Hibs – A Few Hours On

We have not been playing well recently and as such any kind of result which is not a loss is something to work from. Yes, we played fairly well on Saturday at Dundee but what did we have to take from it? Another loss, this time in the knowledge the even a good performance could not turn things around. This time though we played to a reasonable level – not great by any means but not that badly either. We have finally jumped the psychological barrier of being stuck on 30 points and we have another home game coming on Saturday.

It is also worth remembering that even though they didn’t look it in the first half, Hibs, by Scottish terms at least, are a very good side. This is a team who have not lost a league game to a non-Old Firm side since October! It would have been nice to have pressed home our advantage when we were 1-0 up but we knew that Hibs would come back. Despite this, we were one silly mistake away from holding on for the win.

Moreover, I think Terry Butcher will have learned a lot from this game. Firstly, as if he didn’t know it already, Phil O’Donnell is vital to us. When we are playing against a good side, we need to accept our limitations in the middle of the park and stifle them before playing football ourselves. Fitzpatrick may have a great future in the game but he is not up to playing in the middle of the park at the moment. If Uncle Phil doesn’t make it against Hearts, a tactic might be to play a central pairing of Fagan and Leitch. Cut down everything above grass height and when we get the ball, concentrate on getting it wide quickly…

This brings me nicely to the wingers. Jim Paterson is certainly a useful player but at the minute he barely looks fit and is struggling. Give him a rest, a few games in the reserves to get his confidence up. Marc Fitzpatrick might not be able to play in the middle but get him on the wing and he is more than capable of doing a good job. Most importantly of all though, tonight’s game has surely shown us that Richie Foran must play. Would we have lost that penalty if Foran had been playing instead of McBride? Not a chance. Foran can make things happen for us and he also possesses more energy and tackling ability than McBride ever will.

So, despite losing a crucial player and half of our midfield not playing that well, we still picked up a good point (our first of the season!) against the team in third place. Let’s not be too despondent about last night, there is no guarantee Killie won’t slip on Saturday whilst we beat the Jambos again. Time for broad smiles all round if that happens!