Hibs hero raises eyebrows over Easter Road 'chaos' wildcard as two games key to Marink Reedijk era kickstart
The Hibs hero was watching on from the stands as Celtic got the better of Marink Reedijk’s team.
Scott Allan says two results can spark momentum to kickstart Marink Reedijk’s Hibs tenure - but disagreed with his Grant Hanley curveball.
The Dutchman who took over from David Gray as manager last month lost his third straight match versus Celtic on Sunday. He threw veteran defender Hanley up front in the Easter Road game’s dying embers in search of some salvaged points, but none were retrieved, ahead of Wednesday’s Premiership trip to St Mirren. Former Hibees playmaker Allan was on Sportsound punditry duties during the game and reckons a good result over St Mirren, followed by success over Hearts in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final this weekend, can spark a match under Reedijk’s tenure.
He hopes to have watched Hanley as striker for the last time though. Allan said: “I think obviously he's just in the door, they haven't won a game yet. I thought at times there was signs that, well, I think first of all, there was an appetite there to go and try and win the game. I thought there was a real lack of quality within the Hibs side throughout.
Scott Allan on Hibs
“I've refused to kind of take a positive from Grant Hanley coming on up front for the last 10 minutes and being a target man. I think Hibs have got to be better than that as your option to go and try and get back into a game. I understand certain times call for a bit of chaos as he spoke about. That is just not for me if I'm being honest. I think they've got to be better than that.
“I know the signings have come in to the club. I imagine if you're sitting on the bench and you see that, I think that's the sort of impact that we're hoping for them from Ante Suto, which they didn't get. I don't know. Do they look any better than they were under David Gray? For me, no, they don't just now. I know it's still very early days. Do they look like they're trying to change the style of play? I've heard a lot of talk about the change of style.
“I didn't really think it was really evident, if I'm being totally honest, I think they try to be aggressive sometimes with the press,. Sometimes it paid off. But over the course of the 90 minutes, not really as a collective unit could I say that I could really see that. I just think moving forward, Hibs have to start winning games of football. Difficult place to go on Wednesday, that's it.
“But I think it's a big game for Hibs already and it's a big game for Marink Reedijk already. If you look at hearts at Hampden on Sunday, on top of that, there's two ways to look at it. They could go on and maybe don't get the results, or they can go to St Mirren, get a bit of momentum going to that game, and then it's a completely different outlook. That is the beautiful thing about football. You can change in a very short space of time. I thought they were okay."