[0762]

Goal or no goal at this stage we shouldn't be struggling against a part time team which is already down.

Again Stubbs showing he has no plan b or c etc. Championship again for us next season as there is no way this side can play 6 positive  games in the play offs to go up. Questions are when and how does Stubbs go and what effect have Thomson and Stokes had especially in the dressing room?   

I think you'll finish 2nd. It's advantage Falkirk at the moment but you've got 4 home games out of 5 remaining and if can raise your game to get results against us and Falkirk you'll be well set. I expect us to field a weakened side against you and Falkirk aren't firing on all cylinders themselves. If it's Kilmarnock in the playoff I'd fancy the chances of any of the 3 Championship sides involved. Incidentally, are the dates of the playoff games available? I'm sure last season it was awkwardly scheduled so we had more than a week between our 1st round games and then had to play 4 more in quick succession. It's not the only reason we lost the final but we didn't rotate much and our team was knackered by the last game.

You exude more optimism re Hibs future fortunes than many Hibs fans I know El Car!!    I wish I could share the same positive view of our current situation! Sadly I don't because, like exterhibby, I feel that Stubbs and Hibs first team have lost any kinda momentum that they had and we'll see how a loss to The Wasps, who had not won a single home game this season, could be even more damaging to this team than the sickening loss v Ross County in the league cup final!! I agree with exeterhibby that we are not currently geared for a 6 match play-off assault on promotion. Our strikers have been misfiring for weeks but suddenly 'raised their game' in SC ties v ICT. Then they effectively 'returned back to normal crap striking form' - there's something inherently wrong with that situ and I'm also wondering if there are dressing room probs? IMO last week's injury to El Alagui was a 'stab in the heart' as this recuperating Hibs striker seemed to be one of the few players who energised Hibs attack when he fleetingly appeared up front. From all accounts that I've picked up, Dylan McGeouch's injury is more complicated than first appears - a subsequent op in order??? I hope not because we could be doing with a mid player who 'stands on the baw' and tries to play in a controlled fashion. Even our goalie can't 'keep clean sheets' and in some of our losing games the opposition have only had one shot on goal while Hibs squander 12-15+ scoring chances!!  The craic at Hibs is that David Gray has been carrying an injury for weeks and is soldiering on under medical supervision. Also Stubbs has to try and protect a good young mid player like John McGinn who clearly tires late on in games and needs to be covered by another decent mid player. The worst news is that Danny Handling's career could possibly be over because of a nasty groin injury and I know all about that kinda injury from experience. He's a young player but at least he might have been an option for the manager to use in certain games. I'll attend the Farkirk match on Tuesday night but I have no great belief that Hibs will win this match under the current circumstances and preceding a SC semi-final where I genuinely believe some players are 'saving themselves' to avoid picking up any injury - being an ex player myself, I never played this way at all and don't believe that a team of players can 'switch on or off' as they choose - IMO a dangerous practise and IMO a dishonest one as well!  I'll go to ER Stadium in hope that a Hibs revival materialises on Tuesday night but that's about it!!    Maybe the Hibs 'tanking', that I've been predicting in previous threads, will happen at last and a huge number of these created scoring chances end up in the Falkirk pokey and give the team, and the Hibs fans, a welcome boost before heading for Hampen on Saturday.