Why it’s too simplistic to blame Hibs’ dire defensive record on the ‘old guard’

Hibs defenders David Gray and Darren McGregor have spent much of this season out injured.

If it isn’t blatantly obvious to anyone who has attended more than a few Hibs matches in recent months, a quick glance at the league table is enough to confirm where their main problem lies.

In short, the Easter Road side are being badly undermined this season by the number of goals they are conceding.

While they are the fifth-highest scorers in the Premiership, their tally of 33 is three more than fourth-place Aberdeen and just one less than third-place Motherwell. Basically, they have an attack which, on paper at least, is delivering enough goals to have them in the thick of the battle for the European places.

Instead, they languish in sixth place, nine points adrift of the Dons and cast as big outsiders for a top-four place. They are the only team in the top six with a negative goal difference.

The reason for this is that they have a defensive record on par with teams at the very bottom of the Premiership. They have conceded 39 goals - exactly the same as joint-bottom Hearts, nine more than seventh-place Kilmarnock and 12 more than Aberdeen. Only three teams in the league have conceded more than Hibs: St Johnstone, Ross County and Hamilton Accies, all of whom are within six points of the bottom of the table.

Gifting leads

They have lost at least two goals in eight of their last 12 competitive games and, unsurprisingly, have been able to win only one of those games in which they have conceded twice - that was the 4-2 Scottish Cup win over Dundee United last week. Earlier in the season, Hibs’ inability to keep the ball out of the net seemed to rear its head when they got themselves in good positions as they became renowned for squandering leads, both under Paul Heckingbottom and Jack Ross. More recently, they have tended to give the opposition a head-start, with Hamilton Accies, Dundee United and St Mirren all taking early leads at Easter Road over the past couple of weeks.

On Saturday, relegation-threatened St Mirren raced into a two-goal lead courtesy of a header from a corner and a close-range finish from Tony Andreu after Ilkay Durmaz had David Gray chasing his shadow. This left Hibs needing to score two goals just to salvage a point, which they managed. With the likes of Scott Allan, Martin Boyle and Christian Doidge all chipping in with an admirable tally of goals and assists between them, the attackers are entitled to feel both exasperated and undermined by the rate at which the team is conceding.

The defence came in for criticism again after Saturday’s match, with the general consensus being that the Scottish Cup-winning quartet of Gray, Darren McGregor, Paul Hanlon and Lewis Stevenson - all of whom are now 30 or older - should no longer start together as a unit. While this point may be valid since a 30-something defence will always be vulnerable against a pacy attack, it is also probably a moot point since it is unlikely to happen again too often - if at all.

Rare start for veteran quartet

Saturday’s game was the first time since the Betfred Cup tie against Morton in August that Gray, McGregor, Hanlon and Stevenson had all started together, and even then McGregor went off injured after just 14 minutes of that game in the summer. McGregor, aged 34, has started only three games since then, and in one of them - away to Hearts five and a half weeks ago - he was arguably the best player on the pitch. Gray, aged 31, had a torrid time on Saturday and was substituted at half-time but, in his defence, it was only his second start since sustaining a long-term injury in the 2-2 draw with St Johnstone in August.

Both McGregor and Gray are generally at their best when they have had a run of games to find their sharpness, as was the case when they both played a key role in the strong start to Heckingbottom’s reign a year ago. Stevenson and Hanlon have both played far more regularly this season and have had mixed reviews among supporters. Neither have hit the heights they reached during their peak years under Alan Stubbs and Neil Lennon, but, equally, it would be stretching a point to suggest that either or both have become liabilities. For all that Stevenson has not been as effective in an attacking capacity this season, Hibs rarely concede goals down his left side, while Hanlon - as disappointed as he will be by the number of goals Hibs are losing - is actually looking pretty assured at present on an individual level. The centre-back is entitled to feel miffed at the notion that, having only recently turned 30, he is suddenly ready for the knacker’s yard.

While having four prominent defenders aged over 30 is not ideal, it is worth noting that Tom James (aged 23), Adam Jackson (25), Jason Naismith (25) and Ryan Porteous (20) have featured far more regularly than Gray and McGregor during this season of regular goal concession. In short, the age of the defenders is not the main problem.

Toll of injuries

One of Hibs’ main issues has been that, primarily due to notable injuries to Gray, James, Naismith, Porteous and McGregor, both Heckingbottom and Ross have been unable to enjoy any genuine continuity of selection in defence this season. Furthermore, there has been uncertainty both in front of and behind the defence. There has been no bona fide Marvin Bartley-style holding midfielder to provide sufficient protection, leaving Hibs susceptible to pacy counter-attacks, while the defenders have also had to play in front of two different goalkeepers in Chris Maxwell and Ofir Marciano. Maxwell rarely made any saves of note and seemed to be beaten by any decent goalbound shot, while Marciano has had a shaky season by his own high standards.

Replacing Efe Ambrose was always going to be a tall order following his exit a year ago, and it is safe to say Hibs haven’t come close to adequately filling the void left by the classy Nigerian centre-back. Management have probably been unfortunate in this regard as the hope was that Porteous, who has spent a long period of the last year injured, would step up and become the fresh new sidekick for Hanlon and McGregor.

The addition of Paul McGinn does little for the age profile of the defence since he turns 30 this year but the new right-back showed enough on his debut to suggest that he is capable of bringing some quality and assurance to a defensive unit which is currently carrying the can for Hibs’ inability to win games consistently.

In a sport where familiarity often breeds contempt among impassioned supporters, it is natural that some Hibs fans may wish to see the “old guard” phased out. The reality, however, is that the team’s defensive issues are probably far more complex than their veteran quartet of cup-winning stalwarts - who rarely play together as a fourball in any case - drifting to the end of the line in what would be freakishly simultaneous fashion.