Hibs No. 1 targeting Euro adventure after windswept Scottish expedition as strikers backed to hit goal trail
Austrian used international break to explore favourite tourist spot - and is aiming to scale new heights
Raphael Sallinger’s plans to immerse himself in the Home of Golf were blown off course by what the Hibs goalie describes as “the windiest day of my life.” The Austrian keeper is obviously eager to avoid seeing Storm Dave wreak similar havoc on his professional sporting efforts this afternoon.
Although a yellow wind warning is in effect for Edinburgh and the Lothians from 4 pm this afternoon, the actual forecast for today’s Easter Road encounter between Hibs and Kilmarnock is on the gentle side of calm. Which would be good news for goalkeepers, undoubtedly.
Sallinger took in famous sights
Sallinger, joined by sports nutritionist girlfriend Darinka, spent part of the international break doing what he does best. Exploring his new home nation. Rain, shine or hurricane-force gales.
The former Kaiserslautern and TSV Hartberg goalie revealed: “I was in St Andrews. It was nice. I had the windiest day of my life! But it was all right.
“Obviously there was no chance to play golf because it was too windy. But yeah, my fiancé made me aware of it, that it could be a nice place, so we went there and had a good time.
“The wind? It was horrendous. We had to walk with our hands in front of our eyes because it was too windy, but it's all right. I'm getting used to it now
“We walked around the golf course, obviously. It was a really iconic place. A lot of people there were playing golf. But we walked around the city. It was a very good time. We just walked around and saw the sights of St Andrews.
“We have been visiting different places when we have the chance. Because I never know if I go back to Austria, or somewhere else. I want to know where I lived.
“I like to explore Scotland. I want to see what the country looks like, how the people are and everything. I quite enjoy that.
“We’ve been to St Andrews, Glasgow, obviously. Loch Lomond last international break in September.
“I still want to go to Glencoe, and maybe walk up Ben Nevis, because it's the highest mountain in the UK. As an Austrian, we like to hike. My girlfriend likes it as well, so that's one of the targets we want to do.
“But my favourite place so far? Edinburgh. I love the city, I love town. It's a good city, good people.”
Aware that there’s at least a chance of some gale-force gusts sweeping into wreck the best-laid plans of many a manager this weekend, Sallinger said: “Yeah, I've seen the forecast. But it is what it is here. You can't affect it.
“It is very hard for a goalkeeper, but honestly this place here (the training ground at East Mains) could be a windy place, so I'm getting used to it, so it's all right. It is what it is.
“Yeah, it is tough for a goalkeeper of course, but you have to be concentrated in every situation, it doesn't matter if it rains, or if it's the sun, or if it's windy, it is what it is. I don't think about that, especially.”
Goal shortage not a concern for keeper
Back-to-back clean sheets are only a source of minor pride to Sallinger, who would much prefer to see Hibs winning games. Not that there’s much he can do to solve problems at the other end of the park, with failure to score against either Livingston or Motherwell doing damage to the Easter Road side’s hopes of qualifying for European football.
“Well, I think that was a problem from the last two games, but all in all we created a lot of chances, we scored a lot of goals, but we were a bit unlucky in a few situations,” said the 30-year-old. “Especially against Livingston, we had a big amount of big chances where we should have scored, but we didn't.
“Sometimes it just doesn't happen. So I'm pretty sure tomorrow our strikers will be back on the scoring list.
“If you look at the table, we are six points behind Motherwell, so we want to win as many games as we can in the last seven games. That's our target to catch them.
“Hibs had 53 points (at the split) last season, and we could still make more than last season. Last year people were saying the Hibs were flying, but this season, I don't know, maybe the expectation changed, because we finished third last season.
“We are up against a lot of good teams this season. I think the performances overall were OK, but we didn't get as many points as we wanted or as we should have got.
“So, yeah, we could make 54 points after 33 games, which is one point more than last season. So I think overall you can say it's OK if we finish on an international spot for the next season.”
Sallinger is looking forward to a first taste of the SPFL split, with its weekly opportunities to make or lose important ground, pointing out: “That's why you play football, you want to play in the best games. I think we've done well when you look back at the games against the teams in the top six; we won against Celtic last game, drew with Rangers at home.
“We should have won a few games against Hearts as well! So we're looking forward to that, and of course the competition is big, but we're looking forward to that, especially me.
“Every game is like a final, it's like a six-point game. Of course we want to win as many games as we can, so we can finish fourth and reach the target that we play international football next season.”
The Austrian, who was still playing second fiddle to Jordan Smith as Hibs did battle with Midtjylland, Partizan Belgrade and Legia Warsaw in European competition earlier this season, admitted: “Yeah, of course, if you didn't play it's tough to watch our team. But I supported it as much as I can, and the atmosphere in the games, as you felt it as well, was absolutely incredible when we won against Partizan at home.
“The away game against Warsaw, which was an incredible atmosphere. Yeah, that's the target from the beginning of the season, to get back into European football, to go there again the next season.”