THE tedious international break weekend and the recent League Cup quarter-final weekend means that Hibernian FC have played just two matches since last month’s column.
One has to question the wisdom of shutting down top flight senior club football for the best part of a fortnight so often, so frequently and so early in the season. We all know it’s primarily done to maximise revenue for TV companies, football associations, bookies and the hospitality industry, but what benefits this brings to ordinary working class club fans or to the game in general remains to be seen.
David Gray now joins the ignominious list of recent Hibernian managers unable to defeat Rangers in a league match. By the time Hibs next face the Govan side at Easter Road in January, it’ll be seven years and 24 league matches without a victory in the fixture. That’s the worst such winless run in Hibernian’s history, worse even than the embarrassing 22 game winless run against Hearts from 1989-1994.
And yet, Gray’s Hibs side came closer to ending that humiliating hoodoo back on the penultimate day of September at Ibrox, closer than Heckingbottom, Maloney, Montgomery, Johnson or Ross—in the league—ever did. Hibs stood up to be counted in Govan and things may have been very different, had Mykola Kukharevych not made a pig’s ear of a penalty kick just before half-time.
Rangers won 1-0 thanks to Tom Lawrence’s strike. He had given the hosts the lead with a superb strike after 35 minutes, but the Hibees were awarded a spot-kick just before half-time, after a deliberate handball by Rangers bruiser, John Souttar. The big stopper should’ve been red-carded for this offence, yet wasn’t even booked, strangely. An over elaborate run-up by Kukharevych didn’t fool Jack Butland in the Rangers goal, who saved the kick easily. Two Rangers players blatantly encroached into the box as the big Ukrainian made his run up and it also looked like Butland moved off his line too early, yet there was no VAR intervention, no retake ordered, unlike with similar incidents in recent matches involving other teams.
Hibs have had three penalties at Ibrox in the last 20 years, Tam McManus missed one in 2003, Jamie Maclaren scored one in 2018. The simple fact remains, though, had Kukharevych been more decisive from the spot, Hibs could well have won the match. Throughout the encounter from front to back, Gray’s side performed magnificently. This must give hope to Hibbies that the dreadful run against Rangers will end in January.
A week later, the Hibees hosted Motherwell (above). Hibs played well again against a decent Motherwell side who have a habit of scoring late goals, while the Hibees have a habit of conceding late goals.
Apostolos Stamatelopoulos—try saying that after a few beers—gave the Steelmen the lead after 56 minutes, but the green jerseys were soon level thanks to a fine strike by the impressive Junior Hoilett. Nectar Triantis saw red for Hibs in the 77th minute and the home side failed to hold on. Three minutes later, Andy Halliday scored the winner for Motherwell. Halliday remains a weird kind of cult-hero to Hibs fans because of the 2016 Scottish Cup Final, in which the player thought he’d scored the winning goal, only to get a loser’s medal. He’s since scored winners for Hearts and Motherwell against Hibernian, but he’ll still always hold a special place in the heart of every Hibs fan, for that glorious day in 2016, when he thought he’d won the cup.
Hibs now sit third bottom of the table and are having their worst start to a league campaign since 2011 under Colin Calderwood. Although, just seven league matches have been played. There’s still a long, long way to go.
Comentarios