Well vs Hibs

[one m in Motherwell]

The team we put our last night has to be our preferred XI for the rest of the season. Within that setup I think there’s potential for Main to do well but he needs to stop trying so hard. Who know, it may even suit Sammon too?

Seems to have a been a better balance to the side too which allowed Hastie and the rest of the Fleeto to press on. If he ever gets up to fitness, it’ll be interesting to see how McCormack ties in with this but it’ll certainly add to our options.

Still hopeful of a new face or two before the end of the window.

[dezz]

That's going in the box of passes called "Iain Vigurs against Hearts".

That pass [emoji7] I still bring it up regularly with my mates who weren’t there and it’s impossible to describe how good it was. Probably one of the best passes I’ve seen live at a game.

[thisGRAEME]

4 hours ago, Al B said:

 a pass that's straight out of the Ladybird Big Book of Unreadable Swag

This is 10000000/10 and I love it. God bless.

[Ron Aldo]

I love big Curtis Main but he's definitely trying too hard at the moment.

When Sammon came on I actually thought he looked very decent. I said it after the County game as well but Ariyibi looks as if he could be a cracking player. He was beating folk for fun at times last night.

[Swello]

1 hour ago, one m in Motherwell said:

The team we put our last night has to be our preferred XI for the rest of the season

I agree completely - but where I've got some sympathy with Robinson is that when he has done that previously, the inconsistency of the players has made him look stupid for doing so. As the best example, we cuffed Aberdeen 3-0 with no failures in the team one week, the same team put in what was still for me the worst performance of the season at Livi the next week. I hope the same 11 play at Dundee - but it's 100% up to the players to actually turn up and show the same attitude they did last night...

[velo army]

6 hours ago, Al B said:

That's also how you get the best out of Connor Sammon too, to be fair to the guy that's a very clever spin as he has to read and anticipate a pass that's straight out of the Ladybird Big Book of Unreadable Swag. As much as there are fans frustrated with the signing of Sammon, it probably pales into insignificance against how frustrated he must be, having the ball shelled at his face anytime he gets on the park.

All of this. I felt bad for the big man this season as I didn't think you were getting the best out of him. We were utter shite last season but he was excellent, one of the best pros I've ever seen at Thistle; he just gives everything. Also, a much cleverer forward than he's given credit for.

Also, the highlighted bit is just genius. Bravo/brava.

 

[capt_oats]

Ariyibi looks full on chaos factor. Even he doesn't seem to know how he's going past players, he just does it.

For all left back may well be a "problem position" there's probably an argument that Tait continues to be our best option there so maybe we just need to stick with that. And in fairness when Grimshaw's charging about at right back...why not? He's great value here.

Also, I suppose if we're playing with two wingers/wide players along with Turnbull there's less reliance on two wingbacks being a nominal source of "creativity".

Completely agree with @Swello that it's up to the players to show a bit of consistency now but I'd have said that the 433 is the shape that best suits the majority of the players we've got at our disposal now. It's a far more balanced XI and having the 3 CMs gives far more security. It's a case of "nae luck" to Danny Johnson and Peter Hartley but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

The annoyance is that this was apparent on Saturday but we ended up with the shambles we did.

For all there seems to be a weird "Robinson doesn't give youth a chance"-type narrative. That was 3 Academy products on the park last night (OK, Hastie and Campbell were given their debut starts by McGhee but still...) and Hastie now has a goal and a (quite sensational) assist in his two appearances. It seems clear that it's up to the young team to meet the standards Robinson's after and actually show they're worth a start and better options than those in front of them.

[Desp]

Avoided the score last night and watched it 'as live' on Alba. Plenty of positives, which was nice. 

I thought Ariyibi and Hastie were fantastic in the first half, but they, understandably, faded a bit in the second half.  That run from Hastie in be lead up to the goal was filthy. I mean, when was the last time we had a player that picked the ball up and run at c***s with a bit of flair? More of that please. Also, his through ball for the  goal was sublime. Turnbull didn't even need to break his stride - some finish as well. 

For me, man of the match was Grimshaw. What a shift he put in. I've always been up and down with him (never a midfielder, IMO) but he was excellent at full back. 

Curtis Main has taken plenty of stick recently - with a fair whack of it justified - but felt he led the line excellently.  Robinson took a bit of stick for his "target man" comment the other day, but it's exactly what we need. Someone to rough up the centre halves, hold the ball up and bring the three behind him into play.  Similar to what we saw with Steven Fletcher in the Scotland side. In there to "do a job". 

Ross McCormack is a weird one. We've got him  on a four month loan and by the look of him, it'll take him six months to get fit. 

Hibs were poor. Very, very poor. 

[weemac]

4 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

Ariyibi looks full on chaos factor. Even he doesn't seem to know how he's going past players, he just does it.

Said this at the game last night, he looks like his feet move independently of what his brain tells them however if he still has it after his first 3 touches he generally will cause absolute carnage.  Imagine being the full back playing against him, there's no way you could even attempt to guess where he's going to go.  Exactly my type of player. 

[Casagolda]

22 minutes ago, Desp said:

Curtis Main has taken plenty of stick recently - with a fair whack of it justified - but felt he led the line excellently.  Robinson took a bit of stick for his "target man" comment the other day, but it's exactly what we need. Someone to rough up the centre halves, hold the ball up and bring the three behind him into play.  Similar to what we saw with Steven Fletcher in the Scotland side. In there to "do a job". 

To be fair I can’t speak for anyone else but my bemusement at his target man comment was more due to the fact he punted Bowman, had Main and Sammon on the bench, then proceeded to start with Johnson and McCormack up front before complaining he had no one up front to hold the ball up. 

Fully agree on Main though, the reaction on social media to him starting last night was ridiculous. Aye he doesn’t look like scoring ever again, however in that 433 he’s the best option we currently have suited to playing the lone strikers role and he done it pretty effectively last night.

I genuinely thought he’d be on his way to be honest but it’ll be interesting to see what Robinson actually does between now and the end of the window regarding the striking situation.

[steve55]

13 hours ago, HibsFan said:

Been told there were scraps outside afterwards, anyone got any more?

 

[thisGRAEME]

2 hours ago, capt_oats said:

Apologies to anyone near me last night when this was happening, I was howling by the time he beat the boy on the half-way line.

2 hours ago, Desp said:

I thought Ariyibi and Hastie were fantastic in the first half, but they, understandably, faded a bit in the second half.  That run from Hastie in be lead up to the goal was filthy. I mean, when was the last time we had a player that picked the ball up and run at c***s with a bit of flair?

Ross McCormack is a weird one. We've got him  on a four month loan and by the look of him, it'll take him six months to get fit. 

Absolutely agree on the first one, the last time we had that was Marvin Johnson. I've not really been big on Frear for ages, partially because he has such a tendency to try and draw players onto him, then beat them, rather than just fucking going at them with his first touch. I get what he's trying to do to get into the space behind full-backs, but just hit them early once and give them some fear. The full-backs were terrified of Hastie.

McCormack... look; he's a better quality player than we should have, but I've no clue where he fits in this 4-3-3 if we're doing that. No idea why we chucked him on last night either.

[well fan for life]

35 minutes ago, thisGRAEME said:

Apologies to anyone near me last night when this was happening, I was howling by the time he beat the boy on the half-way line.

Absolutely agree on the first one, the last time we had that was Marvin Johnson. I've not really been big on Frear for ages, partially because he has such a tendency to try and draw players onto him, then beat them, rather than just fucking going at them with his first touch. I get what he's trying to do to get into the space behind full-backs, but just hit them early once and give them some fear. The full-backs were terrified of Hastie.

McCormack... look; he's a better quality player than we should have, but I've no clue where he fits in this 4-3-3 if we're doing that. No idea why we chucked him on last night either.

If Grimshaw had found a finish at the end of that run I'd have been on the park.

Aye I agree on Frear. He also seems staggeringly lightweight and gets shrugged off the ball easy. Hastie appears to have gone off to live in a gym when he's not been playing for Alloa. Size of the boy.

Tbf he might fit in through the middle but at the minute I think my da is fitter than him so tbh I've no idea why he's coming on. 

[ropy]

Quite the body slam on Grimmy at the end of his run

[YassinMoutaouakil]

It's a shame we never seen Turnbull go out to Albion Rovers/Alloa etc for a year. Reckon he'd end a season in League 2 with about 40 assists.

[Al B]

5 hours ago, capt_oats said:

Ariyibi looks full on chaos factor. Even he doesn't seem to know how he's going past players, he just does it.

 

5 hours ago, weemac said:

Said this at the game last night, he looks like his feet move independently of what his brain tells them however if he still has it after his first 3 touches he generally will cause absolute carnage.  Imagine being the full back playing against him, there's no way you could even attempt to guess where he's going to go.  Exactly my type of player. 

 

It's funny how sometimes a player can come along that has people looking for ways to try and explain what he does. I said last night that he looks like he plays with headphones on listening to music, not even really paying attention to what he's doing....but in a way where it brings autonomy rather than distraction. Like when you watch "How It's Made" and someone has headphones on labelling 286 bottles a minute without even thinking about what they are doing, they are just listening to the music....man.

If you asked Marvin, Lionel or Humphrey to think back to how they played in a game they would probably all say similar... "I picked up the ball and I knew I had the fullback for pace, so I was just trying to keep him going backwards and turning, not knowing which way I was going to go, then it was just about shifting the ball to his blindside and burning past him".

Ariyibi looks like if you asked him the same question he'd go... "What? Aw sorry I duno, I wasn't watching."

[Tamdunk]

Thought Hibs were pretty dirty, was quite impressed, they're usually a bit soft centred.

[Green Day]

Can we just close the thread?

A bit like our season, its over and done with now......................

 

[Pettigrew]

1 hour ago, Al B said:

 

 

It's funny how sometimes a player can come along that has people looking for ways to try and explain what he does. I said last night that he looks like he plays with headphones on listening to music, not even really paying attention to what he's doing....but in a way where it brings autonomy rather than distraction. Like when you watch "How It's Made" and someone has headphones on labelling 286 bottles a minute without even thinking about what they are doing, they are just listening to the music....man.

If you asked Marvin, Lionel or Humphrey to think back to how they played in a game they would probably all say similar... "I picked up the ball and I knew I had the fullback for pace, so I was just trying to keep him going backwards and turning, not knowing which way I was going to go, then it was just about shifting the ball to his blindside and burning past him".

Ariyibi looks like if you asked him the same question he'd go... "What? Aw sorry I duno, I wasn't watching."

Lad behind me compared him to Ted McMinn (one for the teenagers there...) and I can totally see that.

[ropy]

Hibs like an overhead kick