No easy fixes for Hibs: Why Gray believes his team can 'create history' against Celtic despite Falkirk flop

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Sigh. Harrumph, even. And let’s throw in a tsk-tsk for good measure.

Football folk know that there are no short-cuts to anything expect relegation and misery. They also understand that, even for the most successful, the game never has been, and never will be, easy. The very best simply get really good at the hard stuff.

And that’s where Hibs are falling down at the moment. They look like a team waiting to catch a break, rather than breaking their backs in pursuit of the next lucky bounce.

As they head to a venue where they’ve not tasted victory since January of 2010, it’s fair to say that things aren’t about to get any less difficult for David Gray’s men this weekend. Celtic at Celtic Park, regardless of any off-field unrest surrounding the Hoops, remains the toughest fixture on the SPFL dance card.

Gray, who firmly believes that his players can “create history” by getting three points at the home of the champions, understands that they’ll need to improve dramatically over the coming days. Because the performance in last night’s 2-2 draw at Falkirk was, to be blunt, about as inspiring as the average cold Tuesday night in the shadow of Grangemouth.

No easy games in the Scottish Premiership …

“I know the test doesn't get any easier moving forward at the weekend, a real difficult place to go, we know that,” said the Hibs boss. “But every game is difficult in this league, we've already seen that this season.

“And I say a lot about the togetherness in the group and the quality within it, and that's when you need it to be at its most. It feels right now like a defeat because of the manner of the game, but it's certainly not a disaster, and I have reminded the players of that, they're undefeated in the league.

“Yes, we probably dropped two points tonight because of the dominance within the game. But you've got an opportunity again at the weekend to do something that a Hibs team has not done since, I don't know what it was, 2010 or something? To go to Celtic Park and try and get a win.

“So it doesn't get any easier, the fixtures are tough every week. But as a group, as you've just said, they need to stick together, and they will do that.”

Basics are letting Hibs down in defence

The goals being conceded are an obvious concern. Not just the freaky timing of concessions either at the beginning or end of a half. But the slightly soft centre being exposed by too many opponents.

This is not the Hibs team who fought for every inch of grass last year, adopting a None Shall Pass attitude that forced teams to run through hellfire just to get a shot on goal. Something is missing. Personal individual responsibility, maybe?

Gray, asked if players had to take one some of the burden for continued defensive frailties, insisted: “They do. That's something that, yes, it is my responsibility, and always will be my responsibility to try and fix it. At the end of the day I put the players on the pitch, I pick the team, so it's my responsibility to make sure I put the blend together and improve the players - and educate the players as to why we think it's happening and how you can be better in the moments.

“If it was the same player every single week you'd understand it. It's not.

“And then you say about taking responsibility. There are players taking responsibility for that, and that is the most important thing. There is an ownership within there, there is accountability within it, and within that then you need to stick together. And obviously the most important thing is you need to keep working hard to make sure it doesn't happen again.”

Celtic in crisis? It’s all relative

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. But there’s an opinion doing the rounds suggesting that this is a good time for Hibs to be getting Celtic, what with all the fan protests against the board et al. Gray isn’t buying it, obviously.

“I think it's very similar to the questions I was asked when you go to Ibrox, and all you can concentrate on is yourself,” he said, with a nod to last weekend’s 2-0 Premier Sports Cup loss to a Rangers side in apparent freefall, the former club captain adding: “The challenge is a real difficult one when we go there, we know that. They're a top team with top players, a top manager, the challenge will be extremely tough.

“Regardless of what's going on, on and off the pitch, going through there, the challenge to the team, the away team, is to try and quieten the crowd, whatever that looks like. So how can you do that? You do that by obviously putting in a level of performance, and I think that's something we're going to have to do.

“But it's also an opportunity for players to create history. And I'll say that to the players, and remind them, and give them the belief to go along with our game plan, to try and come back with three points, and that's all we can think about right now.”