[0762]

It's noticeable on other Hibs forums that Boyle is not highly regarded by many Hibs fans at the moment. My impression of MB was that he'd make a reasonable squad player who can cover during certain 'injury periods' or be used as an impact player. That view has not changed! I can see that Hibs fans have been highly critical of him ever since that solid 4-0 win at ER v QOS in which it is generally regarded that Boyle scorned far too many scoring opps to be seriously considered as a prime contender in more important matches like the one v Dundee United. So Lennon picked him, he had a nightmare of a match and then decided to take a crucial pk that was 'lame' TBF against a known pk saver who had previously saved a 'hat trick' of pks at East End Park!!!  My confidence in Boyle at that precise moment was nil and that 'thumbs down' was confirmed soon after! Having taken many good pks in my time, my advice to him would've been to 'batter' the ball past Cammy Bell with conviction thereby rendering the ball an absolute 'blur' before the goalie could move!!! OR, mainly because of his level of poor performance, concede to Grant Holt who looked like he was well up for doing exactly as described because he realised the importance of converting this pk - he did it for Norwich City often enough!!! Boyle did not deliver under the circumstances that I observed at Tannadice on Fri night and I wonder if he'll be given a 'start' by Lennon any time soon? There are certainly many critical Hibs fans who are now watching Lennon's moves to deal with this issue and how Cummings relegation to the subs' bench persists although I must say I didn't think Cummings efforts in the last 25 mins at Tannadice convinced me that he provided the answer either!!! He had the chance to do it but he didn't although he did perform better than Boyle.
Bring back Sparky eh!! And that will be our goal scoring prob solved!! We apparently have the best defensive record in the UK/Europe at the moment and we just need to enhance our goal scoring prowess!! Sparky is apparently 'cheesed off' at Celtic and would return to his 'spiritual home' in a flash!! Take him and Commons and what an exciting 'end of season' we would have and it wouldn't matter either way if we were title winners or in an unlikely play-off situation IMO!! If only?

[HerefordBull]

Boyle basically has one thing .....pace. This frightens opposition defences but only when used in the right way. Often he runs around like a demented chicken and generally has a poor first touch. I think you are right as to either use him as an impact player or use him wide to get to the by line and behind opposition fullbacks.

Cummings attitude has not impressed me since being dropped.....either in warm up or when he gets a chance in the last 25 minutes or so.......he should be busting a gut to impress all at Hibernian FC but is not doing so. The ironical thing is that he would almost have certainly scored the penalty if he had been on, as many of his goals come that way.

Griffiths........now that is another story and Xmas wish ......but unlike many of my wishes for Xmas, unlikely to bear fruit.

GGTTH

[0762]

But you can comprehend the inference that is being made! Hibs should actually be about 12-15 pts in front of Dundee Utd at the moment and I reckon our goals scored should realistically be about 40 goals!! We are consistently creating some really good scoring opps but too many of them are being squandered by players who don't have that consistent level of clinical finishing that is needed to 'put opposition teams to the sword'.

[hfcbounce]

I sort o feel a bit for Boyle he's came in after his game v Dunfermline and done fairly well scoring 4 goals I think.
Yes he had a nightmare v Dundee Utd but so did a lot of our team and with him missing the penalty a lot of guys blame him & rightly so I think we would have won the game on Friday but Utd got a massive lift from it.
0762 is right he's a squad / impact player but on the other hand our main strikers are not setting the heather on fire either we need someone who's going to score on a regular basis for us to take the pressure off.

GGTTH

[0762]

Hence the suggestion re Sparky (or similar)! A marquee loan signing that would deal with this issue, injuries permitting, once and for all! I'm sure Neil Lennon is aware of this weakness but the big question is, 'Will he tackle the prob' or endure the 'gamble' that certain Hibs players will still deliver the requisite goals even without the prolific striker who we are dearly missing particularly in the few testy matches that will arise during this Championship season.

[hibeejim21]

I think the signs are that lennon is going to bring in some better options for the attacking areas in january. Im not sure he had a huge amount of time to assess the squad when he came in but he certainly has commented on how we lack pace and width. I'd like to see a couple of players come in who can cross the ball and go past players,as much as a lot of our midfield play was good on friday if it had been a little sharper and faster i don't think utd could have handled it.

I wouldn't write boyle off just yet,i think he's a tough wee character and will come good. I'm not convinced cummings was any better than boyle and he hasn't put in a shift for the team for some time now. I find that more worrying than boyles form.

[ritchiebaby]

In my opinion, Boyle is good enough, just not consistent enough. He's either full of confidence or struggling a bit. Playing poorly on Friday night meant he might as well have been subbed at half-time. But he is definitely good as an impact sub, unlike Cummings, who needs to feel wanted. Therefore he should be used from the start or not at all. When he's on the bench,  he's already lost all interest and will not try when he comes on.

I've been a really good boy this year, so if I get Sparky for Christmas, I'll make sure he gets a game for Hibs!!!  

[hibeejim21]

Think the word is that keatings is about fit again. But part of me just thinks the manager should just stick 2 up front and give them a right good run of games instead of constantly chopping and changing it.

[0762]

I'm sure most of us never liked to lose that steady team formation when it was suddenly thrown upon Neil Lennon as these mid players' injuries arose and he's been forced to upset/tweak the Hibs line up in the hope we still keep 'ticking over' effectively in games - clearly a test of the strength of Hibs player squad.

[HerefordBull]

Need Keatings back ASAP as he is about the only one who has shown he can strike a good dead ball for corners and freekicks.