One point from five games is our worst start to a campaign since the 1991/92 season. Back then we were gubbed on the opening day and were eventually relegated, manager Davie Hay leaving in the aftermath. Many people are surprised that current boss Danny Lennon is still in charge, with the media beginning to wake up to our poor run of form which has seen us win just three times since the turn of the year and once since the League Cup Final six months ago. Will a defeat tomorrow spark the end of his three-and-a-bit-years in charge?
You could almost make a case for this game being "winner stays on" for the manager. Hibs gaffer Pat Fenlon is also under a bit of pressure and a defeat could force his board to act, although last week's win at St Johnstone should have earned him a bit more time. He's arguably been close to the sack for longer than Lennon, with runs to the Scottish Cup Final being the only bright spots in his time in charge (of course, as it's Hibs we're talking about, they lost both times).
The fact his side are playing us tomorrow should boost his mood. While everyone else beat Hibs on a regular basis last season we only managed a point from four games, and that came after the split when they were saving themselves for the cup final. The other three times they beat us as we put in performances of varying levels. Hibs are likely to be relatively near us come the end of the season - in position if not in points - so we could do with beating them for the first time in five games. Mind you, we have only managed eight points at Easter Road since we were promoted in 2006 and our last win there was more than two years ago. Still, these runs have to end some time!
While the management team are understandably copping a lot of flack down Greenhill Road way at the moment, the players also need to take their share of the blame. The performances this season have been nowhere near good enough and while you can blame signings, tactics and team selection for that, the players are also at fault. The international break should have left them in no doubt that their manager was fighting for his job, but the display against Motherwell was still below par. A huge improvement is needed from everyone tomorrow.
We could do with finding some more goals from somewhere as we've only scored three so far - and that includes one in the League Cup defeat to Queen of the South. Steven Thompson and Stephane Bahoken, who has yet to impress, have had very little to work with and we need to improve the supply. John McGinn and Kenny McLean both like to shoot so it would be good to see at least one of them back, although the 3-5-2 looks as if it's here to stay for a few more weeks yet. Whether Gary Teale and Danny Grainger are capable of operating as fullbacks remains to be scene. Jake Caprice or David van Zanten could be deployed on the right, but we have no other options on the left.
Hibs' form has finally started to improve in the last few weeks, although it couldn't have got much worse - especially after they were dumped out of Europe in rather embarrassing circumstances after being thrashed at Easter Road by Malmo in the second leg. While their away form is getting better, as shown by last week's win in Perth, they've only managed one point from their home games this season which should suggest we've got a good chance of taking something from this match. However, when teams are on home runs like this they invariably turn it around when they face us.
Hibs are no longer a one man team these days, namely because the one man has gone. To my great relief Leigh Griffiths has stayed at Wolves this season rather than joined the Hibbees on loan for the third year running. This is a double boost for me as he scored against us on a regular basis while I have a soft spot for Wolves and would rather he had spent last season firing them to Championship survival than scoring goals in Scotland. At first it looked as if Fenlon would replace Griffiths with Rowan Vine, who had done fairly well at St Johnstone but is far from a prolific scorer. However, he eventually realised he needed some more players - especially as Eoin Doyle did one over the summer - so splashed out a reported £200,000 on Swindown's James Collins. It's a huge sum for any Scottish club to pay (although Hibs claim the figure has been exaggerated) and he'll be under extra pressure to perform as a result. The capture of Paul Heffernan from Killie on a free, by contrast, looks like a bargain and you have to ask why the Rugby Park side were prepared to let him go. Both Heffernan and Collins scored against the Saintees last week.
There seem to be mixed feelings on the ability of Hibs captain James McPake. At times he looks relatively solid at the back, but at others he looks incredibly raw and dives into tackles looking to take the man and if he gets the ball it's an added bonus. Maybe now that he's got a solid performer like Michael Nelson alongside him he should calm down, the former Killie moving in from Bradford over the summer. Fenlon may have lost one loan star but did keep another in the form of Ryan McGivern, while Fraser Mullen was signed after being binned by Hearts but has looked poor so far. Paul Hanlon, Tim Clancy and Alan Maybury are also defensive options, although the latter is getting on a bit these days, while Fenlon knows goalie Ben Williams is relatively reliable. The days of Yves Ma Kalamity gifting us some points look long gone.
Hibs are the latest side to benefit from the return of a former player whose shot at the big time has ended due to injury or other factors. Motherwell have James McFadden, Kilmarnock have Kris Boyd and the Hibees have Kevin Thomson. He was apparently playing for free last season when he signed but presumably is getting paid now that he decided to stick around. Earlier this month he was brought into the Scotland squad, although I'm not sure he's quite returned to those performance levels just yet. Having him playing alongside the likes of Scott Robertson and Lewis Stevenson should pay-off while it will also force that pair, and Tom Taiwo, to raise their games a little. Liam Craig was another man nicked from St Johnstone over the summer and should prove to be a shrewd acquisition, the midfielder having hurt us with goals a few times in the past. Owain Tudur Jones was signed from Inverness Caley Thistle, while injuries to Paul Cairney and Alex Harris saw Fenlon borrow Abdellah Zoubir from Istres in France.
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