Exclusive:Secrets of Hibs SWPL title pursuit as we go behind the scenes of bid for first league crown since 2007

What does into sustaining a title challenge? A healthy degree of obsession. And decisions. Lots and lots of decisions.

A half day spent in the company of Grant Scott and his SWPL contenders at Hibernian Training Centre, listening in on conversations and watching how the coaching team work up close, would leave any observer convinced on a couple of key points. Immutable truths, if you like.

First, these are serious people, intently concentrated on winning a first league title for the club since 2007. Should they fall short, it won’t be for a lack of commitment, focus or attention to detail.

And second? Perhaps just as importantly, they’re going to enjoy most, if not all, of a run-in already shaping up to be another classic. From coaches’ room to training ground, taking in analysis sessions and gym work, intense discussions are lightened by brief bursts of levity that almost belie the stakes involved over half a dozen rounds of fixtures remaining.

Given the economic realities of Scottish women’s football, there really should be no pressure on Hibs to be this close to the top – one point behind new leaders Rangers – this far along the path. But a home win over Rangers at Meadowbank this afternoon will see Scott’s team return to the summit heading into the final series of post-split fixtures, giving the three main contenders – Glasgow City are still very much in there – a crack at the crown.

Having dominated away to Celtic in a nil-nil draw in midweek, Hibs will be looking to be more clinical today. And that all starts with the concentrated work done in the limited interval between both legs of this Old Firm doubleheader.

Brains trust goes to work

It all begins, as most days at HTC usually do, with a coaches’ meeting at 12.30 pm. The three main figures – Scott and assistants Stewart Hall and Joelle Murray – are joined by four other staff members in an office adorned with all the usual wall charts you’d expect, plus a TV monitor. Gathered around a central islands of desks, there is a lot to get through before a cone is even laid out on the training ground.

There’s a fitness update from the physio, input from strength and conditioning, plus the usual admin to be addressed. Data is analysed for signs of anything missed by the eyeball test of simply watching games; in this instance, the numbers back up first impressions from the midweek match.

Amid all this, there are also plenty of laughs and jokes at the expense of everyone in the room. The mood is light and breezy, despite the workload, and the conversation is one you could hear in community club houses, school foyers and pitch-side car parks all over Scotland on any given Sunday; football folk talking about the game they love.

Picking the team

It’s Friday when your Evening News correspondent is invited in to be a fly on the wall and, because of the midweek game, everything is extremely condensed. Which means it doesn’t take long for Hall, Murray and Scott to turn attention to the Rangers game.

First up, there’s a chat about formation. All of which is classified, obviously. There follows a discussion about selection which, likewise, isn’t for public consumption.

What is striking, without giving away any state secrets, is how much goes into selecting the right player for a specific role. Substitutes probably never know how close they came to a start, while starters probably wouldn’t want to hear about how close they were to sitting on the bench.

Talk then returns to the more immediate issues of training, which will be with reduced numbers because most players are still in recovery mode, and who does what once the small squad gets out on the artificial pitch at East Mains. Finally, an hour and a minute after the full brains trust have gathered to start the day’s business, Scott declares: “Right, we have a plan.”

Briefing the players on a plan to beat Rangers

After a brief lunch, there’s a first-team meeting at 2.05 pm sharp in the auditorium familiar to Hibs fans from press conference coverage. This is where the real work begins, from a player’s perspective.

Scott is first to speak, as gaffer. Interestingly, though, the first thing he does is ask for player feedback on the midweek game; his is a modern style of management, inviting opinion and comment from players.

After he’s shared some thoughts, Hall turns attention towards the big screen and lays out everything you’d expect from a good opposition analysis session, picking up on how Rangers want to play with and without the ball. More will follow on Saturday – Match Day-1 in coaching parlance – but, for now, it’s important for players to understand the basic elements of a game plan that, everyone hopes, will avoid anyone being surprised come kick-off.

Out on the grass (plastic)

The vast majority of the squad are consigned to gym work at this stage of a three-game week. More than one player has to be gently dissuaded from volunteering to do a full training session.

The need for recovery leaves Hall and Murray to work with just eight outfielders and two goalkeepers. After an activation drill run by physical performance coach Innes Lawson, Hall takes the goalies while former captain Murray runs a passing practice.

Hibs

After that, it’s an overload game and a small-sided match. Everything is done in 45 minutes of short, sharp work designed to keep players ticking over.

Scott will take over more of the session on Friday, when it becomes about actual match preparation. For now, he’s back in the office for another selection meeting – more talks with Hall and Murray – based not on training, but on the most recent game AND previous meetings with Rangers.

Barring anything unusual, players would have expected to be given the team news yesterday. Just before the final training session including work on shape, set-pieces and in-game scenarios likely to arise.

Will the plan come together exactly as Scott and his team drew it up? Of course not. Football is a game of chaos.

But there are moments when it all synchronises, when everything worked on in training and plotted out on the tactics board just clicks. Put together enough of those moments and, by tea-time tonight, Hibs will be back on top of the SWPL. And ready to get back to work.

Your next Hibs Women read: ‘We respect Rangers but won’t fear them.’