[0762]

Yep ritchiebaby I think Stubbsy has been a bit short-sighted with the Ox situation!    Also somebody please explain to me what is going on with Stokes? I watched some of his goal attempts v Alloa on the bbc iplayer and one of his headed attempts from a good position, close to their goal, was absolutely embarrassing. I can head a baw better myself and I'm no spring chicken!!!! Also some of his weak kicking attempts tell me there is something not right with this guy!!! He can't be eating his Irish stew if that's the weak level of kicking that he can only attempt!  An  interesting comparison was Sparky's dynamic display for Celtic v Motherwell v this insipid performance by Stokes! The difference was 'night and day'.

[0762]

http://www.hibernianfc.co.uk/news/6382

I hope Stubbsy is right!

[ritchiebaby]

Alan Stubbs is right, but he's been saying the same thing for the past month and we're still waiting.   We need the 3 points tomorrow night if we want to finish second. Not that it would be a bad thing to take on Raith Rovers. At least we wouldn't be swanning off to Spain on a jolly.

PS - Stokes was probably picking his Grand National tricast (or whatever it's called) during the game.

[0762]

Ha ha ha That would've been his pre-activity before clubbing in Embro - gotta get his priorities right eh!
But well-spotted re Stubbs repetitive chat ritchiebaby! Last week he commented in the EEN that he was confident that Stokes would deliver! We're still waiting even though he scored two crucial goals v ICT in the recent SCQF tie. He's done very little in Championship matches! Again I hope Stubbs is right as our remaining matches gradually keep running down and we need all our strikers to start doing what they profess to be good at - SCORING GOALS!

[hibeejim21]

Theres been games where nothing has come off for stokes but times i've seen him he is putting in a shift for the team,working out wide and closing down players. He has done more than cummings of late anyway.

it's all moot because stubbs has made it clear he is sticking with him and cummings up front.

[0762]

But it's still ultimately down to scoring goals hibeejim and even though hibs didn't play particularly well at Recreation Park, Stokes' attempts on goal, from good positions in the pen box, were absolutely woeful. I previously mentioned his headed effort from about 4 metres and it really was a dreadful attempt from a guy who should at least be 'working the goalie' from such a good position. He hardly even needed to jump in order to head the ball!
Stubbs' intransigence to stick with Stokes and Cummings could well end up being his undoing and I don't think many Hibs fans will be too sympathetic if it happens! I suspect his 'loyalty' to this pair is based on their performance v ICT but that was one of these fleeting occasions when certain Hibs players suddenly tried a wee bit harder than normal because it was a bigger match!

[TheWorthinGer]

I'm neither watching nor listening to this game, however, going by the stats and text commentary, it's all Hibs for the first 40 minutes.

Falkirk are a 2nd half side so expect them to come out fighting following the break.

[TheWorthinGer]

What did I tell you, eh.

Falkirk have a neversaydie attitude that any team would be proud of.

[0762]

Well I've just returned from ER and the bairns are indeed a battling side but they only should have been battling with eight players on the pitch by the 65th minute! This was the dirtiest game of the season with another 'nightmare Scottish referee' in charge plus a nightmare bald AR ( are these guys on the take? Shocking officiation!) who clearly didn't know what the rule of offside is! The Falkirk CH should've walked immediately after the most cynical foul you'll witness on Stokesy who was gonna pass him and run through on goal! Forget the 'last man rule'! Also regular cynical fouls all over the pitch and the two footed tackle 'off the deck' by Sibbald (?) on David Gray was mind blowing - quiet man Gray's immediate reaction said it all - a straight red card all day long but not from this ref, Crawford Allan! Captain Gray taken off at HT and what about protection of players by competent ref officials? - disgracefully weak refereeing!! As for Stubbs' tactical nous at the end of the match - baffling TBF. You defend against a weakened side in their half of the pitch, not in our half!!!!!! I'd also like to find out who was captaining Hibs in the 2nd half because that job was not done properly tonight.
One huge positive from this match is that we are indeed a better team than Falkirk and we 'had this lot on toast' until the red card incident when somebody decided to change our attacking initiative and Stubbs tried to be cute by tampering with the mid formation!!! You don't change a winning side that is 'playing on the front foot' and playing well by 2-0! Why go f###### cautious??????? The bairns clearly couldn't handle that pressure and Stubbs definitely has a lotta questions to answer re his involvement in this end result!

[TheWorthinGer]

Peeyooor raging.

Excellent.