We need much better

**Paloschi** · 20-05-2019 07:10 AM

On a positive note we are just one place off last season without Allan, McGeouch and McGinn. We have also gone more than half a season without Porto and Efe who are our first choice CH's. Also Boyle has been a huge miss.

Given Lennon having a disaster and making some poor decisions in the transfer market and the fact we kicked off in July - I can't really complain.

Finally, we beat Hearts at Tynecastle and finished above them in the league.

Kamberi just needs to recapture form and with the right balance we could be a force next season.

***staunchhibby*** · 20-05-2019 07:18 AM

Martin Boyle is fit and raring to go next season.We have missed his pace.

***JimBHibees*** · 20-05-2019 07:22 AM

Originally Posted by staunchhibby

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Martin Boyle is fit and raring to go next season.We have missed his pace.

Any update on Porteous injury? Hopefully fully fit for start of the season but get the impression may be longer.

**Pretty Boy** · 20-05-2019 07:52 AM

Originally Posted by Steve20

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No reason why we can't put together a team over the summer to challenge for top 3. 3-4 windows is far too long. Clarke went in at Kilmarnock and they were great the second half of last season and finished 3rd this season. A decent manager can do this and we really should be having a better squad than Kilmarnock by August.

I didn't say we couldn't. Given we were utter rubbish for a large chunk of this season with a manager who abdicated all responsibility yet we still had half a chance of top 3 or 4 post split proves it's not a huge ask to e competitive in one window. My wider point was about building a bit depth, building a foundation and rebuilding a squad that got old together. Your last sentence sums it up for me, Kilmarnock had a great season to finish 3rd this year but I'd argue it would be a brave man putting money on them repeating the feat next season. I've had my fill of Hibs teams having one great season then floundering the next; as long as we show clear progress from this season then I can handle a few baby steps forward next season as part of a wider goal.

For me it's been blindingly obvious what our issue has been this season and that has been results against the other top 6 teams:

Celtic - LWLD
Rangers - DDDL
Kilmarnock - WLDL
Aberdeen - DLLL
Hearts - DLWD

3 wins and 20 points from a possible 60, 2 draws and 3 defeats from our post split fixtures and losses to Aberdeen and Celtic in the cup competitions tells a large part of the story. If we can improve on thos results next year we'll already be taking a huge step forward and will be back in the mix for European places. It's not the whole picture though.

**Sioux** · 20-05-2019 08:00 AM

Originally Posted by The Spaceman

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At the moment we have a solid starting 11 for next season. But we really need to add depth across the pitch in case we encounter the same issues we had this season. Two pacey wingers, a mobile CDM, two new strikers, and competition for RB/LB are on my wish list. A lot of signings!

At the moment our solid starting position is not good enough. We didn't win a game recently against the top six. We scored 2 and lost 5.

Signing players who are simply going to compete for a first team spot won't improve the team. Will any player in the current squad be capable of stepping up to the so called next level? On that note, McNulty is lucky he's got a contract at Reading.

Players like Hanlon and Stevenson have been here too long. They've been a 6 or 7 out of 10 every week. They don't get better than that.

Hopefully Hecky can make a good start on getting some better players into the starting 11.

**eastcoasthibby** · 20-05-2019 08:40 AM

For all we love Stevenson we need better and David Gray is costing us goals almost week in and week out, 3 times in the second half he took too long with throw ins and we lost possession twice putting us directly in trouble. For me both full back positions we need more from them !! Our midfield aren't mobile enough Mallan disappears too often and has no pace at all, Horgan also comes and goes too much in games and gives no physical challenge ! For me we need two strong midfielders that can compete and get about the pitch, that will allow a mix of Scott Allan and another to impact on the game in the opposition's half. Up front we need at least 2 in one who can play with the ball and the other a goalscorer . A youngish decent 2nd keeper as well as not sure our development keeper is where we need him to be !! On that note I can't wait to see the transfer window open ...

**hibs#1** · 20-05-2019 08:44 AM

Scott Allan, Martin Boyle and Ryan Porteous are 3 to come in right away who should improve the squad. Plus Fraser Murray can hopefully kick on.

Obviously still need a few more I honestly don't think Jason Cummings would be the worst signing ever has scored plenty of goals for us before.

***Diclonius*** · 20-05-2019 11:26 AM

Originally Posted by we are hibs

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We signed better players in 2014/15 than 13/14. We signed better players in 15/16 than 14/15. Then Stubbs left and our signing policy seemed to shift all over the place. No longer signing as many younger players with a lot to prove and potential to improve and signing a lot more past it's and one last pay day players.

14/15, 15/16 and 17/18 were generally very good for us re transfers, but otherwise (and particularly pre-relegation) we usually had diminishing returns due to a slow start in making signings and an over-reliance on waiting until the end of the window for players to become available. Even in 14/15 we had a very slow summer window (McGeouch came in after we'd already lost three league games) and made our best signings in January when the title race was over. 17/18 was our best summer window in many a year - the signings were good on paper but just didn't work out for us, and we rectified this with another excellent January window. I'd like to see us return to that.

I understand the club's philosophy of generally waiting until the end of the window to make signings, but more often than not this results in players that need a lot of time to develop match fitness and blend with the squad, by which point we've already lost key matches. Having 3-4 signings in before pre-season would make a massive difference, even if we have to spend a little more to do so. Those first few matches at the start of the season can be the difference between 3rd and 6th in the confidence boost we would get from a good start, so we'd be spending now to avoid losing money later.

I've been very impressed with how the club have transformed since relegation, particularly regarding communication with fans, manager and player recruitment (on the whole), but this slow start in transfer windows is something that still irks me.