There is no such thing as safe territory for a Hibs team that has only managed to accrue two of the eighteen points that are available from their last six Scottish Premiership games. However, a cursory glance at the next three games reminds one of the terrible warnings that were purportedly emblazoned on old maps to indicate particularly dangerous areas.
Dragons are here? A club facing Celtic at home on Wednesday, Inverness away in the Scottish Cup on Saturday, and Aberdeen, who is probably on a new manager’s high, at Pittodrie the following weekend, would find some sweet reprieve from the fire-breathing terror that falls from the sky. It must be acknowledged that yesterday’s poor performance at Easter Road did not particularly demonstrate the assurance of touch or the strength of character needed to go through that stretch of play without taking additional harm.
Nick Montgomery’s team is at an especially low point after being completely humiliated by a St. Mirren team who won every one-on-one matchup in addition to the occasional one-on-two mismatch. Given the freedom to roam Hibernian’s home field, the first step in getting back to a level more acceptable to fans is to rectify the shortcomings that the visitors brought to light.
Certainly, they will have much to discuss during the customary post-match debriefing. And after spending a good portion of Saturday night at a family get-together that was attended by a fair number of Hibs supporters, it’s obvious that the majority of spectators could provide Monty and his players a few topics for casual conversation. To begin with:
simple to oppose in a game. In a Scottish setting, that’s perhaps the most damning thing you could say about any team. We enjoy having thrawn squads. It is our innate nature.
But what St Mirren revealed at Easter Road was not just a case of habitual mistakes at the set pieces. But for anyone who knows anything about football, that is a very annoying characteristic.
When playing open play, Stephen Robinson’s team understood that an attacker would almost certainly be waiting unnoticed if they advanced down one wing and then sent the ball to the back post area, either with a single deep cross or a few quick passes. If St. Mirren had taken advantage of the opportunities this straightforward strategy produced, they may have led by five goals at the break.
Stopping the issue that’s hurting your squad should be the primary priority of coaching. Just figure out how to remove the goals that aren’t met. and proceed from there.
It’s okay to fail. It’s not failure to try. And against St Mirren, one or two Hibs players were dangerously close to giving up.
Identify names? Alright. Elie Youan. He didn’t fully commit to a 50-50, letting someone else chase the through ball and not really trying to go for a throw that rolled lazily by him a few yards out of reach. It doesn’t look nice at all. Even for a player who had already scored a few goals in derbies this season, he had plenty of credit.
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