It’s difficult to know where to begin with the 2022/23 Premier Sports Cup campaign.
A new manager and a much-changed first team squad meant that some pre-season excitement was beginning to creep back into the support despite an abysmal, managerless end to last season.
Lee Johnson, much like owner Ron Gordon, talks well in the media and his ideas and vision for Hibernian appear to fit with what the fanbase want to see. Talk of hard-working, high-pressing, attacking play with the squad going out to win every week is what supporters like to hear.
It sounds fresh and exciting. Most importantly it doesn’t sound like the football we witnessed for the majority of Shaun Maloney’s time in charge.
But it’s easy to talk about good football. The proof is in the delivery of it.
The first half against Clyde couldn’t have gone any better for Lee Johnson. Five goals in the opening 45 minutes of his tenure, a hattrick for Christian Doidge and some high energy, attacking intent giving us all something to clutch on to on a return to Easter Road after six weeks away.
It’s from the first 45 minutes of that game onwards that fans begin to become less enthused by what we’ve experienced to date in the competitive action.
Treating the league cup group stages as an extension of pre-season is no revelation for top-flight clubs – as long as you find a way to get the results you need to progress into the knockout phase this period of a new season can come and go without much thought.
A midweek trip to Falkirk brought back a few unhappy memories from our time in the Championship but on a sunny summer evening, with a sold out away end, there was a hope that we’d see more of the same from the first half against Clyde.
The reality was quite the opposite.
With lots of changes from the weekend Lee Johnson reverted back to the midfield three which played much of the 2021/22 season. Kevin Dabrowski came into the side in place of David Marshall and had a night he’ll be hoping to forget while our attacking players missed a hatful of chances.
A 1-0 defeat was a blow for the feel-good factor and momentum building at the club but most disappointing was the manner in which we lost the game, with lots of comparisons made with the performances experienced last season and new signings failing to make a mark on the match against third tier opposition.
The post-match feeling from Lee Johnson gave the impression that he didn’t really understand the consequences of losing to Falkirk, with topping the group more or less out of our hands. With only three second placed teams progressing and an unseeded place in the last 16 making it more likely that we’d receive a difficult tie it was disappointing we hadn’t placed more emphasis on winning the group before worrying about fitness and minutes.
It looked like a side hungry to be successful in a competitive match against a team who were still getting some fitness under their belts before the league starts.
The end result was an unacceptable one and the performance was a kick in the teeth for the 1800 fans who travelled through – many of whom had to sit on the stairs due to the unreserved seating at the Falkirk Stadium – but as it happened that should have been the least of our worries.
As is the nature of the league cup group stages, Hibs were back in action just a few days later as we took on SPFL newbies Bonnyrigg Rose. A fairly professional performance against a well organised side away from home gave us a 4-1 win.
There wasn’t much to get carried away with, and the less said about Aiden McGeady’s penalty the better, but the job was done and attentions turned to the final game against Greenock Morton.
With the Falkirk result going the wrong way a win against Morton at Easter Road should have been enough to guarantee us a place in the next round as one of the best runners up.
Before kick-off Morton were bottom of the group with one point. A 0-0 draw and penalties loss to Falkirk was followed by a 2-0 defeat to Clyde in their first two matches. A win for Hibs would have all but sealed our place in the knockout round.
What followed was an awful 90 minutes and an even worse attempt at a penalty shootout.
To their credit and with much frustration from the home support, Dougie Imrie’s Morton came to Easter Road with a game plan. They ran the clock down and had more injuries than their physios could deal with during the 90 minutes.
With just over an hour on the clock Joe Newell’s handball gave the visitors a penalty which was dispatched to give the Championship side a lead to hold on to.
Being 1-0 down to a side we should be taking care of is nothing new for Hibs fans, we’ve been accustomed to chasing games home and away for years now. Unfortunately for us, these games usually end in disappointment with the men in green and white huffing and puffing to break down a deep lying defence clinging on to their lead with little success for our forwards.
A response from Ewan Henderson naively gave us hope that a winner would be found before full time but – as has been the case on plenty of occasions before – we failed to convert anything and found ourselves involved in a penalty shootout with our fate almost sealed.
The penalties summed up our league cup campaign perfectly with the first three missed from Ewan Henderson, Aiden McGeady and Ryan Porteous. A bonus point might have given us a slim chance of qualifying as a runner up or even group winner if Clyde could stop Falkirk from winning their final match but the execution of the spot-kicks was as uninspired as much of the group stage campaign.
The final nail in the coffin was delivered following the draw with Morton when the news emerged that defender Rocky Bushiri had played in the match while he should have been serving a suspension for picking up two bookings in the Falkirk and Bonnyrigg Rose ties.
In the league a one-match ban is earned following three yellow cards, with the rules different for the Premier Sports Cup. With the club already on the brink of an early exit from the competition our fate was sealed as Greenock Morton were awarded a 3-0 victory for their visit to Leith, with the admin department at East Mains left with egg on their face.
The administrative mistake joins a growing list of sloppy errors which has done little to counteract supporter feeling that attention to detail is seriously lacking in some areas of the club.
While manager Lee Johnson is adjusting to the systems and structures of Scottish football following a lengthy spell in England as a manager, some of his comments in the media have been unhelpful over the last couple of weeks as the team fails to perform when required.
While calls to reform the early stages of the league cup and a dig at the Scottish FA in relation to the Bushiri incident may be legitimate positions to hold as a SPFL manager, the timing of them has made the club look petty when the players on the pitch have been unable to deliver.
The reality is that if the squad had done the job expected of them we could have progressed to the next stage of the league cup AND swallowed our pride in the final group game following the missed suspension – with nine points from the first three matches enough to win the group and go through.
On a positive note, David Marshall looks like he’s going to earn us a lot of points over the course of the season and his distribution of the ball with his feet is night and day compared to Matt Macey.
Ewan Henderson has also started the season brightly and looks to be a bigger threat in front of goal while deployed in a more advanced role.
Question marks still remain over the make-up of the midfield with Nohan Kenneh likely to feature in front of the defence. In a 4-2-3-1 it would be reasonable to suggest that Kenneh will be partnered alongside Joe Newell or Jake Doyle-Hayes and with JDH currently injured it’s likely we’ll see Kenneh and Newell together in Perth on Saturday.
We are in need of an extra centre half, with Rocky Bushiri playing alongside Ryan Porteous for the majority of pre-season and the league cup. Paul Hanlon is due to return to training soon but even with him in the squad we are short of options should Rocky or Porteous get injured or suspended.
Kyle McClelland has looked like a smart addition to the squad but it remains to be seen if he will feature in the first team or perhaps benefit from a loan spell before staking his place for a starting berth in the side.
Frustrations remain over the status of Elie Youan’s work permit but there are high hopes that he can provide a much-needed alternative option up front ahead of Christian Doidge who is still working to regain his form in a Hibs shirt. With the permit yet to be resolved it will probably be Doidgey who leads the line in the league opener against St Johnstone this weekend with Elias Melkersen preferred in a wider role under Lee Johnson so far.
Jair Tavares and Mo Bojang have featured in the matches since their respective visas were approved but it could take time for either or both of them to get up to speed following their delayed starts.
Lessons need to be learned from the league cup shambles, and with Johnson in the early stages of his time in charge it’s important he’s given the opportunity to learn from the on-field mistakes, but we need to see a huge improvement when the league season kicks off in a few days’ time.
We have a very untested raft of new signings who will need to get used to the league and the expectations at Easter Road but hopefully there are one or two ready-made reinforcements to be added before the transfer window closes.
Pre-season was rounded off with a 1-0 win over Norwich City at Easter Road yesterday afternoon, Elias Melkersen linking up with Christian Doidge to score the only goal on the game.
Lots of young players were given some time on the Easter Road pitch which can only be positive as we look to blood development players in and around the first team over the course of the new season.
Off the pitch things appear to be going well from a commercial and business perspective but it’s important this is supported by a successful team on a Saturday.
If we can avoid accidentally signing players and then accidentally playing them when they’re meant to be banned that would be a good place to start.
Onwards and upwards, see you in Perth.
The East Stand 
Id agree with your summary here . It’s early yet but quick improvement required. Everyone needs too understand the expectations at our club which are realistic and achieve them . If not curtains
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