This is how it feels (Morton 17 08 19)

[Crab apple]

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Good post..some people are sheep and follow the views of others..some people don’t look at what is happening...merely repeat previously held opinions ...

He brought composure to a struggling back four yesterday ...

I thought Whittaker was good yesterday. I also thought Slivka was okay although he understandably was rusty and needs game time.

[Crab apple]

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Other than being part of a terrible team performance at Ibrox he's had a very strong start to the season, definitely a bright spot.

[PatHead]

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Probably our most consistent player. Think that the booboys will need to find someone else.

[brog]

Excellent & objective as ever John. Just to confirm what some other posters have said, I thought the challenge for our 4th goal was excellent, you could see from the direction of the ball that our player, Vela, had clearly played it. Alan Muir, who is an atrocious ref, was actually right next to it & I think called it right for once. We were also certainly denied a blatant penalty for the barge on Flo, the Morton player's body language really confirmed it.
Now I've only seen the highlights but the 5 goals & the 5 passes for the goals were excellent, albeit Rogers helped greatly with the 3rd. We should note that our 2nd goal came from the high press, something we apparently don't do. The negatives were (from the highlights) almost all in defence. We probably need a more settled back 4 but it appears SDG & Darren will struggle to get through 90 minutes. Lewis was obviously ring rusty but will improve. Jackson's the one who concerns me most. He allowed Bob (f*****g) McHugh to get in front of him for their 1st goal & lost his man twice on crosses allowing free headers at goals. If that had been Hanlon there would have been several threads criticising him. I think Jackson's decent but I think he (& our other imports) may have been guilty of underestimating both the quality, pace & sheer physicality of our game. Hopefully they'll adjust quickly.
Thanks as ever from a Hibs exile!

[Smartie]

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Excellent & objective as ever John. Just to confirm what some other posters have said, I thought the challenge for our 4th goal was excellent, you could see from the direction of the ball that our player, Vela/Slivka?, had clearly played it. Alan Muir, who is an atrocious ref, was actually right next to it & I think called it right for once. We were also certainly denied a blatant penalty for the barge on Flo, the Morton player's body language really confirmed it.
Now I've only seen the highlights but the 5 goals & the 5 passes for the goals were excellent, albeit Rogers helped greatly with the 3rd. We should note that our 2nd goal came from the high press, something we apparently don't do. The negatives were (from the highlights) almost all in defence. We probably need a more settled back 4 but it appears SDG & Darren will struggle to get through 90 minutes. Lewis was obviously ring rusty but will improve. Jackson's the one who concerns me most. He allowed Bob (f*****g) McHugh to get in front of him for their 1st goal & lost his man twice on crosses allowing free headers at goals. If that had been Hanlon there would have been several threads criticising him. I think Jackson's decent but I think he (& our other imports) may have been guilty of underestimating both the quality, pace & sheer physicality of our game. Hopefully they'll adjust quickly.
Thanks as ever from a Hibs exile!

I've not seen the goals back but I thought at the game Jackson may have been culpable at a couple.

One think I did notice though was that they put an awful lot of balls into the box and it was his heid that was first to the ball on a number of occasions.

[brog]

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I've not seen the goals back but I thought at the game Jackson may have been culpable at a couple.

One think I did notice though was that they put an awful lot of balls into the box and it was his heid that was first to the ball on a number of occasions.

Yes, he was the player who headed ball clear for their 3rd & Fraser Murray needed to be stronger IMO. I think(hope) he'll be ok & our CB pairing will be any 2 from him, Ryan & PH. One wee interesting thing was that the guy taking the long throw in had his foot clearly over the line. The Asst Ref was 2 yards away but was looking into the box, not at the player. The combination of long throw ins, Bob McHugh & Alan Muir still bring me out in a cold sweat!!

[malcolm]

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I've not seen the goals back but I thought at the game Jackson may have been culpable at a couple.

One think I did notice though was that they put an awful lot of balls into the box and it was his heid that was first to the ball on a number of occasions.

He also seemed able to ping an accurate long cross field pass which like his overhead goal in pre-season is an added extra for a no nonsense centre half.

[fife hfc]

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Slivka was good. He's more suited to playing like McGeouch, starting moves, retaining possession, getting away from players putting him under pressure.

I'm still not sure what Vela does. He doesn't bomb forward and back, and he doesn't win loads of 50/50s. I don't think he's reached full fitness as he came in after the majority of preseason was done, so he's got a while yet to show what he's about.

Agree with this 100%. Slivka was better than Vela, who apart from his goal was not visible at all. Slivka starts the moves and keeps the ball flowing, nothing spectacular but simple to move the ball on. Vela never got on the ball and the only two incidents I remember is the goal and tackle for the 4th. Problem is neither will dominate a midfield and drive the team forward.

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[Brightside]

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Excellent & objective as ever John. Just to confirm what some other posters have said, I thought the challenge for our 4th goal was excellent, you could see from the direction of the ball that our player, Vela, had clearly played it. Alan Muir, who is an atrocious ref, was actually right next to it & I think called it right for once. We were also certainly denied a blatant penalty for the barge on Flo, the Morton player's body language really confirmed it.
Now I've only seen the highlights but the 5 goals & the 5 passes for the goals were excellent, albeit Rogers helped greatly with the 3rd. We should note that our 2nd goal came from the high press, something we apparently don't do. The negatives were (from the highlights) almost all in defence. We probably need a more settled back 4 but it appears SDG & Darren will struggle to get through 90 minutes. Lewis was obviously ring rusty but will improve. Jackson's the one who concerns me most. He allowed Bob (f*****g) McHugh to get in front of him for their 1st goal & lost his man twice on crosses allowing free headers at goals. If that had been Hanlon there would have been several threads criticising him. I think Jackson's decent but I think he (& our other imports) may have been guilty of underestimating both the quality, pace & sheer physicality of our game. Hopefully they'll adjust quickly.
Thanks as ever from a Hibs exile!

There was loads of people criticising Hanlon. Unless Hanlon is foot perfect he will always get slagged on here.

[BILLYHIBS]

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Yes, he was the player who headed ball clear for their 3rd & Fraser Murray needed to be stronger IMO. I think(hope) he'll be ok & our CB pairing will be any 2 from him, Ryan & PH. One wee interesting thing was that the guy taking the long throw in had his foot clearly over the line. The Asst Ref was 2 yards away but was looking into the box, not at the player. The combination of long throw ins, Bob McHugh & Alan Muir still bring me out in a cold sweat!!

That last sentence had me reaching for my first glass of the evening

[dangermouse]

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Yes, he was the player who headed ball clear for their 3rd & Fraser Murray needed to be stronger IMO. I think(hope) he'll be ok & our CB pairing will be any 2 from him, Ryan & PH. One wee interesting thing was that the guy taking the long throw in had his foot clearly over the line. The Asst Ref was 2 yards away but was looking into the box, not at the player. The combination of long throw ins, Bob McHugh & Alan Muir still bring me out in a cold sweat!!

Your whole foot has to be over the line for it to be a foul throw I think. Sure someone will be along shortly to confirm or deny

[Brightside]

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Your whole foot has to be over the line for it to be a foul throw I think. Sure someone will be along shortly to confirm or deny

Correct - any part of the foot needs to be on the line. Both feet must be on the ground also.

[IWasThere2016]

Thanks JC .. I avoid the Beeb, Press and wait for this from you.

[hibbyfraelibby]

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Slivka who set up 3 of the goals?

Slivka was a key player . Many just dont want to see it as it goes against their agenda. The more he's played the better the team.plays.

[Unseen work]

Bit of an odd game, we dominated the vast majority of the game and I never felt particularly threatened by anything they were doing, yet somehow they got 3 goals.


Our defending as a whole was terrible, each one of the defenders looked nervous, couldn’t clear the ball and the most worrying thing for me was the positions they were getting dragged into. Hanlon was caught in no mans land on countless occasions which stretched our defence and gave them hope. The lot of them need to calm down and get back to basics.


I think we played well and probably the best I have seen us this season. Heckingbottom will get stick as normal on here but for me the players need to take responsibility. 2 own goals and defending like that is down to individual errors and not concentrating, it’s as if once we went 2-0 up they stopped the intensity and thought it was won.


I think it also showed we have signs of a good team, good options all over the park going forward, some great play and passes from several players. If a defensive midfielder was signed we would really pick up pace imo. For as good as we were it just highlights how poor we were defensively, our defence seem shaky any time the ball is near our box.


The players


Maxwell - I’m not too convinced, he just makes me nervous. Did the first goal go under him?


Defence - Doing them collectively as they were all as bad as each other and as Iv said above got dragged all over the place. They let the fans groans get to them and started making very poor decisions. The 3 goals we conceded were amateur hour. It’s worrying for me how poor Hanlon has been recently, getting dragged into really bad positions, making our defence stretched and his distribution has been brutal. Nice to see Lewy back and that game will do him the world of good. Any word on Grays injury?


Slivka - 2 great passes, one to Middleton for Allan’s goal and one for Doidge for his goal. Also an assist for Kamberi which got the defence turning. Showed good legs and energy in midfield, for as good as some of his passes were, boy is he careless at times and almost gets caught/gives the ball away in poor positions.


Vela - I really like him, buzzes about the pitch and makes a lot of good tackles. Doesn’t get the credit he deserves imo as he is doing the job of 2 men in there. Showed he has a fantastic range of passing in him with some brilliant passes. Took his goal very well.


Allan - Touch and passes were a bit sloppy at times, but then again he provided so much quality with his goal, assist and countless other passes which lead to opportunities. Him getting on the scoresheet so often since his return is really promising.


Horgan - Got an assist but was a disappointing performance for me, some simple passes/crosses in good positions that he made a meal of


Middleton - Really liked what I seen, is a great out ball and has a wonderful touch and left foot. Gives really good balance to the team and will do really well for us imo.


Kamberi - Brilliant. That’s the player we know. It’s actually scary how far he came off the boil last season.


Murray - Seems to have got a bit of a hard time about the 3rd goal. It was a bouncing ball going away from him and dropping awkwardly, he certainly never bottled it imo. I was really happy with his contribution, was very good on the ball, created chances and unlucky not to score.


Doidge - Won his headers, held the ball up and took his goal brilliantly, could see how much it meant to him. Hopefully he kicks on now with the confidence from scoring.


Whittikar - So calm and composed on the ball, sometimes gets caught as I think he doesn’t realise he doesn’t have the legs he used to. It’s a bit concerning how he seems to be our best fit defender at present though.


As Iv said, I think we have the makings of a good team there. With Aberdeen not seeming as good and an unknown hearts team 3rd is really up for grabs. We really need to kick on and get another couple in and really push the budget. A defensive midfielder is essential, a striker in for Shaw is also high on the list imo. McGregor is now out for a while too, is grays injury bad? Will we go for another centre half?


I think once Porteous, James and Boyle are back we will look much healthier. James has the composure were lacking, Porteous has the defensive ability to win everything that were lacking and Boyle with his pace and directness however he will likely be out a while.

[CMurdoch]

Unseen work, good write up and a bit of relief from the doom merchants.
Once the transfer window closes i will assess the squads of Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen and try to predict what order they will finish between 3rd and 5th
I think we will wait right to the last couple of days before bringing one or two in.
Expect the defensive mid brought in to be decent quality. Kind of wishing we had kept Milligan although the fly in the ointment with him is that Australia have lots of games this season which is no use to us.

[Unseen work]

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Unseen work, good write up and a bit of relief from the doom merchants.
Once the transfer window closes i will assess the squads of Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen and try to predict what order they will finish between 3rd and 5th
I think we will wait right to the last couple of days before bringing one or two in.
Expect the defensive mid brought in to be decent quality. Kind of wishing we had kept Milligan although the fly in the ointment with him is that Australia have lots of games this season which is no use to us.

I hope you’re right, I don’t imagine Heckingbottom is naive enough to go into the season without another centre mid in there, one the can really dominate a game and enjoys the defensive side. Vela seems to like it, but he also wants to get forward and score goals which he seems good at.

Bartley was excellent at doing the dirt things and allowing others to play, I can imagine we will go for someone of his ilk as I think he will want more energy and better on the Ball than him.

Get a quality player in there and it would make such a difference imo. It would also calm the defence down knowing they have a protector in there.

I think Mark O’Hara would be a good bit of business as he has the energy Hecky likes but I’d also like someone with a bit more bite and quality

[CMurdoch]

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I hope you’re right, I don’t imagine Heckingbottom is naive enough to go into the season without another centre mid in there, one the can really dominate a game and enjoys the defensive side. Vela seems to like it, but he also wants to get forward and score goals which he seems good at.

Bartley was excellent at doing the dirt things and allowing others to play, I can imagine we will go for someone of his ilk as I think he will want more energy and better on the Ball than him.

Get a quality player in there and it would make such a difference imo. It would also calm the defence down knowing they have a protector in there.

I think Mark O’Hara would be a good bit of business as he has the energy Hecky likes but I’d also like someone with a bit more bite and quality

I like O'Hara as well. Over 6ft tall, drives from the midfield and scores goals.
My only issue with him is I don't think he is a defensive midfielder and that's what we need, we need a tough tackling sitter with good distribution skills.
Heckingbottom will know what he needs but quality costs. Personally, if they have identified the right player and so long as the cost to get and pay him isn't exorbitant the club should bring him in because even us dafties can see where the major discrepancy is in the team. I don't think it is something that can keep until the January window.
Fingers crossed for the right player.