[0762]

Aberdeen are more ambitious and spend more money mostly from benny factors, we don't have the same ambition and urgently need to sort out our powderpuff midfeild. Ron needs to step up with his wallet and stop penny pinching. JR saying transfer window is over for Hibs is concerning also, surely he's watching the eye bleeding stuff we are.

Reflect back to Hibs last AGM and Gordon's comments particularly when comparing our footie ops to those of Aberdeen FC and he conceded that their operational budget was much better than Hibs (from research studies of other Scot footie club accounts) but he wanted to "narrow the fiscal gap" and therefore compete more intensely with the Dons. That is not happening and this latest defeat to them just endorses the fact we are no further forward - a "slap in the face" for Gordon and his preached "footie renaissance" at ER. Also IMO AFC are not as good a footie outfit compared with their team of say 2-3 years ago - nowhere near it and yet we still can't overcome this footie "bogey" that McInnes holds over Hibs. Therefore JR's position is amongst the list of other failed Hibs managers who couldn't solve this problem and start winning a decent number of league matches v them!!! Agreed re that current "powderpuff midfield" and surely the lessons should've been learnt last season for JR re the limited abilities of players like Newell, Halberg, Allan and Malan - not a classy, dominant mid player amongst them!! Of course, note that we did sell our "jewel in the crown", John McGinn, and most Hibs fans know what kinda mid player can excel in this Scot footie backwater after watching such a "class act" for long enough!!! By all means take the money but some astute transfer biz was definitely in order to still provide a decent level of player to succeed McGinn. Ross appears to be happy with a "middle of the road" level of player when it comes to transfers in - NOT GOOD ENOUGH IMO and his continuous chopping and changing of Hibs mid formation just tells me he hasn't a clue what his best formation actually is!!!!

[BouncingHibees]

Aberdeen are more ambitious and spend more money mostly from benny factors, we don't have the same ambition and urgently need to sort out our powderpuff midfeild. Ron needs to step up with his wallet and stop penny pinching. JR saying transfer window is over for Hibs is concerning also, surely he's watching the eye bleeding stuff we are.

Reflect back to Hibs last AGM and Gordon's comments particularly when comparing our footie ops to those of Aberdeen FC and he conceded that their operational budget was much better than Hibs (from research studies of other Scot footie club accounts) but he wanted to "narrow the fiscal gap" and therefore compete more intensely with the Dons. That is not happening and this latest defeat to them just endorses the fact we are no further forward - a "slap in the face" for Gordon and his preached "footie renaissance" at ER. Also IMO AFC are not as good a footie outfit compared with their team of say 2-3 years ago - nowhere near it and yet we still can't overcome this footie "bogey" that McInnes holds over Hibs. Therefore JR's position is amongst the list of other failed Hibs managers who couldn't solve this problem and start winning a decent number of league matches v them!!! Agreed re that current "powderpuff midfield" and surely the lessons should've been learnt last season for JR re the limited abilities of players like Newell, Halberg, Allan and Malan - not a classy, dominant mid player amongst them!! Of course, note that we did sell our "jewel in the crown", John McGinn, and most Hibs fans know what kinda mid player can excel in this Scot footie backwater after watching such a "class act" for long enough!!! By all means take the money but some astute transfer biz was definitely in order to still provide a decent level of player to succeed McGinn. Ross appears to be happy with a "middle of the road" level of player when it comes to transfers in - NOT GOOD ENOUGH IMO and his continuous chopping and changing of Hibs mid formation just tells me he hasn't a clue what his best formation actually is!!!!

It was reported that Gordon has now scrapped those ambitious plans as the Covid crisis hit his pocket. Aberdeens second and potentially third choice ream would beat Hibs, they actually have a very thick squad when you look through it, the benefactor helps them alot and unfortunately we don't have that needed benifactor that can take us to the next level that we need to reach as a club.
McGinn carried us for years and made players around him look good, the current crop couldnt lace either of his feet, I'd move on a fair few of the current midfeild.
Next game against St Mirren then the dreaded games against the Old Firm where I suspect our midfeild will be found out again against far superior players and Jack Ross's lack of tactics will also be found out again in the big games.

[hibeejim21]

The lack of movement and creativity from our midfield is the main problem, Scott Allan seems to have vanished. I always wondered why Brendan Rodgers never gave him a shot at the Tims, but I don't think he ever thought he had the mentality to be a top player and he may well be right no matter how skilful he is. Hallberg and Newell are ok but not great shakes (and the latter looks too slow), Boyle is our main man but Jack doesn't seem to know how to get the best out of him.

We need Gogic in the middle and some better quality next to him, a good 'all rounder' wouldn't hurt at all. And get Boyle used properly.... I reckon our perfomances would improve a lot.

[0762]

I've previously commented that Allan would never be in my first team line up v tough opponents and I stick by that view. I've captained a few footie teams in my time and I could see myself "losing the rag" with a midfield luxury like Allan who chooses when to play and when not to play, effectively not "pulling his weight" in tough matches - couldn't tolerate that! Allan's time at Dundee and at Celtic revealed all I wanted to know re him as a player. In his defence, he suffers from type 1 diabetes and that can definitely affect his performance on the pitch. However, his character as a footie player is not altered due to this illness. In the interim, get Nisbet back to full fitness - we played better with "two up top". Gogic is a cult hero, a huge miss! We need to focus on still being defensively strong. Boyly needs a good shake and told to "get a grip" - don't know if JR has the tools to do that! The other option is to "do a Lennon" and drop him! As for Jamie Murphy? The jury is still out re Murphy TBH but he needs to be given a chance. On initial observation, he reminds me of a previous Hibs player, Alan Gow. That doesn't augur well because he turned out to be a total flop. I hope I'm wrong re that initial view.

[hibeejim21]

Murphy is clearly miles 'off it' at the moment and needs a bit of time. He has a lot of experience at a decent enough level though.

[0762]

I'm assuming Murphy was brought in by JR to replace the departing Horgan but IMO he is a different type of player. Horgan was a good wing provider of scoring chances for Doidge and Nisbet when he was "on his game" but didn't do it often enough. IMO Wright won't do that often enough either - another typical Ross signing with limited ability to become a real "game changer". We need some new players who can "hit the ground running" and add a bit of extra quality to the 1st team!

[hibeejim21]

Horgan has one good game in 5. Thats the challenge for Murphy when he's fit, and wright to a certain extent - to give us a bit more consistency.

As I said after the Motherwell game the boy Campbell looks a really good player who's going places. In January he can sign for anyone on a free, be a great bit of business for us.