Something has to change at crisis-hit Hibs - John Greechan's talking points as manager comes under fire
Football clubs don’t usually look beyond binning gaffer as quick fix to any problem
Something’s gotta give. The centre cannot hold. Throw in a few other familiar phrases usually reserved for the more serious type of crisis, if you have any to hand; they’ll probably feel pretty fitting in the end-of-days atmosphere prevailing at Easter Road this morning.
After two-and-a-bit seasons at the helm, David Gray understands that his tenure as Hibs boss is going to come under intense scrutiny. It is the lot of any football manager, save the rare lucky and brilliant few, to be judged as much by their mis-steps as their great leaps forward.
Facing the sporting equivalent of that difficult third album syndrome, however, the band of brothers he’s pulled together aren’t even managing to turn in a collection of deep cuts and B-sides. Their current output is, to be frank, peppered with far too many studio out-takes and live bloopers.
Whether or not Gray, a club legend and proven winner as player and coach, survives the current storm of speculation and criticism is open to question. What isn’t in doubt is that, at present, his team are too often turning in the sort of performance likely to have fans questioning their commitment to the cause.
Where do Hibs find themselves, then, after a sixth consecutive home defeat in the league? Roughly where they were just under a week ago …
A low-IQ performance
There was so little thought, such a lack of composure, in how Hibs played against Kilmarnock. As if nobody in the home side had the wit to figure out the problems presented by the team sitting bottom of the Scottish Premiership.
Confidence was high, too, for all of four or five minutes at the start of the game. Ante Suto was cocky enough to play a back-heel pass, Felix Passlack was bodying opponents off the ball … it all looked good.
But all the goodwill in the world directed at Thibault Klidje, someone Hibs fans desperately want to see succeed, couldn’t make the club record signing more of a threat in the penalty box. Suto dropping deep to link play wasn’t enough to truly disrupt the Killie defence.
Worse was the fact that, repeatedly, the visitors launched a left-to-right cross-field pass that continually caused problems for both Adam Mayor and Jack Iredale. Defensively, Hibs were brutal.
Gray refused to shy away from that fact, saying: “I'm not going to sit here and make excuses or really go into the heavy tactical side to the game, because I'm not sure anybody wants to hear that at this moment in time. Certainly not Hibernian supporters.
“I thought just defensively were were really poor across the board. I thought a lot of decision making, but that's always aimed at defenders, because they're always on that last line of defence.
“It starts right from the very front. It starts with closing down properly, it starts with making sure you do your job right from the top.”
Bad luck keeps rolling in
When Kanayo Megwa doubled up in agony after passing the ball to Jason Kerr with five-and-a-half minutes on the clock, Gray must have wondered if he’d accidentally smashed a couple of dozen mirrors while treading on a litter of black kittens. Another defender down. Great.
With Jordan Obita, Rocky Bushiri and new signing Marko Ivezic all missing already, he had no choice but to rush Grant Hanley’s return from the bench. It did not work out well, with the Scotland – or ex-Scotland? – man looking well off the pace. Not that he was alone on that front.
Jason Kerr is at his best in the middle of a back three. Move him to the right, asking him to use the ball, and he looks out of place.
Megwa limped up to his seat in the main stand rather slowly after getting initial treatment on a thigh injury, showering and changing to watch the remainder of the game. The fact that he will be so sorely missed says plenty about the defensive crisis engulfing Hibs.
Who is going to dig Hibs out of this?
Martin Boyle didn’t look like he was capable of dragging Hibs back into the contest when he came on. Maybe the regular skipper – along with club captain Joe Newell – will have better luck in the off-field leadership needed to turn this campaign around.
The performances of most players involved last night underlined the selection issues facing Gray. His starting forwards struggled. The guys he brought on, with the exception of even a half-fit Owen Elding, did not look any better.
Jacob Devaney and Callum Wright were awful in midfield, each in their own very different way. We’ve already covered the defence. And the goalkeeper is … well, inconsistent, to say the least.
Could you pick a starting XI for this weekend with confidence that they’ll get the job done? Go on, try.
Aberdeen at home a killer clash
This international break was always going to be fraught with danger for managers who have been around long enough to lose their first blush of novelty. Heading into his third season, Gray would have known that he needed to reach this stage of the campaign with some credit in the bank.
The fact that Aberdeen will head to Easter Road off the back of a barnstorming win doesn’t help. But it’s a must-win game, if ever there was. They’re piling up for Hibs, aren’t they?