It's early Saturday evening with the clock approaching ten to five. Hibs are two nothing up against Alloa at Easter Road, and a section (albeit a small section) of the support are booing. The target of their ire appears to be Liam Craig - a player still trying to win over a support that saw him as a very culpable figure in our relegation last season. Why are they booing Craig? Well, he's passing the ball back, keeping possession and seeing out the game.
I had changed seats for this game, moving from my seat for the last few years in the West Lower stand, to the second highest row in the West Upper. The boos came from a few guys to our left, and thankfully they were shouted down by some more reasonable supporters, but the whole episode made me question just what exactly is it the Hibs fans want from their team?
If I think back a few weeks to the last derby, Hibs had played very well, keeping the league leaders at arm's length for more or less the whole match. It had been a dominant derby performance, not really in keeping with Hibs' standard in this fixture over recent years. We didn't keep the ball at the end, and dropped two points courtesy of a long range shot from the Hearts centre-half.
Alloa themselves had shown that they were capable of turning around a two goal deficit in the closing stages of a match by beating The Rangers in the Petrofac Training Cup a couple of weeks prior to this fixture, so to my mind there was very good reason to see out the game by keeping the ball away from the Alloa players. If they don't have the ball, they can't score.
Hibs are playing a possession game this season. Alloa barely threatened the whole game, and it has been a similar story for most of Hibs' home games this season where a cursory glance at the stats would show possession, chances, corners, etc all heavily weighted in Hibs' favour.
We've seen how exciting this can be, the good derby performance and the 3-3 draw against Dundee United showcasing the tactic at its best. However, it would be fair to say that against teams that will let you have the ball, and who aren't interested in committing men forward to attack, then the possession approach proves more methodical and plodding than fluid and thrilling.
The win against Alloa could not be described as exciting, though it was effective. Hibs chalked up their first home win in three months - an astonishing statistic given the level that we are competing at this season. Alloa, for their part, looked terrible. There is an argument that suggests that Alloa looked so terrible because Hibs were so effective in the way that they kept the ball. I think that there is merit in that perspective and I'll explain why.
Hibs never seemed to get out of second gear in the game. The players looked like they cruised it, when Alloa cleared it was invariably a Hibs player that collected the ball and started another attack. We used the wings, we played through the middle, we had players switching positions and dragging markers about. Hibs controlled everything about the match, including the pace. One of the arguments put forward by a boo-er was that there was no need to keep the ball at the end of the match as Alloa had never looked like scoring. There was a very good reason for that -they never looked like scoring because we kept the ball.
We could have scored more goals, however I think the vocal minority would have reacted the same way had we been closing the game out at 4-0 up, rather than 2-0. I think that booing reaction, that impatience, is borne from our terrible home form over the last couple of years. Booing has almost become a default position for some fans, like they've forgotten how to appreciate the team. It seems that with some fans even when the team wins, the team can't win.
Coming out the game I was content that we'd won. I was disappointed that the game hadn't been more exciting but I'd take a comfortable two nil win any day of the week. I was satisfied and I felt there were real signs in the match that Stubbs' influence is definitely starting to tell on the players. Hibs no longer look like a forlorn rudderless outfit. The players played to a coherent system, knew their roles, and in Scott Allan we had a player willing to try something out of the ordinary to create chances.
That bravery to try something has led to some criticism, but from my point of view I'd much rather have someone try something fantastic and get it wrong now and again, than have someone stick with the safe, mundane option for fear of making a mistake. The problem we have with a support that boos at the first opportunity, is it's much easier for a brave player to stop making brave choices and take the easy option than it is for them to persevere and put up with the stick.
The support have to recognise the part they play in impacting individual players, and the team overall. Recognising when we've done well and applauding a win is right and justified. Booing a team for doing the sensible (if uninspiring) thing in the closing minutes is just ridiculous. We all want to see Hibs rattle seven goals past teams, but the reality of where we are just now is that scenario is unrealistic. The team has to prioritise wins first, style second. We are chasing the leaders, three points are all that matters for the time being.
Stubbs has had one transfer window to rebuild a team that was decimated morale-wise and numerically. He took on the role from a standing start and we are at a very early stage in that rebuilding process. The football club is going through root and branch change and the rewards of these changes won't be reaped immediately. We approach the January transfer window knowing that Stubbs has an eye on improving the squad for that final push.
The manager and the players need the support onside for the run in to the play-offs. Promotion is still well within our own hands and if the fans can learn to love the team again then we have a great chance of going up. We might even be able to sing when we're winning!
p.s. A small mention (and thanks) to Lee McLennan for sharing my blog via Twitter, but also for calling Malonga's hat-trick against Dumbarton the night before it happened, just a shame you never stuck a couple of quid on it, Lee! I had planned on doing a Malonga-based blog on the back of it but didn't manage to get the time to do it.
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