Grant Stott: Things can only get better for Hibs .. at least I hope so

Published on Wednesday 25 August 2010 10:42

So, three games into season 2010/2011 and, let's be honest here, it's not been great has it?

Given the circumstances which led to us losing the game and the performance of the first hour, I reluctantly accepted last week's defeat against Rangers. But having sat through 90 awful minutes yesterday, I'm struggling to come up with anything particularly positive to say about Hibs' performance this week.

So much was written about Anthony Stokes going into this game it seemed everybody was watching him - but nobody more so than the St Mirren defence. They were all over him and never gave him a sniff, pretty much rendering him ineffective throughout.

The closest we really came to scoring was through a couple of trademark free kicks from Derek Riordan which weren't far away - the first one deceiving the Hibs fans in Paisley and all those watching on the TV.

I gave a classic kiss of death to this game at the start, when I saw Craig Dargo's name on the starting line up for St Mirren. I commented on how he was a player who hasn't really become the player many thought he would and hardly ever gets a goal these days. (Note to self: Keep the gub shut in future!)

And talking of their goal, I'm guessing Steven Thicot won't be too keen to watch his role in it, he looked like he was just chumming Dargo to the goal instead of trying to prevent us going down 1-0.

And what a difference that goal made to St Mirren, it gave them such a boost and we just flattened out. St Mirren were fired up and went on to grab the game by the scruff of the neck. I really wanted to sense the same "fire in the bellies" from my players but it just wasn't there. And to be honest, that's a characteristic which has been lacking in this Hibs side for some time now.

I don't think I was alone at being puzzled when Riordan was taken off. We were already getting beaten and from where I was sitting there were players who remained on the park who hadn't contributed as much as he had - and I know who I would have said was the more likely to score.

The starting formation was changed for last week's game against Rangers and it was only when changes were forced upon us that things fell apart, so I don't know why we didn't do the same against St Mirren with just the two up front.

Yogi continues to frustrate the fans with some of his decisions (and the performances that go with them) and although he has often said that getting the right product on the park will take time, we all know that football isn't the most generous when it comes to being given much of that.

Things really have been dire since the turn of the year and I think the fans really want, at the very least, to see signs that things are improving - as yet that hasn't happened.

It would only be the most gallus of Hibs fan that would confidently proclaim we will do this that or the next thing at the start of any season, but looking back on the three performances so far, it looks like we're in for another tough campaign. And the next 24 hours will determine which personnel will be there to shape it. As I mentioned, there is an awful lot of speculation regarding Stokes and if he isn't a Celtic player already, we might only be able to hold on to him if Mr Petrie and the board continue to dismiss Celtic's pretty poor offers. I'm also hoping that the stalling tactics which are taking place are there to find some suitable replacement to come in - should Stokes go.

Bamba is another who is being tipped to move on, but we've been here before and it didn't come to anything so I'm hoping that is the case again this time.

So, we all have a breather this weekend as the spotlight falls on the national set-up, and here's hoping when we all return to action for the home visit of Inverness Caley on Saturday week, things begin to improve.

Title will sell by Lawrie load

Had a chat with the great man, Lawrie Reilly, last week and he was telling me how excited he is about his latest project; his autobiography. Following on from the successful collaboration with Pat Stanton for Pat Stanton's Hibernian Dream Team, Ted Brack has helped put Lawrie's life story to words and with so many fascinating stories to tell, this will be another must read for any Hibs fan of any age. The Life and Times of Last Minute Reilly is due out in October. I can't wait.