Without wishing to bore you with personal info, as a mid forties guy the anger at Hibs insipid Cup Final showing is still at the forefront of my mind.
Now I KNOW I should be over it. My partner tells me this a few times a day. THAT 5–1 game was nothing like this feeling. Being relegated? Anger rose then but I’d gotten back to normality within a week. 11 days after this? Still raging when I think about it. Raging with Jack Ross. Raging with the players. I’ll exempt Matt Macey. The rest? Couldn’t care if I don’t see any of them in a Hibs shirt again.
The sad fact is I’m not alone. There are many of my friends of a similar age who feel the same way. It’s not as if we’re the new generation of Hibs fan used to seeing relative success in the way of semi finals and final appearances. It’s a group of guys who lived through the takeover attempt, the Alex Miller era, relegation in 98 and 22 in a row. Our highs were a Skol Cup win and a trip to Anderlecht with very little for 15 years afterwards.
The Scottish Cup has always been a bogey. We thought the hoodoo was over after 2016. Last Saturday brought back some of the worst memories of Hampden. Remember the defeats to Ayr United. Dunfermline. To Dundee United. Falkirk. The loss to St Johnstone somehow manages to eclipse them all. Mainly because the Saints never had to do very much to win.
For whatever reason Jack Ross has never built up much credit in the bank with the support. You’d have thought he might have given the third placed finish in the Premiership but performances have never inspired. “Lucky” “sneaked it” “bang average” “poor” were more likely to describe Hibs winning rather than effusive praise.
Obviously not having our city rivals in the league weakened this achievement regardless of how poor they were prior to relegation. Aberdeen sacked Derek McInnes after the Dons finally had enough of the stale brand of football which had brought them minor success during his eight year stint in charge.
Make no mistake, both played a factor in Hibs finishing third.
St Johnstone’s poor start contributed to them not challenging for third and Callum Davidson deserves immense credit for the way he turned their fortunes around. Tactically astute, he nullified Hibs main threats in 2 previous meetings. Ross’ answer was to try the same old yet again. Fourth time lucky or Einstein’s insanity definition? The latter.
Big Daz McGregor, Hibs through and through, had been brought in for 3 previous games. Man of the match in 2. The smart manager plays the guy in form, changes tactics and gains the experience of a guy who’s been there and done it. 3 centre half’s. Doig, Boyle either side of a midfield 3. Give Davidson something to ponder? Na, we’ll try the same thing again.
You also have to question Ross naming his side on the Tuesday prior to the match. Players talk. Did St Johnstone know the line up in advance? Was training affected? Had the intensity been driven out the side by knowing, as a player, you never had to impress the gaffer because you were starting?
So many questions remain. Most of them can be directed at the management. Surely Ron Gordon for all his business acumen will be asking them. Failure to do so would be a failure on its own.
