Brutal days ahead for Hibs fans as Hearts expose lack of accuracy - talking points from Edinburgh derby chaos
‘Unforgivable’ lapses of judgement cost David Gray’s men dear - and it can’t keep happening
These are brutal days for Hibs supporters. Dark and worrying times, with the prospect of a Hearts title triumph looking more likely – if not quite inevitable –with every passing week.
And trying to judge any one-off result, any performance, any effort, any hare-brained mistake or moment of madness, without understanding that context is … well, it would be like assessing a poem through the medium of mathematics. You can’t remove yesterday’s Easter Road encounter, with all its individual tales of villainy and heroism, from the wider perspective.
Accepting that everything is multiplied by a factor of several thousand by circumstance, then, what did we learn from an utterly barmy – aye, even by Edinburgh derby standards – clash that ended in Hibs being laid low with yet another late hammer blow? Not a great deal, to be honest. But enough to fill this long week with a few talking points.
To err is human, to forgive … pretty difficult
You can just about understand Raphael Sallinger losing his bearings and grabbing at the ball a yard outside of his penalty box. But it’s a stretch to excuse such a basic, fundamental error so early in the game.
Did his brain freeze amid the frenzy of the derby? He’s not a flappy sort of a goalie, in normal circumstances. Baffling. Utterly baffling.
As for Felix Passlack, well, it would be hard to argue that he was in complete control of his emotions yesterday. There was no need for him to get involved in that spat with Stephen Kingsley, even less requirement for him to go lunging into a challenge in the opposition half.
Sallinger and Passlack are 30 and 27, respectively. They’ve both got experience in the high tempo and heightened passions of the Bundesliga. They should be the last players you expect to get bounced into such costly errors of judgement.
And make no mistake, they cost their team any chance of three points yesterday. It’s going to be tough for them to reclaim the confidence of their team-mates, never mind supporters left so distraught by yet another painful derby loss.
Search for the heroes
Rocky Bushiri, Warren O’Hora, Jordan Obita and – when he came on – Kanayo Megwa must have won about a thousands headers and tackles between them. They emerge from a 2-1 loss with their reputations enhanced, rather than diminished.
The same could be said for the vast majority of Hibs players not named Rafa or Felix. And Miguel Chaiwa deserves a special mention for somehow finding the energy to keep on running, despite looking as if he was on the brink of total collapse more than once.
David Gray did the brave thing when his team went down to 10 men, keeping two up top and asking his midfield three to play like a four. Chaiwa, Dan Barlaser and Jamie McGrath covered an enormous total mileage in fulfilling that duty.
Reduced to nine men, and forced into a 4-3-1 formation, Hibs genuinely looked as if they were going to get away with at least a draw. Something to hold onto, once all the massages, ice baths and other recovery techniques have returned a semblance of fuel to the empty tanks being hauled around Easter Road for a good hour yesterday.
Is there a wider discipline problem?
More like an accuracy problem. Grant Hanley gets sent off at Aberdeen for being caught in a horrible position under a high ball and being bounced by the striker. That’s not some wild swipe in a fit of temper, it’s just sloppy defending.
Sallinger, as discussed, makes a daft decision. Perhaps only Passlack’s red card could be described as a hot-headed moment.
Overall, they’re sixth in the Scottish Premiership standings when it comes to red cards. And eighth when it comes to overall yellow cards.
But these recent slip-ups feel very in keeping with a season when Hibs have struggled to be as effective, and as competent, as they were over the remarkable closing stretch of the last campaign. They’re not where they are in the table, a long way short of the leaders, by accident.
Some games defy analysis
You can’t break down yesterday’s game into numbers. Except as a way of point out how ludicrous the contest became once Hearts were handed a two-player advantage.
The visitors had a staggering 57 touches in the Hibs box, rattling in 23 shots – only six of them on target – and enjoying just the 76 per cent possession. Hibs made nine blocks and 45 clearances in a game that was anything but a fair fight, once the playing field had been tilted so steeply against them by the red cards.