Stevenson and Cregg playing centre midfield?!?!

[California-Hibs]

What was that all about??
Stevenson for a start is utter garbage, i don't care one hoot what all the Stevenson lovers out there think of that statement, he is. He lives off of his performance in the League Cup Final, but in reality he has very little ability. He looks uncomfortable on the ball, and should be nowhere near the Hibs starting 11...which has been the case all season and ive been delighted, then i roll upto Fir Park today to find out he's starting?!
Cregg was also poor today but i think it would be abit harsh to deem him as not good enough just yet.
But having those two start when we had Benji, Riordan and Zemmama available..? Nah sorry Yogi, that was a mistake.
We're having a fantastic season, still 3rd and in with a great chance of a trip to Hampden for a Semi Final, but we need to get back to the team that was getting us points everyweek and pushing second spot. I'm a huge Yogi fan, and i believe he is going to guide us to success, but todays team was very strange indeed...

[blackpoolhibs]

Correct, Riordan would have ploughed through that sand pit, and drove the team forward at every opportunity with his pace and power.

[Pedantic_Hibee]

Personally speaking, I think Yogi has earned the right to name whatever team he likes right now.

The sheer difference he has made in his 7/8 months at the club is immeasurable.

Cast your mind back to last season and compare it with now. There's optimism, belief, the squad is ten times better in quality than what it was this time last year, Yogi's creating a culture, changing the outlook, upping the confidence and the belief and making everyone associated with Hibs look to the future with high hopes (save for the knee-jerk reactions to a few defeats).

I would have happily waited two years for him to get this club to where it is now on and off the park. That he's done it in 7/8 months through sheer force of will, whilst keeping everyone happy in the meantime, is a credit to the man.

He's earned his stripes so far and if he wants to take to the field with Cregg and Stevenson in midfield, who am I to argue with him, we're the 3rd best team in Scotland at the moment and that's down to him.

[Hibernian Verse]

You began your post talking about how Cregg and Stevenson were playing Centre mid, then finished by suggesting we replace them with three forward players? Of which two are wingers at best if anything in midfield.

I'm glad you're not picking the team

[Nando™]

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Correct, Riordan would have ploughed through that sand pit, and drove the team forward at every opportunity with his pace and power.

[J-C]

Must admit we all wanted the team shaken up a bit after midweek but cregg and Stevenson in centre mid is not the answer. Lets hope Yogi hasn't lost it and is now beginning to experiment at this stage of the season.

[Mibbes Aye]

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Correct, Riordan would have ploughed through that sand pit, and drove the team forward at every opportunity with his pace and power.

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Personally speaking, I think Yogi has earned the right to name whatever team he likes right now.

The sheer difference he has made in his 7/8 months at the club is immeasurable.

Cast your mind back to last season and compare it with now. There's optimism, belief, the squad is ten times better in quality than what it was this time last year, Yogi's creating a culture, changing the outlook, upping the confidence and the belief and making everyone associated with Hibs look to the future with high hopes (save for the knee-jerk reactions to a few defeats).

I would have happily waited two years for him to get this club to where it is now on and off the park. That he's done it in 7/8 months through sheer force of will, whilst keeping everyone happy in the meantime, is a credit to the man.

He's earned his stripes so far and if he wants to take to the field with Cregg and Stevenson in midfield, who am I to argue with him, we're the 3rd best team in Scotland at the moment and that's down to him.

Good post. We've progressed due to the happy union of what would appear to be the right manager with the right board at the right time. Think it's fair to say that at the tail-end of the Mixu regime, many on here would have settled for a wee bit less than Yogi has accomplished so far (though not much less in truth - the behind the scenes work in developing capacity on the wage and transfer front has been building for a while; East Mains has been operational since just before Collins left; these things carry expectations).

He's done pretty well. There's going to be a lot of fair and reasonable pressure to maintain that improvement next season, build on it even. We all hope he's up to delivering obviously.

Getting back to what may have been the OP's point however - it's hard to call. We don't see what goes on in training. And I wasn't at the game. Nevertheless, I would suspect that neither Cregg or Stevenson will have a future at the club unless they can play themselves into contention before the summer. The bar's been raised through the signings we made in the last close season(which included Cregg) and their subsequent performances. We'll be looking to maintain or improve in the next window, and at this stage those two will be left behind IMO.

[blackpoolhibs]

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Must admit we all wanted the team shaken up a bit after midweek but cregg and Stevenson in centre mid is not the answer. Lets hope Yogi hasn't lost it and is now beginning to experiment at this stage of the season.

I'd have thought yogi wanted 4 battlers in the middle today, basically because the state of the pitch. It seemed to work to an extent, although we did not create much. Going down to 10 men never helped, and i'm sure had we kept 11 men on, we'd have had a few chances over the piece.

Making changes is what a manager has to do when things have not been going as you want. You can call it experimenting, i prefer to say he's reacting to what's been happening. If he did not change the team, he'd be slaughtered for keeping the same players in, who have been under performing. He cant win eh.

[California-Hibs]

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Personally speaking, I think Yogi has earned the right to name whatever team he likes right now.

The sheer difference he has made in his 7/8 months at the club is immeasurable.

Cast your mind back to last season and compare it with now. There's optimism, belief, the squad is ten times better in quality than what it was this time last year, Yogi's creating a culture, changing the outlook, upping the confidence and the belief and making everyone associated with Hibs look to the future with high hopes (save for the knee-jerk reactions to a few defeats).

I would have happily waited two years for him to get this club to where it is now on and off the park. That he's done it in 7/8 months through sheer force of will, whilst keeping everyone happy in the meantime, is a credit to the man.

He's earned his stripes so far and if he wants to take to the field with Cregg and Stevenson in midfield, who am I to argue with him, we're the 3rd best team in Scotland at the moment and that's down to him.

I agree with you, like ive said the position we are in from last season to now is nothing short of brilliant. My main point though is that i hope Stevenson and Cregg are never the centre pairings again, because i feel we have better options than then, and that we can play a different formation with the likes of Riordan and Zemmama in the team.

[California-Hibs]

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You began your post talking about how Cregg and Stevenson were playing Centre mid, then finished by suggesting we replace them with three forward players? Of which two are wingers at best if anything in midfield.

I'm glad you're not picking the team

Zemmama is not a forward last time i checked

[AgentDaleCooper]

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Stevenson for a start is utter garbage, i don't care one hoot what all the Stevenson lovers out there think of that statement, he is.

tad harsh IMO, not seen him play in yonks but he always seemed like he had something.

[Hibernian Verse]

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Zemmama is not a forward last time i checked

I described him as a forward player. Would you call him defensive or a holding sort? From what I see, he likes to get in forward areas and drives into them. Rarely does he venture into the Hibs half.

[Jamesie]

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tad harsh IMO, not seen him play in yonks but he always seemed like he had something.

Agree entirely - Stevenson is one to watch and all he needs is a run in the first team to prove it.

[Hibernian Verse]

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tad harsh IMO, not seen him play in yonks but he always seemed like he had something.

I don't think he was the worst today by any means. Didn't do too bad.

[California-Hibs]

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Agree entirely - Stevenson is one to watch and all he needs is a run in the first team to prove it.

Sorry mate, but thats nonesence. He is shocking, and when you look at players we have on the books that can play midfield such as Miller, Mcbride, Zemmama, Galbraith, Wotherspoon, it clearly shows that there is no way that Stevenson should be making the team because he doesnt have anything like the ability that the other players ive just mentioned do. He should be released so that we can free up a wage and bring better it, because IMO there is alot better quality out there than Lewis Stevenson. I expect he will follow the Campbell, Gray, chisholm type players and he'll find his level in the 1st division somewhere.

[California-Hibs]

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I described him as a forward player. Would you call him defensive or a holding sort? From what I see, he likes to get in forward areas and drives into them. Rarely does he venture into the Hibs half.

In the 15 minutes that Zemmama got on the pitch today he done more than Stevenson and Cregg combined. Zemmama can play on the right wing and also in the middle. Todays game with Zemmama starting in place of Stevenson would have given us a far stronger looking midfield than we had.

[J-C]

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I'd have thought yogi wanted 4 battlers in the middle today, basically because the state of the pitch. It seemed to work to an extent, although we did not create much. Going down to 10 men never helped, and i'm sure had we kept 11 men on, we'd have had a few chances over the piece.

Making changes is what a manager has to do when things have not been going as you want. You can call it experimenting, i prefer to say he's reacting to what's been happening. If he did not change the team, he'd be slaughtered for keeping the same players in, who have been under performing. He cant win eh.

Ye in a way I suppose you're right, problem we've still got is the backup for the first team players aren't really good enough.

[Hibernian Verse]

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Sorry mate, but thats nonesence. He is shocking, and when you look at players we have on the books that can play midfield such as Miller, Mcbride, Zemmama, Galbraith, Wotherspoon, it clearly shows that there is no way that Stevenson should be making the team because he doesnt have anything like the ability that the other players ive just mentioned do. He should be released so that we can free up a wage and bring better it, because IMO there is alot better quality out there than Lewis Stevenson. I expect he will follow the Campbell, Gray, chisholm type players and he'll find his level in the 1st division somewhere.

After you get your FIFA recognised managerial badges, have managed in the game for a number of games, watched players in training since July etc come back and pick the team.

1. Miller was playing.
2. McBride is still not match fit.
3. Zemmama was NEVER going to start on that pitch and Yogi knew that and, as I've previously stated, he's not a centre midfielder that will work for the team so it's pointless starting him ahead of Stevenson in centre mid.
4. There must be a reason Galbraith isn't getting in and he's also not a centre mid.
5. Wotherspoon was playing too (and he's also not a centre mid in the SPL)

Anyone else that should be ahead of Stevenson?

FWIW, we didn't do too badly with 10 men and Stevenson was a part of that. I'd be more worried about Cregg starting and stop hating on Stevenson.

[greenlex]

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In the 15 minutes that Zemmama got on the pitch today he done more than Stevenson and Cregg combined.

including giving possession away in the lead up to the goal.

[Hibernian Verse]

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In the 15 minutes that Zemmama got on the pitch today he done more than Stevenson and Cregg combined. Zemmama can play on the right wing and also in the middle. Todays game with Zemmama starting in place of Stevenson would have given us a far stronger looking midfield than we had.

Yes, but the gameplan wasn't to play silky football as Yogi stated. There really wasn't much point in playing a team that was going to pass it all over the place with that tattie field. Therefore Stevenson and Cregg fitted the profile better than Riordan and Zemmama.

[blackpoolhibs]

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Ye in a way I suppose you're right, problem we've still got is the backup for the first team players aren't really good enough.

I agree, but he cant really do much about that in 2 transfer windows. What he's done so far is nothing short of a miracle, if it carries on like it has, we should be in for some good times, and perhaps more regularly than we have been getting them.

[California-Hibs]

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Yes, but the gameplan wasn't to play silky football as Yogi stated. There really wasn't much point in playing a team that was going to pass it all over the place with that tattie field. Therefore Stevenson and Cregg fitted the profile better than Riordan and Zemmama.

We lost the game 1-0 and the midfield was brutal
No point in trying to pass it around and play attacking football? Its funny that because if my memory serves me right, i was at a game earlier in the season at Fir Park which finished Motherwell 1-3 Hibs, with...wait for it...RIORDAN and ZEMMAMA as two of the scorers...funny that eh.

[greenlex]

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We lost the game 1-0 and the midfield was brutal
No point in trying to pass it around and play attacking football? Its funny that because if my memory serves me right, i was at a game earlier in the season at Fir Park which finished Motherwell 1-3 Hibs, with...wait for it...RIORDAN and ZEMMAMA as two of the scorers...funny that eh.

The pitch didnt resemble a Tattie feild that ay did it though?

[Hibernian Verse]

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We lost the game 1-0 and the midfield was brutal
No point in trying to pass it around and play attacking football? Its funny that because if my memory serves me right, i was at a game earlier in the season at Fir Park which finished Motherwell 1-3 Hibs, with...wait for it...RIORDAN and ZEMMAMA as two of the scorers...funny that eh.

Ok, let's take two things into account.

Firstly the pitch. Do you seriously think that we should've put out a team to attack with passing along the deck linking up Riordan, Gow, Zemmama and Stokes against a Motherwell team who are industrious in their play and were on a 7 match unbeaten run? The pitch back earlier in the season would have allowed us to do so, but you saw the trouble the players had today.

Secondly, if we had brought Zemmama and Riordan on after going down to 10 men we'd have lost by more than 1. Zemmama was caught in possession for their goal, and neither of them would've worked for the cause.

We have four centre midfielders playing today to try and halt the game in midfield after a drubbing last wednesday, this was no game for Zemmama and Riordan.

[Hibernian Verse]

And actually, the way hero Riordan has been performing recently I can't see why anyone would argue others deserve a shot. This 'game changing player' is becoming a myth by the week. A debate for another day perhaps.

[California-Hibs]

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Ok, let's take two things into account.

Firstly the pitch. Do you seriously think that we should've put out a team to attack with passing along the deck linking up Riordan, Gow, Zemmama and Stokes against a Motherwell team who are industrious in their play and were on a 7 match unbeaten run? The pitch back earlier in the season would have allowed us to do so, but you saw the trouble the players had today.

Secondly, if we had brought Zemmama and Riordan on after going down to 10 men we'd have lost by more than 1. Zemmama was caught in possession for their goal, and neither of them would've worked for the cause.

We have four centre midfielders playing today to try and halt the game in midfield after a drubbing last wednesday, this was no game for Zemmama and Riordan.

Sorry but thats rubbish, again, please see the game earlier in the season at Fir Park. Now yes, after going down to 10 men the game changed and of course we couldnt have brought these two players on, but what i'm saying is the team we STARTED with, was the wrong line-up.
Do you honestly believe the pitch was in much of a better state earlier in the season that it is now? Yes maybe abit, because it didnt have the snow to contend with, but what im getting at my friend is that before todays game we had lost 3 games out of the last 21, a brilliant stat if you ask me. And how many of those games did Stevenson start in?...NONE! How many of those games did Stevenson come on it?..One..maybe two?
Heck Thicot would have been a better option to play in the position that Stevenson did today!

[California-Hibs]

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And actually, the way hero Riordan has been performing recently I can't see why anyone would argue others deserve a shot. This 'game changing player' is becoming a myth by the week. A debate for another day perhaps.

Oh dear

[Hibernian Verse]

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Sorry but thats rubbish, again, please see the game earlier in the season at Fir Park. Now yes, after going down to 10 men the game changed and of course we couldnt have brought these two players on, but what i'm saying is the team we STARTED with, was the wrong line-up.
Do you honestly believe the pitch was in much of a better state earlier in the season that it is now? Yes maybe abit, because it didnt have the snow to contend with, but what im getting at my friend is that before todays game we had lost 3 games out of the last 21, a brilliant stat if you ask me. And how many of those games did Stevenson start in?...NONE! How many of those games did Stevenson come on it?..One..maybe two?
Heck Thicot would have been a better option to play in the position that Stevenson did today!

I'm not sure, but I'll accept Hughes' judgement over yours. And it's baffling that you think the pitch wasn't in 'much of a better state' in September?

[Hibernian Verse]

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Oh dear

I bow to your superior opinion

And that's what it's all about, opinions!

[blackpoolhibs]

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I'm not sure, but I'll accept Hughes' judgement over yours. And it's baffling that you think the pitch wasn't in 'much of a better state' in September?