This is how it feels (Aberdeen 23 10 21)

[Jonnyboy]

Four changes in personnel but no changes in the end result, Hibs failing to trouble an Aberdeen side that was bereft of confidence on the back of a ten game winless run. This was really poor fare and in truth, Hibs got what they deserved for their (lack of) efforts. What irked me most was the absence of fight and passion. Aberdeen showed it in abundance and though they themselves didn’t play all that well, they competed for every ball and their hard work paid off.

Jack Ross made four changes to his starting eleven, bringing in McGinn, McGregor, Stevenson and Gullan and it gave me hope we might see significant improvement over the gutless display against Dundee United. That hope was dashed because although I felt we were a bit better than against United, we were still well short of where we should be. That’s two games in a row of insipid and uninspiring football and the frustrations of the travelling support became evident throughout. It speaks volumes that we couldn’t manage a single shot on target.

With almost 1000 Hibs fans having made the journey the encouragement from the stand was loud from the off but it was soon draining away as we watched Hibs being second best all over the park. We couldn’t string a decent passage of play together, lost out big style in challenging for second balls and played the ball backwards more often than not.

Ironically, it was Hibs that the first chance fell to, but Boyle’s effort was charged down at the expense of a corner that came to nothing. As was the case against Dundee United we struggled to get any kind of foothold in midfield where Ferguson and Brown were ruling the roost. Next, Macey was called into action and had to look sharp when a deflection on a Hedges shot might well have caught him out.

Around twenty five minutes in, Aberdeen took the lead. Hibs were in possession and moving forward but sloppy play in midfield allowed Scott Brown to steal the ball, move forward unchallenged and play a lovely pass out wide to Ramsay. That error in midfield caught our defenders on the wrong foot and allowed Ramsay to cut the ball back to the lively Ramirez who sent the ball past Macey from around twelve yards. The fact that Ramirez was totally free in the box added to the agony of going behind. Ramirez had another chance soon after but sent a header wide of the target.

Aberdeen then lost the impressive Ramsay to injury before Darren McGregor was booked for a body check on an Aberdeen player. Moments later, Lewis Ferguson committed his umpteenth foul of the game but managed to avoid a yellow card from Greg Aitken.

A good ball down the channel from Newell picked out Lewis Stevenson and his telling cross reached Boyle who pulled the trigger only to see Gallagher stick out a foot to deflect the ball just wide of the post. As half time approached, Aberdeen lost a second defender when Daclan Gallagher fell awkwardly in trying to clear a through ball. The Dons had now lost two defenders to injury and were forced to reshuffle with Scott Brown moving back to the centre of defence. Prior to the half time whistle, Watkins fizzed an effort wide and then Longstaff, who’d come on for Gallagher, was booked for a crude challenge on McGinn.

At half time, Jack Ross withdrew Cadden and replaced him with Jamie Murphy but that did little initially in changing the flow of play with the first fifteen minutes being a bit of a non-event. On the hour, Gullan was withdrawn allowing for the introduction of Scott Allan, just prior to Brown being booked for a hefty challenge on Kevin Nisbet.

Hibs were enjoying more possession now but were unable to make that fact work in their favour as it became all too clear that sitting in is the way to beat this Hibs side. The number of pointless sideways and back ways passes is painful to watch as is the lack of creativity. Scott Allan tried his best but all too often the players ahead of him were either static or hiding. With seven minutes of normal time remaining, Drey Wright replaced Jake Doyle-Hayes which allowed Allan to drop deeper as Wright played up top. It had no positive effect on proceedings although a Wright header sailed close to the target but wide.

As we moved in to seven minutes of added time, caused mainly by a lengthy spell of treatment for Joe Lewis, Ross played his final card by sending Darren McGregor forward into attack. Desperate stuff and the most notable event of his stint at centre forward was his second yellow and subsequent red for catching Bates with an arm across the face.

A rightly disgruntled Hibs support made its feelings known at the end and who can blame them?

The players

Macey – Had little or nothing to do, had no chance with the goal and annoyed plenty of us with his poor distribution.

McGinn – It was good to see him back and, on a day, when Hibs were so poor he was, for me, the one who made the fewest mistakes and that earns him my man of the match award.

McGregor – Twice he sold Macey short with pass backs, got himself booked and then at the death made a stupid challenge that earned a second yellow. Not the best of days for Daz.

Hanlon – Paul struggled quite a bit with the constant movement of Ramirez and rarely beat him in an aerial challenge. Looked jittery throughout.

Stevenson – Like his defensive team mates, Lewis was caught on the back foot for their goal, but the cross came from his area and that can’t be ignored.

Cadden – I’m not sure if he was injured, given he was subbed at half time but if he wasn’t there’s a couple of others that deserved to be hooked before him.

Newell – Joe was poor today, very poor in fact.

Doyle-Hayes – Jake is going to come under pressure from our support if he doesn’t stop making his pass of choice a backwards one. He needs to learn to take the ball in and look forward, not back.

Boyle – Lively in patches in the first half but missing in action in the second. Another silly yellow card makes him likely to have to serve a suspension sometime soon.

Nisbet – What the hell has gone wrong with this laddie? Anonymous today and even when he got involved his contribution was negligible.

Gullan – Jamie did plenty of running for an hour but had very little impact on the game.

Murphy – Aside from one excellent low cross he offered very little and was easily beaten by his markers all too often.

Allan – Fought a losing battle in a powder puff midfield.

Wright – Another ‘cameo’ appearance from him but at least he had one effort on goal which is more than most.

Jack Ross – I’ve never really gotten involved in the Ross debate, accepting that things are slowly improving but the last two games are allowing doubts to take up residence in my mind. Today was the first time I’ve heard loud vocal dissent towards him.

Referee – Greg Aitken was standard, in terms of Scottish refereeing ability. The thing that irked me most was that it took him until the 92nd minute to tell Aberdeen players to stop wasting time.

[CMurdoch]

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A good ball down the channel from Newell picked out Lewis Stevenson and his telling cross reached Boyle who pulled the trigger only to see Gallagher (inside of McCrories leg) stick out a foot to deflect the ball just wide of the post. As half time approached, Aberdeen lost a second defender when Daclan Gallagher fell awkwardly in (pulled hamstring in left leg prior to clearing) trying to clear a through ball. The Dons had now lost two defenders to injury and were forced to reshuffle with Scott Brown moving back to the centre of defence. Prior to the half time whistle, Watkins fizzed an effort wide and then Longstaff, who’d come on for Gallagher, was booked for a crude challenge on McGinn.

Couple of changes in bold for your last para before half time.

Minus Porteous and Magennis for the last few games has finally cooked our goose and I can't see things improving until the St Johnstone game at the end of November when Magennis and Doidge should be back. Before then we need to somehow win away at Ross County & Livingston but Rangers and Celtic on Wednesday look beyond our presently available players. Only good thing about today is that Hearts dropped 2 points.

[IberianHibernian]

Always look forward to these reports even after a bad performance . Agree with McGinn being least bad though I said I thought JDH was our least bad player on another thread . That`s 10 league games now and it`s not just been the last 2 games where it`s been hard to pick even one player who deserved award . Obviously we miss Porteous , McGennis and Halberg ( forgotten by some ) but all teams lose players but in general I think we lack the quality to challenge for 3rd .

[Smartie]

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Always look forward to these reports even after a bad performance . Agree with McGinn being least bad though I said I thought JDH was our least bad player on another thread . That`s 10 league games now and it`s not just been the last 2 games where it`s been hard to pick even one player who deserved award . Obviously we miss Porteous , McGennis and Halberg ( forgotten by some ) but all teams lose players but in general I think we lack the quality to challenge for 3rd .

Funny you mention Hallberg. Whenever he gets into the team through adversity it feels like the balance improves (previously it would be Newell or Gogic he would replace).

I think he might prove useful when he gets back to fitness. Not sure Jack Ross would ever pick him ahead of Newell through choice though.

[CMurdoch]

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Funny you mention Hallberg. Whenever he gets into the team through adversity it feels like the balance improves (previously it would be Newell or Gogic he would replace).

I think he might prove useful when he gets back to fitness. Not sure Jack Ross would ever pick him ahead of Newell through choice though.

I thought Hallberg would have been back soon but as ever the club have been silent about his progress which would suggest he isn't close

[bythecringe]

Thanks for taking the trouble to post your report on the game. It can’t be a load of fun sitting down and summarising games like the last two. Your comments are much appreciated and no matter what the score is I always look forward to reading them.

[Key West]

The squad has been streamlined and is not fit for purpose should we have any ambitions to be in the top 4.

[The Captain....]

The players seem to lack any belief in the 'system' they are being asked to implement. There is no conviction about the way we play. We give the opposition so much time and space and when we get it we can't keep it (other than the interminable, slow passing between the centre halves before shelling an aimless diag). If Boyle doesn't click we don't create a chance.

I thought Jack Ross worked miracles to get that squad 3rd place last year. We are much weaker this year for various reasons. I think it's a fairly average side ability wise tbh.

I can't shake the feeling something isn't right at the club. Time will tell no doubt but we need to arrest this loss of form and confidence, how we do that I've no idea. I don't envy Jack Ross...as much as I think he also is culpable for the performances in the last few weeks, he's been left with few options.

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[Cod Boy]

3 of the back 4 regulars since 2016 legends but time to move on

[Liberal Hibby]

Thanks again jonny boy. When you start to doubt the manager his coat definitely becomes on a shuggly peg.

[NAE NOOKIE]

Just finished watching the game on ALBA.

Macey ...... 6 ...... No chance with the goal, but his distribution was poor and his attempt to lump the ball up the park under no pressure at the end was shocking.

McGinn .... 7 ..... As the OP said, he made less mistakes than most.

McGregor ..... 6 ..... Did some ok defending, but these days he seems like an accident waiting to happen, was I the only one who saw the Aberdeen player with a handful of his shirt which caused him to lash out ..... if we had competent refs perhaps Daz might have been awarded a penalty rather than a red card.

Hanlon .... 6 .... Not rubbish, not great either .. just average and perhaps it's time we had a captain who is going to roast players on the park when it looks like they're not trying.

Stevenson ..... 5 ..... Get the ball pass it backwards, get the ball pass it backwards, get the ball pass it backwards ... he wasn't our worst player though.

Newell .... 4 ..... He has shown he can be a player, but today and against Dundee Utd he has been a waste of a jersey, in both games he made absolutely nothing happen, half the time he looks like he's playing his own personal game without a thought of contributing to a team effort.

Doyle-Hayes ... 3 .... Utterly anonymous.

Cadden .... 4 .... For a couple of minutes in the first half looked like he might be up for it .... but no.

Boyle .... 6 ..... Probably his worst game of the season, far too often just ran into blind alleys with the ball and his delivery was rank.

Nisbet ... 4 .... OK the lack of service was no doubt frustrating, but he contributed next to nothing for 90 odd minutes.

Gullan .... 4 .... Got his long awaited start, it'll be a long wait till the next one I fear.

SUBS:

Murphy ... 6 ..... He got a couple of good balls across the box.

Allan .... 5 .... Put in one fantastic ball that deserved better than simply giving their keeper another chance to waste time.

Wright ... 3 .... Not on long enough to even earn his usual criticism.

Jack Ross. Has he lost the players or lost his way ..... we were pish last week and he couldn't change it, this week we were playing a team who from what I could see had nothing more to them than a bit of desire to stop an appalling run of form and they contained us easily without even having to play well. On this form we haven't a hope in hell of beating Celtic on Wednesday and if we go on to lose in Dingwall against a team with no league wins all season the storm clouds will be gathering.

[Billy Whizz]

Jonnyboy, Boyle has only 2 League bookings, last 2 games
Anyway, performance yesterday was absolutely rotten, and the players need to take much more responsibility for their efforts. Just can’t understand how it’s got so bad, so quickly

[expresso]

‘What irked me most was the absence of fight and passion.’
This 1000 times this.
We have no leaders on the pitch to fire the team up.

[BILLYHIBS]

Thanks for taking the time to post Jonnyboy

It is greatly appreciated

[Greenbeard]

Can't blame Daz for trying to shake off the grip of the Sheep defender. Can't believe I'm saying this but he should have gone down for a penalty claim. Porto would have.
Newell. Woose.

[Coco Bryce]

Can't believe we went up to Aberdeen yesterday and was served up that shocking display. On the way up we had all expected a big reaction after last weeks horror show. Never thought it was possible to be worse! Totally scunnered.The booing is getting louder..

[B.H.F.C]

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Can't believe we went up to Aberdeen yesterday and was served up that shocking display. On the way up we had all expected a big reaction after last weeks horror show. Never thought it was possible to be worse! Totally scunnered.The booing is getting louder..

Felt like people were starting to turn yesterday.

Also noticed Doyle-Hayes having a pop back at someone in the crowd at the end.

[brog]

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The squad has been streamlined and is not fit for purpose should we have any ambitions to be in the top 4.

In which way has the squad been streamlined since last season's 3rd place finish?

[Billy Whizz]

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In which way has the squad been streamlined since last season's 3rd place finish?

Exactly it’s a much larger squad, but other than Daniel Mackay, don’t think we’ve paid a fee for anyone

[Unseen work]

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Exactly it’s a much larger squad, but other than Daniel Mackay, don’t think we’ve paid a fee for anyone

Is it a much larger squad than last year?

Marciano out - Mitchell in
Gray out - Wood in
Irvine out - JDH in
Mallan out - Mackay in
McGinn out - Scott in
Bradley out -

Looking back at it that is a shocking transfer window. JDH is the only one that’s a permanent starter, yes Mueller and Tait will join but we needed players in now, not January.

[Alfred E Newman]

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Exactly it’s a much larger squad, but other than Daniel Mackay, don’t think we’ve paid a fee for anyone

I’d forgotten all about him!

[number9dream]

The starting XI suggested JR is struggling to find a solution to the current one win in six malaise.
We need some energy in central midfield but where does that come from if Magennis & Hallberg are out? Feel a bit sorry for Josh Campbell not getting a look in and Gogic might at least add some aggression.
McGregor was hopeless, while Hanlon and Stevenson weren't far behind...
Need a big improvement - and quickly - or it could get messy against Celtic.

[Billy Whizz]

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Is it a much larger squad than last year?

Marciano out - Mitchell in
Gray out - Wood in
Irvine out - JDH in
Mallan out - Mackay in
McGinn out - Scott in
Bradley out -

Looking back at it that is a shocking transfer window. JDH is the only one that’s a permanent starter, yes Mueller and Tait will join but we needed players in now, not January.

We were running with a squad of 20 at the end of last season
Marciano/Macey

Gray/McGinn/Porteous/McGregor/Hanlon/Stevenson/Doig
Cadden /Gogic/Magennis/Wright/Hallberg/Irvine/Newell

Boyle/Nisbet/Doidge/Murphy


This season around 24
We have 3 goalies
McGinn/McGregor/Wood/Porteous/Hanlon/Doig/Stevenson

Cadden/Gogic/Magennis/Newell/Doyle-Hayes/Hallberg/Allan

Boyle/Nisbet/Doidge/Murphy/Scott/Gullan/Mackay

[erin go bragh]

For us to play a game of football and not get one shot on target .
Horrendous to watch and felt for every fan that went up . As soon as that midfield was announced, the game looked Donald ducked .