We go into tonight’s derby on a run of one defeat in eight league games – with the dramatic late comeback against Dundee United acting as a timely confidence booster for the squad.
David Gray had to shuffle the pack last midweek to get his latest recruits some minutes on the pitch before a massive Edinburgh derby.
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It led to a disjointed performance, particularly in the second half where some enforced changes disrupted Hibs’ play, but we found a way to win – and what an important three points they could be with Motherwell showing no signs of letting up in their hunt for fourth place.
Gray has been under scrutiny in recent weeks, but I question how deserved this really is. The cup defeat to Dunfermline followed by an awful display at Falkirk led to knives being drawn for Hibs’ head coach, but those performances shouldn’t be viewed in isolation.
The underlying stats show Gray is on track to achieve back-to-back top-six finishes for the first time in years for Hibs, and his win percentage puts him above most of our recent managers if you exclude seasons outside the top division.
Sometimes the football has been a tough watch, but the reverse is also true. At times under Gray we’ve played some great stuff, we score our fair share of goals (only the top three in the league have netted more) and for all the team have given us some huge disappointments this season, there has also been some brilliant moments.
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For me, Gray is doing a good job, particularly when you look at the players that haven’t been available for selection consistently this season.
I hope he can dig out another huge moment from the team tonight, where a second successive derby win would give the club a huge lift going into the last phase of the season.
The derby is a huge occasion and one Hibs fans go into with real anticipation of getting a result.
You can see how much it means to everyone at the club and the fixtures are always even affairs. Although Hearts will point to a historically good record in the fixture, in recent times there’s nothing to split the teams, and we’re right to fancy our chances again.
You can find Matty Fairnie at Longbangers podcast
