Hibs wide man targeting goals and assists - but would swap every positive stat on books for winning season

As footballers living in a modern world, the Hibs players understand the role number crunching plays in a game where every club is seeking a one per cent advantage. But the first team dressing room at East Mains isn’t exactly abuzz with chatter about who’s sitting top of the expected assists chart …

Nicky Cadden laughs as he admits that, ever since he was a kid, dad Steve – a former player and coach himself – would set targets for the aspiring winger. Assists and goals still provide a way of Cadden measuring his performance.

It goes without saying, though, that he’d happily forego any sort of personal ambition if it meant Hibs dragging themselves up the Scottish Premiership table. Cadden, back in contention to face Dundee United tomorrow after struggling back from a quad and hamstring injuries, is adamant on that point.

“My dad and I always have a discussion before each season, what targets I want to hit,” he revealed, adding: “If I beat them, then we set another target.

“It's good to have that in your head because there's something to aim for. But at the same time, it's not all about that as well. It's about getting wins for the team.

“I'd gladly not score a goal and get an assist all year if we were top six or Europe this year. It doesn't really matter sometimes. 

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“Does my dad ever set an unrealistic target? To be honest, no. Obviously he's played the game, so he knows what's achievable. If he did, I'd be like: ‘Aye well, settle down a wee bit.’

“I've not really had to say that to him. There's been a few fights after games, a few arguments: ‘You should have done this, you should have done that.’ But that's what it is, I wouldn't have changed him.”

Asked if there had been any sweeteners on offer when he was coming through as a youngster, with the old man offering up treats in exchange for goals and assists, a grinning Cadden said: “No, actually not. I can’t remember. It wasn't like, oh, incentives, like sweets or that. I wouldn't say my dad would deprive me of sweets. He would give me sweets whenever I wanted them!

“It wasn’t like ‘no dinner if you're not scoring.’ No, him and my mum were really supportive for me and Chrissie. I wouldn't be here the day without them.”

Alongside twin brother Chris, Cadden is part of a Hibs side struggling to turn performances into points at the moment. With gaffer David Gray putting a renewed emphasis on clinical creative play, the winger might have an ever more important role to play.

 “We have discussions about helping the team as much as I can,” he said, adding: “Getting crosses in the box, trying to assess goals.

“As a forward player, a winger, that's what you're basically valued against. I need to up my output on top of the pitch, but obviously I can't look away from the defensive duties. Trying to get as much positive output as possible.”

Diving deep into the plethora of stats used to enlighten – or bamboozle, in some instances – footballers, coaches and fans, Cadden confesses to a degree of bewilderment on occasion, revealing: “It's weird. Sometimes you're seeing stuff like how recruitment is so stat-based. Ten years ago, it was just: ‘He’s a good player, let's sign him!

“The expected goals and assists, I think, are a wee bit weird. But there's a few that I do sometimes look at. Expected goals, that's strange.

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“Sometimes you look at expected goals and you wonder how it’s so low. Or so high. A few stats are strange, but a few stats I think are good. 

“To be honest, as players, we don't really talk about it if I'm honest. Some people maybe look more into stats than others. But I don't really look at expected goals, for instance.”

Even the most data-driven analysts will always insist on tallying cold, hard numbers with the eyeball test. You need to watch a game to really understand what the calculations mean.

Cadden, eager to get back in and affect proceedings, definitely draws inspiration from what he’s been seeing, insisting: “I think we're dominating most of the games, if I'm honest. It's just the fine margins that aren't going for us. It'll be in our box or their box. It's just going the other side of the post or whatever it is.”