Hibernian: the club that can finish 2nd

Hibees are continually let down

Having looked at the strengths and weaknesses of each individual club in the new SPFL Premiership I came to the conclusion that Hibs have a serious shot at finishing 2nd, after the start they’ve had to the season though it’s completely understandable that any optimism the fans had before the start of the campaign has been quickly evaporated, the destruction at home to Malmo set the tone for the opening to League fixtures, a home loss to the team that’s been ‘best of the rest’ for a few seasons now in Motherwell is no real shame and an away defeat to Hearts is another that on the face of it shouldn’t be shocking but when you delve into the circus that is Hearts then losing to them simply wasn’t an option, not in the manner it happened anyway.

Now morale among the fans is low, there’s bad feeling directed at the manager Pat Fenlon, Rod Petrie and Tom Farmer and the players are only one mistake away from becoming this weeks scapegoat, the season ahead really shouldn’t look so promising but when you dissect the Hibernian squad there really is no reason why they can’t make a serious challenge for 2nd place.

Lets look at their squad, in Ben Williams they have a very decent goalkeeper, he’s not the beat in the Country but I’d say there’s only 2 or 3 better than him in the Premiership…

In defence they have Mullen and McGivern, both have potential to be very decent players, they also have Clancy if they can get and keep him fit, in the centre of defence they have James McPake, he hasn’t quite lived up to his early form for Hibs but he did have to carry a poor Hibs defence last year with an injury, another they desperately need to stay fit, alongside him they have Michael Nelson, he’s not a star and hes not flash but he’s the type of defender Hibs have lacked since Rob Jones left, this guy could bring the best out in McPake.

In midfield Hibs are really strong, Thomson who if he gets back to his best could easily play English Premiership Football, Robertson, Tuder-Jones is a player who was consistently good for an Inverness side that finished well in front of Hibs last season, Taiwo, Cairney who was a star in SFL1 and Liam Craig who for me was St Johnstones’ best player last season, the club that finished 3rd.

Thats not forgetting young Alex Harris who needs time to develop but already has shown he has the talent and pace to change a game.

Up front Hibs lost Leigh Grifffiths, he might be a Hibee but he was never their player so while they may feel they lost him he was never theirs to lose so they replaced him and Doyle with Rowan Vine who was one of St Johnstones 3 best players and James Collins who they paid decent money for by SPFL standards, Vine for me is head and shoulders better than Doyle although with a very healthy 14 goals last season he has a big target to match, Collins is one that should excite the fans, 18 goals last season in 29 starts (21 sub apps) which included a hat trick against Premiership bully boys Stoke City, this lad knows how to put the ball in the back of the net.

When you break down the squad Hibs along with Aberdeen are one of a short selection of clubs who can rely on seasoned Pros who have done well in what was formerly known as the SPL, so the talent is there and the players within the squad have proven in this environment that they are more than capable to succeed.

The problem is the negativity in the way the team sets up, my biggest gripe with Pat Fenlon is that his first instinct is to try not lose a game rather than to go out and take the game to the opposition, you can just about get away with that when you have a maverick like Leigh Griffiths who can score a goal from nothing regularly.

Hibs need a wide man badly Paddy McCourt was invited to train with Hibs from the day his Celtic contract expired, hes got options, Hibs can’t afford to hang around though, Paddy is a very talented player but I don’t believe he’s the be all and end all for Hibs, if they’ve still got money to spend and fr what I’ve heard they do then Fenlon must look to get pace down the wing before he coaches himself out of a job.

Do I think Hibs will finish 2nd? No
Do I think Hibs have a squad that could finish 2nd? Yes

Personally I don’t like to see genuinely nice guys lose their jobs so I do want to see Pat Fenlon turn it around at Hibs, however I truly don’t believe he’s got what it takes, he got majorly lucky with Leigh Griffiths and in my opinion would already be out of a job if it weren’t for #LG9

I think Hibs need a manager who wants to play attack minded football and more importantly a manager who wants to play a style of football that will suit the players already at the club…

Before a ball was kicked I predicted Hibs will finish 4th or 5th, unfortunately the reason it wasn’t higher is because I thought that Hibs would start so poor that it’ll only be when Pat Fenlon is replaced that Hibs will begin to see an improvement in performance and results.