With Jack Ross and Graeme Mathie both leaving their roles as Head Coach and Sporting Director respectively in the last few months, David Williamson has taken a look at the club’s recruitment in their time at Hibernian and given each player a rating.
I will try to keep the Stephane Omeonga bias as low as possible although I can’t make any promises. I mean cut me some slack, he learnt Sunshine on Leith on the piano for goodness sake!
But moving away from my sweet prince, in Part One we’ll take a look at the players signed under the Ross/Mathie regime that are no longer at the club and give a summary of their time at Easter Road.
1. Adam Bogdan – 4/10
A signing that saw a return to the club from an overall positive first spell, I have a lot of mixed feelings around this one. I am a sucker for players returning for second, third or even fourth spells if possible so I was excited to see the big hungry Hungarian return.
However, Bogdan failed to make an appearance in a second spell where Chris Maxwell held the gloves which was rather underwhelming. He was released at the end of the 2019/20 season and is now keeping the goal at Ferencváros in his homeland capital of Budapest. 4/10.
2. Stephane Omeonga – 5/10
Another return, this time a second loan spell saw everyone’s favourite Belgian treat (bar their waffles) return to Leith. Again, similarly to Bogdan, Omeonga failed to replicate the form showed in his first spell although perhaps was just outshone by the next man on this list.
The fact I love him alongside his cracking side-foot top corner finish against Inverness in the Scottish Cup results in a 5/10 rating for the man now playing, very well I might add, for Livingston at the ‘Spaghettihad’ in West Lothian.
3. Greg Docherty – 8/10
The fact that one of the highest scoring players on this list both only had one spell at the club and didn’t learn the club’s anthem on a musical instrument of his choosing probably explains how well Greg Docherty performed during his short loan stint at the club.
Three goals in eight appearances in all competitions for an energetic and effective central midfielder is not a bad return at all and even prompted a John McGinn comparison (from myself) for a small period of time.
A very smart head of hair and the fact his signing led to he who shall not be named going to the club who shall not be named earns him a very well deserved 8/10 rating.
Docherty has since moved on to Hull City in the Skybet Championship where he features very regularly in midfield.
4. Marc McNulty – 4/10
A deadline day return that initially excited much of the fanbase with his strong scoring record of his previous loan spell. However only one league goal in six appearances led to a very flat return.
Whilst his cup record appears impressive it would be wise to remember that all of his cup goals came in a hat-trick against BSC Glasgow where we could probably have plucked Sanjeev Kohli out from the ultras section behind the goal, stuck him up front and still got a result.
Now at Dundee United where he will be hoping to kick-start his campaign after a frustrating and injury-hit season so far. McNulty’s inclusion was my favourite part of the ‘Hecky’s at the Wheel’ chant so perhaps four is a bit harsh but his goal return tells the story.
5. Stephen McGinn – 3/10
When news broke that Stephen McGinn was training with Hibs over the summer of 2020 after his contract expired it was a surprise to many Hibs fans. However, the fact his last name was McGinn and he was once employed by St Mirren Football Club meant we should all have seen this one coming really.
Whilst fans were initially assured by Jack Ross that he was only lending an old friend use of the facilities in the summer he ended up putting pen to paper on a deal to the end of the season in September 2020 which was met mostly negatively by a lot of underwhelmed fans.
McGinn’s only goal in nine games in all competitions came in the 95th minute in a 3-0 victory against Motherwell and an appearance of little to no substance against Celtic after ‘Dubai-gate’ in January is all I can personally remember about his time at the club.
He left on loan to Greenock Morton in January 2021 before signing for Kilmarnock in the summer. A very peculiar, stop-gap signing that will hopefully not be repeated.
6. Jackson Irvine – 5/10
A signing that the majority of Hibs fans appeared to be rather excited about was that of Jackson Irvine in January 2021. After previously starring against Hibs in the 2016 League Cup Final and performing well in the English lower leagues Hibs decided to pick him up on a six-month contract.
Whilst there were positive signs of an energetic midfielder who looked to play positive passes in behind, mostly for his international teammate Martin Boyle, it took some time to get him fully match fit and by the time he had enough minutes under his belt he was shifted out wide on the left where he was mostly denied the space to play to his strengths of penetrative passes and attacking support.
I think Hibs were looking to keep him in the summer and I personally wouldn’t have minded keeping him around if the wage on offer was within the wage structure and a change of role on the pitch was to occur.
However, Irvine ended up moving on to German side St Pauli where he was believed to have increased his wage significantly. He was good squad player disadvantaged by being played out of position and I do sometimes lie in bed at night missing his moustache and cool Instagram posts.
7. Dillon Barnes – 2/10
Dillon Barnes was an unknown back-up goalkeeper who arrived when there was perhaps an opportunity to save a wage and use one of your youth goalies instead.
Barnes played eight games in all competitions and was largely disappointing in both League Cup and Premiership action culminating in conceding five goals in two games against Livingston and Ross County.
Barnes returned to QPR in January 2021 after only three months at Hibs and was replaced by a much more solid option who will be discussed in Part Two.
A forgettable poor signing who we managed to cut short in January and save some credibility. Remarkably made his debut for Jamaica in 2021 and is now keeping the goal for Yeovil in the English non-league system.
8. Nathan Wood – 2/10
Nathan Wood arrived at Hibs with a decent pedigree for a player of his age. He had progressed through the English youth systems, captaining the Under 20’s as well as playing 12 games for Crewe Alexandra in League One and a handful games for Middlesbrough in the 2020/21 season before making the loan move north to the capital on deadline day.
Unfortunately for both Wood and the club, things at Hibs just didn’t work out. It was well publicised during the pre-season and European schedule that Jack Ross needed and was looking for a central defender and striker to add to his light squad. The fact that it took until deadline day to get those players in might have tipped some fans off to the panicked nature of the signings.
Ultimately, Wood was to make only one appearance, playing the full 90 minutes in an atrocious 3-0 home defeat to Tam Courts’ Dundee United where he looked lost, slow and panicked for the duration.
Perhaps it was down to his inability to cope with United’s high-pressing forwards but that was to be the end for him. It was announced well before the beginning of the January window that he was returning to Middlesbrough under new management.
A last-minute panic, get-a-body-in-the-door signing that ultimately spelled the end of the recruitment department firstly in the eyes of the fans, and then shortly after and more importantly in the eyes of the owner.
It is safe to say that of the players in this list, few lived up to the expectations of the fans when they were initially signed. Perhaps that will change in the next part where we rate the players recruited under the Ross/Mathie regime that are still contracted to the club or even yet to arrive.
Let me know your thoughts on my ratings, was I too harsh on some? Too kind to men who can play a Proclaimers song on the piano? Do you love Belgian Waffles as much as I do?! Probably not.
Thank you for reading and well done for getting this far through some undoubtedly poor patter.
You can follow David on Twitter @davwilliamson6 – stay tuned for Part Two!
The East Stand 