Three Hibs problems and how Jack Ross could solve them

As the dust settles on another Hampden horror-show for Hibs and attention turns to Wednesday night’s Premiership clash at home to Rangers, it's worth examining what has gone wrong since Christmas for the Easter Road club and how they go about fixing it.

Jack Ross and John Potter deep in discussion during a Hibs training session ahead of the home match against Rangers

Prior to three consecutive defeats – away to the Ibrox side and at home to Ross County and Livingston – Hibs had been enjoying a decent season. Victories had been ground out at tough venues like McDiarmid Park and Tannadice. Celtic and Rangers had both been held to draws at Easter Road and the narrow Boxing Day defeat by the Gers was just the fourth loss in 20 league matches.

Even after that loss in Glasgow, few could have predicted Hibs falling to consecutive home defeats to Ross County and Livingston, despite the team's home form being something of a concern. Victory against Kilmarnock last weekend looks to have been a sticking plaster rather than the green shoots of recovery.

So what, if anything, has gone wrong and how can Jack Ross turn things around?

Problem: The defence isn't great

Actually, the defence isn't that bad at all. Let me explain the thought process behind this statement.

Hibs have conceded 24 goals from 24 games. A quarter of those goals came in the three-game losing spell after Christmas.

Last season, Hibs had conceded the same amount of goals after just 13 games. By 24 games of the 2019/20 season, they hadn’t so much leaked 42 goals as opened the floodgates.

Additionally, four Hibs defenders have received international call-ups in the last six months, and two of them are supposedly attracting interest from England.

It's also worth noting that injuries and loan recalls have seen more or less the same defence play in front of three different goalkeepers in five games. It’s no coincidence that at the start of the 2020/21 season part of the reason for Hibs’ unbeaten run and general good form was partially down to a settled rearguard.

What is clear is that the team needs reinforcements in central defence. Darren McGregor has stepped in on occasion but the first-choice pairing is Paul Hanlon and Ryan Porteous and if one or both of them is injured or suspended then there isn’t an awful lot of cover available.

David Gray operated as a centre-back during some Betfred Cup games and Paul McGinn can also cover the position, but that then creates positional concerns elsewhere.

Solution: Bring in a centre-back before the transfer window shuts to provide cover and strengthen three-at-the-back options.

Problem: The strikers have stopped scoring goals

Since the start of December, Christian Doidge has scored twice and registered one assist on league duty, with Kevin Nisbet managing three goals. The latter had not gone for more than two Premiership games without netting prior to a post-Christmas barren spell in the three defeats by Rangers, Ross County, and Livingston, but given the inconsistency that comes with his relatively young age on top of the personal issues that have affected him this season, his output has been impressive.

With Jamie Gullan looking far more effective as a wide attacker rather than a centre forward, it is clear Hibs could do with greater options up top. Experiments with Martin Boyle, Jamie Murphy and Drey Wright as forwards have had limited success.

Those tasked with creating chances could do with stepping up as well. Boyle has drawn a blank in his last five matches and while Murphy has spent time sidelined through injury, he is yet to add to his goal and assist against Celtic in late November.

Complaints about a lottery for midfield places is likely the result of Ross tinkering to try and identify the right team for certain games while being hampered by injuries to several players. That the last midfielders to get on the scoresheet were Alex Gogic and Stephen McGinn gives some idea of his struggle.

Having Scott Allan back in the fold should – eventually – make Hibs more productive in the final third and could also reinvigorate the likes of Boyle, Murphy and the other midfielders.

Solution 1: Bring in an old-school Grant Holt-esque target man to relieve the pressure on Doidge and Nisbet; help bring on younger players, and give Hibs a different dimension in attack.

Solution 2: Identify a system that gets the best out of the finishers and creators.

Problem: There are no leaders in the team

Michael Weir hit the nail on the head in his Evening News column this week when he pointed out a lack of leaders, adding: “I don't see anybody having a go at each other or getting angry when they concede a goal; they just seem to accept it.”

With the likes of David Gray and Darren McGregor on the bench, there isn’t an obvious character to grab the wheel when things start going wrong and that may be part of the reason why the “boyband” description has started to rear its perfectly-groomed head once again.

Fans want the players to hurt as much as they do when they lose games or concede goals. Perhaps more so now than before the pandemic, supporters watching from a distance need to know that the team cares – whether there are 15,000 on the terraces, or watching at home.

While most fans aren't questioning the players’ commitment as such, a bit of visible confirmation that they are still up for the fight would go a long way to getting some of the doubters back onside.

Solution: Only Jack Ross knows the answer to this but his references to a lack of character in the aftermath of the Betfred Cup semi-final suggest that he is aware something needs to change. Facing Rangers at home should be the catalyst for a change in performances, if not results – but they must keep it going.

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