What a difference a year makes!

[PatHead]

Was thinking that little did we know how bad last year was going to be when Anthony Stokes scored his 40 second goal against Rangers. From that moment the wheels have not only come off but can't be found anywhere as we slide alarmingly towards relagation. (Being dramatic in the hope we can laugh at this next year)

If I recollect the posts last year at this time were mainly whether we will sign Kevin Kyle (is he better than Nish?), will we sign Darren Barr as cover for Bamba whilst he is away on African Nations duty and should we sell him now or wait until a big offer comes in after the World Cup? Who can we get a right back to let the new Pele (aka Wotherspoon) destroy all other teams from midfield? How good is McBride and what a gem of a signing? Lets all laugh at Hearts as only Lee Wallace and Andrew Driver would be good enough to get in our team. Not all was positive with the usual Maka and Hogg posts. Without doubt we had what appeared to be the 3rd best squad in the SPL by a long shot though we did admit we had been lucky nothing prepared me for what was to follow.

How were we so far off the mark and are we really so bad that I have to hide all sharp implements between 2.30 and 7 on a Saturday in case I self harm?

[down-the-slope]

thats actually quite a good summary of posts around that time....

What a fickle bunch we are...in fact is being Bi-Polar a prerequisite for being a Hibs supporter

[AndersonGGTTH]

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Was thinking that little did we know how bad last year was going to be when Anthony Stokes scored his 40 second goal against Rangers. From that moment the wheels have not only come off but can't be found anywhere as we slide alarmingly towards relagation. (Being dramatic in the hope we can laugh at this next year)

If I recollect the posts last year at this time were mainly whether we will sign Kevin Kyle (is he better than Nish?), will we sign Darren Barr as cover for Bamba whilst he is away on African Nations duty and should we sell him now or wait until a big offer comes in after the World Cup? Who can we get a right back to let the new Pele (aka Wotherspoon) destroy all other teams from midfield? How good is McBride and what a gem of a signing? Lets all laugh at Hearts as only Lee Wallace and Andrew Driver would be good enough to get in our team. Not all was positive with the usual Maka and Hogg posts. Without doubt we had what appeared to be the 3rd best squad in the SPL by a long shot though we did admit we had been lucky nothing prepared me for what was to follow.

How were we so far off the mark and are we really so bad that I have to hide all sharp implements between 2.30 and 7 on a Saturday in case I self harm?

12 second actually, we have endured 28 more seconds of rubbish than your thinking

[Danderhall Hibs]

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Was thinking that little did we know how bad last year was going to be when Anthony Stokes scored his 40 second goal against Rangers. From that moment the wheels have not only come off but can't be found anywhere as we slide alarmingly towards relagation. (Being dramatic in the hope we can laugh at this next year)

If I recollect the posts last year at this time were mainly whether we will sign Kevin Kyle (is he better than Nish?), will we sign Darren Barr as cover for Bamba whilst he is away on African Nations duty and should we sell him now or wait until a big offer comes in after the World Cup? Who can we get a right back to let the new Pele (aka Wotherspoon) destroy all other teams from midfield? How good is McBride and what a gem of a signing? Lets all laugh at Hearts as only Lee Wallace and Andrew Driver would be good enough to get in our team. Not all was positive with the usual Maka and Hogg posts. Without doubt we had what appeared to be the 3rd best squad in the SPL by a long shot though we did admit we had been lucky nothing prepared me for what was to follow.

How were we so far off the mark and are we really so bad that I have to hide all sharp implements between 2.30 and 7 on a Saturday in case I self harm?

Wheels came off in February - not at Christmas.

Although the rest is pretty much right. Hearts' turn again next year though!

[Andy74]

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Wheels came off in February - not at Christmas.

Although the rest is pretty much right. Hearts' turn again next year though!

Yep, the next Rangers game at Ibrox in mid February. The collpase gets earlier and earlier with each retelling.

[Jim44]

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Wheels came off in February - not at Christmas.

Although the rest is pretty much right. Hearts' turn again next year though!

You mean those rumours about them going out of business are not true?

[basehibby]

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Was thinking that little did we know how bad last year was going to be when Anthony Stokes scored his 40 second goal against Rangers. From that moment the wheels have not only come off but can't be found anywhere as we slide alarmingly towards relagation. (Being dramatic in the hope we can laugh at this next year)

If I recollect the posts last year at this time were mainly whether we will sign Kevin Kyle (is he better than Nish?), will we sign Darren Barr as cover for Bamba whilst he is away on African Nations duty and should we sell him now or wait until a big offer comes in after the World Cup? Who can we get a right back to let the new Pele (aka Wotherspoon) destroy all other teams from midfield? How good is McBride and what a gem of a signing? Lets all laugh at Hearts as only Lee Wallace and Andrew Driver would be good enough to get in our team. Not all was positive with the usual Maka and Hogg posts. Without doubt we had what appeared to be the 3rd best squad in the SPL by a long shot though we did admit we had been lucky nothing prepared me for what was to follow.

How were we so far off the mark and are we really so bad that I have to hide all sharp implements between 2.30 and 7 on a Saturday in case I self harm?

I think you've (partly) answered your own question - Hibs were riding high a year ago but we could all see that improvements needed to be made to keep up the momentum - but both the targets you mentioned ended up at Hearts eventually, and Hibs signed noone of significance bar a keeper last january (who HAS now established himself as No1 12 months down the line).
In addition, our main playmaker picked up a serious injury and our top goalscorer was flogged off to Celtic.
At the same time the stadfium has been completed and we are feeling the pain now on the pitch. Of course, it would have been hard to forsee things turning around quite so dramatically but the lesson is there for all to see - the core business is football and we neglect it at our peril.

[Andy74]

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I think you've (partly) answered your own question - Hibs were riding high a year ago but we could all see that improvements needed to be made to keep up the momentum - but both the targets you mentioned ended up at Hearts eventually, and Hibs signed noone of significance bar a keeper last january (who HAS now established himself as No1 12 months down the line).
In addition, our main playmaker picked up a serious injury and our top goalscorer was flogged off to Celtic.
At the same time the stadfium has been completed and we are feeling the pain now on the pitch. Of course, it would have been hard to forsee things turning around quite so dramatically but the lesson is there for all to see - the core business is football and we neglect it at our peril.

I'm not seeing the link with the stadium.

As you point out our key player was injured, probably key two actually because McBride was vital to the way we played first half of the season.

And yes, we have since sold our main striker, although we replaced him with a player who was immediately also injured.

Since this time last year the manager was backed with the signings of Smith, Brown, Gow, Hart, De Graaf, Dickoh, Duffy, Grounds and Trakys off the top off my head.

They may not have all turned out well as we had hoped but they took money and the board came up with it.

Hearts are paying the likes of Kyle and Barr in excess of what either of us can afford.

So, you evidently have some agenda with the board but it's not really backed up by the facts of what has happened. The football hasn't been neglected and the stadium investment at the same time will help us in the future.

[Cropley10]

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I'm not seeing the link with the stadium.

As you point out our key player was injured, probably key two actually because McBride was vital to the way we played first half of the season.

And yes, we have since sold our main striker, although we replaced him with a player who was immediately also injured.

Since this time last year the manager was backed with the signings of Smith, Brown, Gow, Hart, De Graaf, Dickoh, Duffy, Grounds and Trakys off the top off my head.

They may not have all turned out well as we had hoped but they took money and the board came up with it.

Hearts are paying the likes of Kyle and Barr in excess of what either of us can afford.

.

Out of interest - other than Brown - which ones have turned out as well as we'd hoped then?

[Sir David Gray]

I think people keep quoting the Rangers game at Christmas last season as the game where our season fell apart because we were so close to the top of the table before that game and we also had such a fantastic start to the match, scoring such an early goal.

Going into that match, we were just 5 points off Rangers at the top of the league and only 1 point behind Celtic in 2nd. If we had won that game, we would have been in a fantastic position, being just 2 points from the top. As it happens, we went on to lose 4-1 and Rangers went 8 points ahead of us.

Now I know we then went on to have a good January (beating Celtic at Parkhead for starters) but by the end of January, we were 12 points behind Rangers and Dundee Utd had actually caught up with us and were just 1 point behind by that stage, whereas they were actually 5 points behind us before the Rangers match at Christmas.

Our downfall did begin in February last year and it probably showed signs of beginning in the Aberdeen match at Easter Road, when we had an awful first half and we were 2-0 down, although we did manage to get back and get a 2-2 draw.

We've hardly won a match since then.

[aberhibsfc]

I'm sure all the facts provided are probably correct, but I felt dizzy reading it.

[Andy74]

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Out of interest - other than Brown - which ones have turned out as well as we'd hoped then?

That's not the point.

The assertion is that we've sat back and added no-one whilst others have and that the board have prioritised things like the stand.

The fact is the Board backed the manager with about 9 players since January. Not their fault they didn't work out, they all had some sort of pedigree that suggests we spent a fair bit on wages for them.

[Hibernian Verse]

We were actually going to sign Kyle until Hearts came and doubled the offer Hibs had made...but as those on the PM board know, that's a story for another day