Kris Boyd says Hibs 'excuses' have already started and tips capital club for bottom half finish

Kris Boyd has had his say on how Hibs will fare in the Scottish Premiership this season | Getty Images

Former Rangers and Kilmarnock attacker Kris Boyd claims that history will repeat itself for Hibs this season after a hugely disappointing 2023/24 campaign.

Boyd believes that the Easter Road side are making many of the same mistakes that were made last season and believes a worrying trend is starting to emerge despite the appointment of new manager David Gray on a permanent basis after three separate spells as caretaker manager.

Hibs started the season with comfortable victories over Elgin City and Queen’s Park in the League Cup before suffering a shock defeat to Kelty Hearts.

 They made amends with a comprehensive victory over Peterhead but failed to start the Premiership season in the same vein as they were thrashed 3-0 by St Mirren.

Back to back defeats to champions Celtic followed before further disappointment against Dundee and Kilmarnock where the Cabbage twice failed to see out the game despite holding a winning position in the final 10 minutes.

In his Scottish Premiership predictions, Boyd launched a scathing attack on the hierarchy at Hibs and has described the situation behind the scenes as a ‘mess’ which hasn’t been ‘cleaned up’ properly.

The former Light Blues forward told Sky Sports that he expects the Cabbage to once again finish in eighth position. He said:  “I just think the trends are still there, the excuses have already started about a lot of players being out of contract at the end of this season and they might be able to clear up the mess the hierarchy have created then. 

“Short term they're going to suffer for that. I thought they would have improved but at this moment in time, I'm just not sure.”

Hibs return to Premiership action with a home tie against St Johnstone where fans will be demanding all three points.

The capital side are currently ninth in the table after four games with two points. As it stands, the only saving grace for supporters is that they sit narrowly above city-rivals Hearts, who themselves have endured a miserable start to the league season with one point while also crashing out of the League Cup and dropping from the Europa League to Europa Conference League after play-off heartache.

Boyd is expecting another difficult season and his view is largely shared by former Celtic icon Chris Sutton, who is expecting the capital side to drop even further down the division.

Sutton explained: “I like Hibs as a football club. They've had so much turmoil and gone through so many managers recently, there hasn't been that patience and now David Gray is in charge, who knows the club well. 

“You can't just keep overhauling a squad, bringing in new players then changing a manager. I don't know whether there will be patience this season and Hibs fans will say a bottom-six finish represents a poor season, but they need to make small steps. 

“It will be another difficult season for them.”