Hibs fan Jason Kerr can't blame supporters for Easter Road exodus as 'self-destructive' question addressed
Fourth defeat in past five derbies comes hot on heels of disastrous Euro exit
Lifelong Hibs fan Jason Kerr believes Easter Road regulars had “every right” to turn their backs on the team by leaving the dismal Edinburgh derby defeat long before full-time. And the summer signing has bemoaned the “silly mistakes” that contributed to last night’s sickening 3-1 home loss to Hearts.
There were barely any home supporters left by the time referee Don Robertson – who had shown Jack Iredale a second yellow card after what Hibs boss David Gray called “a multitude of errors” – blew for full-time in the first derby of the new season. Kerr insists he can’t blame anyone for abandoning their posts.
Supporters started leaving long before full-time
“Yes, 100 per cent we've let them down really, I think,” said the former St Johnstone centre-half.
“They've got every right to leave. I know as a Hibs fan, it's not what you want to see, especially against Hearts.
“Yes, it's obviously not ideal being a Hibs fan myself. You never want to get beat off anyone, especially not Hearts.
“It's going to hurt but we've got to dig in and get around each other. We've got another game on Sunday to think about.”
Jack Iredale red card just one factor
Addressing the quickfire red card for Iredale after 62 minutes, with the Aussie only coming onto the pitch as a substitute for Jordan Obita just before the half-hour mark, Kerr stressed: “Yes, it's not ideal - but I think a lot of damage was done before we went down to ten men.
“He has got sent off at the end of the day. But ven the third goal, I know we're in 10 men, but we should defend it a lot better. Myself included.
“He’s breezed past me so I can't say that I put it on Jack at all. We will get around him. That's what we do.
“The goals we conceded in the first half weren't good enough, not marking men in the box.
“We gave ourselves a mountain to climb really. So I think there was a lot of damage done before that.
“But we dug in in the second half and then a few silly mistakes. Don't defend the third goal well enough either, probably from me as well. So it was just a night of mistakes I think.
“We just didn't start the game well enough. Like I said, we didn't mark on the box for the goals. Really bad goals to concede.
“You can't start a game 2-0 down, which is what we did really. I think we need to defend a little better. We'll have a look at that.
“Yes, like I said, we dug in and I thought we looked like the better team for the start of the second half. We probably should take more of our chances as well.
“That's another thing we need to look at. I think overall, we just weren't good enough in the night.”
Asked whether, on the back of a disastrous UEFA Conference League exit to Gent in similarly bleak circumstances, there was a self-destructive habit in this Hibs team, Kerr conceded: “You could say that. We are making a lot of mistakes at the moment and we need to cut that out really, especially defensively.”