Tavares

Good to see him back.

Fresh start for him which can only be a good thing. I hope he takes the opportunity to impress and is able to make a positive contribution to the first team squad. However, he’ll need to show more than he has based on previous appearances, albeit limited minutes thus far.

We all want all Hibs players to do well

Hope he kicks on will be like a new signing

Good luck to him

Based on what I saw from him before, I still think it’ll be a surprise if he makes a real impact. I sincerely hope he does though as we have no real cover for Youan and Boyle otherwise.

Yes, looks like he needs his confidence building up. Hopefully that happens in the next three home games.

There is a player there with the assistant manager knowing Jair hopefully he can come good

I'm hopeful and doubtful. I don't quite know the weighting between the two, but probably in equal measure.

Would love to see Tavares come good. Hopefully he grabs this opportunity of a clean slate.

Nothing against the lad, but there was a reason (having seen him play) he was told he was free to leave (and couldn’t or wouldn’t get another club) he is simply not good enough. No doubt get the usual deluge of happy clapper replies shouting me down but imo the guy would struggle to hold down a first team place in the championship.

While he didn’t set the heather alight, his limited chances mainly came at a time when the team was struggling and many of our players weren’t impressing. Some of these other players have now shown form and found themselves starting, and I think criticism of Jair probably ended up overstated because of assumptions around LJ not fancying him/freezing him out etc.

He could be useful for us yet.

Or not.

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Originally Posted by thebausburst

Nothing against the lad, but there was a reason (having seen him play) he was told he was free to leave (and couldn’t or wouldn’t get another club) he is simply not good enough. No doubt get the usual deluge of happy clapper replies shouting me down but imo the guy would struggle to hold down a first team place in the championship.

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so you know better than the new management team and they’re just happy clappers too 🤔?

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Originally Posted by thebausburst

Nothing against the lad, but there was a reason (having seen him play) he was told he was free to leave (and couldn’t or wouldn’t get another club) he is simply not good enough. No doubt get the usual deluge of happy clapper replies shouting me down but imo the guy would struggle to hold down a first team place in the championship.

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I thought he was awful virtually every time he played, but as Monty said, everyone gets a clean slate, hopefully he gets something from him the last one couldn't.

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Originally Posted by WeeRussell

While he didn’t set the heather alight, his limited chances mainly came at a time when the team was struggling and many of our players weren’t impressing. Some of these other players have now shown form and found themselves starting, and I think criticism of Jair probably ended up overstated because of assumptions around LJ not fancying him/freezing him out etc.

He could be useful for us yet.

Or not.

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Agreed.

A wingers game is all about confidence and I don’t think he had any last season.

From the outside looking in I don’t think he was managed very well, throwing him into games where everyone struggled, then giving him the odd brief sun appearance before banishing him from the squad completely.

I don’t know if he’ll be any good or not but I don’t think we were ever likely to see the best of him using him the way we did last season. I normally take the clean slate chat from a new manager with a pinch of salt but in his case, with our new assistant manager knowing him from Benfica I think he really could benefit from the change.

Time will tell but I thought he made an encouraging start to turning things around when he came on at the weekend.

He’s nowhere near as bad as made out, his reported wage and reputation I think has clouded people’s judgement, including the old management team who just refused to play him to try force him out.

Last pre season he shows flashes of skill. His first competitive game he came on in the cup and in one touch scooped/flicked it over the defender - ridiculous skill.

St Johnstone and Livi were his first 2 games and in the first he created a good amount of chances with his direct running in behind, picked out constantly by Cabraja. The second game he was poor on that pitch, but he was no worse than anyone else.

Since then he’s hardly got a sniff, he came on against st Johnstone again and won a pen which was later called offside, again as a result of his threatening run in behind.

The game that made me think there is 100% something there was against Raith during the Christmas break last year. He was our best player by a mile and skinned his man repeatedly, going outside and inside.

Johnson said himself there’s been friendly games he’s the best player on the park but for some reason never gave him a chance?

Sunday there I thought his movement was again good looking to get in behind but wasn’t picked out, also had a couple of good touches.

The club and Johnson piled the pressure on him, not Jair himself.

Let’s get behind him and give him a chance

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Originally Posted by thebausburst

Nothing against the lad, but there was a reason (having seen him play) he was told he was free to leave (and couldn’t or wouldn’t get another club) he is simply not good enough. No doubt get the usual deluge of happy clapper replies shouting me down but imo the guy would struggle to hold down a first team place in the championship.

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There are hundreds of examples of players looking miles off it but a new manager with a different approach etc managing to turn things round. Happens all the time. It’s not to say it will happen for Tavares but the new management team clearly see something in him.

I’d absolutely love it if he could come good and play a part with us. I remember seeing Doidge and Newell under Heckingbottom and thinking that they were dreadful, now look at them. Even Doidge at the start of last season looking finished, and now look at him.

Jair, Melkersen (if he returns), Kenneh (likewise), Delferriere, Marshall - they all get a clean slate for me - I trust that our new manager knows how to get the best out of a player.

Was there a reason he was essentially publicly shunned?

I remember him coming off the bench at Tannadice last season and having a bit of a shocker but I'm sure he still made the squad a few times after that.

Pre season came and he was playing in Berwick whilst the 1st team squad were in Spain. I'm guessing it went deeper than looking off it when he was in the team, he started games at the beginning of last season so clearly wasn't seen as a development project. He didn't really deliver on the park but that could go for a fair few members of the squad last season and none of them were 'punished' quite so publicly. There must be more to it.

New day, new start. Every player has to think that and like others I wonder if having a coach that not only knows him, but also speaks his language, might be just what he needed.

Montgomery clearly seems to be a manager prepared to give everybody a chance, he proved that at CCM if reports are accurate.

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Originally Posted by Unseen work

He’s nowhere near as bad as made out, his reported wage and reputation I think has clouded people’s judgement, including the old management team who just refused to play him to try force him out.

Last pre season he shows flashes of skill. His first competitive game he came on in the cup and in one touch scooped/flicked it over the defender - ridiculous skill.

St Johnstone and Livi were his first 2 games and in the first he created a good amount of chances with his direct running in behind, picked out constantly by Cabraja. The second game he was poor on that pitch, but he was no worse than anyone else.

Since then he’s hardly got a sniff, he came on against st Johnstone again and won a pen which was later called offside, again as a result of his threatening run in behind.

The game that made me think there is 100% something there was against Raith during the Christmas break last year. He was our best player by a mile and skinned his man repeatedly, going outside and inside.

Johnson said himself there’s been friendly games he’s the best player on the park but for some reason never gave him a chance?

Sunday there I thought his movement was again good looking to get in behind but wasn’t picked out, also had a couple of good touches.

The club and Johnson piled the pressure on him, not Jair himself.

Let’s get behind him and give him a chance

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Good post

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Originally Posted by Pretty Boy

Was there a reason he was essentially publicly shunned?

I remember him coming off the bench at Tannadice last season and having a bit of a shocker but I'm sure he still made the squad a few times after that.

Pre season came and he was playing in Berwick whilst the 1st team squad were in Spain. I'm guessing it went deeper than looking off it when he was in the team, he started games at the beginning of last season so clearly wasn't seen as a development project. He didn't really deliver on the park but that could go for a fair few members of the squad last season and none of them were 'punished' quite so publicly. There must be more to it.

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I think it could just be because Johnson wanted to force him out the door and off the wage bill.

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Originally Posted by Northernhibee

I’d absolutely love it if he could come good and play a part with us. I remember seeing Doidge and Newell under Heckingbottom and thinking that they were dreadful, now look at them. Even Doidge at the start of last season looking finished, and now look at him.

Jair, Melkersen (if he returns), Kenneh (likewise), Delferriere, Marshall - they all get a clean slate for me - I trust that our new manager knows how to get the best out of a player.

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Totally agree. There’s still an outside chance that the much maligned transfer window from last summer actually pays off, albeit it looks unlikely at this stage.

If Monty can get a tune out of the players it listed, who all have age and potential on their side (Marshall excepted) then it could save or make us a lot of money.

Could part of the issue with him previously be a language barrier, i.e. not clear on what was being asked of him? If so, hopefully having a Portuguese coach will help. My only worry is he seems quite lightweight.

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Originally Posted by overdrive

Could part of the issue with him previously be a language barrier, i.e. not clear on what was being asked of him? If so, hopefully having a Portuguese coach will help. My only worry is he seems quite lightweight.

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I noticed at the weekend, he was getting instructions from the great Raimundo and Obita (I think) was getting his from Montgomery. I know it’s just a small thing but that must make such a difference to someone like Jair who will likely have been a bag of nerves on Saturday.

Ultimately having a coach speaking the same language won’t be the deciding factor if he ends up being successful or not but it might just tip the scales a little bit if it helps him relax.

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Originally Posted by overdrive

Could part of the issue with him previously be a language barrier, i.e. not clear on what was being asked of him? If so, hopefully having a Portuguese coach will help. My only worry is he seems quite lightweight.

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Wouldn't be a surprise if there had been a language barrier and not just with Jair as this half-time team talk shows.

https://youtu.be/0UJZF5iRhNg?si=XswrZDVU53p5y4sS

He was definitely uninspiring when he played last season, but he's a young lad and needs support to settle into the game. If you're going to sign someone who has pretty much zero senior minutes in his home country let alone to come make an impact in ours, you need to be patient and I feel like the previous regime was less than patient with him. I think while some of us probably have an opinion on him from what we've seen we can probably all agree that we've not actually seen a lot either.

Hope he turns it around.

I'm all for seeing Jair getting a clean slate and a chance at us , I'd also like to see melkersen get a chance too . Never felt playing him on the right really suited him TBH and with Monty playing two upfront I think that would suit him too Still think there's a player there.

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Originally Posted by Donegal Hibby

I'm all for seeing Jair getting a clean slate and a chance at us , I'd also like to see melkersen get a chance too . Never felt playing him on the right really suited him TBH and with Monty playing two upfront I think that would suit him too Still think there's a player there.

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Same could be said for McKirdy.

Signed him as a striker and played him as a winger.

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Originally Posted by matty_f

Totally agree. There’s still an outside chance that the much maligned transfer window from last summer actually pays off, albeit it looks unlikely at this stage.

If Monty can get a tune out of the players it listed, who all have age and potential on their side (Marshall excepted) then it could save or make us a lot of money.

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As well as some others such as Tait and MacKay, contracts are starting to run down on a lot of players now. My fear is that a few of them will come good and we could end up losing out.. Not seen anything of Tait since the Norwich friendly. But I thought Mackay played well and scored an excellent goal that got chopped off against Bournemouth, in the pre-season friendly. Joe Newell was co-commentator for that match and from his comments he seemed to rate Dan MacKay. I don't think either of them have had a fair crack at it. But like I said not sure how well they are playing now or if they are even getting a game atm. MacKay in particular seemed to have a strong finish to last season, genuinely thought he was going to kick on. Gutted for him tbh

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Originally Posted by badabing67

As well as some others such as Tait and MacKay, contracts are starting to run down on a lot of players now. My fear is that a few of them will come good and we could end up losing out.. Not seen anything of Tait since the Norwich friendly. But I thought Mackay played well and scored an excellent goal that got chopped off against Bournemouth, in the pre-season friendly. Joe Newell was co-commentator for that match and from his comments he seemed to rate Dan MacKay. I don't think either of them have had a fair crack at it. But like I said not sure how well they are playing now or if they are even getting a game atm. MacKay in particular seemed to have a strong finish to last season, genuinely thought he was going to kick on. Gutted for him tbh

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MacKay is currently struggling to get a game at Livingston, having had some fairly ordinary loan spells, and Tait is back playing in League 1. Appreciate they are both young but I don’t think there is much to be worrying ourselves about. I

I've mentioned this before but I'm currently in Portugal and have a friend who's involved with the Sporting Academy. Also another who has a peripheral connection to Benfica. Both of them congratulated me when we signed Jair and said he was more highly rated at Benfica than Duk. I would love to see him make it.
Incidentally Sylvester Jasper is now playing just along the coast at Portimonense. He started yesterday in a good away win.