Whether it's the club or the fans, the target going into the group stages of the league cup will be to qualify as well as possible and the target going into any knockout cup tie is always going to be to win it. By extension, the target every time we enter a cup competition is to win it and sort of goes without sayingQuote:
Originally Posted by Steve20
However, people obviously know that we won't win every cup competition we enter and will view getting to the semis as decent.
I’d reckon anything less than we achieved this season would be regression (obviously) so we’ve got a tough act to follow
If we can somehow find our way to the group stages of the conference league then I’m happy to accept top 4/5 in the league as Thursday and Sunday would be hard going for us into December.
In terms of cup competitions it really depends who we draw. If you get to a semi final and faced with the same scenario as this season, a cup win is an absolute must. Doubtful neither of the old firm won’t be involved this time round though.
This summer could either see a big turnover of players depending on who’s sold or 3 or 4 signings on top of what we already have. Massive summer for us.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScottB;6580375[B
That applies pretty much to Hibs as well, depending on how many wannabees leave us.
Yes, but the fact is that we seem to drop points to them no matter how gash they are. That in my view makes the league more of a challenge for us next season in itself?Quote:
Originally Posted by Dalianwanda
Disaster - bottom six
Average -4th/5th
Excellent - 3rd and a cup
Hearts are an irrelevance and will finish below Hibs regardless
Win the league and both cups combined with at least the quarters in Europe would be a disappointment.
Have to be in at least the semis.
Sign a few sexy and crazy Yugoslavian players and some 4-4 draws with Dundee
To be honest. Top 4 in the leagues and challenging in the cups should be seen as a success, remembering where we have come from.
This year just feels bad because at one point, we were the favourites in both cups and let it slip
As things stand i would confidently predict that we would finish 3rd in the league with progress in the cups and Europe dictated by the luck of the draw almost as much as performances. However, as we all know it is impossible to make a measured prediction until transfer ins and out are all but done for both us and our main rivals. Aberdeen have begun a significant rebuild but have a way to go to match us and as ever in recent years we don't know what Hearts are up to but as things stand they will continue to pay £50k a month to Naysmith & Damour for little return and like Aberdeen their manager seems no great shakes.
We need another striker and a centre half minimum with other quality players required if we sell current starters.
Irvine is the only current players out of contract that we want to keep with Marciano already replaced by Macey and Stephen McGinn's contract at an end and not being renewed.
Accordingly what happens with all other current Hibs players is in the clubs gift to do as they see fit with the possible exception of Boyle if there is, as we think, a buy out clause in the region of £500k.
As ever support the team, enjoy the journey as best you can and let's see where we end up.
Couldn't really care less about Hearts compared to making the group stages and finishing 3rd again.
snapQuote:
Originally Posted by lyonhibs
Surely cup runs are determined to a degree on the draw you get? People saying at least a semi final, yet if we were to get the same run as this year, ultimately it would be another failure just getting to a semi or beat in the final. Yet if we were to get either of the OF away in the first round, although we could beat them, I’d take a lot more comfort going out at that stage than having to go through the gutless performance of last weekend again.
On paper, last season was probably the 4th best season out of 50 that I experienced as a Hibs supporter (excluding the 3 seasons we won a cup).
If someone offered the chance to match this next season with 3rd place, 1 semi, 1 final, you’d have to take it.
In reality, a top 5 finish should be the least we expect. Top 4 is a good season. Top 3 is a fantastic season again.
Let's see how much you care when the derby comes around.Quote:
Originally Posted by lyonhibs
What's the obsession with finishing 3rd? it gets you some extra cash to maybe finish 3rd again?
Finishing 3rd wins you nothing, nor does making the group stages of a competition we've as much chance of winning as flying to the moon on a milky way wrapper.
Give me wins in the derby and a cup win and I'll take finishing bottom 6 every season ( as long as they're in the bottom 6 with us :greengrin )
Ditto. I’ll take them beating us in a derby if we can finish 3rd again. I find it very weird that some people would happily be mid table as long as we can beat one team. It’s just a weird obsession and as a team we should be above that. Let them base their whole existence around one team.Quote:
Originally Posted by lyonhibs
As opposed to your whole existence around one player? :na na:. Ask the Aberdeen fans if finishing third is all it's cracked up to be, they've done it often enough. I'd love to be 1st, no one remembers who was 2nd 3rd or 8th for that matter.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brightside
As for your weird, I don't base my existence around any football team, including Hibs. It's a lighthearted fans forum about opinions. Mine is I'd rather win the derbies than finish 3rd.
Finishing 3rd would be considered a realistic best of the rest, 4th or 5th would be considered acceptable, 6th or worse would be very disappointing. The cup runs are a lottery and in both cases consistently decent results and performances would revitalise the club all round after the potentially damaging failures of the two lost semi finals and a final.
We also need a few inspirational players notably a leader, a creative midfielder and a solid and experienced centre back. There has to be a better balance to the team and a less one dimensional style of play and a rethink on going through the season with a streamlined squad which at times incorporated a decimated bench with few options in the way of changing games.
That kind of attitude hasn’t really worked for hearts all that well since they’ve been on a level playing field financiallyQuote:
Originally Posted by Crunchie
To the extent that you'd rather finish 10th and win 2 or 3 derbies a season? That feels to me like the kind of mentality that got Hearts relegated.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crunchie
What was the kind of attitude that got us relegated then? The ambition to finish 3rd? I want us to finish as high as possible and win all derbies, what Hibs fan doesn't? Will you be wearing a we finished 3rd t-shirt in the summer? I doubt it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jones28
It was pure incompetence and shockingly poor man-management that got us relegated.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crunchie
I won't be wearing football shirts this summer, I'll be sporting lots of deep cut vests with short shorts, as I'm a prick.
You said you would rather win derbies than finish 3rd, I'm saying that the results Hearts had 2 seasons ago would suggest that was the kind of mentality they had that saw them go down. I would take a 3rd place finish over a 100% derby record every day of the week.
It's a bit of a moot point because we will more than likely finish above hearts and win 1 or 2, lose 1 or 2.
Yup. Hearts get themselves relegated so often because they only care about Hibs. Will be the same next season. Rather we concentrated on the bigger picture than that wee yoyo club.Quote:
Originally Posted by lyonhibs
A lot of folk have set the bar as being one of our most successful seasons ever. People need to realise where we have been past 20 years.
A top 4 finish should be our goal again, with third a great result and a cup an utterly magnificent result.
Finishing 3rd is our equivalent of winning the league.
The 2 teams above purchase their places in advance.
The other 10 teams ignore them and scrap it out all season for the title.
This season our team have won it. Hopefully we can fight of our rivals again next season and win our league for the 2nd season in a row which would be the 1st time since I don't know when.
The teams who take part should produce a trophy to present to the winner in a grand ceremony as an annual two finger salute to the old firm.
I agree Hearts will finish below us but I'm afraid that hasn't stopped them beating us in the past.Quote:
Originally Posted by Since452
Next season we need to kick on imo. Many fans were saying after 2016 that the monkey was off our back and we'd be seeing a new dawn at Hibs. Ron has talked very well about the opportunities and expectations. I'd truly love to see that become more than talk.
Apart from the OF, no other club in Scotland is in a better place than us going into next season.
I'd like to see us put on a good show in Europe and the cups. What I mean by that is if/when we go out, ensure its to a quality team and that we have given our all.
We should be using the turmoil at Aberdeen and Hearts to cement out position in 3rd, with 4th also a good placing.
Above this, I want to see us playing good football consistently. We've had patches but more often I've found us tough to watch this year.
Fully expect them to beat us 2 or 3 times next season but nowhere near us in the league. They'd be happy with that.Quote:
Originally Posted by neil7908
We won the square root of nothing, finishing second would be considered a fantastic season but it still wins you nothing. Finishing 3rd? that would be great too but let's not kid ourselves it wins you anything. what a bizarre post, and that's coming from someone famous for them :greengrinQuote:
Originally Posted by CMurdoch
They might be but I wouldn’t.Quote:
Originally Posted by Since452
If we lost two or three times to them, that would be a big spanner in the works in terms of a high league finish.
How many points did we take from mid table sides , like Livi, Dundee Utd or St Johnstone....:wink: It would be interesting to see a breakdown of the points gained from all teams last season. Hibs will have surely taken more points than they lost against all teams , apart from Rangers, Celtic and St Johnstone. IIRC, we shared the spoils with the Sheep.
In order to finish third again, we would need to repeat that consistency level in terms of taking points. Surrendering a hypothetical 6-9 points to Hearts will not really assist a strong league campaign. Surely our manager will be able to find a strategy for ensuring the team perform against our key rivals?
It wins you a place in Europe? Gives you the chance to compete in a European competition. Find yourself having a good run in that and reaching group stage stuff can guarantee you up to £3m that’s already been discussedQuote:
Originally Posted by Crunchie
Give me that over 2/3 wins vs hearts and a mid table finish.
That doesn’t mean I’m happy with them beating us every game but there’s no reason we can’t do both.
A bizarre take that you aren’t fussed about us finishing 3rd because it “wins you nothing”. What does beating hearts win you in the grand scheme of things? Bragging rights? Meh, give me European football over bragging rights.
they’ve never been mutually exclusive.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brightside
beating them 3 or 4 times, as well as being incredibly satisfying and enjoyable, will go a long way towards getting us the league position we all want. Let’s just f***ing do them this time!