The real nugget of gold in all this *****

[hibeemikey21]

After reading the thread about the Hearts accounts, it really hit me how exciting a future Hibs can have. After all, we have got:

A (relatively) new, and soon to be completed stadium.
A new and state of the art training complex.
And we have achieved this without accumulating any debt.

There really is nothing else that our income can be spent on other than on the pitch. For example, if we were to sell another Fletcher for £4 million, we might now see half of that going straight towards transfer funds. Given the financial situation at every other club in the SPL, and the fact that even the OF are "selling clubs" these days, if we play our cards right, we could really emerge as a dominant force in Scottish football.

How far do you honestly all think we can go in the next decade though?

[noseyhibby]

Hibernian FC has failed to win silverware for 97% of its history. Once in a blue moon the league cup/skol cup/7up whatever you want to call it comes our way.
So, I am going for nowt.

[HibeeMG]

I really do see your point. However, and I don't know if this is because of the current situation on the pitch, I don't see the day where Hibs will ever be competing with the OF for players and therefore we will always be behind them.

[MountcastleHibs]

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After reading the thread about the Hearts accounts, it really hit me how exciting a future Hibs can have. After all, we have got:

A (relatively) new, and soon to be completed stadium.
A new and state of the art training complex.
And we have achieved this without accumulating any debt.

There really is nothing else that our income can be spent on other than on the pitch. For example, if we were to sell another Fletcher for £4 million, we might now see half of that going straight towards transfer funds. Given the financial situation at every other club in the SPL, and the fact that even the OF are "selling clubs" these days, if we play our cards right, we could really emerge as a dominant force in Scottish football.

How far do you honestly all think we can go in the next decade though?

I agree with you. I think we do have a very bright future. However, I honestly think we will never break our hoodoo and win the Scottish.

With that said, I can't see us winning the league. Celtic and Rangers have too much influence, power and money for anyone else to win it. We can run them close, but not win it.

Most realistic chance is the League Cup.

[monktonharp]

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Hibernian FC has failed to win silverware for 97% of its history. Once in a blue moon the league cup/skol cup/7up whatever you want to call it comes our way.
So, I am going for nowt.

I'm not really clever on statistics,and dont want to be but 97% seems a lot. However,I tend to think,that if a seagull is gonna sheite,it will land on Hibs,therefor we will win f///////ck all for years to come.or am I just being depressing,like you?

[deek68]

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After reading the thread about the Hearts accounts, it really hit me how exciting a future Hibs can have. After all, we have got:

A (relatively) new, and soon to be completed stadium.
A new and state of the art training complex.
And we have achieved this without accumulating any debt.

There really is nothing else that our income can be spent on other than on the pitch. For example, if we were to sell another Fletcher for £4 million, we might now see half of that going straight towards transfer funds. Given the financial situation at every other club in the SPL, and the fact that even the OF are "selling clubs" these days, if we play our cards right, we could really emerge as a dominant force in Scottish football.

How far do you honestly all think we can go in the next decade though?

The real change we’re going to see is the dominance of the OF. I know, they’ve always been dominant but if you consider 2nd place in the SPL to be a “prize” then the big two have taken 36 out of 40 triumphs in the last ten years.

Only Livingston (League Cup 2004), Hearts (2nd place/Scottish cup 2006) and Hibs (League Cup 2007) have stopped them claiming everything. Given their precarious position and lack of financial clout now I can see the door opening up for other clubs to take a share of the spoils.

We can achieve some or all of the above in the next ten years. (Nowt being one of them).

[seanraff07]

We get on a Scottish Cup run most years, and i just have that slight feeling that some time soon, were going to win it, were more than capable of doing it and theirs no superior team in our way, we just need to give 5 good performances and we would do it.

[deek68]

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We get on a Scottish Cup run most years, and i just have that slight feeling that some time soon, were going to win it, were more than capable of doing it and theirs no superior team in our way, we just need to give 5 good performances and we would do it.

Even mediocre teams win the cup. St Mirren 1987 (no disrespect) Motherwell 1991 (no disrespect) Kilmarnock 1997 (no disrespect) Hearts 1998 (disrespect). It will come. Possibly when we least expect it. 2011 suits me.

[seanraff07]

I think we'll do it in 2012, and it will be Yogi that leads us to it after he buys some new players in the summer and moulds that team together over the next two seasons.

[snooky]

This has been the best season to achieve anything in years with the OF financially weak & similarly their player pools. The rest of the teams in the SPL have been rather bland or minging. Unfortunately we're at that level too.
If only we had a settled squad, playing sensible tactics and had not sold off all the family jewels, all the domestic trophies could have been well within our grasp.

Maybe we should change our motto to "If Only..."

Still there's always next season to look forward to. O-O-OTBAH

[DH1875]

You can but dream.

I reckon if we went about it the right way there is every chance we could win the league. You only have to look at the dutch league. Who would have thought FC Twente would beat the likes of Ajax, PSV, AZ Alkmaar and Feyenoord.
Scottish football is on it's knees. Rangers and Celtic are spent forces, with their depts both clubs will continue to struggle to attract really top notch players. Add to that hopefully there will be some nice flats to buy in gorgie and the Yams will be a distant memory.
We have no one to fear.


Still I am a realist and know that we will probably win ****** all.

[monktonharp]

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This has been the best season to achieve anything in years with the OF financially weak & similarly their player pools. The rest of the teams in the SPL have been rather bland or minging. Unfortunately we're at that level too.
If only we had a settled squad, playing sensible tactics and had not sold off all the family jewels, all the domestic trophies could have been well within our grasp.

Maybe we should change our motto to "If Only..."

Still there's always next season to look forward to. O-O-OTBAH

I think you mean.............this was the best season to win something,certainly the SC. as has been proved,no OF team in this year's final,just a diddy team fae tayside,and the mighty Staggies to decide who's getting it this year.

[greenlex]

The Old Firm will still dominate Scottidh Football but I reckon it will be to a lesser extent as the quality they could buy/ pay is lost to other leagues in Europe as the money tightens. We in our league are best placed totake advantage so I have voted accordingly. Whether we will or not depends on a huge change in attitude in the playing staff and a massive culture change in the club. Hughes is trying to do that but it remains to be seen if he is capable or not. His talk is right but the walk us a bit wonky at the moment.

[Holmesdale Hibs]

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After reading the thread about the Hearts accounts, it really hit me how exciting a future Hibs can have. After all, we have got:

A (relatively) new, and soon to be completed stadium.
A new and state of the art training complex.
And we have achieved this without accumulating any debt.

There really is nothing else that our income can be spent on other than on the pitch. For example, if we were to sell another Fletcher for £4 million, we might now see half of that going straight towards transfer funds. Given the financial situation at every other club in the SPL, and the fact that even the OF are "selling clubs" these days, if we play our cards right, we could really emerge as a dominant force in Scottish football.

How far do you honestly all think we can go in the next decade though?

I agree the future looks brighter for us and we're defintiely in a better financial state than for most, if not all, SPL clubs.

Winning a cup is a possibility but I can't see us being close to winning the league in the next 10 years given the revenue gap with the unwashed.

How the team progresses from here is also dependant on the attendences. Remember someone at the club saying 11000 (or something similar) was the magic number that was needed to break even. We must make sure that we achieve this as a minimum so we're not selling players to cover our losses.

[Leith Green]

Where was the Irn Bru 1st division choice??

[Andy74]

We were actually pretty close to achieving something this year, and that is with a team that the majority seem to accept is still miles away from where we want to be.

With a couple of different types of players and real cover for our best players the type of slide we have been on does not need to happen.

The comforting thing is that I can see us addressing those things and I'd be very surprised if the likes of Motherwell, Dundee Utd and Hearts can improve significantly from where they are.

We'd be going mental if our wage bill was £10m, over twice ours, and a team the calibre of Hearts is what we got as a result! I wonder how their squad will be on half that figure when they get there?

For most of the season we were the best of the rest and although what has happened since has been bitterly disappointing I think we will emerge from this to take that place over the coming years.

[hibees_green]

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.......There really is nothing else that our income can be spent on other than on the pitch. For example, if we were to sell another Fletcher for £4 million, we might now see half of that going straight towards transfer funds. ......?

Firstly we might have all these things but we don't own them all and they still have significant running costs. We'll still have to pay a significant amount out on our 'superb' facilities over the next decade.

In my opinion this will ensure we will not see much change in our playing success over the next decade.

In my opinion this is where we've went wrong. Too much focus on expensive infrastructure, not enough focus on footballing success.

[Andy74]

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Firstly we might have all these things but we don't own them all and they still have significant running costs. We'll still have to pay a significant amount out on our 'superb' facilities over the next decade.

In my opinion this will ensure we will not see much change in our playing success over the next decade.

In my opinion this is where we've went wrong. Too much focus on expensive infrastructure, not enough focus on footballing success.

What don't we own?

And what was built which didn't have football success as its ultimate aim?

[Brizo]

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Firstly we might have all these things but we don't own them all and they still have significant running costs. We'll still have to pay a significant amount out on our 'superb' facilities over the next decade.

In my opinion this will ensure we will not see much change in our playing success over the next decade.

In my opinion this is where we've went wrong. Too much focus on expensive infrastructure, not enough focus on footballing success.

The Famous Five stand function suites which were kitted out to a very high spec , crystal chandelier included , and which we were told would generate an income stream from corporate events and a restaurant which would be open 7 days a week. The corporate income stream never materialised and the restaurant opening was scaled back to matchdays only after a very short period of time. Its main function is now as the humble BTG matchday boozer, when it was intended for much greater things. Either someones pre project market research was totally p@sh or it was a STF ego project (and btw im a STF fan)

As for East Mains , a 5 million pound state of the art training facility which by Yogis own admission the first team squad are only using for a couple of hours each day. We have players in key areas patently lacking pace and stamina. We have fantastic facilities for them to improve their fitness but for whatever reason those facilities are are not being utilised to their full potential. At least with East Mains we can hope that future managers make better use of it.

[BEEJ]

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We were actually pretty close to achieving something this year, and that is with a team that the majority seem to accept is still miles away from where we want to be.

Did we lose in a cup final? Or have we just missed out by a gnat's whisker on a 3rd place finish in the SPL?

I must have missed that?!

[Sir David Gray]

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I'm not really clever on statistics,and dont want to be but 97% seems a lot. However,I tend to think,that if a seagull is gonna sheite,it will land on Hibs,therefor we will win f///////ck all for years to come.or am I just being depressing,like you?

In the 135 years that we have been in existence, we have had 9 years where we have won a major honour.

That means we have won nothing in 94% of our seasons.

[GloryGlory]

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After reading the thread about the Hearts accounts, it really hit me how exciting a future Hibs can have. After all, we have got:

A (relatively) new, and soon to be completed stadium.
A new and state of the art training complex.
And we have achieved this without accumulating any debt.

And some of the unfittest players in the league.... IMO, we are not getting much of a return yet from that investment!

[Keith_M]

I voted League Cup, not because I'm absolutely convinced we will but because it's the most likely.

[JimBHibees]

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Even mediocre teams win the cup. St Mirren 1987 (no disrespect) Motherwell 1991 (no disrespect) Kilmarnock 1997 (no disrespect) Hearts 1998 (disrespect). It will come. Possibly when we least expect it. 2011 suits me.

[hibees_green]

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What don't we own?

And what was built which didn't have football success as its ultimate aim?

I assume we've got loan's/mortgages for some of the stands (at least the East) and training center which will need to be paid back.

Did we honestly need to spend £5M on the training centre? Could we have done it fro £2M? Could the £5M been a bit of an ego trip for some?

Even if the aim of building all this was footballing success, it's failed and doesn't show any likelyhood of being successful other than through hope and patience (which is the excuse rolled out every year).

A club should focus on spending the minimum possible on infrastructure and the maximum on attracting the best players and manager possible.

[marinello59]

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I assume we've got loan's/mortgages for some of the stands (at least the East) and training center which will need to be paid back.

Did we honestly need to spend £5M on the training centre? Could we have done it fro £2M? Could the £5M been a bit of an ego trip for some?
Even if the aim of building all this was footballing success, it's failed and doesn't show any likelyhood of being successful other than through hope and patience (which is the excuse rolled out every year).

A club should focus on spending the minimum possible on infrastructure and the maximum on attracting the best players and manager possible.

Ego trip? I would love you to expand on that one further.

Perhaps you would prefer to go back to the days of the players being driven round in a mini bus looking for a spare public park to train on?

[hibees_green]

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Ego trip? I would love you to expand on that one further.

Perhaps you would prefer to go back to the days of the players being driven round in a mini bus looking for a spare public park to train on?

If you read the post you would see that I specifically critised the cost of the training centre, not the fact that we needed one.

[RyeSloan]

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I assume we've got loan's/mortgages for some of the stands (at least the East) and training center which will need to be paid back.

Did we honestly need to spend £5M on the training centre? Could we have done it fro £2M? Could the £5M been a bit of an ego trip for some?

Even if the aim of building all this was footballing success, it's failed and doesn't show any likelyhood of being successful other than through hope and patience (which is the excuse rolled out every year).

A club should focus on spending the minimum possible on infrastructure and the maximum on attracting the best players and manager possible.

Brilliant oxymoron there....just how could a club that has spent as little as possible on infrastucture attract the best players and managers???

All of the infrastructure spending has been with the view to putting Hibs on a solid footing for the next 20/30 years...quite how you can say it's failed already when we have yet to finish the last leg of that investment is beyond me.

Despite our on field problems we have quite clearly invested heavily in the future of the club and that this investment has put Hibs in a unique position in Scottish football outside the OF....I'm amazed that anyone can complain about the route we have taken and think they must be pretty blinkered to see how this will not benefit us massively going forward.

[basehibby]

I voted Scottish Cup - if the OF have to strip back their finances then the gap should be closable - just not closable enough to overtake both of them, but surely enough to compete consistently in the later stages of the cups (and hopefully win the one that matters most to us).

I think though that we ARE on the verge of cashing in for all the frugality shown over the last decade. Of our closest competitors, Aberdeen are already feeling the pinch big style and I get the feeling that it's only a matter of time before the likes of the Yams and the Arabs start to feel it on the pitch in much the same way.

As long as we have the right kind of manager building a team out of what SHOULD in future be a markedly better budget than our closest rivals, we SHOULD then be able to reap the benefits in the shape of more success on the pitch. Is Hughes the right kind??? Lets leave that debate to the numerous other threads on the subject.

I am of course assuming that the Yams cannot go on leaking money hand over fist forever more and will one day have to settle for a realistic wage budget or face the alternative of disappearing off the face of the earth or at least going into administration and suffering the requisite punishment (relegation to div 3???).

[Spike Mandela]

For me a measure of success in the next 10 years would be qualifying for Europe more often than not.

Consistent top 5 finishes should be a measure of the prudent finances over the past 10 years and we have a head start on other teams.

As for cups they are a lottery and you never know but latter stage involvement should be acheivable most years but as we've seen the pressure of the Scottish Cup seems to weigh heavy on every Hibs team no matter how good.