Three nil-nils in a week had me looking out the old smelling salts to avoid falling asleep on Hibs TV.
I’m afraid it’s been mind numbing and unfortunately even the whiff of a bargain might not be enough to bring back the new punters enticed along to Easter Road by entry for a fiver in Saturday’s draw with St Johnstone.
Honestly the timing of the otherwise excellent initiative couldn’t have been worse with another rotten show in front of goal.
A full house in the stands but another empty performance in the final third.
Speaking to the marketing people afterwards and they would much rather have had a 3-3 - in fact they’d even have preferred a 4-3 defeat!
Hibs have now drawn a blank in eight out of last 10 league games and that is incredible. I can’t remember in my lifetime Hibs going through a spell like this in front of goal.
For me the old phrase there’s no reward without risk.
You can see the nervousness when they get into the final third now.
Hibs play with one striker but Christian Doidge was isolated. Sylvester Jasper was excellent but Ewan Henderson was quiet. They need these guys to be chipping in with goals and assists regularly.
Blame the strikers all you want but I always found if we weren’t scoring then you had to look at the supply.
For me it’s just not there. They’re not creative enough, don’t take enough risks and everything is too safe.
It’s sterile. They’re lacking flair and Shaun Maloney has to find a solution.
There’s no doubt the loss of Martin Boyle has left a massive hole. Team are now coming to Easter Road and squeezing 15 yards further up the park because they know there’s not the same threat without Boyle’s pace.
It means there’s less space in the middle for Henderson, Scott Allan or Jasper to work. The game is condensed because they know there’s no threat in behind.
Hibs have to pass through teams and it’s difficult.
I was listening to Stuart Kettlewell on the radio and he said when he was managing Ross County against Hibs they had to sit 15 yards deeper because they were scared to leave space for Boyle.
That threat has gone.
There’s no getting away from the horrendous injury crisis though. You could argue the 10 injured players plus suspended Rocky Bushiri would have been a stronger team than the one which started.
There was no Matt Macey in goal. Paul Hanlon and Paul McGinn would have started, Harry Clarke, Joe Newell, Kyle Magennis, Kevin Nisbet would all have started.
Any club in the top flight including the Old Firm would struggle if you took seven starters out their team.
They just have to soldier on and try to cement that European place because unbelievably Hibs are still fourth with one win in 10 games.
On another note the tackle on Jake Doyle-Hayes was a red card straight away for me. No debate.
The whole crowd thought it was a red card. Referee Craig Napier took Cammy MacPherson away and booked him.
It was clearly the wrong decision for me and is just another indication of how poor our refereeing is.
Against Dundee through the week the high feet tackle on Josh Doig could have been a red and Danny Mullen stamping on Ryan Porteous could have been a red.
Dundee and St Johnstone should have been down to 10 men and that could affected both those results.
These are the breaks you maybe need to go and win a game 1-0. But they’re not getting them right now.
Shaun has to hope it arrives with the Scottish Cup quarter final at Fir Park this weekend. A win could ignite the season for Hibs or Motherwell.
The only problem is that between them they’ve got one win in 20 games so get your money on this one going to spot kicks like at the same stage last season!
It’s just about getting through into the semi final. That would buy Shaun more goodwill with the supporters.
The rewards for winning the Scottish Cup this season are huge in terms of Europe and the financial benefits that come with that.
Ron Gordon and the board have put their money in and backed the managers. They stadium is looking magnificent.
He will be looking for some return on that and a cup win and European football would be a good start.
