Hibs season a riot of fever dreams and hallucinatory highs leaving fans emotionally drained - but oh so happy

And … breathe. It’s OK, nothing else is going to happen. Well, probably. At least not for a few weeks.

When David Gray jokes about sticking his head in a fridge to bring down his core temperature at the end of a season of fever dreams and hallucinatory highs, he’s only reflecting the feelings of Hibs fans everywhere. Whether you watched 2024-25 play out from the touchline, the back row of the main stand, your local pub or your front room, with or without a dodgy stick, you’re bound to sympathise with the gaffer.

It's been wild, hasn’t it? Occasionally horrifying in ways that ought to be outlawed. But never anything short of dramatic. And always entertaining.

There’s no need to look back at every cough, splutter and VAR decision that went for or against Hibs between mid-July of last summer and last weekend’s season finale at home to Rangers. A game entirely in keeping with the lunacy of, especially, a Scottish Premiership campaign unrivalled for craic, banter and foam-spitting fury.

So let’s break it down, instead, into themes. Highlights and lowlights. Heroes and the odd villain. Plus a few other random observations from a year of living dangerously close to mental and emotional exhaustion, for those on the front line.

Grim times that had EVERYONE worried for the gaffer

One of the most encouraging aspects of the campaign, as a whole, is the consistent messaging of a majority of supporters. Seriously.

Even when they were howling from the rooftops about the poverty of performances and results, while protesting against the board and senior leadership figures, fans never went for ‘Sir’ David Gray. Some saw signs of promise in what the former club captain was trying to do. Others just desperately wanted to believe that the Scottish Cup hero would make a decent fist of managing the club he grew up supporting.

There were definitely some bleak moments as Hibs won just ONE of their opening 14 league games. Watching Andy Halliday, of all people, score a late winner for Motherwell at Easter Road.

Late goals conceded, eh? That was something of a recurring theme. Simon Murray. Bruce Anderson. Not one but two injury time goals as Luca Stephenson and Meshack Ubochioma scored to give Dundee United a 3-2 win at Tannadice on a day when goalkeeper Joe Bursik punching new signing Jack Iredale in the back of the head, rather than connecting with the ball, felt like a new low.

We could add other big, brutal and below-the-belt blows to the list of insulting injuries to befall Hibs during that stormy start to Gray’s first season in management. But let’s just say that nobody was particularly happy with what they saw.

Turning point(s) sparks a remarkable revival

Yeah, yeah, Rocky Bushiri. Injury time equaliser. Madness and mayhem at Easter Road. Tuesday, November 26, 2024 will always be remembered as a day of … what’s the opposite of infamy? Famy? Nah, that can’t be right. But you get the gist.

Often overlooked is the fact that, just a few days after that 3-3 draw with a Dons side tipped into crisis by their late setback in Edinburgh, Hibs were put back on the bottom of the table by dint of a 3-0 loss at Celtic Park. In a game where they played very well. Still, the momentum had been shifted.

The moment that change everything as Rocky Bushiri pounced ...

The real fork in the road, for Hibs, came a few days before the Aberdeen game, as a players-only crisis meeting at East Mains involved some tough talking and honest self-assessment. It worked. Because they genuinely believed in what Gray was TRYING to do.

Heroes? Too many to mention … but we’ll have a go

Bushiri, obviously. The big man has been a drama magnet, in all the very best ways, since breaking back into the starting XI as Gray switched to a back three.

Jack Iredale also deserves enormous credit to go with his Socceroos call-up, with the left-sided centre-half making it possible for Gray to change formation, giving Nicky Cadden the freedom to roam down that left wing and fling high explosives into the opposition penalty box. What a pairing that has turned out to be.

You could honestly run through an entire starting XI, plus subs, and pick out players worthy of a special mention. But we’d be here all day.

Jack Iredale and Nicky Cadden have formed a dream partnership

Just one more, then. Martin Boyle. No notes, skipper. Just a request that you do the same again next season, now that your future’s been settled.

SPFL’s reputation for chaotic entertainment remains intact

Hibs climbed from bottom of the table in December to secure third place in the Scottish Premiership with a game to spare. Ridiculous. And that probably wasn’t even in the top five madcap storylines from another season of barely controlled insanity.

Merely restricting ourselves to incidents involving Hibs, there have been one or two VAR howlers, obviously. With sincere and heartfelt apologies (honest) to Sam Dalby, Daizen Maeda and, last but not least, Nicolas Raskin on Saturday.

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It’s not as if Hibs haven’t had the odd bad break themselves, of course. All part of the glorious imperfection that makes the SPFL’s elite division such a beautiful mosaic of contrasting moods.

Still, we can all unclench now. It’s all just a faint and happy memory. Time to relax.

Or maybe start worrying about contracts, transfers and the need to strengthen for domestic and European adventures to come, the Cup Final, Europa League play-off draw (hopefully) and Conference League programme … Never ending, isn’t it?

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