Copyright scotsman
Well, at least someone sounds confident about where Hibs are likely to finish in this campaign of challenges, adventures, opportunities and too many disappointments. David Martindale has few doubts, it seems. Speaking after yesterday’s battling 2-2 home draw, the Livi gaffer asserted: “I think Hibs will be a top four club this season. Certainly top six. But I do think they’ll finish in the top four.” From their current position of third, having played a game more than some of the teams around them, would David Gray’s men accept that? Probably not, given the way they finished last season. Throw in the uncertainty surrounding everything we thought we knew about Scottish football this season and, to be honest, it’s hard to shake the feeling that Hibs are missing a trick. Failing to capitalise on the madness engulfing others. Another late goal conceded, another two points dropped. If the unlucky midweek loss to Rangers could be dismissed as just one of those things, the inability to see out yesterday’s game rightly left David Gray sounding and looking extremely frustrated. So what did we learn from an odd day in the new town? Kieron Bowie looked onside when he ‘scored’ to make it 3-1. The clips and still photos available in the immediate aftermath did nothing to dispel this impression; even the picture with the offside lines drawn on seemed to run counter to the final verdict of video assistant referee Andrew Dallas. Is it an issue of calibration, meaning we can NEVER see exactly the right angle from the broadcast cameras? Is the system sharp enough to be an improvement on the naked-eye judgement of assistant referees? There are continued concerns that the frame rate isn’t high enough to make a definitive call on when a pass is played. But that’s another issue. Just one of many that has turned VAR into such an unpopular innovation among those on Scottish football’s front line. Having played well and lost in unfortunate circumstances against Rangers, yesterday represented a real chance for Hibs to return to winning ways. You could say they had an off day, if by ‘off’ you mean turned like milk left in the hot sun for three days. The really infuriating thing is that, having not played especially well, they still should have left Livingston with three points. That they failed to get first contact on a corner kick so late in the game does not reflect well on their individual or collective desire to, as certain old-school coaches like to say, “die for three points.” At least Martin Boyle’s return to the starting line-up produced a goal, some lively play in the final third and a reasonable amount of chaos for the Livi defence. His comeback was one of the few bright spots. The midfield remains a work in progress, with Dan Barlaser’s absolutely nullified until Scott Pittman limped out of the game at half-time. Miguel Chaiwa demonstrated a lot of great qualities. But Josh Mulligan was missed as he switched to wingback. The good news? Gray has an entire week to work with his squad before their final fixture before the international break. And now for the bad news. That game is away to St Mirren – the only Scottish Premiership team not to suffer a defeat to Hibs last season, in one of those quirks. With a 17.45 kick-off. Haud me back, right? Your next Hibs read: VAR technology questioned after controversial Bowie offside call
