Hibernian -V- ICT : matchday thread

[Johnboy]

Anyone be bothered to look up our record and split it into games where Hayes has played, and the ones he's missed?

My calculator tells me that we've earned 1.45 points per game when Jonny has featured (top 6 form), and just 0.57 ppg when he hasn't (guaranteed relegation). So extrapolating being without him for a full season, we'd end up with a Gretna-esque 22 points.

I was hoping an accountant would respond to that question!

A very interesting analysis and it goes a long way to answering all those who suggested that ICT were something of a 1 man team.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

That was the worstwell it made the top ten - trip I have ever been on. It was like wtaching two teams playing each other after the split knowing that they were safe from relegation. In my book that simply is'nt good enuff. There was a lack of committment from some individuals and I am afraid that - tactically - Terry and Mo got it all wrong. Have also to remark that it was the best Hibee Home support that I have witnessed in years and unfortunately we were like a home support for the majority of the time. I suppose it may have been becos of trepidation following our last visit but I was actually shocked by the mass exodus when they scored the late second. It was HIGHLY EMBARRAASING.

ESSON If Ryan doesnt get a Scotland call off - even if it is a one -off sign of recognition - then Craig Levein should give us a clear decision rationale. In my book he was the only player who "performed" and therefore - once again - my MOM.

DUFF I have always liked him as a right back but that isnt his preferred and looking more like not his best position. He is solid enuff but he lost his usual composure and trying to pass the ball out of defence and simply hoofed it most of the time - or was that tactical?? He was also lost playing against Riordan who played deeper and had far, far, far too much time on the ball.

HOGG Coming back to a club where you have enjoyed life for years is always going to be difficult. He did well enuff but the lack of concentration which led to the first goal is not the ilk of an experienced and seasoned campaigner.

ROSSCOE Determination, effort and committment are integral qualities of Mr Tokely but playing as a central defender isnt. Yes he did OK but he gets out of position too often. He makes up for his defects with his passion and tackling but he needs to go back to his favoured position. You could ahve said that he should have equalised but it was a full back in a shooting position and that can go horribly wrong.

GRANTY I suppose that Terry had no choice but he simply isnt a left back and it will be interesting to see what will happen when Shinnie and Gillet return - as both are preferences. It will also be intersting to see if Terry has the "balls" to play Granty and Hogg together - as he should do - and what he then does with Rosscoe and Duff.

DORAN He has displayed promise and potential but what was on show at Easter Road was his lack of experience and naievity. He simply did not suus Riordan or the wee boy at left back who scored the first goal. He looked "lost" at times. He evidently does not come up to a Johnny Hayes replacement as he wasnt played to stick wide and he wasnt prioritised to be given the ball - I would have liked to have seen him in the Hayes role.

DUNCAN A la Rosscoe - sure he works his butt off and is a leg end but these are the kind of games where Russell becomes anonymous. He plays in the hole when all Hibee threats are out wide. He cant play a pass out - unless he is feeding Hayes - and he just watches the hoofs going over his head.

COX Like Russell in many ways but I think that he is a better player to be in the "hole" role. Simple passes he can do well but intricate passes he cant.

ERIC DJEBI-ZADI That is his name to me as he has similar skill and appears to do little wrong in the eye of Mr Butcher - I would prefer to play with 10 men. That may sound harsh but he is being carried.

FORAN I thought that he palyed really well - freer after Eric went off - if only we could provide him with better service.

ROONEY As per Foran - I feel that he gets better game by game although by his standards he should have got a brace - dont know who looked the more perplexed when he was hooked - Adam or me ??

ROSS Where exactly did he play when he came on ? It is time to let we Nick have a run as the creative central midfielder. Will wait to watch the highlights but did Nick miss the runner for the first goal or was it Doran.

So Tel got the tactics all wrong yesterday and the icing on the cake was to replace Rooney with Sutherland with 2-3 minutes left - especially when we had a free kick in a very promising position. I see in the papers that Terry said that he picked up 14 "strangers" on the A9 and would be chucking them off on the way back. Personally I would have fecked them all off at half time with a rite rollicking and sent back 11 good men in their proper positions and with an apparent will to play football and win.

Post match I was asked will we still make the top 6 and have we lost our way - My response was that we will be in the top 6 and we wont be going back to Easter Road this season and the second response was a subtle play on words - " we have simply lost our Hayes !!"

HOGG

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Forgot to mention wee McDonald - looks lively but is he a wee Dean or a budding Craig ?

[tm4tj]

Radio said it was Ross who never followed the runner, possibly because he was not switched on so soon after coming on.

[Johnboy]

Radio said it was Ross who never followed the runner, possibly because he was not switched on so soon after coming on.

What do they know?

Just been watching the highlights.....Hogg was careless in giving away possession. Esson could have shouldered some blame for being caught well off his line. I haven't heard any our own supporters who were actually at the game blame Ross for that goal. It was a good opportunist strike though....

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

It was Nick Ross who didnt track back and he also didnt track back in the move that started the second goal as well. But I thought that Doran stayed wide rite in the second half ??

[lizi]

Ok, ICT were not great but, it was disappointing to see the rush of "fans" to the exit when Hibs got their second goal. We have been used to singing "Is there a fire drill" when we have witnessed the Old Firm etc fans leaving early but, ICT fans leaving early .....oh dear.

My highlight of a poor day out was getting a nice big hug from IHE at half-time. My downlight (is there such a word/term) was mis-placing one of our older passengers from the bus (Lady Kath would have called him a coffin-dodger)(he was found, thankfully)(by Lady Kath)(who wasnt even on the bus!) but my blood pressure still is not happy. Oh, the stress!!!

No wonder I am having to give the next away game to Dundee United a miss (going to a Ladies Away Weekend with lots of champagne etc etc). The blood pressure may be recovered by then! but I will miss my hug from IHE. I hope to make up for my missed hug at the next away game, promise, please, IHE ? !

[TopSix]

I was surprised by the mass exodus when the second one went in. Why did lots of people pile out? I'd like to think they were they all off to catch up with West Stand fan Gary Tank Commander to taunt him further. Did the team turn up expecting to win that one yesterday?

[lukemackay]

was it just me or were the pies raw?

i liked the look of macdonald when he came on

but that was all it was just so poor

[lizi]

Agree with you. Alex Macdonald looked good. Maybe a shame that Aaron Doran got his chance first but, then Macdonald can shine in the later stages of the league. He will get his chance, soon, after yesterdays few minutes. At least he was better for that few minutes than Eric was for over an hour. Just what does Mr Butcher see in Eric - we don't see it, but that's why we are not the Manager and he is.

[gingerjaggy]

awful display duff was pathetic and our strikers had no service all day. Pretty enjoyable for us yesterday having no hassle from the stewards and police but nothing to enjoy on the pitch. We cant afford another performance like that if we are going to hold on to the top 6

[Scarlet Pimple]

I don't really see why you all are blaming Hogg for the first goal. Ryan Esson was well off his line and seemed transfixed as it came towards him. Nine out of ten of that type of ball would have hit the bar or gone over and it was a bit of a fluke to be honest IMHO.

Also I did see Hogg run like the clappers half-way across the park to go in to one of the Hibs' players with a bang and the ball and the player went over the line for a throw-in., He seems to be a worker and is not afraisd to shift to get the ball.

Rooney and Foran were good today? Are you on something? Sorry! Were they actually playing for goodness sake? Neither of them appeared to be dangerous at all and faded out of sight for periods. Or was the fuzzy T.V. picture I was watrtching the cause of all this?

Miller of Hibs was some player yesterday--industrious, pacy enough, skilled enough to take on and beat a few of our guys etc. I wish he was in our team. Rordan did a bit of puffing but although he came close at times he was not really that much of a threat I don't think. Sure, he is a clever lad, but his long range attempts at goal were unlikely to trouble Esson.

In the first 15 to 20 minutes I thought Hibs were going to score at least two and looked really dangerous. They had, at least at that stage, urgency and hunger in their play that Caley lacked and I was nervous --this fired up the crowd and they had their chances I must say.

Eric ran about a lot, did tackle a couple of times but frankly speaking was ineffective. Doran tried hard and also backtracked quite a lot, which meant he had to run distances to catch the player who got past him. Why is he the only one dsignated to take all corners. Two successive corners of his went sailing over all the heads and out over the goal lines -- completely wasted efforts!! Inexperience ? Probably and tiredness a bit, maybe.

Have a good week coming up.

[tm4tj]

It was Hogg's careless pass that led to the quick throw-in that caught us cold, and Nick Ross was unable to make up the ground on Booth. All stemmed from Hogg's slack pass which was neither a clearance or a pass.

The camera sometimes lies Pimp. You don't always see the whole picture on film.

Doran normally can take a well wicked dead ball.

[alternative maryhill]

Rooney and Foran were good today? Are you on something? Sorry!

From where I was sitting,Rooney was our best outfield player by some distance. We had maybe five or six chances of any note in the whole game - four of them were largely down to Rooney's ability to read where the ball was going even if, on this occasion, his finishes were below his usual standard. He also did his best to hold up the ball and look for support, which was largely non-existent. The service he received on Saturday was absolutely diabolical - he can't be in three places at once, but did at least tend to be in the correct areas of the pitch looking for the ball, unlike the majority of his team-mates (Foran, perhaps, excepted).

[SanMiguel]

I was surprised by the mass exodus when the second one went in. Why did lots of people pile out?

Ok, ICT were not great but, it was disappointing to see the rush of "fans" to the exit when Hibs got their second goal

I cant speak for anyone else but I left because tobacco and a beer was at the top of my to do list. After watching such a poor performance a comeback was going to be impossible. I understand I should support my team through think and thin no matter the result, I just couldn't watch anymore. Rory we tried to come and find you but yous had left before we got to the pub you were in

[TopSix]

No worries bud. Only stayed out for one pint then went home tbh. Pretty deflated at those 90 minutes.

[IMMORTAL HOWDEN ENDER]

Wow Scarlet - there must be some feckin poor reception in the Rockies - You have picked on the three best performers from a debacle - In the POY ratings I went Esson (5); Rooney (3) and Foran (1).

Hogg will come good but it was a loss of concentration with the attempted pass to Duff - plus the ball sat up just rite for the wee Hibby - no way that Esson could have seen that coming.

But when the feck did Eric Djebi Zadi tackle - I missed them both.

[Scarlet Pimple]

It was the reception then IHE......my reception.

No question aboot it. That's why I had to give in to my wife's demands and went out and bought a 55 inch T.V. I wanted a 46" and she wanted a 50" so we compromised as you can see. Shoot!

About Esson--I didn't say he had a bad game. Just pointing out that he was quite a bit off his line for the one that beat him. Esson actually did very well in all other situations. Like a well-oiled engine.-- with Esson Extra in it .

And Tokely was doing great until he also faded later on.

Eric--I said he went for a tackle or two. I didn't say at any time that he came away with the ball did I? Running in circles but he tried, he definitely did.

[lizi]

The supporters on Saturday, me included, were naming Eric - Eric "Waste of Space" Odhiambo. Just what does Terry see in him? He must work hard in training, or something. Every time his name is in the team lines, groans all round. Please Terry, put him on the bench and he can do some good coming on for the last ten minutes (maybe).