Playing On The Front Foot

[MSG_07]

For the best part of 65 minutes or so yesterday we were awful. Very similar to last week in the cup. Excuses will be made that we didn't have key players and that's true, it's been the story of our season. What we've seen the past two weeks is completely opposite to what Hecky has promised to deliver. We certainly played on the front foot against Celtic in December with selection headaches. It's still early days but I hope he learns.

 

[stickyRicky]

He's undefeated in the league. I'm willing to scrap this season and see what he delivers next season. The positive thing of him being in now is he can cast an eye on what we have.

 

[Greenmachine]

For the best part of 65 minutes or so yesterday we were awful. Very similar to last week in the cup. Excuses will be made that we didn't have key players and that's true, it's been the story of our season. What we've seen the past two weeks is completely opposite to what Hecky has promised to deliver. We certainly played on the front foot against Celtic in December with selection headaches. It's still early days but I hope he learns.

I don't like either of the Old Firm, but it has to be said both were at the top of their game in the two recent matches against Hibs. Both clubs have better players than ours and both are challenging for the League title whilst we are desperately trying to make the top six before the split. A draw on Friday considering how many players are out/left the club/ carrying injuries was a very good result.
Hibs standards have clearly declined sharply since last season whilst the Rangers have improved significantly through huge financial investment in their squad on a level we will never be able to come near to. This is what we are up against. Celtic are on a different planet in that regard. Having said all that, I was disappointed and disheartened that Hibs did not make a better fist of it in the cup game against Celtic. To be honest, we struggled badly throughout to get decent posession of the ball and on the rare occasions we did get it we didn't have the craft to do anything with it. We then lost the first goal which almost always means defeat against Celtic. In a cup match though I expected better from Hibs playing at home despite our huge injury problems and playing against the best side in the country. When we beat them last year we were highly motivated and produced by far our best performance of the season whilst they produced their worst. In essence we caught them on a bad day and took full advantage.
Against the Rangers on Friday night we done well to stay in the game as long as we did because they were superb whist we were sluggish. My only real criticism of the manager's tactics on Friday is that we didn't go with five in midfield from the start to match up with their superior players in that area. We would hopefully at least have been able to compete properly if we had done that. Instead it meant that we were chasing shadows for an hour. When we did make the change we came back strongly and were unlucky not to win the game as we improved considerably and they tired. Allan McGregor saved them from defeat in the second half.
Heckingbottom is just in the door from another country and will take time to get the team playing the way he wants. That will be probably occur over the next two or three transfer windows and in about a years time we will be able to make a proper assessment of how he is doing as manager. We really do as a support need to be patient and give this guy time and a proper chance to rebuild his squad. Thankfully we are not in any relegation trouble this season but it has been a very disappointing season with only our European run saving the day. If we can squeeze into the top six (still going to be difficult to achieve IMO) then that will be a very good start for the new manager with hopefully significant improvement to come next season.