Hibs 0-1 Celtic: Hibs fail to cross the fine line of luck

Hughes' men may have been culpable of letting season stutter but narrow defeat to Celtic proves that nothing goes for you when you're down

AS Hibs are discovering at the moment, there's no saying in football more accurate than the old adage that when you are struggling nothing seems to go your way.

While fourth place in the SPL table hardly constitutes "down there," a run which has seen the Easter Road outfit pick up just nine points out of a possible 30 has certainly left John Hughes' side feeling as if everything is conspiring against them.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

'What ifs' there are aplenty as Hughes and his players seek to explain the nosedive their season has taken, a side which conceded a miserly ten goals in the opening 15 matches suddenly, and seemingly inexplicably, becoming so porous it's shipped a further 29 in the last 16 league games.

Of course, all that has happened can't simply be put down to bad luck or poor decisions by referees, Hughes' players must accept they are culpable for having seen a season which promised so much turning into one in which they appear destined to be hanging on for fourth place rather than romping away in third as they once threatened to do.

There have, though, been occasions on which that fine line between victory, defeat or even a draw has been sorely highlighted. What, for instance, might have happened had Liam Miller not been sent off at Fir Park, a decision later rescinded but one which left Hibs playing with ten men for the best part of an hour in a game they eventually lost in the dying minutes? What if Colin Nish's effort against Dundee United, with the game finely poised at 2-1, had gone in rather than hit the post?

Issues which are now, of course, merely subjects for debate as today will referee Charlie Richmond's decision to award Celtic the penalty which led to this game's only goal be a topic for furious discussion, Hughes and his players alike left believing they'd been harshly dealt with.

It looked as if Richmond couldn't point to the spot quickly enough as Hibs striker Anthony Stokes, in an effort to clear the ball inside his own penalty area, lifted his boot high as Celtic's Aiden McGeady challenged. Up stepped the pair's Republic or Ireland countryman Robbie Keane to make it 12 in as many matches for the Hoops, leaving the Glasgow side euphoric and Hughes' players distraught.

"It was a strange one," opined Hibs star Colin Nish while his manager Hughes went far further.

Having initially brushed aside a request for his view on the incident, the one-time Celtic defender said: "I didn't think it was a penalty, I thought it was an indirect free-kick, but when was the last time you saw one of them given inside the penalty box.

"Stokes took a touch, went to hook it, his eyes never left the ball and the boy (McGeady] put his body in. It was a dubious decision but it's done and dusted, we have to put it behind us."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Hibs' mood wouldn't have been helped a little later in the match when Celtic skipper Darren O'Dea executed a similar clearance with Stokes in just as close proximity as McGeady had been. But on this occasion Richmond turned his back, as he did when Ian Murray charged into the opposition penalty area and clearly had his arm pulled.

"It's history, three points to Celtic, what can you do?" observed Hughes, who was to see Derek Riordan strike the top of Lukasz Zaluska's crossbar with the Polish goalkeeper beaten, another indication, as if Hibs need it at present, that when your luck is out it's out.

Keane's penalty leaves Hibs with only two wins in 12 matches but, having endured this stunning transformation in his side's fortunes, Hughes could, at least, console himself with the fact he'd seen a spirited performance from his players, one which could have brought some form of reward particularly in the opening half when Zaluska did well to deny Murray and then Stokes.

If both teams were guilty of surrendering possession too readily on a bumpy pitch, it was the Celtic goalkeeper who was by far the busier although Keane's claims for a penalty when Murray appeared to use an arm to guide the ball to safety looked justified before Stokes managed to get the ball into the net only to find the offside flag raised.

Hughes said: "I thought it was a game between two teams trying to play football in the right way. I feel for my players, they put everything in but did not get anything out of it. That's football.

"There will be another day when we do not play as well as we did – although I have seen us quicker and slicker – and we will win.

"Everything we asked of the boys they came up with. If I am to be critical then maybe in the final third we could have been better. Riordan almost came up with something magical but it was disappointing not to score – we are usually good for a goal.

"We have to make sure the boys understand what is required at this club and I think that was evident yesterday.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"If the boys keep giving me what they did today then we'll get back to winning ways. We've been disappointed these last six weeks but the boys have given me everything."

Nevertheless, Hibs remain five points behind Dundee United – who play their game in hand against St Johnstone tonight – and, it would seem, their already faint hopes of overhauling the Tannadice outfit have dimmed somewhat more although, Nish insisted, he and his team-mates won't simply accept third place is now beyond them despite the fact only six games remain.

He said: "We didn't have lots of chances, we could have done with creating a bit more as our final pass or effort on goal was not the best.

"But going back to last midweek (against United] it was a big improvement and we can all take a bit of confidence from the fact we did quite well. We still have a chance, you never know what is going to happen. One week can change things around and we'll still have United to play after the split.

"If you look at it, we've had two decent performances out of three. I believe you are only as good as your last game so while perhaps before this match confidence was a bit low it will have risen because we played quite well and I'm sure we will be confident going into the weekend."