Try to remember the good times. What do you mean, you can’t recall any of those golden moments? There must surely have been some.
Look, no-one is pretending that Hibs – the players, multiple managers and the people responsible for hiring and firing gaffers at such a relentless clip – performed in an acceptable manner over the course of season 2023-24. If you wanted to develop a theme to tell the story of this annus horribilis, it would be pitched somewhere between mildly uninspiring and downright infuriating.
But there were highs amid the lows. To pretend otherwise would be to paint a very bleak picture of events. And suggest that there is no way back from the current slump in form.
With one eye on the summer rebuild and in full acknowledgement that none of the summits scaled made up for repeatedly plunging into the abyss, let’s take a look at the key moments – mostly misery occasionally offset by a few fleeting interludes of joy – in a campaign that never got going. A dozen memorable days. Including a few that we’d all like to forget …
But there were highs amid the lows. To pretend otherwise would be to paint a very bleak picture of events. And suggest that there is no way back from the current slump in form.
9. Ross County 2 Hibernian 2 – March 13, 2024
In a game postponed from its original date of December 23, Hibs were edging their way towards a well-deserved 2-1 victory with 98 minutes gone. That’s NINETY-EIGHT minutes, vidi-printer fans. What happened next wasn’t a surprise, as such. But the manner of Yan Dhanda’s equaliser, coming from a throw-in awarded to County when it clearly should have been a Hibs ball, summed up the lack of luck – and lack of nous – enjoyed by the visitors, who could have done any one of half a dozen things to delay the game and reorganise themselves in the dying moments. Photo: Mark Scates - SNS Group
10. Motherwell 1 Hibernian 1 – April 13, 2024
With just seconds to go in regulation time at Fir Park, Hibs fans – and there were almost 3000 of them in attendance – were celebrating their team clinching a place in the top six. A guaranteed home derby. Rangers at Easter Road. And the chance to play for something that meant something, even if their chances of qualifying for Europe were slim. And then, having dominated the game for long spells, Monty’s men conceded another ugly injury-time equaliser. If they were going to blow it in the final pre-split fixture, this was the only way it could happen, really.
11. Hibernian 0 Aberdeen 4 – May 12, 2024
The final straw. A meaningless result at the end of a meaningless season, on a Sunday afternoon when few would be paying any attention. But Montgomery was gone by midweek, in large part due to this crushing loss. Hibs hadn’t lost so badly at home to Aberdeen since 1985. And, as you may be aware, that Dons class of ’85 was a pretty decent side, to say the least. Photo: Ross Parker - SNS Group
12. Hibernian 3 Motherwell 0 – May 15, 2024
So you’re in a slump. And your gaffer’s gone. Who ya gonna call? On a night when Paul Hanlon and Lewis Stevenson were afforded fond farewells at Easter Road, regular interim boss David Gray – think of him as being permanently on-call – stepped into deliver a victory. As Gray himself stressed, this win, this performance, meant very little to very few. And it didn’t fix any of the underlying problems responsible for a calamitous campaign. But it didn’t do his hopes of landing the job on a permanent basis any harm ….