Welcome to the tongue-twisting time of year when Scottish clubs discover which European backwaters they’ve been paired with.
It will be either Faroese side Víkingur Gota or Andorrans Inter Club d’Escaldes for Hibs but there can also be no excuses. Let’s be honest, these are two teams hardly anyone has heard of and they must be dispatched accordingly by Lee Johnson’s side. Nothing is a given in this game – as I know better than most – but I’ll get to my Intertoto Cup humiliation shortly.
This Europa Conference League second qualifying round tie should be a canter for Johnson and his players, regardless of where they have to fly to. It’s only a five years since Hibs beat Faroese outfit NSI Runavik 12-5 on aggregate, which included a 6-4 second-leg win in the fog during the away trip. Two seasons ago they beat Santa Coloma of Andorra comfortably when clubs were operating through the Covid campaign, so they’ll have an idea of the level they’re about to face.
Chief executive Ben Kensell has already said these are two small clubs who play at small stadiums. So they should be cannon fodder, no matter the playing conditions during the away leg scheduled for August 3.
The Hibs supporters will be hoping it’s a trip to Andorra as the flights, accommodation and beer will be far cheaper than the Faroe Islands. It will also be far warmer and a decent day out. The bigger tests lie ahead, however. Kensell has stated his wish for the club to enjoy an extended run and I understand the difficulty in navigating three qualifiers to reach the group stage... but that needs to be the target.
Hibs should be reaching the groups and when I look at some of the clubs who were in the Conference League last season, it only reinforces that opinion. Clubs from great footballing pedigree such as Estonia, Finland and Gibraltar were all in the group phase, so there is absolutely no question Hibs should be getting there.
As a Hibs player I went to Lithuania, Latvia, Greece and Bulgaria. The real eye-opener was going to Lithuania in 2004 to face Vetra Vilnius in a game that was also Tony Mowbray’s second European tie as manager.
Their stadium was like a junior ground, we lost 1-0 and that was us out of the Intertoto Cup at the first time of asking. Mowbray had just been appointed and we’d only had one week of pre-season before those two games. We were caught well undercooked.
We’d drawn the first leg 1-1 at Easter Road. The game was played out in torrential rain and we then went to Vilnius when they were already halfway through their season while we were half fit.
We fielded a strong side. Scott Brown played, as did Garry O’Connor, so to lose to them was a joke. But it was only early July and most of us had just got off the plane from our holidays. If it had been two months into our season, we’d have hammered them. But we’d only been in the door a week.
These excuses won’t apply for these games coming up. To be fair, Hibs have managed to take care of the minnows over the past couple of seasons, so that should bode well. It’s about fitness and professionalism.
This is supposed to be the close-season lull but I’ve taken note of some interesting arrivals at Easter Road. I’ve no doubt David Marshall has also been watching with some interest as he’ll need to start looking over his shoulder.
Former Charlton and Swindon keeper Jojo Wollacott has come in, while Max Boruc has signed a permanent two-year deal from Slask Wroclaw. Two goalies in the door and means added pressure on big Marsh.
There is no doubt he’s still a quality keeper, he only bowed out from Scotland duty a year ago. But there were signs towards the end of last season that his focus was off a touch and he made a few mistakes.
He’s had an incredible career. He’s a fantastic No.1 but every player needs pressure applied to them and Wollacott looks like being the man to do that.
He’s a Ghana international, so he’s played at a high level and he has not been signed to play second fiddle to anyone. That will only help Marshall to raise his level of performance.
That just wasn’t the case last season. There was nobody breathing down his neck, he knew he’d start every week and that’s never an ideal scenario.
Johnson signing two keepers this early in his preparations for the season is clearly a sign the manager is aware of as much and does want to apply that pressure. There’s also the imminent return of Martin Boyle from injury, which could be the most important event in the season ahead.
Johnson will feel he’s signed a £2million player but Boyle’s impact on the pitch is matched by his influence within the dressing room as he’s an infectious character.
Jordan Obita has also come in from Wycombe and he’s going to have a job on his hands trying to wrest the left-back role from Lewis Stevenson, who turned 35 at the start of the year.
Lewis may not be Benjamin Button but he has seen off countless contenders to his throne and we’ll see if Obita is capable of unseating the Easter Road legend.
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