Same old sorry story for Hibs as resurgent St Mirren expose serious flaws at Easter Road

THINGS are not good at Easter Road. Massage statistics any way you want but out on the pitch the evidence is clear. This was a team lacking invention, minus enough players with broad enough shoulders to assume responsibility and without a much-needed Plan B.

Booed off the pitch at half-time having seen a 1-0 lead overhauled, their inability to find their way back into the match against St Mirren in the second half saw the chorus repeated at full-time.

Oh how they need a couple of soothing results this week. First up it’s Berwick Rangers in Leith on Tuesday in the Scottish Communities League Cup, then the ominous trip across the city for the first derby of the season. While victory against Third Division Berwick Rangers should still be possible, nerves will be jangling as they head across to Gorgie if young David Stephens is an example of the players’ general mood.

“It might just take one result to get us back on track,” he said. “But do I feel we owe [the fans] a derby win? Yes, of course, but I can’t remember the last time we beat Hearts. Since I’ve been here we have not won a derby. That’s something we want to put right. We want to win one.” But wanting and believing, desiring and achieving are completely different things.

On the sidelines manager Colin Calderwood seems to have no ready answers. Since he took over ten months ago there have been few chinks of light and he has promised to turn things around, but while players and coaching staff have come and gone, nothing much has changed.

On Saturday they played host to St Mirren, the only side other than relegated Hamilton to finish below them last season, but while the difference in the Paisley side was striking, the improvements in style and personnel obvious, there was a familiarity to the Hibs display, which ranged from insipid to calamitous.

They did have spells in the game and even took the lead, but having conceded it just before half-time it was the lack of response which left their gaffer agitated and the fans infuriated.

“It’s difficult when the fans get on your back, but they pay to watch,” said Stephens, one of four 20-year-olds strung across the Hibs backline. “They want their team to win and I understand that. But we need the fans with us and it’s a massive bonus to us when they are on our side.

“Yes it’s a steep learning curve but it’s a man’s game. We need big men out there on the park – we need nine, ten, eleven big men out there fighting for the jersey week in, week out.”

They also need to find greater penetration with their passing, a partner for Garry O’Connor, better deliveries from wide, greater steel in the face of adversity and they need to cut out silly individual errors.

It could be argued that the biggest blunder was not cashing in on Calderwood when the club had the chance in the summer. The money offered was a damn sight more attractive than the compensation they will have to pay out to offload him if the upturn in fortunes he has been working towards doesn’t happen soon.

His opposite number on Saturday proved that it can be done. Operating shrewdly on the transfer market in the summer, as well as tirelessly on the training ground, Danny Lennon fielded a side playing the type of football Hibs fans would like. They also showed character and the ability to win.

Hibs had opened the scoring in the 25th minute. Neither side had been peppering the goalmouths but then Ivan Sproule robbed St Mirren of possession wide on the right and stole a few yards. Having jiggled past a couple of defenders as he cut inside, he slid the ball through to O’Connor on the edge of the box and the striker’s first touch took him into space behind the defence before he struck a shot low to Craig Samson’s right.

For the next 15 minutes the tension seemed to have eased in the ranks and Hibs looked quite comfortable, but the impressive Jeroen Tesselaar showed good anticipation to steal the ball from Callum Booth before unselfishly setting up striker Steven Thompson for an easy finish. That was in the 42nd minute, yet the home side couldn’t even hold on until half-time.

Three minutes later the Dutch full-back muscled out Hibs makeshift full-back Victor Palsson and this time he played the pass in to midfielder Steven Thomson whose finish was clinical.

It was also enough to win the visitors the three points as Hibs failed to stage a comeback in the second half, struggling to even get Saints keeper Craig Samson involved in the encounter.

“It is great considering we weren’t at our best,” said St Mirren midfielder Paul McGowan. “We were slow and not passing it as well as we could. But if we can get points doing that then we will take it. Last season, if we were 1-0 down, we would have had a heavier defeat. But all credit to the boys after going a goal down, we played the way we know we now can.”

They now go into their derby, against Morton in the cup, full of belief. Hibs, on the other hand, will shuffle into this week with a sense of trepidation.