It’s difficult to really gauge where Hibernian stand at this point in time. On the face of it, they sit third in the SPFL table, when just a year ago they were scrabbling around for points towards the foot, but the momentum which fired them to a third placed finish last year appears to have dissipated.
While the second half of last season was one of constant improvement and confidence, this season has been one of stalls. For every positive result, there is a flat performance, a drawn winnable game, and the constant nagging reminder that their Edinburgh rivals Hearts have been the ones to take advantage of Old Firm weakness to lead the table.
Take the last few weeks as an example: a commanding four-nil win against Livingston and an impressive away win against Aberdeen were followed up by defeat against Rangers and a meek away draw against Livingston. Of course, Rangers were obviously going to get better under Rohl compared to Martin, but Hibs beat Livingston commandingly just weeks earlier, which shows inconsistency. Livingston are bottom, and Hibs should want to be dispatching teams like that with ease week after week if they want to compete at the business end like Hearts. Even Saturday night’s 3-0 win over St Mirren was far from convincing, strange though that is to say about a 3-0.
While you should not read too much into a short run of games, this has been the theme of the season. Inconsistency has been rife, and a leaky defence has meant missed opportunities for wins against weak opposition. Despite losing only two of their first eleven, they have drawn six, and seem to lack the impressive steeliness of last season.
Most of the same cast are still at Easter Road – Martin Boyle, Rocky Bushiri, and Nicky Cadden are just a few of many – and David Gray is still at the helm, but they are now without Nectarios Triantis. Triantis combined physicality with poise and was able to boss games from midfield. Perhaps the inability to control games as they did with Triantis has been the key difference in Hibs’ incapacity to turn draws into wins this year.
Perhaps if Hearts had not had the extraordinary start to the season that they have, then Hibs would be very happy indeed with their start to the season. They would see themselves in a relatively high spot in the table, and for most in Scotland, outside of the Old Firm, that would be enough. But Hearts have reminded us that the Old Firm clubs have become complacent – Hibs will be devastated they were not the club to reveal it. They are not far off getting it right, but they need to get it right consistently when they do find answers.
Image Credits: “Easter road from arthur’s seat” by Geni is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.