I can remember Hibs being relegated once before, when Jim Duffy's spectacular helicopter arrival at the club as our new manager was followed by an equally spectacular failure in the role. Alex McLeish arrived too late to save the club, and we ended up in what was then the First Division.
At the time I worked for McDonald's, and regular Saturday working meant that I didn't attend Easter Road with anything like the frequency that I do now as a season ticket holder. On the day that our relegation was sealed in a match against Dundee United, I can remember walking from my Leith flat to work, and as I was passing the Loch Inn, hearing the home crowd roar as Hibs scored. By the time my shift had started we had conceded twice and dropped out of the top flight.
It didn't hit me as hard as I thought it would, the fact that I missed a lot of games probably helped me distance myself from the shame and embarrassment of relegation.
Fast forward to the end of last season, and it's a very different story. In hindsight, relegation had been coming for a while, but I never thought it would actually happen until Hamilton equalised late in the second leg of the play-off, taking the game to extra time. The clock on the stadium scoreboard at Easter Road had stopped at some point, and was running well behind the actual game time, so I don't know exactly how long was left when we conceded.
Extra time saw both sides concentrate more on not losing than on pushing for a winner, and when the game went to penalties I knew that the Hibs team at that point didn't have the bottle for the shoot-out. That Hibs had never lost a domestic penalty shoot-out until then didn't come into things, in fact, having seen us break the record for our heaviest home defeat at the start of that season, it was hardly a surprise that our relegation would see another record broken in dismal fashion.
It's been a horrendous time supporting the club since then, Hearts got off to a flier and sit 14 points clear of us at the top of the table at the time of writing. Hibs have stuttered, threatening to do well and then faltering. A hugely impressive 1-3 win at Ibrox was followed by draws against Dumbarton and Cowdenbeath.
We have battered teams and not got the results we probably deserved on occasion as well, and what has been frustrating there is that in the context of last season's failure, the support have been in no mind to give concession to the team for a good performance when it's not accompanied by three points.
This frustration has manifested itself in regular outpourings of rage, with Leeann Dempster taking to www.hibs.net to make the point that the constant negativity was not helping anyone. Alan Stubbs also made reference to feeling frustrated that he's still hearing criticism aimed at him and his side for the failings that preceded his arrival.
Our last two games have been roundly appreciated by the support, and there definitely appears to be a sense that the tide is turning in our favour at long last. We dominated a very confident Hearts side in front of an away support that turned up in expectation rather than hope. Hearts had come for a party and were anticipating a handsome win (if you can ever use the word 'handsome' in the same sentence as Hearts...). In reality the visiting fans watched their side get outfought and outplayed for large spells of the match, Hibs' one goal lead scant reward for their dominance, and it proved costly as Hearts equalised at the death with what I'd love to describe as a hopeful toe-punt, but was actually a wonder-goal from their centre-half.
Hibs followed that impressive performance by upping their game again in the game against current SPFL leaders Dundee United in the League Cup. Hibs more than matched their opponents for more than the regulation 90 minutes, and for extra-time. Having lost their first domestic penalty shoot out a few months earlier, Hibs quickly got the second defeat out of the way - cruelly losing in sudden death thanks to two cracking saves from the United goalkeeper.
It is looking increasingly like Hibs have sorted themselves out, our last two games have been against the best sides we have faced this season, and we've given a very good account of ourselves, even if the results will show that they produced a single point and an exit from the cup respectively.
Stubbs' side is entertaining and hard working, with the craft and guile of Scott Allan and Dylan McGeough in midfield backed up by the endeavour of Scott Robertson alongside them. Young Jason Cummings is finding his feet along with the prolific (if somewhat lackadaisical ) Malonga, and the goals are starting to come.
I can see the potential is there for Hibs to go on an impressive run. They can't fail to have taken confidence from the last few games - in fact, one defeat in nine games is a very respectable run - and this should give them the belief that they can compete at the top. Hearts' lead looks insurmountable for Hibs at the moment, and with The Rangers also holding a comfortable lead on Hibs it seems unlikely that both of those sides will slip up sufficiently for Hibs to claim top spot.
What Hibs can do, though, is keep winning, put pressure on the teams above them, and see how they handle it. Stubbs made the point after the derby that nothing is won in October, and by that same token nothing is lost either. Hibs need to hang on to that small glimmer of hope and make sure that they look after their own results through to the end of the season.
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