[0762]

Well this is Falkirk's big chance to potentially seal their second placed spot in the Championship after their last mins win v The Buddies. The Bairns' players will be up for it while huge questions are being asked re Stubbs' ability to motivate or improve a stuttering Hibs side that seems to be losing to any Championship side that attacks Hibs goal on only one to three or four occasions while Hibs normally squander 12-15+ scoring opportunities. It's a glaring trend that most Hibs observers are aware of and it looks like Stubbs is unable to provide any  good answers to this problem any more! What a good time for the Bairns to play this match as well esp with Hibs Scottish Cup semi-final looming ever closer and certain players definitely 'not playing the game' and 'saving themselves'!! Lets see if these chancers do it in front of their own backing Cabbage fans at ER Stadium or will they remain ineffective again with the manager 'sitting in the background' cringing in utter frustration? It will all unfold on Tuesday night and I'll certainly head along to see what Hibs side is selected to start a possible revival! Otherwise I fear the 'rot' will truly set in and we are heading for a real 'downer'.
Will Stubbs replace the Ox and give Logan a run before the semi-final or will he just 'chance it' and play him when required? Will he play this misfiring striking duo of Cummings and Stokes and baffle us even further? Will he rest certain key Hibs players for what he (or Hibs FC) regards as a crucial semi-final v Dundee United? Is he bright enough to try out a Plan B in either of these important matches? Will Stubbs be Hibs manager by the end of next week? I'm sure he will still be the manager but all will be revealed soon enough and I think we'll know where we stand 'after the dust settles' on Tuesday night.

[hibeejim21]

I'd rather beat them in the play off game..... No point discussing stubbs position,he will be manager til the end of the season whatever.

[HerefordBull]

I doubt now he will change Oxley, he seems incapable of changing from a system that brought success earlier on in the campaign. Last Tuesday v Livingston would have been the ideal game to blood Virtanen or Logan. After the Raith game he was "fuming" and " changes were to be made" but in the next game we went straight back to plan A. In recent weeks the combination of Stokes with Keatings seemed to gel ( against ICT) with the latter player looking more potent than the position Stubbs asks him to occupy when Cummings plays.

There has been a lot of talk, hype and interest about Cummings and unfortunately both he and Stubbs have got carried away with it. He has scored goals ( helps with him taking the spot kicks) for sure but he is miles away from a finished article and certainly wouldn't have a great impact in the English Championship. He needs to work harder, improve his technique....especially his right side and stop throwing himself to the ground and then moaning at the ref when a foul is correctly not given!

A draw for the Bairns on Tuesday puts them firmly in the box seat as they have a superior goal difference, which the way we are scoring would take us 2 seasons to match, and one of our games in hand is against Rangers the following week who will be up for not giving us anything as they are Champions.

Won't stop me going to the Cup semi next week and then to the Rangers game.

'mon Hibs

GGTTH

[hibeejim21]

cummings and oxleys form went to pot months ago,yet they have still played just about every game pretty much. And i'm a big fan of cummings.

I'm looking forward to the next few games though and i'm still behind the guys.

[TheWorthinGer]

I'd rather beat them in the play off game..... No point discussing stubbs position,he will be manager til the end of the season whatever.

If you make it to a game against them of course.

[hibeejim21]

I'd rather beat them in the play off game..... No point discussing stubbs position,he will be manager til the end of the season whatever.

If you make it to a game against them of course.

No shit sherlock.

[0762]

The most annoying thing re the Falkirk situation is the fact that Hibs are clearly a better side than The Bairns as observed in the three matches that I've attended but GOOD SCORING CHANCES MUST BE CONVERTED TO EMPHASISE THAT SUPERIORITY! I commented months ago that one of my big concerns was the distraction and extra games when competing in the latter stages of the cup competitions and that concern has been vindicated. Also, as previously commented in other threads, we would not be debating these issues if we had a competent pen box striker 'leading the line'. Sparky would've been ideal but that's just wishful thinking now. I believe Malonga would've scored more goals than Stokes up to now even though he was a lazy b######! Another decision by Stubbs that may well bring him down by season end! I just hope Farid's injury is a minor one but nobody at Hibs is saying very much re the big man's injury.

[HerefordBull]

Stubbs system only seems to work well when Dylan Mc is playing .....unfortunately he is so injury prone we now are lucky to get half a game of football out of him before he breaks down again......big underlying problem and haven't heard on his present progress and whether an op is on the cards.

[0762]

Re Dylan's injury, I gather that the prob has been described as more complicated than first thought! Does that indeed mean that he's due an op or can he recover and struggle through until season end? I think the only player who could take over Dylan's role is Hendo but he has a different style to his mid game. I personally think we should be playing someone like Fonts or Gunnarson in front of our back line of Gray, Darren Mac, Hanlon and Stevo and set up our mid trio to suit that adjustment in attempting to strengthen up in the defensive mid area but still keep creating the scoring chances in the attacking third of the pitch. However, who'd be a footie manager with so many strikers frustratingly misfiring for weeks??

[ritchiebaby]

I don't like admitting this, but 1wattie's theory about Hibs failing at the end of each season, because of the number of players having little to play for, is being proved once again. To be quite honest, if that is the case, I'd be dumping the shirkers now and not waiting until the end of the season.

Having said that, the team still need our support and I'll be up on Tuesday night to do just that. As 0762 says, we'll have a better idea of the situation after that game.

I have a pet theory about Stubbs' reluctance to continually use his third substitute - he might need to sub Oxley because of a lost contact lens!   Yes, it is far-fetched and farcical, but until Stubbs proves me wrong, it's always at the back of my mind. It's up to you, Alan.

GGTTH