Hibs icon chasing best-ever goal haul in swansong season - keys to Boyle's rediscovered scoring touch

Right place, right time. It’s kind of a requirement for goal scorers, right? Martin Boyle is certainly putting himself in the perfect position at just the right moment with an impressive degree of regularity at the moment – and Hibs are reaping the benefits.

If, as it looks likely, this is to be Boyle’s swansong season at Easter Road, he has already ensured that he’s signing off on a high. With 15 goals in all competitions this year, the veteran forward – he turns 32 in a few weeks – has matched his best-ever return for a campaign.

Odds on to surpass his total for season 2020-21, with seven games of the current footballing year remaining, the Socceroos attacker is also just six goals short of a century for Hibs. A stat that serves as a testament to his consistency over a decade – save that brief spell in Saudi – with the club.

What’s the secret to Boyle’s success in this season of extremes? Has he really just been saving his best for last? There’s a lot more to it than that.

Revelling in the role as top goal threat

Credit David Gray for finding a way to get the best out of his old team-mate, first and foremost. The way Hibs play now simply suits Boyle to a tee.

He hasn’t always enjoyed playing as a striker. There have been times, even at the start of this season, when it felt like moving the livewire attacker from a starting position out wide was having a negative effect on his performances, taking him away from the tried-and-tested method of skinning fullbacks and whipping in crosses.

With injuries forcing his hand, however, Gray had to find a way to get his most potent threats as close to the opposition goal as possible. And rather than merely asking Boyle to take one for the team, the new gaffer found a way to keep everyone happy.

The 3-5-2 formation still allows Boyle to drift wide when the space is there. Indeed, there was a spell when both Boyle and Elie Youan were partnered up front, their natural tendencies to attack the flank dragging defenders out of position and creating space for midfield runners.

Against St Johnstone on Saturday, meanwhile, Hibs almost looked like they were lined up in a 3-4-2-1 formation at times, with Boyle playing a little behind target man Mykola Kuharevich, in tandem with Junior Hoilett. The flexibility encouraged by Gray means he doesn’t feel tied down - but is allowed to go where the danger is.

Fighting fit and giving himself a chance

Simply being available to play pain free (relatively) has made an enormous difference. Having started the season with a serious hand/wrist problem that affected his running and then been required to get a bone graft on his hip, Boyle is certainly showing the signs of wear and tear you’d expect from someone with plenty of hard miles on the clock.

Since recovering fully from operations to address both problems, however, Boyle has been ready and available, as a general rule, whenever called upon. Having played virtually the entire 90 minutes in Australia’s massively important World Cup win over China in Hangzhou last week, the fact that he was still fit enough to start on Saturday is a testament to his durability – a necessity for any player chasing big numbers.

He made 48 appearances in all competitions back in season 2020-21. If he features in every game between now and season’s end, he’ll finish the current campaign with 43 shifts. A solid platform for what he’s trying to achieve.

Good team-mates playing part

Boyle himself has spoken about still being able to learn new things, the experienced campaigner citing the influence and advice of veteran striker Dwight Gayle – a player who has spent a good 60 per cent of his career in or around opposition penalty boxes – as crucial in sharpening up his own performance in front of goal. He is also benefiting from the general upswing in play from just about everyone in a green-and-white jersey.

That could be Junior Hoilett winning possession and setting him up for a goal, as happened for the home side’s second at Easter Road on Saturday. Or one of the wingbacks whipping in a delivery guaranteed to cause chaos.

Boyle is also enjoying his role as stand-in captain during the injury-enforced absence of Joe Newell. If he was never going to change personality simply by pulling on an armband, the responsibility might have added half a percentage point to his performances; enough to make a big difference, at this level.

A-League beckoning as forward chases European football parting gift

The odds are that Boyle will be playing his football elsewhere next season. And it hardly takes a genius to figure out where.

With at least one A-League franchise having declared a very public interest in landing the national team icon, he’s likely to have options to play out his career Down Under. An important step for a player who feels forever grateful to the Aussies for offering him the chance to play international football.

With the Socceroos on track to qualify for next summer’s World Cup, it makes a lot of sense for Boyle to be in country. If only to cut down on the air miles.

But you can guarantee that he wants to leave Hibs on excellent terms. The club means a lot to him. And he’s giving his all in pursuit of European football as a sort of farewell gift to the fans.

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