Hibs summer transfer dealings graded: Rating each in AND out - from A+ to D - now Deadline Day has passed

The headlines and the deadlines, eh? A record signing and a late pursuit coming up just short. Sometimes the hype gets just too intense to allow for measured judgement. But we’re trying. Sometimes very trying …

How do you judge Hibernian’s activity in the summer transfer market as a whole, rather than over the closing four hours once the ‘big league’ down south had completed all its eye-watering business? Your final verdict can’t help but be influenced by the finale; a blockbuster movie without a good ending never does land quite as well.

So failure to secure Lyndon Dykes, regardless of how hard Hibs might have tried to get the deal done, is bound to feel like watching the hero ride off into the sunset without the girl, the gold or any intention of returning. What could have been a transformative signing being scuppered at the very death is a metaphorical kick in the guts.

But let’s take a step back, park to one side the arguments over Birmingham’s wage demands in the loan deal that fell through, and consider the overall picture since the market opened – then closed briefly, before opening again – all those weeks ago. There’s been a fair bit of clearing out to make way for the new arrivals, with Hibs sporting director Malky Mackay investing a lot of energy in simply getting guys to take pay-offs and move on rather than seeing their contracts out.

Hibs have also broken their transfer record to land Thibault Klidje. Picked up an obvious couple of good ‘uns in Miguel Chaiwa and Josh Mulligan. And done enough to suggest that there was at least some sort of plan in place.

Let’s take a look, then, at the main ins and outs. Plus the not ins and not outs. And try, however subjectively, to assign a grade – A, B, C or even D, with all usual plusses and minuses – to each deal.