Analysis: The one player Hibs need to sign to solve their early-season struggles

There were just 28 minutes on the clock during Sunday’s loss to St Mirren when Hibs boss Lee Johnson decided to make an unenforced double substitution.

The home side had been so thoroughly abject that Johnson wanted to do three things: he wanted to withdraw two underperformers in Josh Campbell and Allan Delferriere, to change the shape of the team, and improve Hibs in the centre of the park.

He accomplished goals one and two, moving to a 3-5-2, but he didn’t manage the latter – not significantly anyway. St Mirren had been dominating their hosts in the engine room. Mark O’Hara was charging through at will, Keanu Baccus was scooping up second balls with little resistance, and Greg Kiltie and Conor McMenamin were dropping back from the frontline to help overload the area. Dylan Levitt coming on for Campbell as a straight-up swap didn’t solve that issue.

Levitt will likely go on to be a very good player for the Easter Road club. He certainly has the ability to do so. He’s got quick feet, good technique, a creative streak and composure on the ball. But he’s the type of player Hibs have routinely fallen in love with over the years and often seem to bloat their squad with; players who are nice, when what they really need is a right b*****d.

Marvin Bartley was an effective enforcer for Hibs across a four-year spell with the Easter Road club. Picture: SNS

Look at the Hibs teams since their return to the top flight in 2017. With the exception of the Dylan McGeouch/John McGinn/Scott Allan triumvirate – because that trio was too talented not to work – they’ve performed better when they’ve had proper defensive midfielders. Yet there has always been an air of mistrust toward these specialists at Easter Road.

Marvin Bartley was a big fan favourite, but he wasn’t always a regular starter. Over a quarter of his overall appearances came from the bench and he never hit 30 league games in a single campaign. Mark Milligan wasn’t much to write home about, but he was serviceable and did a job protecting the back four before Paul Heckingbottom decided he’d rather construct a squad without any defensive midfielder. This error was rectified with Alex Gogic coming in and being an important member of the 2020/21 team which finished third and reached the Scottish Cup final, yet he was pushed to the side the following campaign before being allowed to join Sunday’s opponents.

Last season was another campaign when Hibs entered it without a proper ball-winning No.6. After a poor July-January they brought in Jimmy Jeggo. The Aussie doesn’t have too many ardent supporters within the fanbase, who get frustrated with his work on the ball, but he is an energetic protector of the defence and Hibs do seem to function better when he’s in the side.

If Jeggo isn’t viewed as the answer – and the fact he’s started from the bench in each of the first three games would suggest so – then Johnson needs to get together with director of football Brian McDermott and identify a defensive midfielder of quality. These type of players, when they hit just right, provide the foundation for both defensive solidity and the platform for the forward players to do their magic. Hibs need to go out and get one.