The Hibernian first team squad returned for pre-season training on Saturday as Lee Johnson kicked off his reign at Easter Road before a warm weather training camp in Portugal next week.
With the transfer window in full swing the club has seen the arrival of eight players: Ewan Henderson and Rocky Bushiri’s loan deals have been made permanent, while David Marshall, Lewis Miller, Nohan Kenneh, Jai Tavares and Kyle McClelland have all signed deals to join the club.
Momodou Bojang has also arrived on loan from Gambian side Rainbow FC, with the young forward’s deal including the option to make his stay permanent.
The club’s strategy of signing young talent with potential sell-on value has continued at pace throughout the summer, with all of the new arrivals – with the exception of former Scotland goalkeeper David Marshall – under the age of 25.
While all of the signings offer different attributes to the club it is clear there’s a need to strengthen the starting XI ahead of the new season. Lots of potential is great but we are in need of proven, quality signings which can deliver the results required to secure European football.
At the start of the new manager’s time in charge the summer window is a hugely important one which we need to get right – and the less said about the deals with Paul McGinn and Rocky Bushiri the better.
How can a top flight club sign a defender by mistake? It sounds impossible, but it seems to have been the case with Bushiri who signed a three-year deal after triggering an appearance related clause in his loan agreement.
On the face of it, it’s one of the biggest balls ups we’ve experienced at Easter Road in a recent memory.
Rocky is a young central defender still learning his trade at first team level, and hopefully his potential means he will flourish into a great asset for the club, but the optics of forking out a sizeable transfer fee for a player we announced was leaving at the end of last season couldn’t be much worse for club and player.
It’s unfair on Rocky to dismiss him at the start of his permanent spell at Easter Road, and he will without a doubt get the full support of the Hibs fans when he represents our great club, but those in charge of the whole situation really haven’t done themselves any favours.
With Paul McGinn we appear to have offered him a pre-agreed one-year extension before the end of the 2021/22 season, with the deal only announced during the summer.
But once again, the optics of the announcement followed by news that new manager Lee Johnson doesn’t see him as part of his plans, does little to give the Hibs support any faith in the football structures at the club.
The ever-reliable McGinn was a mainstay in the starting XI during his time at Hibs but his performances last season meant opinion was split in the Hibs support. The versatile defender joined Motherwell earlier today on a one year deal and leaves with everyone’s best wishes.
The situation should have been handled better and it is illustrative of the ever-swinging doors at East Mains which mean Lee Johnson has inherited a bit-part squad which includes players on lengthy contracts who may not be part of his new vision for Hibernian.
With our first competitive match only two weeks away, we start the new season with a first team squad made up of Jack Ross players, of Graeme Mathie players, of Shaun Maloney players, of Ian Gordon players, and now of Lee Johnson players.
We are desperate for some consistency in our approach.
Hopefully a successful stint at Easter Road means Lee Johnson is the man to give us that consistency, and to allow the club to build a young, dynamic, exciting and ultimately winning squad that the support are crying out for.
On the wider summer transfer window, we are still quite a few players short of having a squad which is strong enough to compete for the European places we are seeking.
The arrival of David Marshall is a strong improvement on Matt Macey, who also departed Easter Road today as he heads back to England to join Luton Town in the EFL Championship.
Lewis Miller and Nohan Kenneh both look like good additions to the first team squad, with Kenneh in particular a player who appears to have the ability to strengthen our first XI in central midfield.
But once we move away from those three, we are looking at untested, young players who may take time to adjust to Scottish football and get up to speed for a place in the first team.
This week Lee Johnson urged patience with former Benfica B winger Jair Tavares, who signed for the club last week on a three-year deal. While no one is under any illusions that every player we bring in will be ready to hit the ground running – we really do need some more who will be.
With Kyle Magennis and Kevin Nisbet looking unlikely to be match fit for the start of the new season and Harry Clarke swapping Edinburgh for Stoke-on-Trent, we are looking no stronger at first team level now than we were in February.
If Hibs are to improve on our unacceptable bottom half finish and challenge for a top four finish this season there’s plenty of work to do to get there.
Aiden McGeady has been linked for a number of weeks now and while he would be a good addition to the side we need a lot more where that comes from – and that’s before we consider the possible departures of Josh Doig and Ryan Porteous.
Christian Doidge returned to East Mains on Saturday for pre-season training but it remains to be seen whether he will be with the club when the season starts, with Jack Ross linked with a move for the big Welshman after his appointment as the new Dundee United boss.
Every fan has their own wish list when it comes to players and positions at the start of a new season but it seems clear we need a central defender, attacking midfielder and centre forward who are ready to come into the first XI and make an impact.
Future prospects and possibly sellable assets are great and necessary for the bigger picture of the club and its financial standing but on the pitch, we are a handful of quality, starting players short of having an improved squad.
There’s still over a month until the first league game against St Johnstone but the League Cup acts as a great chance to bed in Lee Johnson’s new ideas and (hopefully) new players, so it would appear beneficial to get some more in the door as soon as possible.
Here’s hoping for some more additions in the weeks to come.
First Team Squad Depth Analysis
Summer 2022 Transfers (Correct at 22nd June)
Ins: David Marshall, Nohan Kenneh, Lewis Miller, Jai Tavares, Ewan Henderson, Rocky Bushiri, Momodou Bojang (loan), Kyle McLelland (Dev squad)
Outs: Scott Allan, Alex Gogic, Jamie Murphy, Melker Hallberg, Matt Macey, Paul McGinn, Sean Mackie, Harry Clarke (recalled), Sylvester Jasper (end of loan), James Scott (end of loan)
The East Stand 