In the last 10 years or so, football fans in Britain have gratuitously nabbed the melody from the Monkees’ Daydream Believer, and changed the words to something like:
Cheer up [insert name of opposition manager, player, antagonistic media figure]
Oh what can it be
To a [insert insult, with sweary bits]
And a [swear word] football team
Its a classic, its sung the length and breadth of the country. Usually in triumph as your team has achieved a positive outcome against the named protagonist. We, of the Hibernianation, have had our fair share of opportunities to use this charming little ditty. Not the least of which, is when faced with the character known as Jumbo. Or as his mother probably knows him, Jim Jeffries.
His misfortune is two-fold, actually make that three-fold. He was in the Hearts team the day we recorded our greatest ever victory in an Edinburgh derby. 1st January 1973. Heart of Midlothian 0 Hibernian 7. Some reckon he didn’t ever get over the psychological trauma of that. To make matters worse, he was the Hearts’ manager the day we handed out our most recent thumping of the “Yams” on 22nd October 2000. Hibernian 6 Heart of Midlothian 2. Hearts scored first, and Hearts scored last, but in between is still the single most breathtaking performance I have seen from a Hibs team. It was 6-2 going on 16-2.
Then on 18th March of this year, Jumbo had the further misfortune to be the Kilmarnock manager at Hampden Park in the CIS Cup Final. Hibernian 5 Kilmarnock 1. We like playing against Jumbo. OK, so he wins sometimes, but it is just so sweet when we beat his team(s). There’s something a little different in the air.
And that’s what it was like yesterday afternoon. Hibs have had, how shall I say this, a very schizophrenic start to the season. The results have been, one abberation aside, very respectable. Unbeaten in the league, with the scalp of the current champions along the way. But, on the whole, the abiding feeling amongst the Hibernianation was one of unease. Maybe its because we’ve been spoiled in the last few years. Under Mogga, we played with a certain swagger, a particular confidence. We passed the ball like Brazil on occasion (and I’m talking 1970 Brazil, not the industrial 1994 version). We scored goals galore, we handed out some right wallopings. Oh, and a team that was essentially built by Mogga won that self-same CIS Cup, albeit John Collins was the manager.
So far this season, there was suspicion held by many, that we were getting away with it. The performances didn’t merit the results and we were lucky to escape with draws (home to Aberdeen, away to Falkirk) and a win (home to ICT), when we could conceivably have lost). Against Celtic last week, the shape of the team looked all wrong until we changed to a settled 4-4-2 in the second half. The knives have been out for the management, with lots of doomongers predicting a comeupance on the horizon. Following the midweek spanking from Murderwell in the CIS Cup, yesterday was a good bet for our league form to come crashing around our ears.
Not so. OK, so Killie, as Jumbo will no doubt bleat about in the weeks ahead, had a few injuries and were well short of full strength. But Hibs were sensational. From the first stroke of the ball to get proceedings going, there was a fire in the belly of that team. You can read a match report elsewhere, so I won’t repeat whats readily available, but three things stood out a country mile for me:
- We played 4-4-2. Every man (and boy) in that team looked very comfortable with that. It wasn’t a classic 4-4-2, with Morais pushing onto support the front two from the right hand side, and Chisholm tucking into to supplement Boozy and Kerr in the centre of midfield when required. But it worked, and not one player looked out of position.
- The next batch of youngsters is as good as the last one. In time, McCann will prove a far more resilient player than Whittaker. Chisholm has got the swagger and arrogance of Scotty Brown, but without the hotheadedness. And as for Darren McCormack, well I can’t remember the last time we saw a centre-half come through the ranks at Easter Road and fully establish himself in the first team (Darren Dods doesn’t count), though I appreciate its early days yet.
- There is strength in depth up front. Fletch, Benji, Donaldson and Curier will all score goals this year. They all have slightly different attributes so, as each game comes, we can mix and match to fit the opposition.
So, all is well in the Hibernianation. Onto Ibrox next week, and a top of the table clash.
