New season but the same old issues for Hibs after dramatic loss to St Mirren at Easter Road

Cheap goals conceded, a lack of physical and mental toughness, losing to an underdog opponent at home – it must be a new season of cinch Premiership football at Easter Road.

Hibs started off the 2023/24 campaign with a dramatic 3-2 loss to St Mirren. This was despite clawing back a 2-0 deficit late in the game and having all the momentum on their side.

The first half was a brutal spectacle for the home support in which to endure. Hibs were, quite frankly, played off the park by their visitors and the vicious chorus of boos which rained down on the team at the break was perfectly understandable.

Lee Johnson got his side wrong from the off. The midfield three of Jake Doyle-Hayes, Joe Newell and Josh Campbell has been tried and tested many times over and it famously doesn’t work. Overall there’s a lack of strength and defensive solidity. Marry that with St Mirren’s dogfight approach to the engine room battle and it was always going to be a recipe for disaster.

Alex Grieve celebrates scoring a late winner for St Mirren over Hibs at Easter Road. Picture: SNS

The first goal came via the penalty spot after Greg Kiltie was said to have been fouled by Joe Newell after a VAR check. Mark O’Hara dutifully tucked it away.

The second summed up the frailty of Hibs. St Mirren just marched through the middle as O’Hara played in Olusanya. He raced away from Will Fish before coolly slotting underneath David Marshall.

Johnson hasn’t been afraid to make big first-half changes before and he did it again on 28 minutes. Removing Campbell and Allan Delferriere, bringing on Dylan Levitt and Jordan Obita and moving to a 3-5-2.

It didn’t solve the immediate problem, though, which was that Hibs were getting bullied in the centre of the park. On 35 minutes, Doyle-Hayes was booked after he allowed O’Hara to sprint past him before bringing the opening goalscorer down. This came immediately after Newell was outmuscled by McMenamin. There needed to be more toughness. More steel. Jimmy Jeggo’s technical limitations means he’s not the most revered of Hibs players, but they seem to function better when he’s in the team.

Johnson did make a further tweak in the second half and things got better. Obita and Boyle (latterly Youan) were pushed up high, so the wing-backs were almost part of the forward line. It made the ball stick more as Hibs found more space and options further up the park. Christian Doidge was key in this as Hibs routinely went long to the big man, who had an excellent second-half showing.

Adam Le Fondre’s industry off the bench helped too. It was the veteran striker who got the first, linking well with Doidge before cooly finishing off the cross. With 82 minutes on the clock, Easter Road exploded as Doidge drew them level. Obita put in a cross and when it came back to Levitt, he slipped in Youan who put it into the centre for Doidge to finish.

If you thought you’d there’d only be one winner from that point, then you haven’t been watching Hibs enough. The defensive frailties on show against Inter Club d'Escaldes (and in the opening half of this game) reared their head again with the marking nonexistent as Kiltie whipped in a ball for Alex Grieve to glance home an 89th-minute winner.