Colin Calderwood

[CobblersFan]

Hi Hibs fans,

I've noticed there's been a bit of a mixed reaction to Calderwood being appointed- as someone who has seen him manage my team for three years I thought I'd give you an opinion on Colin from a Northampton perspective.

Colin has his detractors here, when he left us for Forest there was an element of our fans that were glad to see the back of him despite him having just gained promotion with us, and they normally gave two reasons- a) even when we went up, we weren't beating teams convincingly (usually by the odd goal) because of our "negative" tactics and we would get "found out" at a higher level, and b) it shouldn't have taken him three years to get us promoted with the budget he had available (Forest fans had a similar issue with him).

But being hard to beat is the basis of any successful side and 3 points is 3 points. Even the likes of Norwich, who were top of the Championship, two divisions above us, simply couldn't break down the defence Colin assembled. On their day, you just knew we'd get a clean sheet regardless of who the opposition were and what they could chuck at us. Also, when you've got the biggest budget in the division you become the team to beat, and the fans expect to win the league and get restless after a couple of games without winning- with all due respect he's not going to have that problem at Hibs so that's one common criticism of him that you don't have to worry about.

Hibs have shipped quite a few goals this season I believe and he's definitely the man to steady the ship in that respect. He'll have you organised and disciplined, he'll reshape the defence if he has to and he'll make you hard to beat. It's not pretty to watch but it's effective- you only need the one goal to win the game and with the likes of Riordan at the other end of the pitch you'd fancy Hibs to manage that, even with more restricted service to him than before.

The one criticism I'll make of Colin is his ability in the transfer market. When he was here, he was working alongside John Deehan, and I think Deehan was the driving force behind the signings that got us promoted. When he went to Forest he didn't take Deehan with him, and that was probably his biggest mistake- he was a little lost after that and just went with what he knew, signing players from us and clubs we'd played against who frankly weren't good enough. This problem is going to resurface at Easter Road unless he has someone with a lot of experience and contacts in Scottish football giving him a nudge in the right direction- so the appointment of an able assistant is probably just as crucial as the appointment of Colin himself.

Anyhow, good luck this season Hibees, I took in a game at Easter Road a few years back when I was up in Edinburgh and have always kept an eye out for your results since- I shalln't be the only one now CC is in charge and hopefully he can take you back into the top 6 where you belong. Hail hail.

[Gatecrasher]

Thanks for the POV on calderwood

The style of play is pretty much what I expected from him, however a boring 3 points is better than an boring 0 points we were getting before.

The signings part does worry me a little, I think Hibs have done well in the transfer Market the last couple of years IMO.

I hope he brings in a good assistant to help him with this sort of stuff.

Feel free to come back to ER to cheer the hibees anytime

[Lofarl]

Thanks for that mate. Very much appreciated. All the best for Northampton this season.

Would you rate him higher than sampson?

[HibbyAndy]

Cheers Cobblers

[Golden Bear]

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Hi Hibs fans,

I've noticed there's been a bit of a mixed reaction to Calderwood being appointed- as someone who has seen him manage my team for three years I thought I'd give you an opinion on Colin from a Northampton perspective.

Colin has his detractors here, when he left us for Forest there was an element of our fans that were glad to see the back of him despite him having just gained promotion with us, and they normally gave two reasons- a) even when we went up, we weren't beating teams convincingly (usually by the odd goal) because of our "negative" tactics and we would get "found out" at a higher level, and b) it shouldn't have taken him three years to get us promoted with the budget he had available (Forest fans had a similar issue with him).

But being hard to beat is the basis of any successful side and 3 points is 3 points. Even the likes of Norwich, who were top of the Championship, two divisions above us, simply couldn't break down the defence Colin assembled. On their day, you just knew we'd get a clean sheet regardless of who the opposition were and what they could chuck at us. Also, when you've got the biggest budget in the division you become the team to beat, and the fans expect to win the league and get restless after a couple of games without winning- with all due respect he's not going to have that problem at Hibs so that's one common criticism of him that you don't have to worry about.

Hibs have shipped quite a few goals this season I believe and he's definitely the man to steady the ship in that respect. He'll have you organised and disciplined, he'll reshape the defence if he has to and he'll make you hard to beat. It's not pretty to watch but it's effective- you only need the one goal to win the game and with the likes of Riordan at the other end of the pitch you'd fancy Hibs to manage that, even with more restricted service to him than before.

The one criticism I'll make of Colin is his ability in the transfer market. When he was here, he was working alongside John Deehan, and I think Deehan was the driving force behind the signings that got us promoted. When he went to Forest he didn't take Deehan with him, and that was probably his biggest mistake- he was a little lost after that and just went with what he knew, signing players from us and clubs we'd played against who frankly weren't good enough. This problem is going to resurface at Easter Road unless he has someone with a lot of experience and contacts in Scottish football giving him a nudge in the right direction- so the appointment of an able assistant is probably just as crucial as the appointment of Colin himself.

Anyhow, good luck this season Hibees, I took in a game at Easter Road a few years back when I was up in Edinburgh and have always kept an eye out for your results since- I shalln't be the only one now CC is in charge and hopefully he can take you back into the top 6 where you belong. Hail hail.

Thanks for the info.

Times are hard so any win is acceptable these days - regardless of the fashion it is achieved.

I totally agree that it is essential that CC appoints an Assistant who is familiar with the current transfer market and the Scottish scene in particular.

[CobblersFan]

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Thanks for that mate. Very much appreciated. All the best for Northampton this season.

Would you rate him higher than sampson?

Jury's still out on that one, Sammo has got us some fantastic results like winning at Anfield and some equally terrible ones like throwing away a 3-0 lead against the bottom side last Saturday. I'd definitely rather have Calderwood at this moment in time. He probably wouldn't have got the Liverpool result but equally we wouldn't be 22nd right now and that is the more important thing.

[NORTHERNHIBBY]

Good to see a fan of another club posting a decent read on our website. Welcome anytime at Easter Road pal.....just don't wear your first team strip.