTTH.

Come on man, Celtic win today we are guaranteed £5m. Now we’ll be lucky to get that and going through multiple ties too. Better just deleting this nonsense thread. **** me

[TheHibernator]

I appreciate folk trying to be positive but I struggle to take any positives from today. Pretty ****ing miserable all round

[Billy Bunter 07]

Load of *****.

£5m and a Scottish Cup beats anything after Guaranteed Champions League.

[JohnM1875]

Come on man, Celtic win today we are guaranteed £5m. Now we’ll be lucky to get that and going through multiple ties too. Better just deleting this nonsense thread. **** me

Agree.

Still think we’ll recruit well. But it’s ridiculous to suggest I'd rather have to play three two-leg ties to get group stages.

[Ribs1875]

Hey let's be honest, hearts are celebrating their failure to beat Aberdeen for their own gateway.

[Broken Gnome]

I think we need to disassociate the two feelings, as no one in the club should be faced with a support that's on any sort of downer into next year.

I'm jealous as hell at the opportunity Aberdeen now have, but you can still be proud as hell of the position Hibs got themselves into and our achievements.

[Paul1642]

Today was *****, there are no positives from it, but none of the positive factors at Hibernian FC have changed.

We still have a club legend in the dugout performing fantastically. We still have a great squad filled with talented, likeable players with a great attitude. Our youth team and woman’s team still won their leagues, and we’re still the 3rd best team in the country right now.

At the start of the season you offered me 3rd but missing out on guaranteed group stages I’d be delighted. Infact, if you’d just offered me 4th which is now the European position we fill, I would be too disappointed. Take the above and offer it to me mid November and I’d bite your hand off.

Hibs are a club in a great position right now and today doesn’t erase that.

[Paul1642]

Hey let's be honest, hearts are celebrating their failure to beat Aberdeen for their own gateway.

Jokes on them.

[Pagan Hibernia]

I have to say I admire and respect anyone taking a positive, philosophical attitude to this. Fair play.

Me? My face is tripping me. The missus can't understand why I've got a face like a wet weekend. I've tried explaining the European connotations but her eyes immediately glazed over

[HoboHarry]

Today was *****, there are no positives from it, but none of the positive factors at Hibernian FC have changed.

We still have a club legend in the dugout performing fantastically. We still have a great squad filled with talented, likeable players with a great attitude. Our youth team and woman’s team still won their leagues, and we’re still the 3rd best team in the country right now.

At the start of the season you offered me 3rd but missing out on guaranteed group stages I’d be delighted. Infact, if you’d just offered me 4th which is now the European position we fill, I would be too disappointed. Take the above and offer it to me mid November and I’d bite your hand off.

Hibs are a club in a great position right now and today doesn’t erase that.
Exactly right. :agree:

[Mcbizz1998]

Rather be in our position than who?

Hearts? Yes but who cares about them?
Aberdeen? Nah.

[Just_Jimmy]

I'd swap 3rd for 5th and the Scottish Cup plus 5m and european fitbaw guaranteed.

From feeling brilliant last weekend, today feels like a giant kick in the baws.

Its pish.

Sent from my SM-S931B using Tapatalk

[heid the baw]

We were 3rd last year with a game to spare. We have better recruitment and a better manager. Disappointing today but the positives are still there. We go again for 3rd next year with a solid foundation, maybe better cup runs too.
Today's result was not in our hands, but every game next season is.
Onwards and persevere

[Chorley Hibee]

I have to say I admire and respect anyone taking a positive, philosophical attitude to this. Fair play.

Me? My face is tripping me. The missus can't understand why I've got a face like a wet weekend. I've tried explaining the European connotations but her eyes immediately glazed over

Me too.

Don't think I've ever felt as pissed about a result not involving Hibs

[Donegal Hibby]

Today was *****, there are no positives from it, but none of the positive factors at Hibernian FC have changed.

We still have a club legend in the dugout performing fantastically. We still have a great squad filled with talented, likeable players with a great attitude. Our youth team and woman’s team still won their leagues, and we’re still the 3rd best team in the country right now.

At the start of the season you offered me 3rd but missing out on guaranteed group stages I’d be delighted. Infact, if you’d just offered me 4th which is now the European position we fill, I would be too disappointed. Take the above and offer it to me mid November and I’d bite your hand off.

Hibs are a club in a great position right now and today doesn’t erase that.

Totally :agree:

[IberianHibernian]

Load of *****.

£5m and a Scottish Cup beats anything after Guaranteed Champions League.Agree that winning a cup including the League Cup is most important after CL qualification ( maybe winning a cup is more important than CL too in some cases ) but money thing is a different argument . We will have got a big amount for finishing 3rd , substantially more than Aberdeen in 5th and Hearts in 7th ( I think they finished 7th ) and will probably make a lot of money from 2 ties ( worst case scenario ) in Europe . A full Easter Road to see Anderlecht and another famous team in August plus TV etc will certainly generate money . Money that club will receive more than a month before possible group match revenue . Also team will be better prepared for league and League Cup than if we `d started EL in late August .

[we are hibs]

Nah


I'm not going to lie if we had just won a cup European football or league placing wouldn't even cross my mind. It would be a complete afterthought. Winning a cup trumps anything else for fans of teams outside the old firm. Id take 3 terrible seasons in a row for 3 cup wins in a row. They are the days that live with you forever and make it all worthwhile. I doubt there will be any Aberdeen fans giving a ***** about the fact their league form has been dreadful for months when they're watching their team parade a cup around their city tomorrow.


What it should do though is offer Hibs encouragement. Celtic CAN be beaten at Hampden. Teams CAN still win trophies outside of the two Glasgow clubs. We absolutely can do what Aberdeen just did, we just need to make sure we recruit well in the summer, maintain the upturn of the past 6 months and obviously carry a bit of luck along the way, particularly in cup draws.

Sent from my SM-A405FN using Tapatalk

[Musselbound]

I do get the OPs points though it is perhaps trying to put a positive spin on a shocking result. Likewise I didn't see the game and have only just seen the result. Even more so as I watched the first half and couldn't see anything other than a 2 or 3 nil Celtic win.

But these things have a tendency to happen whenever anything looks 'certain'.

I do have some concerns about how group stage European football could impact Hibs' league form. But I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't like to give it a go.

Pretty gutted by that result in all honesty.

[Steve20]

No, I would not. Unless our owners are willing to spend HUGE this summer.

Aberdeen are guaranteed £6m


Hearts are getting decent investment. And as much as people want to deny it, Jamestown works.



So we had the money that came from automatic group stage. But that’s gone.

So next time you see people hinting that we are related to that weegie *****, or even disgustingly call them ‘cousins’, or see the fans that we have that bend over and want Celtic to just knowledge them, please do what any normal fan would to and treat Celtic with the disdain they they deserve. A horrible ****my club that I hope no Hibs supporter ever even tries to have a connection with.

[Onion]

Today's a kick in the teeth. There's no silver lining.

Like it or not, there was a reasonable expectation that 3rd would get the big Euro prize. Fans, clubs, players, media, bookies all thought so. You can't wish that away.

Aberdeen will be celebrating their heads off for weeks, while Hearts fans will have a smug grin on their mugs.

Hibs should have put £500k on the Dons at 11/1 as a hedge.

[IberianHibernian]

Nah


I'm not going to lie if we had just won a cup European football or league placing wouldn't even cross my mind. It would be a complete afterthought. Winning a cup trumps anything else for fans of teams outside the old firm. Id take 3 terrible seasons in a row for 3 cup wins in a row. They are the days that live with you forever and make it all worthwhile. I doubt there will be any Aberdeen fans giving a ***** about the fact their league form has been dreadful for months when they're watching their team parade a cup around their city tomorrow.


What it should do though is offer Hibs encouragement. Celtic CAN be beaten at Hampden. Teams CAN still win trophies outside of the two Glasgow clubs. We absolutely can do what Aberdeen just did, we just need to make sure we recruit well in the summer, maintain the upturn of the past 6 months and obviously carry a bit of luck along the way, particularly in cup draws.

Sent from my SM-A405FN using TapatalkYes I agree . Celtic dominate the league but have struggled in cup semis and finals in recent years and hopefully we `ll show we can beat them in future cup ties soon . We `ll certainly have learnt from our LC and SC ties this season . But league position and performances are also important and fans want to see Hibs doing well and playing entertaining football not just holding out for lucky wins on penalties like Aberdeen today .

[B.H.F.C]

Depends who you are talking about.

I’d rather be in this position than Hearts’ position (not sure why they’re so excited about it all). But I’d rather be in Aberdeen’s position any day of the week.

I hope we respond to this by moving quickly transfer market. I think we’ll be backed to give ourselves a shot at still qualifying.

[B.H.F.C]

No, I would not. Unless our owners are willing to spend HUGE this summer.

Aberdeen are guaranteed £6m


Hearts are getting decent investment. And as much as people want to deny it, Jamestown works.



So we had the money that came from automatic group stage. But that’s gone.

So next time you see people hinting that we are related to that weegie *****, or even disgustingly call them ‘cousins’, or see the fans that we have that bend over and want Celtic to just knowledge them, please do what any normal fan would to and treat Celtic with the disdain they they deserve. A horrible ****my club that I hope no Hibs supporter ever even tries to have a connection with.

Jamestown no really worked for Hearts to date. A sacked manager, players benched when they were in trouble after first game of split with them going back to the non Jamestown players.

[Donegal Hibby]

No, I would not. Unless our owners are willing to spend HUGE this summer.

Aberdeen are guaranteed £6m


Hearts are getting decent investment. And as much as people want to deny it, Jamestown works.



So we had the money that came from automatic group stage. But that’s gone.

So next time you see people hinting that we are related to that weegie *****, or even disgustingly call them ‘cousins’, or see the fans that we have that bend over and want Celtic to just knowledge them, please do what any normal fan would to and treat Celtic with the disdain they they deserve. A horrible ****my club that I hope no Hibs supporter ever even tries to have a connection with.

Yeah Jamestown done a fantastic job in helping identify Critchley alright 😂

[Trinity Hibee]

Yeah Jamestown done a fantastic job in helping identify Critchley alright 😂

He had them performing 4th best in league from November to be fair. Only 6-7 points worse than us from that point

[Smartie]

Nah, I’m with the OP.

We got dealt a dose of bad luck in a game that we couldn’t influence. The stuff that we have been able to influence we’ve done so positively, we deserved to finish third.

The Jambos can cheer today’s result all they want from their position.

We’ve been doing stuff the right way for a while and if we keep doing so then the rewards will come. The money thing is a kick in the teeth, no doubt, but we have sort of false finances at the moment as we don’t know what sort of overspend the Gordons are prepared to underwrite.

It’s a pisser but just think how far we’ve come in a short time - we’d have more than settled for being where we are in the immediate aftermath of the last ball being kicked on cup final day at the corresponding point last season.

[Paul1642]

Jamestown is just bluster. It’s an analytical database. I refuse to believe that in 2025 any major club aren’t using one.

Hearts have access to Brighton's one and can’t shut up about it.
Hibs have access to Bournemouth’s one.
Celtic Rangers and Aberdeen at a minimum will also have access to something similar.

The rest of us don’t feel the need to put a name to it.

[Donegal Hibby]

He had them performing 4th best in league from November to be fair. Only 6-7 points worse than us from that point

Yeah but in the end he failed , lost every big game he had and finished bottom 6 . Today was a sore one to take but least we have seen our team improving and got European football to look forward too.

[CB Hibs 68]

Me too.

Don't think I've ever felt as pissed about a result not involving Hibs

Hearts Rangers.Hearts Gretna spring to mind .Know what you are saying though.

[B.H.F.C]

Nah, I’m with the OP.

We got dealt a dose of bad luck in a game that we couldn’t influence. The stuff that we have been able to influence we’ve done so positively, we deserved to finish third.

The Jambos can cheer today’s result all they want from their position.

We’ve been doing stuff the right way for a while and if we keep doing so then the rewards will come. The money thing is a kick in the teeth, no doubt, but we have sort of false finances at the moment as we don’t know what sort of overspend the Gordons are prepared to underwrite.

It’s a pisser but just think how far we’ve come in a short time - we’d have more than settled for being where we are in the immediate aftermath of the last ball being kicked on cup final day at the corresponding point last season.

I’d absolutely rather be in our position than Hearts. We have Europe and we have the core of a decent team. They will take a bit of lifting from this though. There’s no point in denying it, the vast majority of folk thought we were there. And that will have included plenty of players and staff.

Where I think we need to be careful is not falling in to the trap of thinking we’re further on than we are. We finished third, deservedly, but it was a third place finish with a low points total. In recent times, only Aberdeen have finished third with less points in 22/23, and they went on a ridiculous run for a period, something we did this year.

I’m pretty hopeful that we’ll back Gray well and have a decent squad in place by the time Europe comes round, irrespective of today.

[banchoryhibs]

You know what, today's result was not brilliant but we are still in Europe and we can make the group stages but now need to get through two rounds.

That's not impossible - so let's do all we can to give SDG the best possible chance to give us superb European nights in our 150th Year!

[NAE NOOKIE]

I think we need to disassociate the two feelings, as no one in the club should be faced with a support that's on any sort of downer into next year.

I'm jealous as hell at the opportunity Aberdeen now have, but you can still be proud as hell of the position Hibs got themselves into and our achievements.

Totally agree. In the end it's ok to be disappointed that things didn't work out for us today, but that is in no way Hibs fault. On the pitch we did everything we could to achieve European football, and in case folk forget it was a minor miracle we did at all.

Not forgetting that in the cups we had simply the two worst draws any club can get in this country ... to get Celtic away when there was 7 other teams who could have got them was unlucky ..... to get them away again when there was 6 other clubs who could have got them was doubly unlucky. The fact it was away both times was bad luck taking the piss.

We can, and should, put the disappointment of today behind us and get behind the club for next season. Onwards and upwards
:flag:

[JohnM1875]

You know what, today's result was not brilliant but we are still in Europe and we can make the group stages but now need to get through two rounds.

That's not impossible - so let's do all we can to give SDG the best possible chance to give us superb European nights in our 150th Year!

Three two-leg ties.

Not impossible, just highly unlikely. Don't think a Scottish team has ever managed it.

Still doesn't take away from finishing third. Unreal achievement.

[IberianHibernian]

No, I would not. Unless our owners are willing to spend HUGE this summer.

Aberdeen are guaranteed £6m


Hearts are getting decent investment. And as much as people want to deny it, Jamestown works.



So we had the money that came from automatic group stage. But that’s gone.

So next time you see people hinting that we are related to that weegie *****, or even disgustingly call them ‘cousins’, or see the fans that we have that bend over and want Celtic to just knowledge them, please do what any normal fan would to and treat Celtic with the disdain they they deserve. A horrible ****my club that I hope no Hibs supporter ever even tries to have a connection with.Where is 6m coming from ? And does it allow for massive costs of away games ? What has Hearts`investment got to do with a discussion about clubs that will be playing in European competitions next season ? Do you think we won`t make any money ( as well as fan memories ) from for example ties against Anderlecht and another similar team ? and then maybe make more from play off round and groups ? Will ignore comments about Celtic - we `d all like to have seen guaranteed group matches in Europe but I ceertainly don`t blame Celtic or any other team for us not managing it this year or any other .

[He's here!]

Jeez, you'd think we'd been relegated today judging by the reaction on here to a game we weren't even involved in.

SDG talks about the bond between the team and the fans yet after the phenomenal efforts the team put in some on here are as saying they don't give a f*** about that and they'd rather have had Aberdeen's largely embarrassing season and won the cup.

I know which team I'd rather be watching week in week out and I know which set of owners and management team I'd rather be moving forward with.

[NAE NOOKIE]

Where is 6m coming from ? And does it allow for massive costs of away games ? What has Hearts`investment got to do with a discussion about clubs that will be playing in European competitions next season ? Do you think we won`t make any money ( as well as fan memories ) from for example ties against Anderlecht and another similar team ? and then maybe make more from play off round and groups ? Will ignore comments about Celtic - we `d all like to have seen guaranteed group matches in Europe but I ceertainly don`t blame Celtic or any other team for us not managing it this year or any other .

Agree with all of this, apart from the not blaming Celtic bit.

They have strolled through this country's fitba for 10 years and the one time we needed them to do what they have been doing to everybody, not least Aberdeen, in all that time they make a total arse of it ...... Damned right I'm blaming Celtic. We bust a gut getting to third and to have a possible windfall of millions taken away because Celtic thought they just had to turn up to win today is infuriating.

Have you ever seen a team in a final ... ever ... who opened the scoring and barely celebrated the goal. That said everything about Celtic today, with that goal they thought the game was done and all they had to do was pass the ball about a bit and goals would simply fall into their lap. Their hubris got them beat today and that's why every Hibs fan has a right to be angry with them tonight.

[B.H.F.C]

Jeez, you'd think we'd been relegated today judging by the reaction on here to a game we weren't even involved in.

SDG talks about the bond between the team and the fans yet after the phenomenal efforts the team put in some on here are as saying they don't give a f*** about that and they'd rather have had Aberdeen's largely embarrassing season and won the cup.

I know which team I'd rather be watching week in week out and I know which set of owners and management team I'd rather be moving forward with.

I think there will be plenty within the club feeling not too differently to many on here. Whether they admit it or not, a lot of people thought it was a done deal and that would include a lot of folk inside the club.

Aberdeen were 4 points worse than us in the league and have a Scottish Cup to show for it. I’m not overly down on Hibs, I think we’ve done well. But I’d take that instead any time.

[He's here!]

No, I would not. Unless our owners are willing to spend HUGE this summer.

Aberdeen are guaranteed £6m


Hearts are getting decent investment. And as much as people want to deny it, Jamestown works.



So we had the money that came from automatic group stage. But that’s gone.

So next time you see people hinting that we are related to that weegie *****, or even disgustingly call them ‘cousins’, or see the fans that we have that bend over and want Celtic to just knowledge them, please do what any normal fan would to and treat Celtic with the disdain they they deserve. A horrible ****my club that I hope no Hibs supporter ever even tries to have a connection with.

What has 'worked' for Hearts with Jamestown? Three managers in one season and a bottom six finish is proof it's 'working'?

And how are Aberdeen 'guaranteed' £6 million? Even if these figures being thrown about were true what good did group stage football do for Hearts and Aberdeen over the last two years? Both had awful league seasons off the back of it.

[TimeForHeroes32]

Jeez, you'd think we'd been relegated today judging by the reaction on here to a game we weren't even involved in.

SDG talks about the bond between the team and the fans yet after the phenomenal efforts the team put in some on here are as saying they don't give a f*** about that and they'd rather have had Aberdeen's largely embarrassing season and won the cup.

I know which team I'd rather be watching week in week out and I know which set of owners and management team I'd rather be moving forward with.

If anyone went to me at start season would I rather finish 3rd with no cups or finish 5th and win a cup I can tell you I will not be picking 3rd place. Any normal fan wouldn’t be picking 3rd place so don’t try and pretend you would

I’d even rather us finishing last and see us win a cup than just finishing 3rd especially when no guaranteed group stage football comes with just 3rd

Also Aberdeen ‘largely embarrassing season’ has not only won the cup but also guaranteed at least 5 million for European football

[hibsbollah]

Today was *****, there are no positives from it, but none of the positive factors at Hibernian FC have changed.

We still have a club legend in the dugout performing fantastically. We still have a great squad filled with talented, likeable players with a great attitude. Our youth team and woman’s team still won their leagues, and we’re still the 3rd best team in the country right now.

At the start of the season you offered me 3rd but missing out on guaranteed group stages I’d be delighted. Infact, if you’d just offered me 4th which is now the European position we fill, I would be too disappointed. Take the above and offer it to me mid November and I’d bite your hand off.

Hibs are a club in a great position right now and today doesn’t erase that.

The only thing that needs to be said really.

[He's here!]

If anyone went to me at start season would I rather finish 3rd with no cups or finish 5th and win a cup I can tell you I will not be picking 3rd place. Any normal fan wouldn’t be picking 3rd place so don’t try and pretend you would

I’d even rather us finishing last and see us win a cup than just finishing 3rd especially when no guaranteed group stage football comes with just 3rd

Also Aberdeen ‘largely embarrassing season’ has not only won the cup but also guaranteed at least 5 million for European football

You'd rather be relegated and win a cup than finish third? Doesn't sound 'normal' to me.

Aberdeen won more points in their first ten games than they did in the remaining 28. That's largely embarrassing.

Anyone who follows their team week in week out would rather see them play consistently well.

And again, more claims of 'guaranteed' millions. Where is this coming from?

[Dmas]

3rd best team in the country league doesn’t lie

[TimeForHeroes32]

You'd rather be relegated and win a cup than finish third?

Aberdeen won more points in their first ten games than they did in the remaining 28. That's largely embarrassing.

Anyone who follows their team week in week out would rather see them play consistently well.

Any team outside old firm would rather see their clubs win cups over where they finish in league since winning the league will never happen any time soon. Wouldn’t care how we were playing all season just rather see us win a trophy. Even winning SC is a better prize than winning 3rd just like Aberdeen has shown today. Some fans might not even see a trophy in their life some might only see one but when happens means so much more than saying we finished 3rd in the league

Didn’t even get promoted from championship in 2016 and finished 3rd behind Falkirk, take it that was an embarrassing season for us though with your logic

[He's here!]

Any team outside old firm would rather see their clubs win cups over where they finish in league since winning the league will never happen any time soon. Wouldn’t care how we were playing all season just rather see us win a trophy. Even winning SC is a better prize than winning 3rd just like Aberdeen has shown today. Some fans might not even see a trophy in their life some might only see one but when happens means so much more than saying we finished 3rd in the league

Didn’t even get promoted from championship in 2016 and finished 3rd behind Falkirk, take it that was an embarrassing season for us though with your logic

Relentlessly crap football but as long as there was a cup win at some point in your lifetime that would make it all OK? Guessing you're not a season ticket holder.

2015/16 was a great season. A team on an unmistakable rise from the ashes of relegation in the mix on three fronts for both cups and promotion. We knew we were on the up and when you win cups on the back of that it makes it all the sweeter.

[He's here!]

I think there will be plenty within the club feeling not too differently to many on here. Whether they admit it or not, a lot of people thought it was a done deal and that would include a lot of folk inside the club.

Aberdeen were 4 points worse than us in the league and have a Scottish Cup to show for it. I’m not overly down on Hibs, I think we’ve done well. But I’d take that instead any time.

You think Hibs might now going into next season on a downer after the remarkable run of form we produced to finish on such a high?

Maybe just as well we've not got automatic group stage football to worry about. Less chance of a Petrocub type humiliation to get the fans on the club's back again.

[overdrive]

Hope Kevin Nisbet breaks his leg

[B.H.F.C]

You think Hibs might now going into next season on a downer after the remarkable run of form we produced to finish on such a high?

Maybe just as well we've not got automatic group stage football to worry about. Less chance of a Petrocub type humiliation to get the fans on the club's back again.

I think they will need picking up after today, yes. There is plenty to be positive about but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to suggest that. They’re people, the same as us. We’ve all had a kick in the balls today. Loads of people, especially the players, will have been thinking about the groups and feeling like they’ve had that taken away from them today.

[neil7908]

I have to say I admire and respect anyone taking a positive, philosophical attitude to this. Fair play.

Me? My face is tripping me. The missus can't understand why I've got a face like a wet weekend. I've tried explaining the European connotations but her eyes immediately glazed over

Agreed 100%. I'm raging. It's cost the club millions and made our pathway into Europe much much harder. Still a very successful season but definitely taken the shine off for me.

[TimeForHeroes32]

Relentlessly crap football but as long as there was a cup win at some point in your lifetime that would make it all OK? Guessing you're not a season ticket holder.

2015/16 was a great season. A team on an unmistakable rise from the ashes of relegation in the mix on three fronts for both cups and promotion. We knew we were on the up and when you win cups on the back of that it makes it all the sweeter.

I go to every home and away actually. I rather play awful football and win every game 1-0 than see us play exciting football and lose games. Football about winning no matter how you play and I feel so much better on a Saturday night seeing us taking 3 points playing awful than l do playing well but take 0 points from a game. And again I will confirm Id rather see us win trophies than playing nice football or finishing 3rd.

But you said Aberdeen had an embarrassing season for finishing 5th and winning a cup so on that bases surely finishing below falkirk, finishing 3rd in a 2 horse race even chuck in losing a final to Ross county into mix then won Scottish must count as an embarrassing season

[Just_Jimmy]

You'd rather be relegated and win a cup than finish third? Doesn't sound 'normal' to me.

Aberdeen won more points in their first ten games than they did in the remaining 28. That's largely embarrassing.

Anyone who follows their team week in week out would rather see them play consistently well.

And again, more claims of 'guaranteed' millions. Where is this coming from?Not one single Aberdeen fan will give too hoots about the rest of the season.

They just won their first Scottish Cup in 35 years, 5mill quid and European football til Christmas and they got a decent enough league place too. They'll be delighted with their season.

Ask them to swap us, im sure youd find out how far exciting football gets you.

Hibs had a great season but today was a kick in the baws whatever way you want to spin it.

Sent from my SM-S931B using Tapatalk

[EGL2000]

Mental that we have had a run of form equal with our best ever. Yet any one with any real sense would rather finish 5th and win the Scottish cup. Chances of group stages are practically none now.

[NAE NOOKIE]

Relentlessly crap football but as long as there was a cup win at some point in your lifetime that would make it all OK? Guessing you're not a season ticket holder.

2015/16 was a great season. A team on an unmistakable rise from the ashes of relegation in the mix on three fronts for both cups and promotion. We knew we were on the up and when you win cups on the back of that it makes it all the sweeter.

I don't think he meant relentlessly crap football mate ... at least I hope he didn't :greengrin

But truth be told I would rather Hibs won a cup over finishing 3rd or making group stage Euro football any day of the week. I've been going to ER for near on 50 years and I've seen us win 3 cups ...... I would rather our trophy room was a bit fuller to be honest and whatever way you slice it, you can't parade 3rd place or a few pumpings from Europe's bigger clubs down Leith Walk.

In fact, the only club I remember Hearts playing in their group last season was that Petroclub lot they hilariously couldn't beat. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to get Euro group fitba, but you see my point.

[AFKA5814_Hibs]

Have we had a good season overall? Definitely. 3rd place, especially given where we were in November and European qualification is a good season.

Have we had a better season than Hearts. Aye, definitely of course.

Have we had a better season than Aberdeen. No. Winning silverware is what clubs of our size is what success is defined by, they've won the Scottish Cup, eclipses 3rd place by mile unfortunately.

[danhibees1875]

You'd rather be relegated and win a cup than finish third? Doesn't sound 'normal' to me.

Aberdeen won more points in their first ten games than they did in the remaining 28. That's largely embarrassing.

Anyone who follows their team week in week out would rather see them play consistently well.

And again, more claims of 'guaranteed' millions. Where is this coming from?

I thought the millions were largely guaranteed in terms of prize money for competing in the group stages. I'm not sure people offset the additional costs but I'm sure it's still very lucrative.

I'd 100% take a cup win and 10th (especially this year)... whether I'd take it with relegation I'd need to stew on. Prior to 2016, yes; now, probably.

Noone is looking back on this season and calling Aberdeen embarrasing IMO.

[danhibees1875]

Have we had a good season overall? Definitely. 3rd place, especially given where we were in November and European qualification is a good season.

Have we had a better season than Hearts. Aye, definitely of course.

Have we had a better season than Aberdeen. No. Winning silverware is what clubs of our size is what success is defined by, they've won the Scottish Cup, eclipses 3rd place by mile unfortunately.

This is the proverbial "close thread" / "end of" reply for me. Sums up the season perfectly.

[BoomtownHibees]

Three two-leg ties.

Not impossible, just highly unlikely. Don't think a Scottish team has ever managed it.

Still doesn't take away from finishing third. Unreal achievement.

We “only” need to get through the 2 Europa League ties to guarantee group stage, either by winning the EL playoff or by dropping into the Conference Group

[Heisenberg]

Have we had a good season overall? Definitely. 3rd place, especially given where we were in November and European qualification is a good season.

Have we had a better season than Hearts. Aye, definitely of course.

Have we had a better season than Aberdeen. No. Winning silverware is what clubs of our size is what success is defined by, they've won the Scottish Cup, eclipses 3rd place by mile unfortunately.

Spot on. Hearts fans piping up as it’s the only thing they’ve had to celebrate all season, they do forget it’s another direct rival of theirs that will benefit. Only guaranteed group stages they should be worrying about are in the league cup. We’ll still enjoy a couple European trips this summer 🍻

Winning the cup trumps the lot and fair play to Aberdeen they deserved to lift it and get all the benefits that come with it.

[lyonhibs]

If we now get through to the last Europa qualifying stage and get put out then, do we still drop into the Conference League group stages? Or is that privilege only for those that enter directly into the last Europa qualifying stage à la Aberdeen?

[berwickhibee]

Let's finish 3rd again, that would do me. Disappointing as yesterday was, It won't change the positivity around the club, Hibs forever.

Well done Aberdeen, hopefully us next season.

[147lothian]

I can't say I'm not pissed off with the result yesterday, but it is what it is, strange things can happen in football and they don't come much stranger than the dons getting a result over Celtic in a game that the celts had to win to secure the treble. It was a coupon burster. But one thing we can still take comfort from is the fact that it wasn't a game we could influence and our performance levels last season going back at least as far as the 3 - 1 win at Pittodrie were consistently good we came very close to keeping up an unbeaten record by playing all the teams in the league twice, no matter how you look at it, that was a remarkable run of results and considering we will have the core of the team for next season we still have a lot to look forward to in the new campaign next season despite not taking what we deserved for our league position.

[SickBoy32]

Rather be in our position? Eh?

Personally, I’d rather be getting ready to head out the door for a Cup Winners Parade today - after having had a brilliant and glorious day at Hampden yesterday.

OP is at it.

[Yorkshire HFC]

Rather be in our position? Eh?

Personally, I’d rather be getting ready to head out the door for a Cup Winners Parade today - after having had a brilliant and glorious day at Hampden yesterday.

OP is at it.

Everyone sees things differently - Aberdeen winning the Cup is massive for them - the players will still be doing celebratory dinners for it in 50 years time. It's a much bigger thing than being third in the league - which, fantastic as it is, will be soon forgotten.

Another change in football is that it seems that now every fan is an accountant - I couldn't care less about finances - I spend enough time worrying about mine without bothering about a football team. One thing I do know though, is that you can't lose what you never had in the first place.

Hibs had a great season - I hope that we can do as well next season, along with a few good European games and at least a bit of interest in the Cups (anyone remember the Jack Ross glory days????????????) :-)

[hibsbollah]

Another change in football is that it seems that now every fan is an accountant - I couldn't care less about finances - I spend enough time worrying about mine without bothering about a football team. One thing I do know though, is that you can't lose what you never had in the first place.



Nailed it.

[21.05.2016]

Rather be in our position? Eh?

Personally, I’d rather be getting ready to head out the door for a Cup Winners Parade today - after having had a brilliant and glorious day at Hampden yesterday.

OP is at it.

Sadly its hard to disagree with this.

[TimeForHeroes32]

If we now get through to the last Europa qualifying stage and get put out then, do we still drop into the Conference League group stages? Or is that privilege only for those that enter directly into the last Europa qualifying stage à la Aberdeen?

We will need to play 3 qualifying rounds as long as we win 2 off them we will get group stage football but looks like we will need to win the conference league play off to get it with all the teams we are looking like getting in Europa. However if we do make it to Europa League playoff round then we are guaranteed conference league group stage

[GreenCastle]

The only positive from yesterday was that it wasn’t Hearts winning the cup and getting into Europe ahead of us.

Aberdeen as a rival winning really isn’t good for Hibs or Hearts. Bit like Spurs winning a trophy they get the Scottish Cup feel good factor for the foreseeable future, they will get a boost as a club with crowds and STs. They will add players who want to play in Europe plus the are 4 more Scottish wins ahead of Hibs.

The mad thing is it’s not even a good Aberdeen side compared some teams over the years.

Hibs just need to focus on not being a one season wonder in 3rd and building consistency. Hibs have too often under achieved and while of course Europe group stages would be nice - the last thing I want is for us to experience that and then suffer in the league with Gray being way over stretched then losing his job. It’s not a comfort blanket it’s just that history shows the challenges of Thursday / Sunday games.

Of course we would rather be celebrating a Hibs Scottish Cup win or Eruo Groul stages but things could have been a lot worse not making top 6 / being relegated etc. David Gray will want to win a cup as a manager and next season he will have another change to do so.

[TimeForHeroes32]

Sadly its hard to disagree with this.

Anyone who disagrees is lying to themselves to try make themselves feel better. Especially when winning the Scottish Cup is a better reward than finishing 3rd in terms off Europe qualifications

[Hibspur]

I go to every home and away actually. I rather play awful football and win every game 1-0 than see us play exciting football and lose games. Football about winning no matter how you play and I feel so much better on a Saturday night seeing us taking 3 points playing awful than l do playing well but take 0 points from a game. And again I will confirm Id rather see us win trophies than playing nice football or finishing 3rd.

But you said Aberdeen had an embarrassing season for finishing 5th and winning a cup so on that bases surely finishing below falkirk, finishing 3rd in a 2 horse race even chuck in losing a final to Ross county into mix then won Scottish must count as an embarrassing season

If we 'played awful football and won 1-0 every game' we'd win the treble and the Champions League every season. I think we'd all forgive the awful football in those circumstances.

What you originally said though was that you'd rather get relegated as long as there was a cup win somewhere along the line. I can't buy into that mentality, especially from someone who claims to go to every game home and away. What's the point in going if you don't care how we play or where we finish? There are surely better things to do with your time.

AS for that bizarre second paragraph, the cynic in me, looking at how many of your small number of posts have been made since yesterday's cup final, wonders if it says something about your true agenda. The fact we beat Hearts en route to the Scottish Cup win perhaps still hurts?

[Hibspur]

Rather be in our position? Eh?

Personally, I’d rather be getting ready to head out the door for a Cup Winners Parade today - after having had a brilliant and glorious day at Hampden yesterday.

OP is at it.

I'm really not. Sure, it would have been great to win another cup but I'm looking at the bigger picture here and beyond a slightly freakish win by Aberdeen in a game Celtic would have strolled 9 times out of 10.

They started the season great, albeit boosted by a favourable fixture list, but then contrived to throw away a 25-point lead over the bottom side, steadied the ship briefly and then finished the league season with four straight defeats, barely scraping into Europe. Perhaps Thelin will earn his spurs in the group stages, but if he was Hibs manager and we'd had a similar season I'd be saying the jury's still very much out on him. The cup win papered over a lot of cracks in my view.

My preference, as someone who watches my team regularly, would be to see steady, tangible signs of progress. Going along to watch Hibs over the previous few seasons has been by and large a gloomy experience but the last few months have been tremendous. Finally we look to have a strong base to build on and I'd rather be moving forward with the structure we have in place rather than have ego-driven blowhards like Cormack (or indeed McKinlay and Budge) running the ship.

[Pagan Hibernia]

Everyone sees things differently - Aberdeen winning the Cup is massive for them - the players will still be doing celebratory dinners for it in 50 years time. It's a much bigger thing than being third in the league - which, fantastic as it is, will be soon forgotten.

Another change in football is that it seems that now every fan is an accountant - I couldn't care less about finances - I spend enough time worrying about mine without bothering about a football team. One thing I do know though, is that you can't lose what you never had in the first place.

Hibs had a great season - I hope that we can do as well next season, along with a few good European games and at least a bit of interest in the Cups (anyone remember the Jack Ross glory days????????????) :-)

I'm no accountant.

I do know money helps in the modern game and hibs have just missed out on a shed load of it.

[Hibspur]

Not one single Aberdeen fan will give too hoots about the rest of the season.

They just won their first Scottish Cup in 35 years, 5mill quid and European football til Christmas and they got a decent enough league place too. They'll be delighted with their season.

Ask them to swap us, im sure youd find out how far exciting football gets you.

Hibs had a great season but today was a kick in the baws whatever way you want to spin it.

Sent from my SM-S931B using Tapatalk

Disagree. I think that portrays football fans as simpletons who are easily gratified by being thrown an occasional bone. Many will have been hugely concerned by the atrocious run of results Thelin took them on from mid-November onwards.

A cup win is obviously great for any non-Old Firm club, but ideally you want it to be a stamp of validation that you're side going in the right direction, not a flash in the pan.

Hibs have won four cups in my lifetime:

1972: Validation that the Tornadoes were a great side, one of our best ever, one which challenged for the title and merited more success had it not been for an all-conquering Celtic.

1991: Wonderful affirmation of Hibs' rebirth from teetering on the brink of extinction.

2007: Put the icing on the cake, with Tony Mowbray having rebuilt Hibs into a hugely attractive side which finished top for two consecutive seasons.

2016: A historic moment, achieved by a brilliant rebuild of a team which went on to more than hold its own in the top flight.

It would have been nice to have won more, but each of those really set the seal on good times in the club's history. I just can't buy into the view that a cup win in isolation overrides everything no matter how uninspiring the team may otherwise be. And to claim it's OK to get relegated as long as there's a random cup win somewhere in the mix, that just bewilders me.

[SickBoy32]

I'm really not. Sure, it would have been great to win another cup but I'm looking at the bigger picture here and beyond a slightly freakish win by Aberdeen in a game Celtic would have strolled 9 times out of 10.

They started the season great, albeit boosted by a favourable fixture list, but then contrived to throw away a 25-point lead over the bottom side, steadied the ship briefly and then finished the league season with four straight defeats, barely scraping into Europe. Perhaps Thelin will earn his spurs in the group stages, but if he was Hibs manager and we'd had a similar season I'd be saying the jury's still very much out on him. The cup win papered over a lot of cracks in my view.

My preference, as someone who watches my team regularly, would be to see steady, tangible signs of progress. Going along to watch Hibs over the previous few seasons has been by and large a gloomy experience but the last few months have been tremendous. Finally we look to have a strong base to build on and I'd rather be moving forward with the structure we have in place rather than have ego-driven blowhards like Cormack (or indeed McKinlay and Budge) running the ship.

Fair enough, disagree with almost all of that however.

Bigger picture? Doesn’t exist in football, it’s all about the here and now.

Aberdeen made history yesterday, gave their fans a day they’ll never forget and have been correctly rewarded with their European spot and associated cash windfall. Hibs had a good season, but not as good as Aberdeen. Thelin ‘earned his spurs’ yesterday btw.

I’m also not sure where your confidence about our setup / structure comes from? It went well this season, aye. It could just as easily fall apart next season. Triantis is a massive hole for us to fill, for example.

I think yesterday will reinforce to a lot of people just how important cup competitions are for clubs of our size in Scotland. Particularly when the league setup is inherently bent in favour of the OF.

Ps, I watch the team regularly too. Just find it hard to get overly excited about league fixtures (outwith derby / OF wins) as the whole competition is just a farce IMO. Give me a cup run and days at Hampden any day of the week, over decent league form (which ultimately, doesn’t really matter).

[Pagan Hibernia]

Disagree. I think that portrays football fans as simpletons who are easily gratified by being thrown an occasional bone. Many will have been hugely concerned by the atrocious run of results Thelin took them on from mid-November onwards.

A cup win is obviously great for any non-Old Firm club, but ideally you want it to be a stamp of validation that you're side going in the right direction, not a flash in the pan.

Hibs have won four cups in my lifetime:

1972: Validation that the Tornadoes were a great side, one of our best ever, one which challenged for the title and merited more success had it not been for an all-conquering Celtic.

1991: Wonderful affirmation of Hibs' rebirth from teetering on the brink of extinction.

2007: Put the icing on the cake, with Tony Mowbray having rebuilt Hibs into a hugely attractive side which finished top for two consecutive seasons.

2016: A historic moment, achieved by a brilliant rebuild of a team which went on to more than hold its own in the top flight.

It would have been nice to have won more, but each of those really set the seal on good times in the club's history. I just can't buy into the view that a cup win in isolation overrides everything no matter how uninspiring the team may otherwise be. And to claim it's OK to get relegated as long as there's a random cup win somewhere in the mix, that just bewilders me.

If I was an Aberdeen fan, and thank God I'm not, I would probably take the view that the atrocious form since over the last 6 months makes winning the cup, against all the odds, even sweeter

[DH1875]

Hope Kevin Nisbet breaks his leg

WTF. Some of the stuff posted on here the last 24 hours is nothing short of embarrassing.

[Billy Bunter 07]

If we 'played awful football and won 1-0 every game' we'd win the treble and the Champions League every season. I think we'd all forgive the awful football in those circumstances.

What you originally said though was that you'd rather get relegated as long as there was a cup win somewhere along the line. I can't buy into that mentality, especially from someone who claims to go to every game home and away. What's the point in going if you don't care how we play or where we finish? There are surely better things to do with your time.

AS for that bizarre second paragraph, the cynic in me, looking at how many of your small number of posts have been made since yesterday's cup final, wonders if it says something about your true agenda. The fact we beat Hearts en route to the Scottish Cup win perhaps still hurts?

You are completely twisting what the poster says then accusing him of being hearts because he says if Aberdeen have had an embarrassing season according to you, not him then our season was embarrassing when we won the cup.

Neither are embarrassing, Aberdeen have had a better season than us, they won a trophy, the Scottish Cup. When we won the Cup and the gunts finished third and Aberdeen second in the Prem, do you think they had better seasons than us that season? I dinnae.

[hibsbollah]

WTF. Some of the stuff posted on here the last 24 hours is nothing short of embarrassing.

:agree:

No need at all.

[Hibee Daft]

No, I would not. Unless our owners are willing to spend HUGE this summer.

Aberdeen are guaranteed £6m


Hearts are getting decent investment. And as much as people want to deny it, Jamestown works.



So we had the money that came from automatic group stage. But that’s gone.

So next time you see people hinting that we are related to that weegie *****, or even disgustingly call them ‘cousins’, or see the fans that we have that bend over and want Celtic to just knowledge them, please do what any normal fan would to and treat Celtic with the disdain they they deserve. A horrible ****my club that I hope no Hibs supporter ever even tries to have a connection with.



Jamestown works really well if your in the English Premier League.

Just look at Mcginn, we all knew how good he was.. no one would pay even 5mill

A season or two doing good in the English Prem and he's worth 10x that.


The problem Jamestown and most other Scottish teams have is that no one really rates the SPL

[TimeForHeroes32]

If we 'played awful football and won 1-0 every game' we'd win the treble and the Champions League every season. I think we'd all forgive the awful football in those circumstances.

What you originally said though was that you'd rather get relegated as long as there was a cup win somewhere along the line. I can't buy into that mentality, especially from someone who claims to go to every game home and away. What's the point in going if you don't care how we play or where we finish? There are surely better things to do with your time.

AS for that bizarre second paragraph, the cynic in me, looking at how many of your small number of posts have been made since yesterday's cup final, wonders if it says something about your true agenda. The fact we beat Hearts en route to the Scottish Cup win perhaps still hurts?

Thing is some people would rather watch us play good football and lose games than see us play awful and win

Fine maybe relegation was a bit stretch but I’d much rather see us win trophies even if we finish bottom 6 than celebrating finishing 3rd and especially if it’s the Scottish cup. Can say 3rd is still a good season but when Celtic or rangers don’t win the Scottish cup finishing 3rd isn’t as good then as lose out on a better European chance even with this being last year next season cup winners will still have a better qualification chance than finishing 3rd

That 2nd point is about the boys post saying Aberdeen has had an embarrassing season and much rather have our season so I was going by that argument you could say our season in 2016 is embarrassing going by his logic for finishing 3rd in a 2 horse race for league wise even if it ended with a cup. I don’t believe either is embarrassing and also believe Aberdeen has now had a more successful season than us even finishing 5th

[Billy Bunter 07]

Jamestown works really well if your in the English Premier League.

Just look at Mcginn, we all knew how good he was.. no one would pay even 5mill

A season or two doing good in the English Prem and he's worth 10x that.


The problem Jamestown and most other Scottish teams have is that no one really rates the SPL

Works in Belgium too. Some Shan team is about to win the league that bloom owns.

[hibsbollah]

Disagree. I think that portrays football fans as simpletons who are easily gratified by being thrown an occasional bone. Many will have been hugely concerned by the atrocious run of results Thelin took them on from mid-November onwards.

A cup win is obviously great for any non-Old Firm club, but ideally you want it to be a stamp of validation that you're side going in the right direction, not a flash in the pan.

Hibs have won four cups in my lifetime:

1972: Validation that the Tornadoes were a great side, one of our best ever, one which challenged for the title and merited more success had it not been for an all-conquering Celtic.

1991: Wonderful affirmation of Hibs' rebirth from teetering on the brink of extinction.

2007: Put the icing on the cake, with Tony Mowbray having rebuilt Hibs into a hugely attractive side which finished top for two consecutive seasons.

2016: A historic moment, achieved by a brilliant rebuild of a team which went on to more than hold its own in the top flight.

It would have been nice to have won more, but each of those really set the seal on good times in the club's history. I just can't buy into the view that a cup win in isolation overrides everything no matter how uninspiring the team may otherwise be. And to claim it's OK to get relegated as long as there's a random cup win somewhere in the mix, that just bewilders me.

Most of your logic is absolutely fine, and i admire and like the optimism, but youve overreached.

Aberdeen are now in a better place than us. No question. Its now downnto the club to build on a sensational record equaling second half of the season by tying up the players who are willing to stay and investing in good replacements for those who aren’t.

[GreenCastle]

Getting into the group stages of Europe actually gets you more money than winning the Scottish League.

As others have said it’s not all about the money but it does help if you use it wisely.

Celtics budget v Aberdeen yesterday and Aberdeen win.

The importance of the Scottish Cup is massive - draws can work in your favour or not but Hibs should be aiming to win another Scottish Cup in the future. Being consistently 3rd is fine but adding honours to our history is more important.

[One Day Soon]

Most of your logic is absolutely fine, and i admire and like the optimism, but youve overreached.

Aberdeen are now in a better place than us. No question. Its now downnto the club to build on a sensational record equaling second half of the season by tying up the players who are willing to stay and investing in good replacements for those who aren’t.


Spot on.

And they'll be doing that with more resource than if we hadn't finished 3rd but a lot less resource than if Celtic had done their job yesterday. I suspect we will strengthen with the domestic very much in mind rather than the European and to be honest while I don't like that I can't really rationally argue against it. If we get our signings and retentions right, together with Aberdeen's now demanding match schedule, I see no reason why we cant be challenging strongly in both cups and for another very high league finish. Referee bias, injuries and bad luck aside of course.

Christ, I think I might be mellowing in old age.

[Hibspur]

Fair enough, disagree with almost all of that however.

Bigger picture? Doesn’t exist in football, it’s all about the here and now.

Aberdeen made history yesterday, gave their fans a day they’ll never forget and have been correctly rewarded with their European spot and associated cash windfall. Hibs had a good season, but not as good as Aberdeen. Thelin ‘earned his spurs’ yesterday btw.

I’m also not sure where your confidence about our setup / structure comes from? It went well this season, aye. It could just as easily fall apart next season. Triantis is a massive hole for us to fill, for example.

I think yesterday will reinforce to a lot of people just how important cup competitions are for clubs of our size in Scotland. Particularly when the league setup is inherently bent in favour of the OF.

Ps, I watch the team regularly too. Just find it hard to get overly excited about league fixtures (outwith derby / OF wins) as the whole competition is just a farce IMO. Give me a cup run and days at Hampden any day of the week, over decent league form (which ultimately, doesn’t really matter).

Instant gratification trumps patient but tangible progress? What's the point of clubs having a youth system in that case? Says more about fans' neediness than anything else.

I agree the crazily lop-sided set-up in Scotland is ridiculous but decent league form DOES matter. It's a barometer of where you are in relation to your rivals and nobody is surely going to pretend they haven't massively more enjoyed watching Hibs home and away in the last few months than they did under Maloney, Johnson and Monty.

There was a period (Mixu, Calderwood, Hughes Felon, Butcher etc) when my attendance at games dropped off a cliff because I simply couldn't see where Hibs were going. It just seemed a waste of time and money to invest in a club that seemed almost content to tread water. When you can see and sense that something better is being built (McLeish, Mowbray, Stubbs and now Gray) it makes sense to get behind it. The problem, of course, for clubs like Hibs is that when you reach the level most fans feel is the club's rightful place they're scuppered by the team being broken up.

Alex Ferguson is the ultimate example of seeing the bigger picture and being given the time to paint it. Obviously we're not Man U, but we've made a good start with David Gray IMO by not sacking him in November. He's a very impressive character and I think we have the opportunity now to really build on what he's achieved so far. If a cup win comes on the back of that all the better, but if he can keep Hibs consitently in the mix for a top three finish that's more impressive for me.

[heid the baw]

Hearts are getting decent investment. And as much as people want to deny it, Jamestown works.

Dele Alli at Como? A prime example of it not working

[Pagan Hibernia]

Instant gratification trumps patient but tangible progress? What's the point of clubs having a youth system in that case? Says more about fans' neediness than anything else.

I agree the crazily lop-sided set-up in Scotland is ridiculous but decent league form DOES matter. It's a barometer of where you are in relation to your rivals and nobody is surely going to pretend they haven't massively more enjoyed watching Hibs home and away in the last few months than they did under Maloney, Johnson and Monty.

There was a period (Mixu, Calderwood, Hughes Felon, Butcher etc) when my attendance at games dropped off a cliff because I simply couldn't see where Hibs were going. It just seemed a waste of time and money to invest in a club that seemed almost content to tread water. When you can see and sense that something better is being built (McLeish, Mowbray, Stubbs and now Gray) it makes sense to get behind it. The problem, of course, for clubs like Hibs is that when you reach the level most fans feel is the club's rightful place they're scuppered by the team being broken up.

Alex Ferguson is the ultimate example of seeing the bigger picture and being given the time to paint it. Obviously we're not Man U, but we've made a good start with David Gray IMO by not sacking him in November. He's a very impressive character and I think we have the opportunity now to really build on what he's achieved so far. If a cup win comes on the back of that all the better, but if he can keep Hibs consitently in the mix for a top three finish that's more impressive for me.

Top 3 from now on probably isn't going to get us that potentially club changing European run and money that we've just missed out on though. We've missed our window for that sadly. Which is gutting because we've finished 3rd twice in the past 5 seasons and not got to experience what the other teams that have finished 3rd in those 5 seasons got to enjoy.

Of course it's still something to aim for, it's the highest position available to us, and there's no point crying about yesterday's cup final, it is what it is. But some of us are going to be furious about celtics non performance yesterday for a while.

[Hibspur]

Thing is some people would rather watch us play good football and lose games than see us play awful and win

Fine maybe relegation was a bit stretch but I’d much rather see us win trophies even if we finish bottom 6 than celebrating finishing 3rd and especially if it’s the Scottish cup. Can say 3rd is still a good season but when Celtic or rangers don’t win the Scottish cup finishing 3rd isn’t as good then as lose out on a better European chance even with this being last year next season cup winners will still have a better qualification chance than finishing 3rd

That 2nd point is about the boys post saying Aberdeen has had an embarrassing season and much rather have our season so I was going by that argument you could say our season in 2016 is embarrassing going by his logic for finishing 3rd in a 2 horse race for league wise even if it ended with a cup. I don’t believe either is embarrassing and also believe Aberdeen has now had a more successful season than us even finishing 5th

Is that really true? A good team can play below its best and dig out a win. That's fine. But no team plays awful football and wins regularly. As for playing good football and losing, if you can see that there's better to come then most fans will roll with that. I remember Mowbray losing his first league game with us but you could see the potential shining through. If a team gets saddled with a reputation for playing good football but losing it means they're simply not a very good team.

I now understand the point you were making about our cup-winning season but don't get where you're coming from with the third in a two horse race stuff. Falkirk were in the running for promotion from start to finish. They were bona fide contenders and a strong side. Overall, reaching both domestic cup finals (beating several top flight sides en route) and ending the Scottish Cup hoodoo makes being edged out in a promotion play-off understandable.

[lyonhibs]

Hope Kevin Nisbet breaks his leg

Such unbelievably crap patter.

[Smartie]

Spot on.

And they'll be doing that with more resource than if we hadn't finished 3rd but a lot less resource than if Celtic had done their job yesterday. I suspect we will strengthen with the domestic very much in mind rather than the European and to be honest while I don't like that I can't really rationally argue against it. If we get our signings and retentions right, together with Aberdeen's now demanding match schedule, I see no reason why we cant be challenging strongly in both cups and for another very high league finish. Referee bias, injuries and bad luck aside of course.

Christ, I think I might be mellowing in old age.

I think I agree with what you’re saying here.

Whether we’d rather be in Aberdeen’s position or ours is neither here nor there, really. What happens in games not involving Hibs and what other clubs do isn’t our business.

Are we happy with where we are? We should be. Yes, we’d have (much) rather Celtic had won yesterday but where it leaves us is hardly disastrous.

We’re in good shape, we know where we stand now and can go about making the necessary changes to our squad appropriately. If we can beat the odds, get into the Euro group stages and claim the loot that goes with it then we’ll take the unexpected bonus. If not, we take the squad that performed so well this year - the vast majority of whom are signed up for another year - and hope that a similar finish next season yields more luck at the end. Aberdeen still have to juggle that schedule next season with a squad that has been keech for the best part of 8 months, albeit they’ve got some extra funds to improve the squad.

We should be happy where are right now and **** everyone else. Especially Hearts. Tragic twats, the highlight of their season being our European adventures next season being slightly downgraded.

[Chuck Rhoades]

Didn't watch the cup final today. Assumed Celtic would cruise it, having stuck 10 goals past Aberdeen and United in recent weeks as well as winning 6-0 the last time they faced the sheep at Hampden. I can only assume they switched off after winning the league and thought they only had to turn up today to win.

So, yep, a bummer when I saw the result. But it shouldn't deflect from the feelgood factor around Hibs. Comfortably finishing third. A European spot. Unbeaten in the derby. Hearts bottom six. Aside from capping things off with a trophy, seasons for Hibs don't get better than that.

Welcome as the income from guaranteed European group stage football would be, Hearts embarrassed themselves at that level this season - and Aberdeen were little better the previous season. Both endured miserable league seasons on the back of it. A case of being careful what you wish for.

Who knows? We may end up in the group stages anyway. But it might not end up being the worst thing for us to build some momentum in the league first. I'd certainly rather be going into the new season with SDG in charge ahead of the likes of Thelin, Goodwin or McInnes.

GGTTH.

I’d have much rather Celtic won or we won the cup.

[Contador]

Let's finish 3rd again, that would do me. Disappointing as yesterday was, It won't change the positivity around the club, Hibs forever.

Well done Aberdeen, hopefully us next season.

Im with this, we havent finished in the top 3 in back to back seasons in 50 years, what an achievement that would be if we could do it next season.

It’s absolutely brutal to not get the guaranteed groups, the £5.5mil or so, the away trips and the reputation boost for the club on the European stage, but we can only control whats in our control.

It can’t be dressed up any other way than yesterday took a massive shine of what has been a great season for us.

[LewysGot2]

When does stadium refurbishment or rebuild catch up with Aberdeen?

Not one to stick up for the Gorgie mob but they, like us, have rebuilt not fit for purpose stadia at significant expense whilst Aberdeen continue to ignore their worst fan experience in the top flight and financially dope their team instead...

Time something was done about Pittodrie- it's a dump, inhospitable and prehistoric. At some point that has to catch up with them?

[Glory Lurker]

When does stadium refurbishment or rebuild catch up with Aberdeen?

Not one to stick up for the Gorgie mob but they, like us, have rebuilt not fit for purpose stadia at significant expense whilst Aberdeen continue to ignore their worst fan experience in the top flight and financially dope their team instead...

Time something was done about Pittodrie- it's a dump, inhospitable and prehistoric. At some point that has to catch up with them?

Exactly. Imagine what European teams think when they come over to that hovel.

[Hibspur]

When does stadium refurbishment or rebuild catch up with Aberdeen?

Not one to stick up for the Gorgie mob but they, like us, have rebuilt not fit for purpose stadia at significant expense whilst Aberdeen continue to ignore their worst fan experience in the top flight and financially dope their team instead...

Time something was done about Pittodrie- it's a dump, inhospitable and prehistoric. At some point that has to catch up with them?

They've tried to build new stadiums in other parts of the city but have been scuppered by protesters. I think the latest plan is to refurbish Pittodrie but you're right, they seem content to keep it as a dump for now.

[Hibspur]

You are completely twisting what the poster says then accusing him of being hearts because he says if Aberdeen have had an embarrassing season according to you, not him then our season was embarrassing when we won the cup.

Neither are embarrassing, Aberdeen have had a better season than us, they won a trophy, the Scottish Cup. When we won the Cup and the gunts finished third and Aberdeen second in the Prem, do you think they had better seasons than us that season? I dinnae.

Where did I say Aberdeen had an embarrassing season? I said I'd have been concerned if Hibs had experienced their league season after the start they had to only scrape 5th. The cup win has obviously put a shine on it that I don't believe they merited.

I think repeatedly throwing in the phrase 'third in a two-horse race' to describe Hibs' Scottish Cup-winning season is decidedly Hearts-esque though!

[danhibees1875]

Disagree. I think that portrays football fans as simpletons who are easily gratified by being thrown an occasional bone. Many will have been hugely concerned by the atrocious run of results Thelin took them on from mid-November onwards.

A cup win is obviously great for any non-Old Firm club, but ideally you want it to be a stamp of validation that you're side going in the right direction, not a flash in the pan.

Hibs have won four cups in my lifetime:

1972: Validation that the Tornadoes were a great side, one of our best ever, one which challenged for the title and merited more success had it not been for an all-conquering Celtic.

1991: Wonderful affirmation of Hibs' rebirth from teetering on the brink of extinction.

2007: Put the icing on the cake, with Tony Mowbray having rebuilt Hibs into a hugely attractive side which finished top for two consecutive seasons.

2016: A historic moment, achieved by a brilliant rebuild of a team which went on to more than hold its own in the top flight.

It would have been nice to have won more, but each of those really set the seal on good times in the club's history. I just can't buy into the view that a cup win in isolation overrides everything no matter how uninspiring the team may otherwise be. And to claim it's OK to get relegated as long as there's a random cup win somewhere in the mix, that just bewilders me.

2016 seen us fail to win the 2nd tier at the second attempt, lose the resulting play off to Falkirk and lose a cup final to Ross County... I count it as a good year all thanks to the final game of the season. :dunno:

[Hibspur]

2016 seen us fail to win the 2nd tier at the second attempt, lose the resulting play off to Falkirk and lose a cup final to Ross County... I count it as a good year all thanks to the final game of the season. :dunno:

The wins over Hearts, Aberdeen, Dundee United (twice), St Johnstone and Inverness (all top flight sides) during those cup runs were of no consequence then? Nor the fact that Ross County were also a top flight side?

Bearing in mind the mess we were in, we were never getting out of the Championship in a hurry with Hearts and Rangers in the mix while, as I've mentioned in a previous post, Falkirk were bona fide promotion contenders too.

Despite all that, and the fact we were steadily building a side capable of challenging for second in the top flight, ONLY winning the Scottish Cup final made it a good year?

[erin go bragh]

Listen, had the shoe been on the other foot, we would be laughing at them missing out on guaranteed Euro football to Christmas.
But when we are preparing for our first Euro game and they are playing in the League cup groups, we will be laughing at them.

[Cabbage-Patch]

Didn't watch the cup final today. Assumed Celtic would cruise it, having stuck 10 goals past Aberdeen and United in recent weeks as well as winning 6-0 the last time they faced the sheep at Hampden. I can only assume they switched off after winning the league and thought they only had to turn up today to win.

So, yep, a bummer when I saw the result. But it shouldn't deflect from the feelgood factor around Hibs. Comfortably finishing third. A European spot. Unbeaten in the derby. Hearts bottom six. Aside from capping things off with a trophy, seasons for Hibs don't get better than that.

Welcome as the income from guaranteed European group stage football would be, Hearts embarrassed themselves at that level this season - and Aberdeen were little better the previous season. Both endured miserable league seasons on the back of it. A case of being careful what you wish for.

Who knows? We may end up in the group stages anyway. But it might not end up being the worst thing for us to build some momentum in the league first. I'd certainly rather be going into the new season with SDG in charge ahead of the likes of Thelin, Goodwin or McInnes.

GGTTH.

I appreciate you are trying to put a positive spin on it and we shouldn't forget what an incredible season this has been but there is no sugar coating the fact that yesterday's result was a disaster for the club. We are not in good position financially with the owners having to plug a 7 million black hole this year. The revenue and extra income as well as the ability to attract better players the guaranteed group games would have brung should not be understated. Im sure nobody is as more gutted about this than Ian Gordon today.

I would imagine the recruitment plans will now need to be severely revised. Could be the difference between not being able to offer folk like Rocky a contract that will keep him at Hibs.

I can only hope the Black Knights see the potential this squad has and back us financially and with players to help us overcome these extra hurdles in our way to reach the groups now.

[danhibees1875]

The wins over Hearts, Aberdeen, Dundee United (twice), St Johnstone and Inverness (all top flight sides) during those cup runs were of no consequence then? Nor the fact that Ross County were also a top flight side?

Bearing in mind the mess we were in, we were never getting out of the Championship in a hurry with Hearts and Rangers in the mix while, as I've mentioned in a previous post, Falkirk were bona fide promotion contenders too.

Despite all that, and the fact we were steadily building a side capable of challenging for second in the top flight, ONLY winning the Scottish Cup final made it a good year?

Effectively yes, had we not won the cup that wouldn't have been a good season I don't think. We'd have failed on all fronts.

[DH1875]

Effectively yes, had we not won the cup that wouldn't have been a good season I don't think. We'd have failed on all fronts.

Good season. IF we hadn't had won the cup it would have been a disaster of a season. We did though and that's all that matters.

[NAE NOOKIE]

When does stadium refurbishment or rebuild catch up with Aberdeen?

Not one to stick up for the Gorgie mob but they, like us, have rebuilt not fit for purpose stadia at significant expense whilst Aberdeen continue to ignore their worst fan experience in the top flight and financially dope their team instead...

Time something was done about Pittodrie- it's a dump, inhospitable and prehistoric. At some point that has to catch up with them?

Ah, a stadium discussion .... now we're talking :greengrin

The last time I went to Pittodrie it was the best stadium in the league, which shows how long ago it was. It's a fact that Aberdeen have concentrated on their team while their peers IE us and Hearts have spent millions upgrading our stadiums. Their new stadium seems as far away as it ever was and though I agree Pittodrie has limited room for expansion outwards, it is possible in this day and age to build upwards and I cant see much around the stadium that would lead to light issues for surrounding residential areas.

In short ..... it's time Aberdeen stopped dodging the issue with pie in the sky pish about new stadiums costing a minimum of £70,000,000 and started raising the £30,000,000 it would probably cost to do a Hibs or Hearts style revamp of 2 sides of Pittodrie ... they could leave the end shed for another time.

The Dick Donald stand holds 6000 .... That means the two side stands combined would only need to hold around 11,000 to keep it as a 20,000 capacity stadium.

[He's here!]

Effectively yes, had we not won the cup that wouldn't have been a good season I don't think. We'd have failed on all fronts.

We fail on all fronts almost every season by that measure. Your expectations of Hibs are clearly a lot higher than mine. I loved that season. You could just see everything was heading in the right direction and I'd have still regarded it as a memorable one if we'd lost to Rangers in the final.

[TrumpIsAPeado]

We need to get over the fact that another club didn't get us into the group stages. We've been fantastic for the best part of the season and if we're ever going to have a team with the right mentality and attitude to make it into the group stages on their own accord, then that time is now.

There's no time to grieve over external factors. Let's get behind the team, because they absolutely deserve it.

[Ronniekirk]

No, I would not. Unless our owners are willing to spend HUGE this summer.

Aberdeen are guaranteed £6m


Hearts are getting decent investment. And as much as people want to deny it, Jamestown works.



So we had the money that came from automatic group stage. But that’s gone.

So next time you see people hinting that we are related to that weegie *****, or even disgustingly call them ‘cousins’, or see the fans that we have that bend over and want Celtic to just knowledge them, please do what any normal fan would to and treat Celtic with the disdain they they deserve. A horrible ****my club that I hope no Hibs supporter ever even tries to have a connection with.

We never had the money itvwas always dependent on Celtic beating Aberdeen
Thst didn’t happen but we still have European football
We just have to look to build on this season something we didn’t do the last time we were third
So while it’s dissapointing it’s up to us to go agsin next season and consolidate 3 Rd and win the Scottish Cup

[Victor]

We will just have to win our qualifying games and get to the group stages under our own steam. We are a good team, that is going to be strengthened, let’s have some faith that we can buck expectations once more.

[danhibees1875]

We fail on all fronts almost every season by that measure. Your expectations of Hibs are clearly a lot higher than mine. I loved that season. You could just see everything was heading in the right direction and I'd have still regarded it as a memorable one if we'd lost to Rangers in the final.

Well, that depends on what "fail" means really. Expectations were altered from the norm when we were in the championship.

[A Hi-Bee]

We will just have to win our qualifying games and get to the group stages under our own steam. We are a good team, that is going to be strengthened, let’s have some faith that we can buck expectations once more.

Well said, we just need to do things a bit more difficult, with the right players and mindset we can do it.
:thumbsup:

[Ribs1875]

We will just have to win our qualifying games and get to the group stages under our own steam. We are a good team, that is going to be strengthened, let’s have some faith that we can buck expectations once more.

That exactly my thoughts. It's also laughable hearts are celebrating Aberdeens victory, afterall they got beat off Aberdeen in the semi with 2 minutes to penalties. They're missed opportunity and it's them who we should be laughing at for missing out of that.

[Donegal Hibby]

I appreciate you are trying to put a positive spin on it and we shouldn't forget what an incredible season this has been but there is no sugar coating the fact that yesterday's result was a disaster for the club. We are not in good position financially with the owners having to plug a 7 million black hole this year. The revenue and extra income as well as the ability to attract better players the guaranteed group games would have brung should not be understated. Im sure nobody is as more gutted about this than Ian Gordon today.

I would imagine the recruitment plans will now need to be severely revised. Could be the difference between not being able to offer folk like Rocky a contract that will keep him at Hibs.

I can only hope the Black Knights see the potential this squad has and back us financially and with players to help us overcome these extra hurdles in our way to reach the groups now.

It was a blow , there’s no getting away from that though we are probably up financially from finishing 3rd to where we finished last season . We have a player out on loan that’s going to be in demand and should go for decent money, plus whatever we get for Youan , Miller if they go . The nucleus of the squad is good and I have no doubt we will strengthen again. Everything isn’t all doom and gloom . There’s a lot to be positive about too .

[Hibspur]

Well, that depends on what "fail" means really. Expectations were altered from the norm when we were in the championship.

What were our realistic expectations that season? To get promoted was the target but that was no given with Rangers still in the Championship. The most likely outcome was we'd need to rely on the play-offs, again no given even if we'd beaten Falkirk.

What wasn't expected was to reach both domestic cup finals, winning one and qualifying for Europe, all as a Championship side. That surely exceeded expectations.

To say we'd have failed on 'all fronts' if we hadn't won the Scottish Cup final seems harsh in the extreme. As has been mentioned we dumped a lot of Premiership clubs out of those cup competitions, surely not a meaningless achievement.

[danhibees1875]

What were our realistic expectations that season? To get promoted was the target but that was no given with Rangers still in the Championship. The most likely outcome was we'd need to rely on the play-offs, again no given even if we'd beaten Falkirk.

What wasn't expected was to reach both domestic cup finals, winning one and qualifying for Europe, all as a Championship side. That surely exceeded expectations.

To say we'd have failed on 'all fronts' if we hadn't won the Scottish Cup final seems harsh in the extreme. As has been mentioned we dumped a lot of Premiership clubs out of those cup competitions, surely not a meaningless achievement.

A lot of what you have pointed out as exceeding expectations is the cup win itself?

Harshly I'd say that yeah, winning cup games and not the cup is largely a meaningless achievement (obviously some exceptions before anyone tries to compare our upcoming Europa wins but not winning the tournament with us beating Inverness).

I suppose seasons aren't binary and you can't neatly categorise them as good and bad. I still don't think 2016 was much to write home about outside the of the obvious.

[He's here!]

A lot of what you have pointed out as exceeding expectations is the cup win itself?

Harshly I'd say that yeah, winning cup games and not the cup is largely a meaningless achievement (obviously some exceptions before anyone tries to compare our upcoming Europa wins but not winning the tournament with us beating Inverness).

I suppose seasons aren't binary and you can't neatly categorise them as good and bad. I still don't think 2016 was much to write home about outside the of the obvious.

That's quite the take.

Unless you actually win the cup then any wins you achieve in the earlier rounds are meaningless? Kind of makes it pointless for smaller clubs to enter while also, for clubs like Hibs, diminishing some of the most memorable moments in our history.

Reaching both cup finals in the same season is in itself something I'm not sure we'd ever achieved. Yet without winning one of them it's of no consequence?

[Centre Hawf]

What Hibs have achieved this year has been incredible. To fight back from where we were in November to securing third with a game to spare is fantastic and the unbeaten league record is something a lot of us will probably never see again in the top flight. I'm not really going to answer the question on would I swap our season for Aberdeens because there are things about both that are appealing but I also just find it a bit of a pointless one as we are where we are and you can't change it.

What I will say however is that I am feeling totally gut punched these last 24 hours. Hibs have done everything that could be reasonably asked of them this season and more to achieve what we have done, I think that's why it's all the more sickening to see a game of football you have no control over dictating what was the highest prize available to us and we can discuss the fact the Scottish Cup gets the best non UCL qualification spot in the other thread.

This was probably the last opportunity a lot of us will have of seeing Hibs in a European group stage. We've had a 4 year window of third effectively offering teams like ourselves that opportunity to avoid having to pull of a miraculous result against a seeded team like Aston Villa, and instead we will now have to have watched our two closest rivals play that out twice each.

Taking away the obvious financial implications of it all I just wanted to be involved in it, I wanted to see a league table with Hibs and Milan or Marseille both in it and feel like we're part of the big stage again, even if we do end up taking more scuddings than points. Sitting with other Hibs fans in a bar in Mainz chatting to the locals about football and leaving a positive impression of our club with people, not questioning my TNT Sport subscription because I would get to watch Hibs on it a bunch of times. I annoyingly allowed myself to dream that it was going to be our turn.

Next season that window to get automatic group stage football closes off and it currently feels very hard to imagine it will reopen again anytime soon with how everyone from here tends to get on in Europe. So I'm currently feeling a massive wave of disappointment, but this time it's not because of Hibs it's for them and everyone who worked so hard to get into the position we were in. We obviously can go and win two ties but knowing the likelihood of the calibre of our opponents I will be shocked if we can win a playoff round to get into either Group Stage.

For those who feel like me it's okay to sit in a mood over this and wallow for a bit, it's also okay to feel fine and happy at the season Hibs have had in the end and forget about something that really wasn't ever ours to claim after Celtic knocked us out the cup anyway. Either way we'll all be there next season to do it all over again and probably find a new way to have our hearts broken.

[Pagan Hibernia]

What Hibs have achieved this year has been incredible. To fight back from where we were in November to securing third with a game to spare is fantastic and the unbeaten league record is something a lot of us will probably never see again in the top flight. I'm not really going to answer the question on would I swap our season for Aberdeens because there are things about both that are appealing but I also just find it a bit of a pointless one as we are where we are and you can't change it.

What I will say however is that I am feeling totally gut punched these last 24 hours. Hibs have done everything that could be reasonably asked of them this season and more to achieve what we have done, I think that's why it's all the more sickening to see a game of football you have no control over dictating what was the highest prize available to us and we can discuss the fact the Scottish Cup gets the best non UCL qualification spot in the other thread.

This was probably the last opportunity a lot of us will have of seeing Hibs in a European group stage. We've had a 4 year window of third effectively offering teams like ourselves that opportunity to avoid having to pull of a miraculous result against a seeded time like Aston Villa, and instead we will now have to have watched our two closest rivals play that out twice each. Taking away the obvious financial implications of it all I just wanted to be involved in it, I wanted to see a league table with Hibs and Milan or Marseille both in it and feel like we're part of the big stage again, even if we do end up taking more scuddings than points. Sitting with other Hibs fans in a bar in Mainz chatting to the locals about football and leaving a positive impression of our club with people, not questioning my TNT Sport subscription because I would get to watch Hibs on it a bunch of times. I annoyingly allowed myself to dream that it was going to be our turn.

Next season that window to get automatic group stage football closes off and it currently feels very hard to imagine it will reopen again anytime soon with how everyone from here tends to get on in Europe. So I'm currently feeling a massive wave of disappointment, but this time it's not because of Hibs it's for them and everyone who worked so hard to get into the position we were in. We obviously can go and win two ties but knowing the likelihood of the calibre of our opponents I will be shocked if we can win a playoff round to get into either Group Stage.

For those who feel like me it's okay to sit in a mood over this and wallow for a bit, it's also okay to feel fine and happy at the season Hibs have had in the end and forget about something that really wasn't ever ours to claim after Celtic knocked us out the cup anyway. Either way we'll all be there next season to do it all over again and probably find a new way to have our hearts broken.

This post mate captures my mood probably better than any others in the aftermath of yesterday.

I'm genuinely happy for those who have more or less just been able to shrug it off, taking the philosophical attitude that 'we haven't lost anything as we never had it to begin with, well done to aberdeen, they done their job, thems the rules etc'. I also however feel perfectly entitled to be absolutely gutted and so do others. It has been a great season, and in a few days I'll look forward while remembering it as such. But right now, we have a right on a hibs forum to rant and let off steam about being, once again, on the wrong end of incredible misfortune.

I can only imagine how David Gray and the players feel.

We'll just have to give the qualifiers a proper good go when they come around. We might get lucky with the draw. Surely to christ we've earned that

[Donegal Hibby]

This post mate captures my mood probably better than any others in the aftermath of yesterday.

I'm genuinely happy for those who have more or less just been able to shrug it off, taking the philosophical attitude that 'we haven't lost anything as we never had it to begin with, well done to aberdeen, they done their job, thems the rules etc'. I also however feel perfectly entitled to be absolutely gutted and so do others. It has been a great season, and in a few days I'll look forward while remembering it as such. But right now, we have a right on a hibs forum to rant and let off steam about being, once again, on the wrong end of incredible misfortune.

I can only imagine how David Gray and the players feel.

We'll just have to give the qualifiers a proper good go when they come around. We might get lucky with the draw. Surely to christ we've earned that

I was absolutely gutted on Sunday as I couldn’t see Celtic losing , they normally don’t . But the goal at the start of the season league wise was obviously 3rd place and European football and we’ve achieved that . Early November it looked like we were going to be in a relegation battle , losing a Hibs legend that was our manager but we turned it around in style going on an incredible unbeaten run .

[MacGruber]

What Hibs have achieved this year has been incredible. To fight back from where we were in November to securing third with a game to spare is fantastic and the unbeaten league record is something a lot of us will probably never see again in the top flight. I'm not really going to answer the question on would I swap our season for Aberdeens because there are things about both that are appealing but I also just find it a bit of a pointless one as we are where we are and you can't change it.

What I will say however is that I am feeling totally gut punched these last 24 hours. Hibs have done everything that could be reasonably asked of them this season and more to achieve what we have done, I think that's why it's all the more sickening to see a game of football you have no control over dictating what was the highest prize available to us and we can discuss the fact the Scottish Cup gets the best non UCL qualification spot in the other thread.

This was probably the last opportunity a lot of us will have of seeing Hibs in a European group stage. We've had a 4 year window of third effectively offering teams like ourselves that opportunity to avoid having to pull of a miraculous result against a seeded team like Aston Villa, and instead we will now have to have watched our two closest rivals play that out twice each.

Taking away the obvious financial implications of it all I just wanted to be involved in it, I wanted to see a league table with Hibs and Milan or Marseille both in it and feel like we're part of the big stage again, even if we do end up taking more scuddings than points. Sitting with other Hibs fans in a bar in Mainz chatting to the locals about football and leaving a positive impression of our club with people, not questioning my TNT Sport subscription because I would get to watch Hibs on it a bunch of times. I annoyingly allowed myself to dream that it was going to be our turn.

Next season that window to get automatic group stage football closes off and it currently feels very hard to imagine it will reopen again anytime soon with how everyone from here tends to get on in Europe. So I'm currently feeling a massive wave of disappointment, but this time it's not because of Hibs it's for them and everyone who worked so hard to get into the position we were in. We obviously can go and win two ties but knowing the likelihood of the calibre of our opponents I will be shocked if we can win a playoff round to get into either Group Stage.

For those who feel like me it's okay to sit in a mood over this and wallow for a bit, it's also okay to feel fine and happy at the season Hibs have had in the end and forget about something that really wasn't ever ours to claim after Celtic knocked us out the cup anyway. Either way we'll all be there next season to do it all over again and probably find a new way to have our hearts broken.

That just sums it up exactly.

[Hibernian Verse]

What Hibs have achieved this year has been incredible. To fight back from where we were in November to securing third with a game to spare is fantastic and the unbeaten league record is something a lot of us will probably never see again in the top flight. I'm not really going to answer the question on would I swap our season for Aberdeens because there are things about both that are appealing but I also just find it a bit of a pointless one as we are where we are and you can't change it.

What I will say however is that I am feeling totally gut punched these last 24 hours. Hibs have done everything that could be reasonably asked of them this season and more to achieve what we have done, I think that's why it's all the more sickening to see a game of football you have no control over dictating what was the highest prize available to us and we can discuss the fact the Scottish Cup gets the best non UCL qualification spot in the other thread.

This was probably the last opportunity a lot of us will have of seeing Hibs in a European group stage. We've had a 4 year window of third effectively offering teams like ourselves that opportunity to avoid having to pull of a miraculous result against a seeded team like Aston Villa, and instead we will now have to have watched our two closest rivals play that out twice each.

Taking away the obvious financial implications of it all I just wanted to be involved in it, I wanted to see a league table with Hibs and Milan or Marseille both in it and feel like we're part of the big stage again, even if we do end up taking more scuddings than points. Sitting with other Hibs fans in a bar in Mainz chatting to the locals about football and leaving a positive impression of our club with people, not questioning my TNT Sport subscription because I would get to watch Hibs on it a bunch of times. I annoyingly allowed myself to dream that it was going to be our turn.

Next season that window to get automatic group stage football closes off and it currently feels very hard to imagine it will reopen again anytime soon with how everyone from here tends to get on in Europe. So I'm currently feeling a massive wave of disappointment, but this time it's not because of Hibs it's for them and everyone who worked so hard to get into the position we were in. We obviously can go and win two ties but knowing the likelihood of the calibre of our opponents I will be shocked if we can win a playoff round to get into either Group Stage.

For those who feel like me it's okay to sit in a mood over this and wallow for a bit, it's also okay to feel fine and happy at the season Hibs have had in the end and forget about something that really wasn't ever ours to claim after Celtic knocked us out the cup anyway. Either way we'll all be there next season to do it all over again and probably find a new way to have our hearts broken.

We don't need to win a playoff round if we can navigate Q2 and Q3 with some luck of the draw going in our favour.

If we get to the Europa Playoff we can get scudded 15-0 over the two legs and still fall into the Conference. It's not impossible.

[danhibees1875]

We don't need to win a playoff round if we can navigate Q2 and Q3 with some luck of the draw going in our favour.

If we get to the Europa Playoff we can get scudded 15-0 over the two legs and still fall into the Conference. It's not impossible.

One can dream!

Did I read that if you beat a seeded team, you become a seeded team? So a miraculously favourable draw/result in Q2 puts us in a, hopefully, good position for Q3... then boom- job done.

[Hibernian Verse]

One can dream!

Did I read that if you beat a seeded team, you become a seeded team? So a miraculously favourable draw/result in Q2 puts us in a, hopefully, good position for Q3... then boom- job done.

That depends on how high their coefficient is. Just because they're seeded in Q2 wouldn't guarantee they'd be seeded in Q3 because of all the CLQ2 drop outs. I think it's only Braga that is guaranteed currently, with Anderlecht likely.

[andyf5]

Didn't watch the cup final today. Assumed Celtic would cruise it, having stuck 10 goals past Aberdeen and United in recent weeks as well as winning 6-0 the last time they faced the sheep at Hampden. I can only assume they switched off after winning the league and thought they only had to turn up today to win.

So, yep, a bummer when I saw the result. But it shouldn't deflect from the feelgood factor around Hibs. Comfortably finishing third. A European spot. Unbeaten in the derby. Hearts bottom six. Aside from capping things off with a trophy, seasons for Hibs don't get better than that.

Welcome as the income from guaranteed European group stage football would be, Hearts embarrassed themselves at that level this season - and Aberdeen were little better the previous season. Both endured miserable league seasons on the back of it. A case of being careful what you wish for.

Who knows? We may end up in the group stages anyway. But it might not end up being the worst thing for us to build some momentum in the league first. I'd certainly rather be going into the new season with SDG in charge ahead of the likes of Thelin, Goodwin or McInnes.

GGTTH.

Sorry, but I am gutted. I planned to travel Europe till Christmas and enjoying a European adventure. Our team would have gained £5m, maybe kept some players that might now leave and attracted new players. I did not expect to progress in Europe but useful experience and maybe a couple of glory wins. You are right to point out that there is a lot to be positive about and I would have taken that at the beginning of the season.

[Rumble de Thump]

Aberdeen will have to try to spend the European cash very wisely on the team to avoid getting repeatedly gubbed. Their fans should absolutely enjoy the cup win but it was one of the flukiest cup runs in the tournament's history. They beat three lower league teams, then a Hearts team that had a player sent off and gifted the Dons an own goal, then they finally scraped past Celtic in what was Celtic's worst performance of the season by far. Good luck to them.

[Thatdayinmay16]

Sorry, but I am gutted. I planned to travel Europe till Christmas and enjoying a European adventure. Our team would have gained £5m, maybe kept some players that might now leave and attracted new players. I did not expect to progress in Europe but useful experience and maybe a couple of glory wins. You are right to point out that there is a lot to be positive about and I would have taken that at the beginning of the season.

As unlikely as it is with some of the sides we'll need to play, we still could make Group/League stage, it's just going to be an extremely difficult task.

On the flip side, us not playing Thursday/Sunday every week and potentially having fresh legs going into each Saturday game for the entire league season and a potential second season run at 3rd is undoubtedly great news along with the no League cup group stages, there are definitely a lot of positives to take.

[Yorkshire HFC]

Aberdeen will have to try to spend the European cash very wisely on the team to avoid getting repeatedly gubbed. Their fans should absolutely enjoy the cup win but it was one of the flukiest cup runs in the tournament's history. They beat three lower league teams, then a Hearts team that had a player sent off and gifted the Dons an own goal, then they finally scraped past Celtic in what was Celtic's worst performance of the season by far. Good luck to them.

The whole city seemed to be having a good time from the coverage that I've seen - don't think anything else matters - I thought it looked great.

Hibs also had the chance to beat Celtic but couldn't.

[Rumble de Thump]

To a certain extent, but how good Aberdeen are will actually matter next season. They are not a good side at the moment. Massive congratulations to them but a 'well done' would be patronising. They were lucky enough not to need to play particularly well in the whole of their cup run. Celtic performed far better when we played them.

[He's here!]

The whole city seemed to be having a good time from the coverage that I've seen - don't think anything else matters - I thought it looked great.

Hibs also had the chance to beat Celtic but couldn't.

I've sometimes wondered if the manner of a cup final win has any impact on how it's immortalised. For example our 2016 win was actually a cracking game with some fine goals. You'd watch it again for sure. Saturday with its two own goals and largely dreadful game settled on penalties...not so much. Ditto the abysmal Europa League final. Do Hearts fans fondly recall scraping past Gretna on penalties?

Or is that all irrelevant and you celebrate just as hard no matter how awful the game might have been?

[TrinityHFC]

To a certain extent, but how good Aberdeen are will actually matter next season. They are not a good side at the moment. Massive congratulations to them but a 'well done' would be patronising. They were lucky enough not to need to play particularly well in the whole of their cup run. Celtic performed far better when we played them.

All that matters is how our club is positioned to have mor success in the future. I think we are.

Aberdeen, like Hearts have history of not managing Europe v the league very well and squandering a lot of money.

So e of the chat on this thread suggests Hibs had a choice to do less well in the league but win a cup. It is nonsense. We did our best to do both. An away draw v Celtic in an earlier round is a different proposition to what Aberdeen faced unfortunately.

Well done to them. It is a shame we didn’t get an upgrade on our qualification but we can move onto next season with confidence and lots to look forward to.

[He's here!]

The whole city seemed to be having a good time from the coverage that I've seen - don't think anything else matters - I thought it looked great.

Hibs also had the chance to beat Celtic but couldn't.

Celtic wanted to settle a score against after the supposed 'injustice' of our win over them at ER. They also knew we were more dangerous opponents than Aberdeen and our big support turned the game into a bit of an occasion. They were fired up and at home.

Saturday they went in complacent no question.

[Pagan Hibernia]

Celtic wanted to settle a score against after the supposed 'injustice' of our win over them at ER. They also knew we were more dangerous opponents than Aberdeen and our big support turned the game into a bit of an occasion. They were fired up and at home.

Saturday they went in complacent no question.

The game was still won until Schmeichels glove turned into a cat flap with only a few minutes remaining. Aberdeen had done nothing until then.

[Greenio]

28831
Saw this, found it useful to make sense if it all (not sure if it's accurate, but I think it is) - such a big difference between what we could have had and what we have, but whats done is done.

[Yorkshire HFC]

I've sometimes wondered if the manner of a cup final win has any impact on how it's immortalised. For example our 2016 win was actually a cracking game with some fine goals. You'd watch it again for sure. Saturday with its two own goals and largely dreadful game settled on penalties...not so much. Ditto the abysmal Europa League final. Do Hearts fans fondly recall scraping past Gretna on penalties?

Or is that all irrelevant and you celebrate just as hard no matter how awful the game might have been?

The BBC are reporting that 100,000 fans turned up to see the parade - I doubt many of them were bothered - I didn't watch the game but can only imagine that a late equaliser and winning on penalties would be great for the Aberdeen fans. Sounds like the perfect way to beat Celtic to me.

I remember the Hibs v Dunfermline cup final as a poor game - it's still a great day in Hibs history, as every cup win should be.

I think many people on here are just frustrated that it was Aberdeen and not Hibs that did it - maybe next year..............

[hibsbollah]

I've sometimes wondered if the manner of a cup final win has any impact on how it's immortalised. For example our 2016 win was actually a cracking game with some fine goals. You'd watch it again for sure. Saturday with its two own goals and largely dreadful game settled on penalties...not so much. Ditto the abysmal Europa League final. Do Hearts fans fondly recall scraping past Gretna on penalties?

Or is that all irrelevant and you celebrate just as hard no matter how awful the game might have been?

Its a good question. Of course we all would have been delighted to have conquered our hoodoo any way available to us, even if it was the jambo way, beating Gretna on penalties.

But it would have never, ever have felt the same as beating your deadly rivals who are vastly richer than you, coming from behind with a last minute goal in a see-saw encounter? It was a mile-high orgy with a troupe of supermodel cheerleaders vs a quick 3 minute embarassed knee trembler with some random in a supermarket carpark. Which is very much representative of Us vs Them.

[JeMeSouviens]

I've sometimes wondered if the manner of a cup final win has any impact on how it's immortalised. For example our 2016 win was actually a cracking game with some fine goals. You'd watch it again for sure. Saturday with its two own goals and largely dreadful game settled on penalties...not so much. Ditto the abysmal Europa League final. Do Hearts fans fondly recall scraping past Gretna on penalties?

Or is that all irrelevant and you celebrate just as hard no matter how awful the game might have been?

It's irrelevant at the time. But looking back from a distance on 1991 it's the semi that lives in the memory rather than the largely forgettable final. Whereas 2007 was a much rewatched classic.

[Hibspur]

28831
Saw this, found it useful to make sense if it all (not sure if it's accurate, but I think it is) - such a big difference between what we could have had and what we have, but whats done is done.



Such a big difference between what Aberdeen had and now have. United will also have been well hacked off by Celtic's showing on Saturday.

[Hibspur]

It's irrelevant at the time. But looking back from a distance on 1991 it's the semi that lives in the memory rather than the largely forgettable final. Whereas 2007 was a much rewatched classic.

Keith's clincher in the final is a tremendous moment though.

Brian Hamilton's long-range raker which absolutely cannoned off the post (think it cleared the box on the way out) would be oft-rewatched had it gone in.

[Posh Swanny]

The whole city seemed to be having a good time from the coverage that I've seen - don't think anything else matters - I thought it looked great.

Hibs also had the chance to beat Celtic but couldn't.

To be fair, Aberdeen pretty much copied our tactics from the quarter final. Sit deep, keep it tight, hope Celtic fail to create or take chances, then go for it in the last 20 minutes. Celtic were on fire in our game and only poor finishing let them down but we managed to stay in the game. We sadly had the relative misfortune that none of our crap late crosses were flapped into the net by Kasper. 😂