When I started writing this article, I assumed that it was around about a year since JC had become boss. Upon checking I discovered that it was on October 31st he was appointed, so there’s still 6 weeks until his anniversary. How was his year for you? Here’s my thoughts.
Let me start by being upfront. I’m a Collins fan, a BIG fan. What has really nailed it for me was winning the CIS Cup in March. That is what it is all about isn’t it? Winning things. I mean, there’s the Hibs way to football: the flair, the class and a certain way of winning but that is what is all about: WINNING. It’s something that I feared Tony Mowbray was never going to be able to do after successive Hampden Semi Final defeats; and I think his start at West Brom has done nothing to dissuade me from that opinion.
I remember after the semi final victory against St Johnstone that a disgruntled friend had compared the performance to the one versus Ayr United under Sauzee in 2002. His point was that Collins was as clueless as Sauzee and appeared unable to stop St Johnstone from taking a grip on the game. I disagreed with him, I thought he was very unfair on Franck, but also we won the game. That was the point, it didn’t really matter how we got to Hampden it was about getting there by hook or by crook. We did that. In a couple of year’s time nobody will even remember the performance that night at Tynecastle.
It’s not just winning that has won me over, his attitude to youth strikes a chord with me. I think most Hibs fans agree that the Bobby Williamson attempts to take credit for the development of the youth at Easter Road are as embarrassing as his attempts to be a manager but I was also concerned at Mowbray becoming very conservative with the youngsters. A particular gripe of mines was the continued use of Stephen Glass as left back cover for any time that David Murphy was injured. I felt that Lewis Stevenson had showed enough to be given a chance especially in some of the more meaningless league games. If you look back over the reign of Mowbray he didn’t give debuts to that many players, but he did make infinitely better use of the resources at his disposal than his immediate predecessor.
However, Collins has gone to a different level: not surprising perhaps from a player who was established as a first team regular at 17. First it was McCann who was brought in for his debut in a vital Scottish Cup game versus Aberdeen. If we thought that was brave that was just for starters. He followed that up by starting the following game with 5 teenagers. The development of Lewis Stevenson & Stephen Fletcher has been outstanding.
Which bring us neatly to this season. We’ve had our best start in years, but how are we going to do? I think we’ll do very well this season, and I don’t think that third is out of the question. Of course, we have Rangers and Celtic in our next 4 matches: my initial feeling is that neither is much better than last season. If we lose both games I think it will be clear evidence that both have improved, whilst we have gone backwards due to the squad being reordered. Time will tell.
Then, there is the issue of the revolt. What a strange bizarre thing to happen, and I can’t think of it ever happening in Scotland let alone Hibs before. It would suggest that there was something very not right about the relationship between the players and the manager. Or, it could be that the Daily Record didn’t really report accurately what happened. Whatever, there could only be one winner, I do feel that the short sightedness of the players cost us a crack at the Scottish Cup and they should have showed Collins much more respect. They didn’t seem to have any problem with respect when he won the CIS Cup.
And yet, there’s always a but; it is Hibs. We don’t seem to be as fluid yet this season as we have in the past. The new signings are just waiting to gel, and you watch us when they do. We haven’t even seen the new French striker yet, but he sounds a bit tasty and hopefully will bring the balance back to the squad that we lost when Chris Killen left. Maybe it’s because we’ve lost so many good young players in the recent past, and a time of rebuilding is necessary. There is an upside to players leaving, however, it creates spaces in the team for new young players to come in. Sometimes, the replacements are even better than the favourite players they replace.
Collins is not above criticism, and he has made some mistakes. I’m sure he’d admit them, and equally point out that he is still a novice. The biggest criticism I have is the continuing employment of Gordon Marshall as goalkeeping coach. I really just don’t get it. Brown, Malkowski, McNeil have all been guilty of appalling mistakes: their ability isn’t in question, not from this writer anyway, and worryingly Makalambay has showed signs of going the same way. I have a cunning plan for this. Sack Marshall, and bring in Jim McArthur as goalkeeping coach. He couldn’t be as bad as Marshall, and secondly it would stop his nonsense as an agent. Have a think about it John.
Manager Records
Let me start by being upfront. I’m a Collins fan, a BIG fan. What has really nailed it for me was winning the CIS Cup in March. That is what it is all about isn’t it? Winning things. I mean, there’s the Hibs way to football: the flair, the class and a certain way of winning but that is what is all about: WINNING. It’s something that I feared Tony Mowbray was never going to be able to do after successive Hampden Semi Final defeats; and I think his start at West Brom has done nothing to dissuade me from that opinion.
I remember after the semi final victory against St Johnstone that a disgruntled friend had compared the performance to the one versus Ayr United under Sauzee in 2002. His point was that Collins was as clueless as Sauzee and appeared unable to stop St Johnstone from taking a grip on the game. I disagreed with him, I thought he was very unfair on Franck, but also we won the game. That was the point, it didn’t really matter how we got to Hampden it was about getting there by hook or by crook. We did that. In a couple of year’s time nobody will even remember the performance that night at Tynecastle.
It’s not just winning that has won me over, his attitude to youth strikes a chord with me. I think most Hibs fans agree that the Bobby Williamson attempts to take credit for the development of the youth at Easter Road are as embarrassing as his attempts to be a manager but I was also concerned at Mowbray becoming very conservative with the youngsters. A particular gripe of mines was the continued use of Stephen Glass as left back cover for any time that David Murphy was injured. I felt that Lewis Stevenson had showed enough to be given a chance especially in some of the more meaningless league games. If you look back over the reign of Mowbray he didn’t give debuts to that many players, but he did make infinitely better use of the resources at his disposal than his immediate predecessor.
However, Collins has gone to a different level: not surprising perhaps from a player who was established as a first team regular at 17. First it was McCann who was brought in for his debut in a vital Scottish Cup game versus Aberdeen. If we thought that was brave that was just for starters. He followed that up by starting the following game with 5 teenagers. The development of Lewis Stevenson & Stephen Fletcher has been outstanding.
Which bring us neatly to this season. We’ve had our best start in years, but how are we going to do? I think we’ll do very well this season, and I don’t think that third is out of the question. Of course, we have Rangers and Celtic in our next 4 matches: my initial feeling is that neither is much better than last season. If we lose both games I think it will be clear evidence that both have improved, whilst we have gone backwards due to the squad being reordered. Time will tell.
Then, there is the issue of the revolt. What a strange bizarre thing to happen, and I can’t think of it ever happening in Scotland let alone Hibs before. It would suggest that there was something very not right about the relationship between the players and the manager. Or, it could be that the Daily Record didn’t really report accurately what happened. Whatever, there could only be one winner, I do feel that the short sightedness of the players cost us a crack at the Scottish Cup and they should have showed Collins much more respect. They didn’t seem to have any problem with respect when he won the CIS Cup.
And yet, there’s always a but; it is Hibs. We don’t seem to be as fluid yet this season as we have in the past. The new signings are just waiting to gel, and you watch us when they do. We haven’t even seen the new French striker yet, but he sounds a bit tasty and hopefully will bring the balance back to the squad that we lost when Chris Killen left. Maybe it’s because we’ve lost so many good young players in the recent past, and a time of rebuilding is necessary. There is an upside to players leaving, however, it creates spaces in the team for new young players to come in. Sometimes, the replacements are even better than the favourite players they replace.
Collins is not above criticism, and he has made some mistakes. I’m sure he’d admit them, and equally point out that he is still a novice. The biggest criticism I have is the continuing employment of Gordon Marshall as goalkeeping coach. I really just don’t get it. Brown, Malkowski, McNeil have all been guilty of appalling mistakes: their ability isn’t in question, not from this writer anyway, and worryingly Makalambay has showed signs of going the same way. I have a cunning plan for this. Sack Marshall, and bring in Jim McArthur as goalkeeping coach. He couldn’t be as bad as Marshall, and secondly it would stop his nonsense as an agent. Have a think about it John.
Manager Records
Hibernian
Tony Mowbray 108 matches 52 wins 16 draws 40 defeats
John Collins 41 matches 19 wins 11 draws 11 defeats
Bobby Williamson 93 matches 34 wins 21 draws 38 defeats
Purple & Green
Tony Mowbray 108 matches 52 wins 16 draws 40 defeats
John Collins 41 matches 19 wins 11 draws 11 defeats
Bobby Williamson 93 matches 34 wins 21 draws 38 defeats
Purple & Green
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