Whether managed by Tony Mowbray, John Collins, Mixu Paatelainen or even John Hughes, a trip to Hibs was never something you looked forward to with hope. They were usually set up to attack and put you on the front foot from the off, playing a great passing game with great midfielders and strikers at their disposal. However, that is certainly not the case at the moment. Under Colin Calderwood they seem to be stumbling along and even managed the notable achievement of giving Kenny Shiels his first win as Kilmarnock manager.
As a result, this is one occasion when we can relish a trip to Easter Road. Yes, our record there isn't brilliant - we've managed just four points from our trips there since promotion. However, what exactly is there to fear? There's no reason we can't pose them a few problems and we should go at them the same way we went at Dunfermline and Dundee United away from home. There are points there for the taking and if we can put in a good performance, we can get some.
I'm rarely so balshy when it comes to writing a preview, especially about an away game, but a combination of Hibs woefulness and our nice playing style gives me a bit more confidence. However, we will only give ourselves a chance if we're actually willing to take a chance during the game. Try a few shots rather than making an extra pass and stop over elaborating at the back. By all means play the passes about, but don't mess about at the back as that will almost certainly be our downfall.
The attractive playing style was there at times against Motherwell last week, but it wasn't as evident as it had been in other games and we created few chances. We need to change that tomorrow, but it's unlikely there will be any major changes in personnel. Steven Thomson could replace Kenny McLean if he's well enough, but what else is likely to happen? Nigel Hasselbaink is still out and Darren McGregor is still suspended, so the rest of the team will surely be the same - although Danny Lennon has hinted new signing Ilias Haddad could play. Seems a bit of a risk throwing a defender straight in but there you go!
One possibility would be putting Jon McShane up front alongside Steven Thompson. That would give Hibs' shaky defence an extra striker to deal with - and a tall one too. However, that would involve changing the entire system and you'd probably take out one of the wingers to make it work - ironic when they'd be ideal to aim crosses at the strikers! No, the change must come in style as I have mentioned above. Aaron Mooy would have been an option if he was fit, but instead he'll be keeping Hugh Murray company in the stands.
Most fans would be worried if their manager was being linked with a job elsewhere. However, Hibs fans were probably salivating at the thought of Colin Calderwood leaving in the summer and taking an assistant manager gig at either Birmingham or Nottingham Forest. Not only would they get rid of him, they'd get cash for him too! However, the Hibs board seemed to disagree and Calderwood is still there for the time being. It's hard to know if he's cheesed off as he sounds as dour as ever and is hardly the most inspiring sounding person out there.
The football isn't exactly exciting at the moment and many Hibs fans are getting increasingly frustrated with the board allowing players to leave and not giving the manager any money to spend on replacements - although given the current incumbent you can perhaps understand that approach. Instead, they have stumbled across a novel way of building a squad - sell some players, then sign them back for free a few years later. And lo, I give you Garry O'Connor and Ivan Sproule. Hibs pocketed over £2million for the pair a few years ago, yet both are back after difficult spells away. O'Connor could be a great signing and should fill the Derek Riordan spaced hole up front - while Sproule will be trouble if he still has the pace that caused the Rangers defence problems on more than one occasion.
It had looked for a while as if Hibs had solved their age old goalkeeping problem, however Graham Stack's error against Celtic on the opening day suggests that's not the case. Fortunately, the defence in front is fairly solid with guys like Paul "Baby Bale" Hanlon and summer recruit Sean O'Hanlon in it. John Rankin and Liam Miller have gone from midfield but Isaiah Osbourne has been brought in, while Junior Agogo is in up front. They still have Akpo Sodje too - a powerful striker who caused us problems last season even when he wasn't up against John Potter.
As it's an away game I'd be happy with a point - but this is probably the best chance we've had for some time to come away from Easter Road with all three points.
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