Hibs 0-2 Rangers: Easter Road diseas is contagious

Colin CALDERWOOD may insist there is no disease within Easter Road of which he need worry about, but whatever it may be, it is certainly contagious.

Just 34 minutes into his debut, Calderwood's latest January signing Richie Towell had caught the bug which has plagued Hibs, the sort of costly error which has left the fans sickened and for which there seems to be no cure.

You could be sure the 19-year-old, signed on loan from Celtic just 24 hours previously, felt an icy shiver run down his spine as he instantly realised he'd under-hit a pass back to goalkeeper Graeme Smith, gifting Rangers striker Nikica Jelavic the easiest of goals.

And the young defender's blood probably ran cold at the thought of a call from Hoops boss Neil Lennon to berate him for helping the other half of the Old Firm to a comfortable three points as the Glasgow pair again seek to make the SPL title race one which concerns them only.

It was a cruel moment for the Republic of Ireland Under-21 star, making his first start in top-flight football, but a lesson which will stand him in good stead not only for the remainder of this season but throughout the career which lies ahead of him.

Towell's blunder may have clinched the game for Rangers but by that time Walter Smith's men were already ahead, again courtesy of a failing which, only with individual mistakes, has become all too common, namely Hibs' apparent inability to defend set-pieces.

Motherwell's opener in the weekend defeat came via the same route, a free-kick thrown into the penalty area only for the Hibs defence to be caught like rabbits in the headlights, everyone caught on their heels as Madjid Bougherra found himself in acres of space to collect Paul Hanlon's header before burying an angled shot home via the post.

That was the end product, but for Calderwood the source could be traced back to an even more basic mistake, losing possession from a throw-in which led to Kevin McBride tripping Vladimir Weiss, so conceding the free-kick which proved fatal.

While Towell will never forget his own indiscretion, the youngster may well reflect that, at the end of the day, it was probably only incidental, Hibs' inability to find a goal of their own meaning Bougherra's strike would, most likely, have been enough to separate the sides in any case.

You have to go back to last year for Hibs' last goal, Hanlon's last-minute equaliser against Dundee United on December 29. Since then, six entire matches, 540 long, long minutes have passed with Calderwood's side hardly even looking like finding the back of their opponents' net.

Other than a Merouane Zemmama effort from range which Allan McGregor pushed round the post, Hibs once again struggled to create any meaningful openings, the lack of anyone either willing or able to go beyond the striker(s), giving opposition defences a less than stern examination with most of the play taking place in front of them.

Calderwood, of course, has started addressing the deficiencies he believes exist within his squad, having signed Towell, Martin Scott and Matt Thornhill, the Celtic kid the only one to have made it onto the pitch so far with the former Ross County midfielder suspended last night while the arrival from Nottingham Forest is nursing a bruised foot.

More new faces are likely to follow in the next few days, Calderwood admitting he's hoping they'll give his side the lift they so badly need, their record as miserable as it gets no matter which way you look at it, whether it be two wins in 16 matches, or nine SPL games without a victory.

The upshot is that Hibs now lie second bottom, two points adrift of St Mirren and just three ahead of basement outfit Hamilton, who now have a couple of games in hand.

Calderwood admitted: "The ones that are coming in have a freshness, they are not aware of a long run without scoring a goal or a long run without wining to that, I think, might help. We have to have a platform to free them up and let them go and play.

"The situation we are in cannot be a reason for them to be inhibited."

A win would, of course, go a long way to easing the nerves of players and supporters alike and help provide that platform but, as Calderwood conceded, Hibs need to find a way to keep themselves in games much longer if they are to make that breakthrough.

Against Celtic, Motherwell and now Rangers, they've looked reasonably comfortable until the first goal has gone in. On each occasion a second has quickly followed, leaving Hibs looking beaten at that point given their own paucity of goals.

Only against Hearts have Hibs managed to do so, battling all the way to the 88th minute before the seemingly inevitable happened and Kevin Kyle scored.

Calderwood said: "When you think you are getting a foothold in the game, are keeping it to 0-0 you concede the first and then the second before half-time and that makes it very difficult against the quality and experience a team like Rangers possesses."

However, Calderwood insisted his players should be looking to their forthcoming matches, starting away to Dundee United on Sunday, as an opportunity to start making up for all that lost ground.

Agreeing that Hibs fans had every right to have expected at least a few points in recent weeks, he said: "We've had a tough schedule in that three of our last four matches have been against Hearts, Celtic and Rangers, the top three teams in the League, teams that are playing quite confidently against teams at the bottom."

The trip to Tannadice is followed by two matches against St Mirren with a visit from Kilmarnock sandwiched between the clashes with the Buddies, Inverness Caley and Hamilton, a sequence of games which, Calderwood conceded, will be crucial to the Edinburgh club's bid to haul themselves away from the danger area.

He said: "We have to collect points from teams that are probably closer to us than Celtic, Rangers and Hearts. We cannot change what has happened but what we can do is shape the future, get points out of the games but that's what you want from every game.

"We mustn't have any fear, there's a bit of joy out there, we can't see it at the moment, but we can find it."