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Not one for buying the record, however wanted something to read with a cuppa and the evening news wasn't in. Anyway just read an article by Colin Duncan..(yeh whoever he is). Wondered what other bouncers views were on it.
He states that there is something wrong with the mentality of players..and in particular manager Fenlon when t hey are content to be walked over by Celtic. He is particularly critical that no defenders held their hand up individually but just said we defend as a unit and share the responsibility. Only LG gets any credit as he aparantly was hurting too much to come out for a post match interview.
Ok so lets look at some things. Yes I do believe that over the last few years Hibs have had a poor us attitude and seem content at times with mediocracy. While it was difficult to compete with our city rivals and the gruesome twosome from Glasgow, there have been times when we use money as an excuse for losses. Yes we may have inferior players but lack of money should never be an excuse for lack of endeavour and grit. But on Sunday I am not convinced this was the case and that I believe is why the Hibs supporters stayed at the end. Yes we lost two poor goals but the players did seem to give a damn, but they were simply outplayed at times. We talk a lot about Hearts wage bill but Celtic can pretty much buy and pay whoever they want (real top players excluded). They take the best players from Scottish teams and cream off good talent from England while teams like Hibs often rely on journeymen mixed with some youth who end up leaving us well before their prime years. We were beaten but I saw the players giving what they had, which sadly wasn't enough as there is a real lack of talent at Hibs right now.
Perhaps we are also guilty of expecting too much too soon. We got off to a flyer and may'be that was part of our downfall. Expectations rose through the roof but long before halfway through the season the cracks were there for all to see. I am not in the least surprised Celtics two first goals were from crosses, we have been murder at defending them all season and that needs sorted. But we have also been a poor poor team for a lot of seasons now, and yet qualified for two SC finals in two seasons.
Yes St.Mirren beat celtic in the LC, but St,Mirren have had more time to gel together and it is always easier playing celtic earlier in the season, as the 1-0 win at ER proves. They also rested the last few weeks while we were slogging it out for 7th place and much credit to the players for managing the feat considering how we usually finish seasons. But progress has been made. PF has also learned his lesson and changed his formation and in recent weeks given youth a chance.
I am seriously doubting I'll ever live to see a SC win, but I do see improvement and we need to keep moving forward. We have made our way a lot of semis and finals in the last 20-30 years in both competitions, but then seem to break teams up and have to start again. We need consistency both with the manager and players. If we are guilty of complacency then that has to change and I do not believe PF is under any illusion that progress has to be made year on year until we reach a level of consistency with no fear. But lets also be realistic. Celtic have zero debts and money coming in from all angles. They must have made over 10m from the Euro campaign alone. How much to Hibs pull in during a whole season? But as I said we need to continue progressing and I hope Tom Farmer and others can get some serious investments coming our way. But the first thing is we have to show we are a team wanting to win. The news that players are opting for teams such as St Mirren and St Johnstone etc is sad indeed. Hibs were a big enough team in the past getting Gordon Smiths signature from under hearts nose, when he was a self confessed Jambo and keeping the likes of Stanton way longer than we had any right to. But times have changed and money is king, but we do need to continue to show desire and ambition to make the right signings.
The fans this season have made a massive contribution to the atmosphere and sense of family team. This also needs to continue and hopefully we will not get to the point where we go quiet when we are winning simply because we expect to, but that a winning team will make us louder and happier.
He states that there is something wrong with the mentality of players..and in particular manager Fenlon when t hey are content to be walked over by Celtic. He is particularly critical that no defenders held their hand up individually but just said we defend as a unit and share the responsibility. Only LG gets any credit as he aparantly was hurting too much to come out for a post match interview.
Ok so lets look at some things. Yes I do believe that over the last few years Hibs have had a poor us attitude and seem content at times with mediocracy. While it was difficult to compete with our city rivals and the gruesome twosome from Glasgow, there have been times when we use money as an excuse for losses. Yes we may have inferior players but lack of money should never be an excuse for lack of endeavour and grit. But on Sunday I am not convinced this was the case and that I believe is why the Hibs supporters stayed at the end. Yes we lost two poor goals but the players did seem to give a damn, but they were simply outplayed at times. We talk a lot about Hearts wage bill but Celtic can pretty much buy and pay whoever they want (real top players excluded). They take the best players from Scottish teams and cream off good talent from England while teams like Hibs often rely on journeymen mixed with some youth who end up leaving us well before their prime years. We were beaten but I saw the players giving what they had, which sadly wasn't enough as there is a real lack of talent at Hibs right now.
Perhaps we are also guilty of expecting too much too soon. We got off to a flyer and may'be that was part of our downfall. Expectations rose through the roof but long before halfway through the season the cracks were there for all to see. I am not in the least surprised Celtics two first goals were from crosses, we have been murder at defending them all season and that needs sorted. But we have also been a poor poor team for a lot of seasons now, and yet qualified for two SC finals in two seasons.
Yes St.Mirren beat celtic in the LC, but St,Mirren have had more time to gel together and it is always easier playing celtic earlier in the season, as the 1-0 win at ER proves. They also rested the last few weeks while we were slogging it out for 7th place and much credit to the players for managing the feat considering how we usually finish seasons. But progress has been made. PF has also learned his lesson and changed his formation and in recent weeks given youth a chance.
I am seriously doubting I'll ever live to see a SC win, but I do see improvement and we need to keep moving forward. We have made our way a lot of semis and finals in the last 20-30 years in both competitions, but then seem to break teams up and have to start again. We need consistency both with the manager and players. If we are guilty of complacency then that has to change and I do not believe PF is under any illusion that progress has to be made year on year until we reach a level of consistency with no fear. But lets also be realistic. Celtic have zero debts and money coming in from all angles. They must have made over 10m from the Euro campaign alone. How much to Hibs pull in during a whole season? But as I said we need to continue progressing and I hope Tom Farmer and others can get some serious investments coming our way. But the first thing is we have to show we are a team wanting to win. The news that players are opting for teams such as St Mirren and St Johnstone etc is sad indeed. Hibs were a big enough team in the past getting Gordon Smiths signature from under hearts nose, when he was a self confessed Jambo and keeping the likes of Stanton way longer than we had any right to. But times have changed and money is king, but we do need to continue to show desire and ambition to make the right signings.
The fans this season have made a massive contribution to the atmosphere and sense of family team. This also needs to continue and hopefully we will not get to the point where we go quiet when we are winning simply because we expect to, but that a winning team will make us louder and happier.
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