Wealth of options make Hibs a striking prospect

Published on Monday 1 October 2007 12:17

ON the face of it, the weekend was a good one for both Edinburgh clubs. Hearts were under a fair bit of pressure to perform given their unconvincing display in midweek against Dunfermline and even more so due to the previous weekend's defeat up in Inverness.

Hibs had just suffered their first defeat of the season against a buoyant Motherwell side and, in doing so, they also relinquished their hold on the CIS Cup.

Whenever a team loses after a long run of unbeaten matches it's a test as to how that group of players will react. The best teams are always determined to put on a positive display and show it was just a bad day at the office.

Hibs' 4-1 victory over Kilmarnock was certainly a statement as it proved they have the ability to bounce back from the disappointment of a poor result.

Having said that, John Collins couldn't have hand-picked a better opponent than a depleted Killie side who were without the majority of their most creative players.

David Fernandez, Gary Wales, Danny Invincible, Rhian Dodds and Paul Di Giacomo were all unavailable through injury and the irony is that every one of them is a forward-thinking player - leaving Jim Jefferies with very few attacking options to choose from. Nevertheless, you can only beat what is put in front of you and Hibs did that in style.

On this occasion, it was Clayton Donaldson who provided the cutting edge and, with five goals in his last three games, he's shown the Easter Road faithful he has something to offer. There's a saying in football that pace covers a multitude of sins and, while it's true Donaldson may still lack some of the finer points in the game, his blistering speed is there for all to see and above all else, it's the one asset even the best defenders hate coming up against.

When you analyse the current squad at Hibs the thing that stands out is how many different permutations they have in attack.

On Saturday, they went with a front two of Fletcher and Donaldson. Both have already got five goals this season and you get the feeling there's plenty more to come from both of them, but they're going to have to be patient because it appears the forwards will be rotated on a regular basis.

Another striker to catch the eye in recent weeks has been Mickael Antoine-Curier. He was only signed on transfer deadline day at the end of August, but he's played in the last four games, scoring against both Kilmarnock and Motherwell.

His height and overall physique gives him a physical presence that none of the others possess and it's easy to see why the Hibs coaching staff wanted to bring him to the club.

His performance against Celtic showed he can play both as a strike partner or up front on his own and though John Collins preaches the passing game more often than not, at least with Antoine-Curier in the squad he has the option for Hibs to be more direct. I must admit when I saw his CV I wondered why he's moved from club to club so often without settling down. Ten different teams in the space of three or four years hardly fills anyone with confidence, but on what we've seen so far it looks like Hibs might suit him and he might suit Hibs.

I still believe the player with the most natural talent at Easter Road is Benji. With the ball at his feet, he's well-balanced and nimble, yet deceptively strong.

He does, at times, have a tendency to over-elaborate in the final-third, but when he's at his best there are few strikers in the SPL who can measure up to his talent. Of course, at the moment Benji seems to have been put in cold-storage until Ramadan has passed. This situation is far from ideal for John Collins, but from a positive aspect when he does get back to being 100 per cent, it will seem like Hibs have made a new signing.

Vlad's meddling still proving to be Hearts' worst enemy

CRAIG GORDON'S revelations in one of yesterday's tabloid newspapers may have been eye-catching to some, but, for most of us, they only served to confirm that the man in control at Hearts is a different breed from what we've been used to in Scottish football.

There have been many times over the past couple of years when the media circus surrounding events at Tynecastle has overshadowed Hearts' results and performances on the pitch.

I still believe football fans up and down the country are unbelievably forgiving when it comes to matters of a peripheral nature concerning the team they support, but what they won't tolerate is someone messing about with the club which has a direct effect on how the players perform from week to week.

Fans pay their money and what they want more than anything else is to see a winning team and to be entertained.

Hearts are not too far away from being a decent side when their strongest team is picked but the previous weekend's defeat at Inverness was a timely reminder that Vlad's influence on team matters still continues to stifle the club's performances.