Michael Weir: Post-winter break schedule is ridiculous

It's been a really difficult week for Hibs. Asking them to play three away games in the space of six days straight after a winter break seems ridiculous to me.

Hibs played three away games in the space of six days following the winter break

The players just have to get on with it but I don’t think scheduling like that helps the spectacle. We had a similar run before Christmas and it’s not good for the game. There’s no way players can be operating at 100 per cent in such circumstances.

Hibs had it particularly hard because we’ve been scheduled away to Hearts and Celtic in two of our first three games back and now we have another testing midweek game at home to Motherwell. What is the point of the winter break if we’re having to squeeze all these midweek games in before and after it to compensate?

We’d have been better just keeping going through January and spreading the games out to give the 
players a chance. I just don’t 
understand the thinking of the authorities. It’s asking too much of players in a league where the squads are not particularly big. Hibs carry quite a tight squad so it’s not like we can rotate for each game. At a time when the game 
is so fast and intense, four matches in ten or 11 days after a three-week break is outrageous – it shouldn’t 
be happening.

In the circumstances, we did well to compete with Celtic on Saturday. That’s a tough game at the best of times, but especially so after the games we had before it. We now need to dust ourselves down and prepare for another hard game against Motherwell. It’s a really important one for us in terms of trying to stay within touching distance of Aberdeen and Rangers before we travel to Ibrox on Saturday.

That game coincides with the transfer window closing and I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to get one or two new faces in before then.

I’ve been a bit disappointed with it so far because I hoped we’d have done a bit more business. Having said that, I recognise that we brought in quite a few in the summer, so I understand we can’t go overboard. Like every Hibs fan, though, that won’t stop me hoping we have a new striker in by close of play on Wednesday.