Not a big game.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy74
Big game next Saturday though 😉
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Not a big game.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy74
Big game next Saturday though 😉
I find that hard to believe that you don’t care whether we’re good to watch or not.Quote:
Originally Posted by Since452
Regardless, even if watching entertaining football is something you couldn’t care less about, the amount of people mentioning it would suggest it’s something a lot of folk do care about so it’s worthy of discussion.
it's quite funny that so many have always given it tight with aberdeen teams over the years, winning but not pleasant on the eye
now it's acceptable for us to do the same :greengrin
It’s a strange one cause as long as we win we can’t really complain as it’s results that matter, but it’s these games where we are beaten and show absolutely nothing in them that really piss me off. A defeat where you’ve played well, created chances playing fast flowing football makes it that bit easier to take. Games like against Ross County and then Livi are unacceptableQuote:
Originally Posted by calumhibee1
Jack Ross has done well since taking over at Hibs. You can debate to over what extend he has done well but his record shows he has consistently got results.
Would we rather be boring to watch but win or be great to watch and draw or lose? I'm not really sure of the answer to that myself. I suspect either outcome would bring it's critics.
Very few teams can be great to watch and also consistently get results.
In terms of recent examples, give me today over Dundee Utd, for sure.Quote:
Originally Posted by Since90+2
Scrappy wins like that are just as important as any others if high league finishes are to be achieved. I’ve seen enough genuinely good performances to believe that Ross ideally wants us playing, attractive and attacking football.
Not every opposing team in the SPL is very amenable to allowing us to play like that though, so good to have other options and be able to battle when we need to as well.
To be honest the performance, and thus what enjoyment I get from it, is as important as the result for me. Mid to long term I’d probably swap a league place or two for Mowbray like football than say for the success Aberdeen have had but done in their style.Quote:
Originally Posted by Since90+2
Yup, likewise. Over the course of a season I’d take a place or so lower for good football. Finishing third ever year with dreadful football really wouldn’t be enjoyable at all imo.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Modfather
Me too - funny that. Do ye think it'll ever catch on?Quote:
Originally Posted by Heisenberg
Very well said sir 👌Quote:
Originally Posted by Stevie Reid
Good post. I think we’d all prefer a swashbuckling style and if scraped, drab wins were to become the go to, whilst better than drab draws or defeats, it would be far from ideal.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stevie Reid
Today we deserved the win, we weren’t great but we played well in patches (those patches tended to be the patches of grass...) neither the opponents nor the conditions were helpful towards a slick game.
I think with the squad that Ross is putting together, we’re not setting up to be a dull, pragmatic team, nor a strong plodding team like Aberdeen. I very much think that ideally Ross wants us playing entertaining football and i believe that we’ll get there.
In the meantime, winning ugly is a decent substitute.
Quote:
Originally Posted by matty_f
We were well set up today and it was just our fluency in the final third that wasn’t there. Bad pitch, debut signings, Murphy just back from injury... there are reasons for that.
I see real potential in this squad. Jack has a definite structure to us but we’ve got good players who can improve together.
Yep. This style of play nonsense should be put to bed.Quote:
Originally Posted by jacomo
We’ve all seen Hibs teams who have been absolutely dire to watch. It’s about intent for me. Clearly this team are trying to play the right way. Doesn’t always come off but that’s the way it goes.
Criticism of style should be saved for teams who are set up to intentionally play negative or particularly industrial football. That’s not us.
In his first interview with us Alan Stubbs was asked about his preferred style of play and he responded along the lines of "whatever wins us games".
I get the feeling that Jack Ross understands this statement slightly better than Stubbsy did (and I bloody love Alan Stubbs).
Killie result was important for a variety of reasons but winning the semi is very important.
It’s a tough winnable game and will give us a great shot at another trophy. Hopefully they have learnt from the last semi and know what to expect at the stadium etc but Saints will go in confident also.
If we lose the semi then it will be a massive blow. Livi are really the form team right now it seems.
I’m not sure I necessarily agree that criticism of style should be reserved for negative or industrious football. I wouldn’t call us particularly negative or industrious but I also don’t think we’re particularly enjoyable to watch a lot of the time. My best description of our style would be functional, difficult to be too critical, but also rarely exciting.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy74
I watched the first half today and was bored so kept an eye on the score and did other things around the house during the second half (it sounds like we were better second half). That’s been a common theme a lot this season, flitting in and out of games. Some of that will be down to no fans and the disconnect that has, but another part is simply that there’s lots of games where for large parts nothing is happening IMO.
The days of open expansive football are over unless one team has a massive advantage over the other in terms of quality. Seen it down south and happening up here and everywhere else. More like games of chess. Open up in this league and you're asking for relegation.
Absolutely nuts. In my lifetime I don't remember us ever consistently meeting our expectations year on year of european football.Quote:
Originally Posted by calumhibee1
We look to me as well placed as ever to start down that process, we are doing a cracking job of consistenly beating the sides below us as we have been looking to emulate for a long time, with a manager with an excellent win record across this job and those previous, our signing policy is as clear to me as it has ever been in terms of what we are trying to bring in. The manager always puts out a positive side if at times not always reflected in the style of play.
The manager and set-up we have in place are surely well above pass marks for delivering vs our ambitions here.
And they deserve time with the fans backing to continue to improve.
When the final whistle goes at the end of a run off the mill league game such as today and we reflect back, I'll take the three points every time cheers.
It’s not nuts at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobby's Cinema
We won yesterday, but other than that there was nothing much to enjoy about the game. The first half was eye bleeding. That’s been a common theme this season evidenced by the fact this discussion comes up nearly every week.
This season we’ve won what, 3 or 4 home games? If the football is only enjoyable when winning and you’re also not winning the majority of the time (which isn’t a criticism btw, I don’t expect us to) then that’s a problem. You can’t have the fans being bored every week with the only positive being winning sometimes, especially at home.
It’s not nonsense at all. The fact so many people comment on it every week and you’ve felt that you need to address it says a lot.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy74
Read the match threads. Most weeks there is masses of fans that are bored by our style of play. That’s almost acceptable if we’re winning, but even then, our wins are often boring as well.
Ross is picking up decent results and that’s of course a good thing. But the method of getting them isn’t great at all and it’s something we’ve slaughtered Aberdeen for in the past.
With the players we’ve signed and those returning from injury the style and finesse will return in abundance. At the moment all that matters to me is staying 3rd and winning the semi final.
The pitch, the so called boring play, the home record........none of it really bothering me that much in the greater scheme of things.
It’s a bit of a rollercoaster season so far, but the good far outweighs any moans for me. People just need to enjoy it for what it is.
2/3rds of the way through the league campaign, we’re in a great position. We’re bringing in the kind of players you would hope to see at Hibs. The manager knows what he’s doing.
Here’s hoping Celtic implode, Aberdeen have a poor run and we go on a winning streak of form. You have to dream.
There is not much wrong with the style of football for the level we are at. We are open in some games and tight in others. Killie yesterday were a very well setup team that closed us down very quickly. We play much better on the counter but that’s hard if the other team remains compact and doesn’t provide any space to exploit. We were naive against Livi and that’s what got us beat. I’m sure we won’t do that again.
Maybe we should just be thankful that theirs any football on at all at the moment, and that we all have something more than lockdown to complain aboot? :greengrin
We’ve hardly been eye bleeding all season. In the main our home games have been either really exciting, or fairly *****, inconsistent to be more precise. Rangers, Celtic, Dundee United, Hamilton, Killie first time round, even St Johnstone where we weren’t at our best but it was still ‘exciting’ to an extent.Quote:
Originally Posted by calumhibee1
When the conditions were like that yesterday, and you’ve not won in 4 games, and with players just coming back from injury, the points were the most important thing. We aren’t set up negatively, and the players we have are mostly attacking exciting players, it just sometimes doesn’t happen and that’s also due to the fact there are two teams on the park.
"Masses of fans that are bored with our style of play" (i.e. - 15 to 20 posters of Hibs.net)Quote:
Originally Posted by calumhibee1
Did you see the state of the pitch yesterday, do you know how difficult it is for ball carrying players like Boyle and Murphy to play effectively on that surface, especially so on a blustery day?
Yesterday Ross set up his team to do what was needed. We created by far the better chances and (apart from a solitary lapse) our defence looked very solid. First half was horrible to watch but we won on merit with a decent second half performance.
Would be nice to see you take some account of the conditions over the winter months and maybe accept that the opposition is there for a reason.
It never ceases to amaze me how a small vocal minority of posters on these boards continually focus on the negatives.
A 2v0 win against Kilmarnock yesterday, 3rd in the league, in the semi final of the league cup and yet here you are looking for something to be negative about :confused:
It’s almost like if you say something often enough and keep repeating it some more it becomes true.Quote:
Originally Posted by allmodcons
Of course most of Hibs fans know it hasn’t always been pretty, but they also know that the table doesn’t lie. At this stage we’re clear in third place, we’re the third highest goal scorers and we’re in the semi final of a cup, with a realistic chance of winning it.
We’re also hoping for the return of our most creative midfielder and we have a couple of new signings that are very good captures for Hibs. What reasonably minded Hibs fan could fail to give credit to the progress the club is making?
Nope, not even close.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy74
Every week the game is described as huge, big, massive etc when in reality most games we play are run of the mill scraps against bog standard teams.
On the big game “debate”. There’s obviously degree of big game. Yesterday v Killie gave us the chance to move into 3rd place and consolidate halting a winless streak, whilst also moving further ahead of a side below us who are having a freakish run of form. For me that constitutes a big game.
Not as big as a cup semi final though, another of which we have to look forward to.
For our more advanced big game definition experts on here, a question. Is a game v Killie, in the circumstances described, a bigger game than the one v Celtic earlier this week? Does a game we expect to win take precedence over one where we ordinarily would have low expectations? The grey areas and nuances of big game or not criteria definitely evade me.
Maybe it’s just easier to view every game as a big game, knowing that some are obviously bigger than others.
I think he is doing a great job. As I have stated before I can't get as steamed up with bad performances or results as I would normally due to the unique circumstances this season.
It's great that we have any football to watch at all and I for one am grateful for the efforts being made to keep it going.
It must be strange for the team and management having to live in a certain way then go out and perform in an environment nothing like the one they are used to.
Despite all this the manager is building an exciting squad which is about to play our second semi in succession as well as sitting 3rd in the league.
I reckon we will go from strength to strength if we let Jack get on with the fine job he is doing.