Will we ever challenge for the league?

[new malkyhib]

It's a rhetorical question, based on: 1) the Yams win today and 2)some fans wanting us to win the Cup.

Personally, i'd like to see a change of mindset at Board level to see us try and position ourselves to make a go of a genuine league challenge in my lifetime as a Hibs supporter...or am I setting my sights too high?

[IWasThere2016]

Sights too high?

Aye - sorry but it'll never happen unless the OF depart.

[PaulSmith]

What's Hearts win today have to do with anything?

[Houchy]

In a word...No. Sorry for being defeatist. The worst part is that even if the OF do P*** off, I still don't think we'd ever win it.

[Sir David Gray]

I don't see us ever being in a position where we will be seriously challenging for the league title in my lifetime.

A lot of things would need to change drastically for us to think about winning the league.

[new malkyhib]

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What's Hearts win today have to do with anything?

Because they're quietly creeping up there...despite them going to go bust any minute...so should we expect Hibs to challenge for the league anytime in the near future?

[hibsbollah]

Does Colin Nish **** in the woods?

Of course we'll win the league.

[chrisski33]

dont see us or the yams winning the league ever! just cos they beat a sh@t aberdeen team doesnt make them title challengers.

[James70]

Only if we get bought by some mega rich Arabian or Russian who wouldn't worry about throwing their money away.

[Part/Time Supporter]

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Because they're quietly creeping up there...despite them going to go bust any minute...so should we expect Hibs to challenge for the league anytime in the near future?

Hearts are further from the top now (8 points) than Hibs were this time last year (5 points before the Rangers game at Christmas).

[Iggy Pope]

I'm 47 and as a 10 year old witnessed the best team of my generation. Never looked like winning the league then and in fact eventually won the square sum of anything we have won since.
Why would we win league(s) now?

Cup.

End of!

[7 Hills]

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It's a rhetorical question, based on: 1) the Yams win today and 2)some fans wanting us to win the Cup.

Personally, i'd like to see a change of mindset at Board level to see us try and position ourselves to make a go of a genuine league challenge in my lifetime as a Hibs supporter...or am I setting my sights too high?

Yes, we will challenge one day! I'm in my early 40's now - I was in my early 20's when Wallace Mercer tried to kill The Hibs. He failed! If it takes another 20, or another 40 years - I'll still be there (hopefully!), looking for a Hibs Title win! And I hope that you're there too, bud! ;o)

[ekhibee]

I don't see why we can't,however unrealistic that may sound. Motherwell nearly did it,and Aberdeen, when Rangers were on their 9 in a row and throwing money left right and centre. Hearts have come close too. But to be quite honest, Hibs will always find some way of ruining their own party, they've been doing it for more years than I care to remember. So the theory is yes,we can, but the reality is that we are, and have been, far too inconsistent over the last 20 years or so at least, to challenge for the title. We seem to find it hard enough beating Hearts, however bad they are. Consistency's the key, and we ain't got it. Yet.

[oregonhibby]

With the current (sensible) business model and whilst the OF can, even in a terrible financial state, pay 5 - 10 times what we can pay players we will never win the league.

The model is almost a self fulfilling prophesy, as it probably takes a couple of seasons for a team to gel and the good players start to shine. The old firm notices and raids a willing seller who wants to balance the books, per the model. We might win a LC or even a SC (every couple of hundred years) but a sustained league campaign needs a squad of depth and some consistency. If the OF go, then yes we are a realistic contender. Also our infrastructure will need maintained and that will continue to eat revenues. As I recall season tickets only account for c50% of the wagebill and the rest needs to be found from commercial/sponsorship activities. The last couple of seasons have shown that even these sources of funds are dwindling and the need to sell players is a necessity to balance the books. It seems to me there is an optimum size that we will only be able to achieve and unless someone with deep pockets wants to pour money down the drain and we are probably close to that.

As for Hearts who knows what their business model is and frankly I don't give a toss.

[matty_f]

I would argue that the board are positioning us for a challenge on the league. Our set up, which is probably the single biggest factor the board can influence, is as good as any in scotland.
financially, we are well positioned with an appropriate amount of debt for a club with our turnover.
The spend on the team has increased season on season as the board have backed successive managers. This increase needs to continue.
The policies of the club should allow any improvements on the park to be sustainable, rather than having a boom and bust approach to things.

[Kaiser1962]

I agree totally with this Matty. Of the clubs mentioned earlier i.e. Motherwell, Aberdeen or Hearts while they did get reasonably close to the OF you have to add that these "challenges" have not been sustainable and put their very existence at risk. McLeish also had us up their challenging for a wee while with some of the best players (and biggest wages) I had seen at ER since a small boy in the seventies but, whilst enjoyable, it was also not sustainable, risked the future of the club and ultimately, ended in huge burst balloon at Hampden.
I have had many disappointments following Hibs but I am comfortable with the current board/owner's strategy, the way they conduct their business and where we are, and no, I would not swap our position for the roller coaster gamble and train wreck that is HoMoFC.

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I would argue that the board are positioning us for a challenge on the league. Our set up, which is probably the single biggest factor the board can influence, is as good as any in scotland.
financially, we are well positioned with an appropriate amount of debt for a club with our turnover.
The spend on the team has increased season on season as the board have backed successive managers. This increase needs to continue.
The policies of the club should allow any improvements on the park to be sustainable, rather than having a boom and bust approach to things.

[Viva_Palmeiras]

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I would argue that the board are positioning us for a challenge on the league. Our set up, which is probably the single biggest factor the board can influence, is as good as any in scotland.
financially, we are well positioned with an appropriate amount of debt for a club with our turnover.
The spend on the team has increased season on season as the board have backed successive managers. This increase needs to continue.
The policies of the club should allow any improvements on the park to be sustainable, rather than having a boom and bust approach to things.

An end to the boom and bust Gordon ? That'll never catch on ;)
I think you've got a point re the board they influence as much as they can - the listening session I attended happened just after the Dingwall debacle and they were fairly miffed as it coincided with a season
Ticket initiative with new pricing policy
I do wonder when you compare supports' bottle whether we tend to anticipate a fall too much rather than grow in confidence and sustain it understandable given our track record but if you compare us to the yams our collective heads tend to go down with a goal compared to them they seem to recon they'll score two arrogance dillusionment or bottle I dunno
My wish for Christmas is a team that will start to eat in to that abysmal record against the yams and address some of the damage inflicted by the miller era

[TheEastTerrace]

In the last 100 odd years of top flight football, nine times out of ten, Rangers or Celtic have won the league. Make of that what you will. That stat gets even worse when you take the last twenty five years. We may challenge but I will be astounded if any team wins the league whilst the OF play in the SPL. They are just too big for this league.

[Hibernia Na Eir]

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What's Hearts win today have to do with anything?

have to agree, WTF has that to do with the question in the thread?

But answer is no. Cant see us ever winning the SPL.

[hibeedonald]

last season was pretty close at first, if we had stayed on form we may of been up there at the end, after that 2-1 win at celtic it really got me excited, but its the hibs way to **** it all up

[basehibby]

I think Hibs as a club are capable of putting in a serious challenge for the league at some time in the future.

The infrastructure is now all in place which is a massive positive - in the event of any serious cash injection eg from player sales there is now nothing but the team to spend the money on. So, if a sufficiently talented manager is in place then he will potentially have an unprecedented budget to play with. Add to that the increasd capacity = increased revenue to yield from a successful team on the park.

The OF of course would still hold all the aces, but if the right manager is in place, he will in future be better equipped than all his predecessors in modern times to close the gap - it would be tough but not impossible IMO.

[PaulSmith]

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have to agree, WTF has that to do with the question in the thread?

But answer is no. Cant see us ever winning the SPL.

I did find it rather odd as did the reply having a dig about Hibs fans thinking that Hearts were to go bust any time soon as well.

Because they're quietly creeping up there...despite them going to go bust any minute...so should we expect Hibs to challenge for the league anytime in the near future?

[Green_one]

We have no chnace of winning the league unless the OF crash or leave. Then again neither do Hearts, Motherwell etc. It would be a miracle if we even split the OF.

The problem with Hibs is that we cannot hold onto players for any length of time. So even if we do bring goood guys through or make a decent buy then others will simply purchase them. Recent histoiry proves that and longer history shows the same. Remember Hibs even split up the Famous Five.

Sorry, but a cup win is the best we or anyone esle can expect. I am not convinced Hibs would even lead the also rans.

[Vini1875]

Yes we can. All you have to do is look at Blackburn Rovers. Hibs winning the league is about as likely as them ever winning the league, but it happened. It may have cost Jack Walker a fair bit of dough.

All it takes for us to win it is money.

[jdships]

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I would argue that the board are positioning us for a challenge on the league. Our set up, which is probably the single biggest factor the board can influence, is as good as any in scotland.
financially, we are well positioned with an appropriate amount of debt for a club with our turnover.
The spend on the team has increased season on season as the board have backed successive managers. This increase needs to continue.
The policies of the club should allow any improvements on the park to be sustainable, rather than having a boom and bust approach to things.

I go along with what you say especially ." rather than having a boom and bust approach to things "

However we have to be realisric.
Compared with the OF we are "down " on three counts.at least
1 "Bums" on seats / general turnover
2. A product which attracts " major " sponsers - shirt or otherwise
3. TV rights - they are presently weighted in OF favour
Also
An intersting point is that last year a Sunday newspaper reported that 30/40% of OF Season Ticket holders live outwith Scotland
We can never hope to compete on that front.
As it stands : at my age I will settle for a Scottish Cup win

[mim]

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I think Hibs as a club are capable of putting in a serious challenge for the league at some time in the future.

The infrastructure is now all in place which is a massive positive - in the event of any serious cash injection eg from player sales there is now nothing but the team to spend the money on. So, if a sufficiently talented manager is in place then he will potentially have an unprecedented budget to play with. Add to that the increasd capacity = increased revenue to yield from a successful team on the park.

The OF of course would still hold all the aces, but if the right manager is in place, he will in future be better equipped than all his predecessors in modern times to close the gap - it would be tough but not impossible IMO.

This sums up my view perfectly.
Thanks basehibby.

[DH1875]

I really can't see why we couldn't. People will laugh but I don't reckon us, Utd or the Yams are that far of. Take Utd for example. If you could add 3 or 4 quality players to that squad they would challenge. I'm not talking World Class either, I'M talking SPL level players like Deeks, Zemmama and maybe Hart from us, Humphrey's and Reynolds from Motherwell, Duberry from St. Johnstone. Add a fully fit Webster if you could get him and your laughing.
It's not all about having to beat rangers or celtic. It's about beating the rest week in week out. Do that and you have every chance of winning the league.

[Sas_The_Hibby]

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Sights too high?

Aye - sorry but it'll never happen unless the OF depart.

Would Aberdeen and Dundee United fans not have said the same round about 1975?

I'm not saying it's likely, but to say it'll never happen is a narrow interpretation of history: nothing's forever or, in the words of George Harrison, "All Things Must Pass"!

[Sunny1875]

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Only if we get bought by some mega rich Arabian or Russian who wouldn't worry about throwing their money away.

I heard it from my mate in the fishvan that Shiek Yersel is looking at buying a club in Scotland

[500miles]

It would take a damn good manager and the culmination of the youth policy occurring at the same time, but yes, it would be possible.

Celtic and Rangers may not always be so powerful either - there is always natural change.