Hibs branded future title contenders as 'classic Glasgow vs Edinburgh' battle could prove box office
The pundit with Hibs at heart has a hope for the Easter Road side.
They’re replacing a key man by committee - and Pat Nevin reckons Hibs have the makings of title challengers next season.
Winter signings Felix Passlack and Kai Andrews struck at Celtic on Sunday to grant the Easter Road side a first win in Glasgow’s east-end for 16 years. Ante Suto, Munashe Garananga, Owen Elding, and Dane Scarlett have all shown promise too after their arrivals, that came amid a big money move for talisman Kieron Bowie to Serie A club Hellas Verona.
Surprised either side of Rangers or Celtic didn’t move for him, boyhood Hibs fan Nevin reckons head coach David Gray and co have done well to replace him by bolstering their ranks as a whole. The former Scotland Chelsea winger has watched city rivals Hearts catapult themselves into the title race this term and he sees no reason why an Edinburgh vs Glasgow battle for supremacy can’t play out in term 2026/27.
How have Hibs coped with selling Kieron Bowie?
Nevin told BestBettingSites: “It’s really hard for them to do it even though we always knew he was going to go. I thought Celtic or Rangers would come in for him. I thought that was an obvious one. That always used to be the case for decades. Celtic and Rangers just watched Hibs and picked up their centre-forwards. If you look through the records and see how many there are, it’s incredible.
“They went to both Celtic and Rangers over the years, so I thought he was a stick-on there. Maybe the numbers were too big for Celtic and Rangers in this situation. It may have been that they didn’t rate him. But I think he could have done really well there.
“However, he’s gone away and it’s not one player who is going to fix it. It’s going to be a number of players working together. If you go away and beat Celtic 2-1 as a Hibee, you’re thinking, I quite like where we are just now.
Can Hibs become title contenders?
“For Hibernian fans, I think they’re very accepting of it now. You lose big-name players, you make the money and that gives you a chance to stay solvent and also build a bigger, wider squad. The one thing I would say about Hibs this season is they’ve done quite well to get where they are, but they’re a better team than their position suggests. I’ve got a feeling — and it might be bias, I’ll admit it — it should be a four-way title fight next year.
“Hibs, with the quality they’ve got, should be up there now nudging behind Celtic and Rangers as well. So there is hope in my heart that next season it’s not a three-way title chase, it’s actually a four-way one. That would be a classic Glasgow v Edinburgh thing.
“But look, I’m getting carried away. I think they’ve done well. They’ve brought good players in. Dane Scarlett looks okay, without a doubt. But it takes more than one player to cover for Bowie. The fact that newbies Kai Andrews and Felix Passlack both scored at Parkhead, can’t be a bad thing.”