Hanlon and Stevenson

[essexhibee]

Ive only seen a few games this season but defo dont think Naismith is the answer at right back.

[J-C]

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The diamond hanging us out to dry could become a bit of a myth IMO.

The diamond, whilst I don’t think it is a long term solution, has allowed us to be more successful than in the reverse fixtures earlier in the season, losing less goals.

Formations are overrated. Players need to do their individual jobs nobody in our team is doing their job defensively. The goalie doing a superman impression and our centre half heading the ball in to the middle of the box were nothing to do with formation. The fact we left two Kilmarnock centre halves standing on their own in the middle of our box on Saturday was nothing to do with formation either.

Formations and players performances go hand in hand, we've been exposed down the flanks regularly in the last few games and have had to deal with multiple crosses into the box. The CH's are getting dragged out of shape covering the fullbacks who are 2v1 against them due to the midfield not dropping back to help out. There's a reason not many teams play a diamond.

[happiehibbie]

Formations don't win games. Players win games

[J-C]

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Formations don't win games. Players win games

True S, but you need the players to play in these formations and at the moment they're not good enough in general.

[B.H.F.C]

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Formations and players performances go hand in hand, we've been exposed down the flanks regularly in the last few games and have had to deal with multiple crosses into the box. The CH's are getting dragged out of shape covering the fullbacks who are 2v1 against them due to the midfield not dropping back to help out. There's a reason not many teams play a diamond.

Yet playing any other formation pretty much resulted in the same issues.

The players are a far bigger problem than the formation.

[JDHibs]

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Formations and players performances go hand in hand, we've been exposed down the flanks regularly in the last few games and have had to deal with multiple crosses into the box. The CH's are getting dragged out of shape covering the fullbacks who are 2v1 against them due to the midfield not dropping back to help out. There's a reason not many teams play a diamond.

90% of teams play 4231/433 nowadays, yet we played it under Heck & it heralded a fabulous 1 win this season. Play a formation that suits the players you have at your disposal. Diamond is that formation at present hence the upturn in results we've had since May took charge.

Midfield need to do more i agree, however, we our CHs just arent defending well at present. Along with the full backs not stopping crosses. Neither full back got close to the player who crossed the ball last night.

[familyman]

Well if he did not study form pre appointment he now knows what the issues are.
I had indicated last season when some of our back four toiled against a much faster Celtic team ,it was clear as you get older you slow down.
Better to release players in that stage while they still command respect. and rightly so....nothing worse than seeing players deteriorate and leave them open to criticism
Time for change Mr Ross.
Remember a manager lost his job because of so many draws and now not even a point..
Certain players can still command a first team position n lower leagues no problem there.
Management is partly about making such difficult choices...
We will turn the corner with this new broom and January is coming up fast.

[J-C]

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90% of teams play 4231/433 nowadays, yet we played it under Heck & it heralded a fabulous 1 win this season. Play a formation that suits the players you have at your disposal. Diamond is that formation at present hence the upturn in results we've had since May took charge.

Midfield need to do more i agree, however, we our CHs just arent defending well at present. Along with the full backs not stopping crosses. Neither full back got close to the player who crossed the ball last night.

Heckingbottom was more a 4-5-1 Mallan an Vela holding, Horgan right, Middleton/Newell left, Allan as AM and either Flo or Doidge up top.

The midfield had no legs or pace, Horgan, Newell and Middleton don't defend and we got overran most games.

[Sioux]

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Heckingbottom was more a 4-5-1 Mallan an Vela holding, Horgan right, Middleton/Newell left, Allan as AM and either Flo or Doidge up top.

The midfield had no legs or pace, Horgan, Newell and Middleton don't defend and we got overran most games.

It doesn’t matter what the basic set up is. We’ve lost far too many goals when the ball goes into the box around the six yard area. Your tactical ‘expertise’ is irrelevant. It’s quite simply bad defending.

[Ozyhibby]

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I find myself a bit uncomfortable with the tone of some of the posts, and comments at games, being aimed at Hanlon and Stevenson. Whatever their current form both deserve a bit more respect than they are currently getting when you consider what they have achieved at Hibs.

That's not to say I don't think some of the criticism is merited and there are certainly tough decisions to be made. I said last night Jack Ross is going to have to be hard nosed and push sentiment to one side, he's a professional so I'm sure he will. Paul Hanlon has had a career that has been interrupted by injuries, maybe as he approaches 30 they have just caught up with him and he's lost a yard of pace and his movement isn't what it was. He certainly isn't performing consistently to the standards we know he has been capable off. Lewis Stevenson has been a stalwart under countless managers and every player we have brought in to cover that position hasn't really had a sniff. However he has just had the first relatively lengthy lay off of his career and is approaching 32 year old. It's not a stretch to say he has far more years behind him than ahead of him at Hibs. I believe Ross likes his full backs to push up and provide an attacking threat, does LS have that in him medium to long term?

Leaking late and soft goals has been a feature of our season. I've seen the diamond in midfield being blamed but it was an issue long before we changed to that shape. The issues go deeper than the defence of course but time waits for nobody and it's increasingly obvious we need to start planning for life after Gray, Mcgregor, Hanlon and Stevenson. I'll say again though that no one should underestimate what they have done for Hibs and that should be kept in mind when criticising any of them.

The best way for respect to be maintained, and it very much deserves to be maintained, is for the club to move quickly to bring in replacements. It’s clear they are both struggling now, it happens to every player eventually, and we need better options there.
An even bigger failure is Jackson. He needs moved on so that a quality left sided centre half can be brought in.


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[fulshie]

The problem we have is the midfield. It's collapsing after 1hr of every game and this leaves the defence exposed. We need a strong defensive midfielder like Bartley or Milligan who Heckingbottom let go and didn't replace. I hope this is JR's first aim for a signing.

[J-C]

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It doesn’t matter what the basic set up is. We’ve lost far too many goals when the ball goes into the box around the six yard area. Your tactical ‘expertise’ is irrelevant. It’s quite simply bad defending.

No expertise here, just basic observations, we've struggled ever since we lost McGinn and McGeouch and they've never been replaced properly. The midfield has been chopping and changing on a regular basis whilst Lennon and Hecky tried to find that balance and both failed. The defence can't be ignored and has to take a portion of the blame but when the midfield has been so poor this season, the defence has been exposed as being average, Lewis needs competition, we need better backup for Gray and another younger CH who's a lefty to put pressure on Hanlon.

[Brooster]

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Hanlon remains our best defender.

You cant be serious. Softest CH in the league.

[Brightside]

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You cant be serious. Softest CH in the league.

Your opinion is very clear.
He remains our best defender. He is still better than the young but improving Porto, he is better than Daz who is at the end of his career and injured a lot now, and no one appears to want Jackson. So im not sure who you think is better right now? Outside of Celtic there are no CHs that would make a huge improvement to our Centre of defence. All of them make multiple mistakes, and have similar threads on their fan forums slating them.

Can we get better? Yes of course we can. But we are limited by budget and manager after manager hasnt replaced him.

[Brooster]

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Your opinion is very clear.
He remains our best defender. He is still better than the young but improving Porto, he is better than Daz who is at the end of his career and injured a lot now, and no one appears to want Jackson. So im not sure who you think is better right now? Outside of Celtic there are no CHs that would make a huge improvement to our Centre of defence. All of them make multiple mistakes, and have similar threads on their fan forums slating them.

Can we get better? Yes of course we can. But we are limited by budget and manager after manager hasnt replaced him.

You are entitled to your opinion of course but you seem to be in the minority. In fact I dont know any Hibs fans who think Hanlon is better than Porteous. Can't really get my head round it tbh.

[Forza Fred]

ALL players move on at some point.

Every player is only there until a better one emerges.

[Brightside]

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You are entitled to your opinion of course but you seem to be in the minority. In fact I dont know any Hibs fans who think Hanlon is better than Porteous. Can't really get my head round it tbh.

Hanlon is the only footballing defender we have. If we want to go back to the days of just having Row Z defending then the majority are correct. You need a mix of types the get the best out of a team. Some people dont agree with that and think CHs should just clear the ball and hammer players into the advertising boards. If Paulo Maldini ever got booked he saw it as a failure as he hadnt defended properly (not a single Red card in his pro career) Lets strive for a bit of both in our defense.

[Since452]

No room for sentiment in football. We live in the present and at present both are not good enough

[blackpoolhibs]

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Hanlon is the only footballing defender we have. If we want to go back to the days of just having Row Z defending then the majority are correct. You need a mix of types the get the best out of a team. Some people dont agree with that and think CHs should just clear the ball and hammer players into the advertising boards. If Paulo Maldini ever got booked he saw it as a failure as he hadnt defended properly (not a single Red card in his pro career) Lets strive for a bit of both in our defense.

I'd like our defenders to be able to defend first, before they try out their Maldini skills, no point being ragdolled by a centre forward and losing goals hand over fist, but being able to ping a 40 yard cross ball to the other side of the park on a sixpence.

[B.H.F.C]

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I'd like our defenders to be able to defend first, before they try out their Maldini skills, no point being ragdolled by a centre forward and losing goals hand over fist, but being able to ping a 40 yard cross ball to the other side of the park on a sixpence.

In this particular case it’s, more often, ping a 40 yard cross ball out for a throw in on the other side of the park.

[The Modfather]

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Your opinion is very clear.
He remains our best defender. He is still better than the young but improving Porto, he is better than Daz who is at the end of his career and injured a lot now, and no one appears to want Jackson. So im not sure who you think is better right now? Outside of Celtic there are no CHs that would make a huge improvement to our Centre of defence. All of them make multiple mistakes, and have similar threads on their fan forums slating them.

Can we get better? Yes of course we can. But we are limited by budget and manager after manager hasnt replaced him.

There’s only two teams in the league that have conceded more goals than us. I have a certain amount of sympathy for the defence given the lack of protection they get. However statements like that are as imbalanced as the folk at the other end of the extreme who talk about Hanlon being a championship player etc.

[Brightside]

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In this particular case it’s, more often, ping a 40 yard cross ball out for a throw in on the other side of the park.

Well its not. Thats clearly nonsense to anyone who has watched us the past few years. Actually Hanlons pass completion rate is higher than the majority of the league!! Its yet another reason that managers keep picking him.

We will see if Jack Ross would rather go with the majority of the .net forum, and replace Paul and Lewis in due course.

Just to add Hanlon completion rate was just under 80% last season.

[Smartie]

I still like and rate all of our CH's, including Jackson, and would like to see how they get on with a decent midfield in front of them before deciding to punt anyone.

Yes, they've all made mistakes at times this season and some of them costly, but I don't recall a Hibs defence that has ever come under as much pressure as this one due to lack of protection and the midfield struggling to control possession better when we're in front late in games.

[B.H.F.C]

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Well its not. Thats clearly nonsense to anyone who has watched us the past few years. Actually Hanlons pass completion rate is higher than the majority of the league!! Its yet another reason that managers keep picking him.

We will see if Jack Ross would rather go with the majority of the .net forum, and replace Paul and Lewis in due course.

Just to add Hanlon completion rate was just under 80% last season.

I wasn’t being deadly serious, although it does happen with relative regularity.

You clearly can’t accept his failings or limitations, that’s up to you. He’s been the constant in a defence of a side that have only managed to finish in the top six of Scottish football a couple of times over that period.

I want a defender that helps our goals against column first and foremost. The pass completion rate isn’t particularly hard to boost. Hanlon to Stevenson to Hanlon to Porteous. Back to Hanlon, back to Stevenson. Theres 40 passes a game right away.

He clearly did well under Lennon when we came back up. He has been poor for a year now though.

[JimBHibees]

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Hanlon is the only footballing defender we have. If we want to go back to the days of just having Row Z defending then the majority are correct. You need a mix of types the get the best out of a team. Some people dont agree with that and think CHs should just clear the ball and hammer players into the advertising boards. If Paulo Maldini ever got booked he saw it as a failure as he hadnt defended properly (not a single Red card in his pro career) Lets strive for a bit of both in our defense.

Please tell me you are not comparing Paul Hanlon and Paulo Maldini.

I know their first names are similar but surely it ends there.

[Brightside]

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I wasn’t being deadly serious, although it does happen with relative regularity.

You clearly can’t accept his failings or limitations, that’s up to you. He’s been the constant in a defence of a side that have only managed to finish in the top six of Scottish football a couple of times over that period.

I want a defender that helps our goals against column first and foremost. The pass completion rate isn’t particularly hard to boost. Hanlon to Stevenson to Hanlon to Porteous. Back to Hanlon, back to Stevenson. Theres 40 passes a game right away.

He clearly did well under Lennon when we came back up. He has been poor for a year now though.

That’s the thing. I do accept his failings. I accept all the players failings. He’s had plenty bad games but nowhere near the the level that many on th forum think. I’ll say again there are not a lot of other CHs in the league that we would take and they’d improve that position. People on here were raving about Halkett. There are threads in kickback wanting him sold?! Hanlon is just nowhere near as bad as some on here think. But if we can’ buy in better then we should.

[JimBHibees]

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Well its not. Thats clearly nonsense to anyone who has watched us the past few years. Actually Hanlons pass completion rate is higher than the majority of the league!! Its yet another reason that managers keep picking him.

We will see if Jack Ross would rather go with the majority of the .net forum, and replace Paul and Lewis in due course.

Just to add Hanlon completion rate was just under 80% last season.

Is 80% that good given loads will be under no pressure and rolling it to goalie or other defenders.

[Brightside]

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Please tell me you are not comparing Paul Hanlon and Paulo Maldini.

I know their first names are similar but surely it ends there.

Of course not. Hanlon is better. 😂😂

[Brightside]

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Is 80% that good given loads will be under no pressure and rolling it to goalie or other defenders.

It’s better than the majority of defenders in the league. His positive passing is also higher than every CB outside of Celtic. A positive pass being once that creates a chance for a shot.

[hughio]

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Ive only seen a few games this season but defo dont think Naismith is the answer at right back.

Im surprised someone has written that.

I have been particularly impressd with him this season.
Tigerish against St Johnstione and a great goal last week.

Opinions eh?