Hitting the ground running: New Hibs signings making impact with goals, assists and match-winning performances
Cult hero status, teenage kicks and slow burner ... how January arrivals are settling in at Easter Road
There will always be an element of wondering what might have been. Of rueing the fact that Hibs couldn’t get any of their six January signings on site at East Mains until very, very late – too late, even? - in the window.
Just imagine this lot with a few more weeks’ training and football under their belts. Consider the points dropped – Hibs took just three from a possible 15 and were knocked out of the Scottish Cup during the mid-season market – as incoming transfers were delayed until the death.
But what is it David Gray likes to say? Something along the lines of only worrying about the things he can control?
As the Hibs gaffer looks to build on his team’s recent upturn in form, with a home win over St Mirren teeing them up nicely for Sunday’s hoodoo-busting away victory over Celtic, he’ll just be glad that his not-so-dirty half dozen are doing the business. At a time when the recruitment department needed a homerun or two, if only to make fans forget about the club record signing being punted out on loan six months after his arrival, they would appear to have scored a grand slam in a traditionally tough market.
The kids are all right
Buying – or at least renting – potential is never a sure thing. The game is littered with youngsters who have all the ability in the world, yet never quite turn talent into achievement.
So Hibs took risks, to varying degrees, when they spent money to acquire 19-year-old striker Owen Elding from Sligo Rovers and secured fellow teenager Kai Andrews on loan from Coventry City. It’s fair to say that both have made an impact.
And not just because both have scored, Elding marking his first start with the opener against St Mirren and, to just a little more fanfare, Andrews bagging a stunning winner at Celtic Park. Although those are obvious highlights.
Elding, in particular, is a fascinating case study. With all due respect to the League of Ireland, he’s never played at anything near this level of football – in terms of quality, physicality but perhaps most of all intensity and expectation – in his short senior career.
Yet there he is, leading the line for Hibs at Celtic Park. Bringing not just physicality but a degree of innate footballing IQ to the game. With more to come. If he keeps trending in this direction, Elding – under contract until 2030 – should develop into a real asset for Hibs.
Gray knew a little bit more about what he was getting, of course, when he moved for Andrews, who made a handful of starts on loan with Motherwell over the second half of last season. The 19-year-old is highly thought of at Coventry, where former England and Chelsea great Frank Lampard has clearly been passing on tips about arriving on the edge of the box to convert chances.
Full of energy and running, Andrews has made just a single start but looks capable of playing in a couple of different roles in the middle of the park. A qualified success, most certainly.
Obvious quality on show
Felix Passlack boasts a European pedigree guaranteed to catch the eye, with his Borussia Dortmund background adding a certain sheen to the CV. After a tricky start, being thrown into a first appearance on the back of a single training session, that quality is beginning to shine through.
Sure, a goal against Celtic helps. But he was excellent in attack AND decent in defence on Sunday, which came as a surprise after those first couple of showings.
The 27-year-old German, a Deadline Day signing from VfL Bochum now under contract until 2029, brings experience and nous to the squad. A really good combination.
Ante Suto, meanwhile, is already well on his way to cult hero status among Hibs fans. Not bad for a guy yet to make a start for his new club.
The Croatian-Australian attacker, signed on a two-and-a-half-year contract when he arrived – six months after Hibs first made contact – on Deadline Day, can boast two goals and assist from four substitute appearances. And he would appear to be just the right sort of mad to slot straight into the Scottish Premiership.
Still bedding in
Gray still has faith in the ability of Spurs loanee Dane Scarlett, who he describes as a “goal-scoring striker”, to start hitting the net. This is, after all, a 21-year-old who was playing in the Premier League and Champions League just weeks ago.
Scarlett does have an assist to his name from three starts and a couple of substitute appearances. And he’s obviously a player who passes the eyeball test.
Given the variety of challenges likely to be faced by Hibs over the closing stretch of the campaign, it’s never a bad thing to have different types available to change up the forward line. Scarlett will expect – and be expected – to make a contribution.
Munashe Garananga was unlucky, meanwhile, to pick up a painful ankle injury late in the derby defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle on February 10, having made his debut in the 3-2 home win over Dundee United the previous week. Back to full fitness now, he’s behind the excellent Warren O’Hora in the pecking order for a starting berth.