Hibs can't mark season's slip-ups as 'redacted' - but know a home win over Hearts changes everything
Draw against Celtic-conquering Dundee United a positive? Talking points from Tannadice as derby looms large
Just as ‘redacted’ makes a late bid for word of the year, all this talk of black ink and blotted out identities prompts a thought. Are there any elements of season 2025-26 that Hibs fans, in particular, would like to erase from history?
Well, there are the obvious, of course. A few VAR reviews that did little to increase the gaiety of the nation. Several confusing calls making a mockery of our chief referee’s assertion that there is ‘no handball problem’ in Scottish football. A bleak 15 seconds or so at Tynecastle. And at least one adventurous pie order that, on reflection, may not have been the wisest idea …
With no-one at the SPFL or SFA able to eradicate results/events from the record books, alas, there’s nothing David Gray and his players can do to blot out the disappointing elements of an inconsistent campaign, to date. What they can do, of course, is make amends. Immediately.
Long before the final whistle sounded on today’s gritty 1-1 draw with Dundee United at Tannadice, the 2000-plus travelling fans would have already turned their attention towards next weekend’s Easter Road encounter with Hearts. ‘Tis the season, after all, to view everything through the lens of a truly great footballing rivalry.
So what are the chances, then, of Hibs bagging their second consecutive home win over their nearest and dearest, prompting a repeat of the scenes – complete with the obligatory rendition of Sunshine on Leith – from March of this year? And did anything we saw on Tayside give us a better idea of how Gray’s men might combat the threats of Derek McInnes’ league leaders?
A draw isn’t a disaster … as Wilfried Nancy could tell you
You can’t just ignore the fact that reigning champions Celtic fell victim to Jim Goodwin’s men at Tannadice a matter of days before Gray’s lads dragged themselves back from a goal down to earn a point. At 1-0, Hibs never looked out of it. At 1-1, they probably seemed the more likely to score, in terms of clear-cut chances created.
In a campaign when they’ve struggled to build momentum, their longest winning streak stuck stubbornly at two games on the bounce, and coming off the back of a truly toothless showing in defeat to Rangers at Ibrox, it was important for Hibs to show some fight. And some bite.
There remain some concerns. The frequency with which throw-ins into the penalty box seem to cause a problem, for one; goals lost from the second, third and even fourth phases of recycled ball from a set-piece are guaranteed to drive coaches round the twist.
Against hosts who dropped into a 5-4-1 without the ball and looked to hit on the break, however, Hibs outshot their opponents by 23-12 while enjoying a smidgen shy of 60 per cent possession. They’re hardly in horrible shape, as they go clattering into the festivities intent on taking Hearts down a peg or two.
The squad is still a work in progress
Zach Mitchell looked really good on his Hibs debut, the odd positional mis-step aside. Kanayo Megwa was a game competitor at wingback, and showed a couple of cultured touches on the ball.
But most would accept that Warren O’Hora and Chris Cadden will probably return to the starting XI for the big one, given the stakes involved. Experience isn’t to be overlooked when it comes to selection for this game, especially.
While it was good to see Thibault Klidje getting half an hour after his first full week of training in a month, the £1.5 million record signing clearly isn’t sharp. If he was, he’d have taken the chance laid on a plate for him by fellow substitute Josh Campbell.
Gray has limited wiggle room, then, when it comes to changing his team or tweaking his tactics. And he’ll be keeping Nicky Cadden, who left the game with cramp late on, wrapped in cotton wool between now and Saturday …
The league table doesn’t lie, right?
Hearts deserve to be sitting top of the Scottish Premiership at Christmas. Nobody else in Scotland’s top flight has achieved anything like their level of consistency under McInnes.
It’s hard to escape the suspicion that Hibs are just a few unlucky bounces away from being at least a little bit nearer their old rivals in the standings. Then again, ‘if only’ is an unhelpful attitude to take.
Instead of worrying what might have been, focus on the possibilities ahead. It’s going to be an interesting week. Made no less fascinating by the mix-and-match emotions stirred up by an otherwise unremarkable one-all draw in the City of Discovery.