Hibernian have secured third place in the Scottish top flight for the first time since 2005. The country’s third best team, best of the rest – call it what you like it’s a significant and impressive achievement.
Last night’s result and performance at Pittodrie was expertly managed, with defending solid for huge spells of the game and Christian Doidge continuing his good run of form to stick away the winner when he needed to.
Darren McGregor and Alex Gogic were both superb for 90 minutes, with big Daz doing what he’s done all season and coming into the team when called upon and looking like he’s never been away.
Derek McInnes referred to Ross McRorie as a ‘Rolls Royce’ of a player after a win at Easter Road earlier in the season but Darren McGregor has been every bit as smooth in his appearances this season. The fact most of them have come after a long period on the bench makes his contributions even more impressive.
In Alex Gogic Hibs have the player we have been missing since Paul Heckingbottom inadvertently allowed Marvin Bartley and Mark Milligan to leave the club at the same time.
His ability to break up the play has stopped teams playing through us as easily and has to be a huge reason why our away form has been so good this term. He allows the more creative minds ahead of him to do their thing without leaving us exposed.
A few quick facts about the league campaign compared to the curtailed 2019/20 season:
- A third-place finish is an improvement of four league places vs. 2019/20 when we finished 7th on PPG
- 11 away wins in the league is two more than we managed in total after 30 games of the 2019/20 season
- 35 goals conceded after 37 league games vs. 49 after 30 in 2019/20
- Goal difference of +13 compared to -7 after 30 matches in 2019/20
There was the huge disappointment of the two semi-final losses to contend with, which could have easily derailed our season but credit has to be given to the way the squad and coaching staff managed to keep the league season moving in the right direction.
Losses to Hearts and St Johnstone were undoubtedly huge missed opportunities to get our hands on some silverware earlier in the season but setbacks which appear to have inspired the squad to kick on since then.
Hibs haven’t been outside the top four in the league all season and – despite what some say about the general standard of everyone else – that is a huge achievement and a significant improvement over the last 18 months.
The strength of the performances this season come from the collective contributions of a squad of players which has complemented each other over the last 10 months.
Joe Newell started the season like a house on fire and has been backed up by Jackson Irvine in recent months as his performances dipped slightly. Kevin Nisbet and Ryan Porteous sat out of the starting XI for a spell after the January transfer window and in stepped Martin Boyle and Darren McGregor to deliver some big results.
At full back Paul McGinn and Josh Doig have been two of the top performers at the club this year but Chris Cadden and Lewis Stevenson have come into the team when called upon and done very little wrong.
Ofir Marciano dropped out with an injury in January, Matt Macey came into the team and hasn’t looked out of place in the games he’s played so far. Macey has been such a solid performer that it looks incredibly likely that Jack Ross will trust him between the sticks for the Scottish Cup final next weekend.
It’s been well documented that the squad at Easter Road is smaller than it might have been in the past, and at times it looked like it may cause some issues with injury, but everyone has played their part and delivered when called upon.
There is an opportunity for Hibs to really kick on from this season – when fans return to matches and revenues start to move back to where they were pre-Covid the club will be in a really strong position. In Ron Gordon we have an ambitious owner who is only just starting to implement his plan for the club, with the backing of the Hibs support there is lots to be positive about.
As the third force in Scotland, with European football of some description on the horizon next season, it’s a really good time to be at Hibernian and hopefully that will be reflected in our recruitment ahead of next season.
There will undoubtedly be bids and speculation for some of the stand out players in the squad; Josh Doig, Ryan Porteous and Kevin Nisbet could well be on their way in the summer, but that is to be expected after a good year and shows what has been achieved is being noticed.
Jack Ross deserves huge credit for the way he has built the squad this season and with a less restricted summer window ahead of him it’ll be interesting to see how he continues to mould the team.
In just over a week this group of players have the chance to turn a good season into an unforgettable one. St Johnstone have had our number more than once this year but hopefully the result in our sixth meeting of the campaign is the right one.
The chance to lift the Scottish Cup for the second time in five years is big enough as it is without the prospect of group stage European football also thrown into the mix. It’s a huge game which will require a huge performance from everyone in green and white as St Johnstone search for an incredible cup double.
All eyes on Hampden Park on 22nd May – it’s going to be a big nine days.
The East Stand 