Michael Weir: Hibs’ lack of investment taking toll

AFTER such an injustice the club went through against Hearts last weekend, it was always going to be interesting to see how the players would react in last night’s fixture at Fir Park.

Therefore, it would be fair to suggest the heavy defeat to Motherwell was a huge disappointment for the club in our quest to secure a top-six place. After taking the lead through Tom Taiwo’s first goal for Hibs, the second half proved to be a disaster with the loss of four goals and with that, a precious three points.

From the very first whistle we looked a side short on confidence and nervy in possession where we could consider ourselves extremely fortunate to be going in at the interval ahead.

We were second best in every department and can have no complaints regarding the final outcome. Our latest defeat does not make happy reading for the club with just one league win since the turn of the year and is not the form that warrants a top-six finish.

A lack of investment at the beginning of the season is now beginning to take its toll and for a club the size of Hibernian. This cannot continue. I don’t believe the quality has been enhanced to a level the Hibs supporters expect to see out on the pitch and without the necessary financial support, particularly with regards to the manager’s playing budget, we will struggle to move forward as a club.

Continuously depending on Leigh Griffiths to step forward with the goals is a major problem within the side and although a number of new players have been brought in to the club, I don’t believe they possess the firepower to score on a regular basis.

The performances will need to improve within the coming weeks ahead of our semi-final tie with Falkirk, but for the time being we must hope we can take maximum points from our remaining two fixtures before the split and hope other teams do us a favour in the process.

To say I am a little envious of our local rivals who are looking forward to the League Cup final would be an understatement. Tomorrow’s big day out reinforces just how important it is to be involved in such an occasion, but we ourselves have a big trip to Hampden next month all to look forward to.