Our Defence

[eastcoasthibby]

Dighted with last nights win but I have real issues with our defending , too often we are nowhere near strong enough or sharp enough.
If we look at last night alone, their first goal Gray a weak challenge set it all off, the giy comes inside and we have at least 3 players go towards him including both centre halves getting pulled out and mcgowan wanders.into the gap unmarked.
Our centre halves are not dominant or sharp enough, Daz fortunately is playing more solidly than Hanlon who seems to be a ow in thought, lacking sharpness and as weak as .... in both heading and tackle.
Marciano's great save, Gray got done again by the guy, failing to put in a challenge at all, and then falling over !! Then his cover gets easily beat by over committing one way not balanced leaving an open shotTheir second goal we fail to clear our lines properly and be strong in our challenges, and let them play a ping pong one two to score.
If these.things werent enough Kenny Miller comes on and dictates the game for them and.dominates lur central.defenders, winning two headers that find the net thatand fortunately theknesman is switched on,on another day that might not have been the case, either way he led.them a dance when he came on. Then Hanlon goes on to fluff two clearances completely, then passes another 10 yards to their midfield, poor.
A told their is something wrong with both Hanlon and Gray defensively no where near playing to their capabilities and in other games, these types of perfomances will cost us., but why has what was a solid unit for nearly 2'years become a weak shadow of itself. Is it age ? Fitness ? Injuries ? Whatever they need.to improve and learn quickly !!
Does Milligan playing so deep over congest the area and affect them doing their jobs more clearly ?

[Hibernia&Alba]

Gray and Hanlon both really struggled again last night.

[HibeeHibernian4]

I love Hanlon but he's been atrocious this season. Ever since the allez allez allez song came in, actually. It's gone to his head.

[Hermit Crab]

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Gray and Hanlon both really struggled again last night.

Both may need replaced in the summer. Or at the very least some competition for places which I reckon Heck will bring in.

[B.H.F.C]

We’re toiling defensively but we don’t really gave any options.

McGregor battles away as he always has. Hanlon has been terrible. And I’m not convinced Gray is fit.

Defence pretty much needs rebuilt for next season.

[HibeeHibernian4]

Actually just to add, I think McGregor played really well last night. By no means his biggest fan but since the game at Ibrox on Boxing Day I think he's been one of our most consistent performers. Hanlon, by contrast, has regressed alarmingly to the player he was five or six years ago.

[Sir David Gray]

We are definitely weak at the back and it's something that needs addressed in the summer. Paul Hanlon has been struggling for months now, any striker who runs at him has a field day.

We still have Porteous to come back next season but I still feel there's more surgery needed.

[greenpaper55]

Hanlon is the worst, the rest not to far behind him in being a liability. A clear out needed at the end of the season and we cannot afford to be sentimental in the process. How did Miller get between our defenders to head the offside goal, unbelievable, shades of the cup final all over again.

[HappyAsHellas]

Ambrose has been a big loss, we'll struggle to find a player of that quality but hopefully Heck has someone he can bring in come summer.

[we are hibs]

Too much being asked of Gray to get up and down the right on his own. If he played right back with someone infront of him he would be his usual self. Stevenson had Horgan infront of him who is willing to get back and help. The closest Gray has to that at the minute is Mallan who isn't as keen.

[Hibernia&Alba]

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Ambrose has been a big loss, we'll struggle to find a player of that quality but hopefully Heck has someone he can bring in come summer.

Absolutely. We've looked far more vulnerable since he left.

[FifeHibs]

Unfortunately injuries are catching up with David Gray and McGregor.
Hanlon lacks confidence and decision making is rash.

Is the issue though the we are having opposition runners break past Milligan who is very slow himself and Hanlon isn't sure whether to go to the midfielder breaking or sit tight.

Does Gray get enough support from Mallan in defence.

Defending from corners/ free kicks since Ambrose left is alarming.

Good result though.

[FifeHibs]

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Absolutely. We've looked far more vulnerable since he left.

Ambrose must have cleared 90% corners himself

[hibbysam]

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Hanlon is the worst, the rest not to far behind him in being a liability. A clear out needed at the end of the season and we cannot afford to be sentimental in the process. How did Miller get between our defenders to head the offside goal, unbelievable, shades of the cup final all over again.

Because he was offside. I’m hardly going to berate the defence for holding a good line that resulted in a good decision from the official.

[B.H.F.C]

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Too much being asked of Gray to get up and down the right on his own. If he played right back with someone infront of him he would be his usual self. Stevenson had Horgan infront of him who is willing to get back and help. The closest Gray has to that at the minute is Mallan who isn't as keen.

Don’t see that Gray is being asked to get up and down the line under the new management.

He was only in the attacking third of the pitch a handful of times last night. Same with Stevenson. I can’t even remember Lewis even putting in a cross in last night. They are definitely being asked to play a bit more defensively.

[we are hibs]

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Don’t see that Gray is being asked to get up and down the line under the new management.

He was only in the attacking third of the pitch a handful of times last night. Same with Stevenson. I can’t even remember Lewis even putting in a cross in last night. They are definitely being asked to play a bit more defensively.

Horgan is mainly playing off the left so no need for Stevenson to go forward as much. Our only width last night on the other side was when Gray went forward (mostly 1st half moments)

All I'm saying if Boyle or Agyepong were fit we would look more balanced and Gray wouldn't need to go forward at all which imo would help him alongside having someone who could track back and help.

[Ardenttwo]

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Dighted with last nights win but I have real issues with our defending , too often we are nowhere near strong enough or sharp enough.
If we look at last night alone, their first goal Gray a weak challenge set it all off, the giy comes inside and we have at least 3 players go towards him including both centre halves getting pulled out and mcgowan wanders.into the gap unmarked.
Our centre halves are not dominant or sharp enough, Daz fortunately is playing more solidly than Hanlon who seems to be a ow in thought, lacking sharpness and as weak as .... in both heading and tackle.
Marciano's great save, Gray got done again by the guy, failing to put in a challenge at all, and then falling over !! Then his cover gets easily beat by over committing one way not balanced leaving an open shotTheir second goal we fail to clear our lines properly and be strong in our challenges, and let them play a ping pong one two to score.
If these.things werent enough Kenny Miller comes on and dictates the game for them and.dominates lur central.defenders, winning two headers that find the net thatand fortunately theknesman is switched on,on another day that might not have been the case, either way he led.them a dance when he came on. Then Hanlon goes on to fluff two clearances completely, then passes another 10 yards to their midfield, poor.
A told their is something wrong with both Hanlon and Gray defensively no where near playing to their capabilities and in other games, these types of perfomances will cost us., but why has what was a solid unit for nearly 2'years become a weak shadow of itself. Is it age ? Fitness ? Injuries ? Whatever they need.to improve and learn quickly !!
Does Milligan playing so deep over congest the area and affect them doing their jobs more clearly ?

Agree 100%with this their first goal our defending was a farce real schoolboy stuff 4 defenders, round him and still managed to cross for the goal. I said at the time against a better team we will be severely punished And for Millar two get two headers in our net was woeful. OK both were ruled out but our defence never knew he was offside when the crosses came in

[hibbysam]

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Agree 100%with this their first goal our defending was a farce real schoolboy stuff 4 defenders, round him and still managed to cross for the goal. I said at the time against a better team we will be severely punished And for Millar two get two headers in our net was woeful. OK both were ruled out but our defence never knew he was offside when the crosses came in

Miller got the second one because he was 2 yards offside, that is great defending. For the first one we held a good line and he was a foot offside. Again, good defending. We’re actually criticising our defence for two really good pieces of defending.

[wookie70]

We are playing a different style so it might take a wee bit to settle. For me Daz took a few weeks to get back into his game but he looks as strong and fast now as he did last season. Lewis is his normal 7/10 every week and SDG looks like he is still suffering from the injury or the effect of it. Hanlon is the one most out of form but he was out for a long time. The loss of Efe has been massive but it has also coincided with us winning games because we have a more attacking line up. I'm happy we are going out to score more than the other team and I hope that SDG and Hanlon will regain the form of last season. In the meantime we don't really have an option but to persist and this manager looks like he won't try to fix it until it is broken

[MyJo]

We are weaker defensively due to the loss of Ambrose and Porteous without a shadow of a doubt.

Hanlon and Gray don't look like they are 100% fit and fully up to speed but are having to play due to lack of bodies.

McGregor is brilliant at mopping up long balls and battling with the physical strikers but he isn't a ball playing defender and can be exposed up against players with a turn of pace.

We're also playing a different style and tactics from what we have done over the past few years and are less than two weeks into the new managers reign so still a bit of adjustment being done.

I think we are just going to have to accept that for the rest of this season we might be looking at simply going for outscoring teams and winning 4-2 rather than completely shutting them down defensively and winning 1 or 2 nil.

[where'stheslope]

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Miller got the second one because he was 2 yards offside, that is great defending. For the first one we held a good line and he was a foot offside. Again, good defending. We’re actually criticising our defence for two really good pieces of defending.

I think what people are saying is, with dodgy linesmen and refs, you've got to do all the defending by clearing the ball, not waiting for an offside flag.
Last night both offside goals if they went against us and both were scored it would be bedlam on here!!

[500miles]

We've not got a really quick outball with Agyepong and Boyle injured, and we've not got Mcginn and McGeouch who could take pressure off the defence, which means we end up getting pinned back when the opposition press high. Centre half is a harder job this season than the last 3.

[wookie70]

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I think what people are saying is, with dodgy linesmen and refs, you've got to do all the defending by clearing the ball, not waiting for an offside flag.
Last night both offside goals if they went against us and both were scored it would be bedlam on here!!

Two offside decisions did go against us and both could have seen us running in on goal. I don't think you can criticise a defence for holding a good line and it working. If those goals had stood I would be blaming the officials not our defence

[roo62]

For all the stick our defence is getting this season we have conceded fewer than Aberdeen and Hearts both who would claim to have decent back lines. Pretty sure our record also compares favourably against last season too game for game at this stage. Given injuries to all our defenders this season at some stage and the loss of Ambrose I think we are doing OK given all the changes we have had to make. Both keepers have played their part too.

[ancient hibee]

Ambrose and Porteous are a big loss.However the biggest loss is that of McGeouch and particularly McGinn who gave opponents a difficult time and helped the defence enormously.We don’t have players of that standard this season so the defence struggles.

[roo62]

Yeah fair point agreed

[Unseen work]

Hanlon needs to get back to defending first and foremost.

Some of his play out the back has been shocking and puts us in very vulnerable positions I also think sometimes when he goes into a challenge he is thinking too much about coming out with the ball after, which makes him go in wrong and lose it.

Johnson deserves a chance imo, but on the other hand 2 wins in a row...

[Lago]

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Unfortunately injuries are catching up with David Gray and McGregor.
Hanlon lacks confidence and decision making is rash.

Is the issue though the we are having opposition runners break past Milligan who is very slow himself and Hanlon isn't sure whether to go to the midfielder breaking or sit tight.

Does Gray get enough support from Mallan in defence.

Defending from corners/ free kicks since Ambrose left is alarming.

Good result though.

Its an easy out to blame Mallan for Gray's current problems

[CapitalGreen]

Are people genuinely using the fact Dundee were caught offside twice as a criticism of the defence?

[MWHIBBIES]

People being far too harsh on Hanlon.