So a Season Starts..

Hibernian bounced back from a tumultuous couple of weeks with a comfortable League Cup win against Montrose on Saturday. Hibs haven't had their troubles to seek over the last fortnight, fending off Rangers in their bid to lure Scott Allan west in the week leading up to their embarrassing 2-6 defeat to the Glasgow side in the Petrofac Training Cup.

Despite Hibs' repeated assertions that Allan would not be sold to Rangers, a second bid was received and promptly rejected, with rumblings of a third bid continuing to populate the sports press in Scotland, although Rangers manager Mark Warburton has himself refused to confirm any third bid.

The issue clearly had an impact on Hibs, Allan started that match on the bench, leaving an already depleted side further weakened. Allan came on in the second half to replace Jordon Forster, who appeared to have been injured following a late challenge, and although individually Allan's performance was positive, the side collapsed as Rangers ran rampant.

If that was a week to forget for Hibs, the gloom continued into the following week when Allan handed in a written transfer request, which was subsequently rejected by Leeann Dempster and Alan Stubbs. Hibs, it would be fair to say, came out swinging with some bold, chest-thumping statements making clear their position that they were not prepared to weaken their own side at the Ibrox's side benefit.

Hibs' response has largely found favour amongst their own supporters. For too long, the Hibs support have seen their best talent moved on, only to be replaced by players of an inferior quality. It is not an approach that has served the football club well, and resulted in a steady downward trajectory from the high point of their CIS Insurance Cup win back in 2007.

The digging in of the heels and steadfast refusal to buckle under intense pressure was another positive indication that Dempster and Stubbs are doing more than just paying lip-service towards Hibs' promotion aspirations this season. Prior to the Allan saga, Hibs movements in the transfer market had been positive, the signing of Fraser Fyvie represented a real coup for the club as Fraser is undoubtedly well equipped to perform in the Scottish Premiership, and there was interest from several clubs eager to bring him on board. Yet he chose Hibernian, clearly sold on the ambition of Stubbs and Dempster. The signing of James Keatings from city rivals Hearts was as surprising as it was welcome, and was a further sign that Hibs are building a strong squad for the coming campaign.

The charm offensive has continued following the rejection of Allan's transfer request, as Hibs have sought to regain the positivity that was engulfing the club prior to Rangers' approach for Allan. A contract extension for Alan Stubbs and his coaching team was warmly welcomed by the support, and this was followed by the announcement that former St Mirren player, and Scotland Under-21 star, John McGinn had signed, with Hibs having met St Mirren's valuation of the player with the minimum of fuss or fanfare. McGinn had a number of options both at home and abroad, so his signing again represents tangible evidence that Dempster's priorities lie firmly in giving Alan Stubbs the best possible chance of returning Hibernian to the top flight of Scottish football.

Any decision to sell Allan to Rangers would have been preposterous, the notion that Hibs would risk their own title aspirations to enhance those of the club seen as their main title rivals is ridiculous. Simply put, had Hibs agreed to the move, the steady trickle of season ticket renewals would likely have halted at that point, and the good feeling that Dempster has worked tirelessly to bring to the support would have evaporated, with any trust being promptly lost.

Instead, Hibs have played their hand well, and can hopefully turn the situation to their advantage. Hibs are expected to announce the signings of Keith Watson and former Rangers youth player Rhys McCabe  in the coming days if rumours are to be believed, and if Dempster and Stubbs can continue to demonstrate the link between supporters backing the club and the club being able to do such business, then they may find that the steady season ticket trickle turns into a healthy flow of renewals and new take-ups.

Stubbs deserves a mention at this point for how he has handled Scott Allan. It was right to start Allan on the bench against Rangers. Neither Allan nor Stubbs were in a position where a positive outcome was likely. Stubbs, if he had started Allan would have put the player in a position where the reactions of both sets of supporters would have caused an unwelcome distraction, and leaving him out altogether would only have fuelled the fires suggesting that the transfer was imminent.

Stubbs left Allan on the bench for the cup win against Montrose as well, and his  decision to introduce Allan midway through the second half meant that Allan's introduction into the fray was very open, very public, and invited the support to make their feelings known. The reaction was mixed, a few boos could be heard but these were largely replaced by applause, with the Easter Road faithful choosing to back rather than barrack their player. Scott's first touches on the ball were met with a similar response, though a moment of magic from the player had the Hibs support on their feet when he fired Hibs into a two goal lead. Nothing wins the fans round quicker than a good performance on the pitch.

Hibs' performance was comfortable without ever reaching the heights of some of their performances last season. New signing Marvin Bartley impressed, providing the midfield with the strong ball-winner that they missed last season. The side that finished the game had a real look of the development squad, with Stubbs using the game to blood a few youngsters, who, while playing their part in the win, still look short of the standard required to mount a title campaign at this very early stage in their careers.

Stubbs later admitted to Hibs TV that although he was pleased to be able to give some game-time to the young players, his hand had been somewhat forced with an injury list that contains the likes of Martin Boyle, Dan Carmichael, Farid El Alagui, James Keatings, Jordon Forster, and Dominique Malonga. With the Scott Allan situation depriving Stubbs of Allan's services in the early stages of the game, it left the Hibs boss with little in the way of cover.

In fairness to those that did play, they moved the ball relatively well with only occasional sloppiness in their passing. The home side, as would be expected, dominated from first whistle to last , with Montrose content to sit in and try to frustrate Stubbs' men. Scott Martin clipped home Hibs' opener, the youngster's composed finish looked more like that of an experienced first teamer than that of a young man enjoying only his second competitive start for the first team.

It was, though, the introduction of Scott Allan that lifted the Hibs side. It is not hard to understand why Rangers were so keen to secure his services, aside from what he would bring to their side, what it would take from Hibs is almost as relevant. Allan injected some pace and directness to the proceedings, picking passes that opened up the Montrose defence, and embarking on mazy runs that pulled players out of position leaving space for his colleagues to exploit.

Jason Cummings, who had led the line splendidly all afternoon, rounded off the win with a fine shot on the turn from inside the box. I felt that Cummings looked like all he had to his game was goals last season (hardly a bad thing for a striker, indeed, such a bad thing that he finished the Championship's top scorer at the tender age of 19!), however he looked stronger, fitter, and more intelligent in his play on Saturday. I was impressed with his understanding of when to come deep, and when not to. He brought others into play well, and looked for any opportunity to get a shot away.

Cummings, who was celebrating his 20th birthday, richly deserved his goal as a reward for his contribution. The goal was his second in consecutive competitive games, and few would bet against him topping the goal-scoring charts this season again.

Hibs now look forward to Saturday's league opener at Dumbarton. With a few of the injured players getting closer to match readiness, Hibs are now well equipped to mount a serious challenge to Rangers' title hopes. If Hibs can indeed keep this squad together, and get more fans back on board for the ride, then Hibs will be in a great position to put the darkness of the last couple of weeks well and truly behind them.

Second Place is Only The First Part of the Job.

Hibs went into Saturday's game against what could be considered their bogey team, Falkirk (Hibs had not beaten Falkirk in four attempts prior to their win on Saturday), in pole position for second place.
The previous weekends victory against Alloa had left Hibs in a position where they could afford to lose, so long as Rangers didn't win at Tynecastle. Hibernian's superior goal difference effectively giving them a two point advantage over the Glasgow side.  A draw would only be enough for Rangers if Hibs lost heavily to Falkirk.

Three and a half thousand Hibs fans made their way west to Falkirk looking for a happy afternoon against a team that had left them with little to be joyful about all season. Falkirk were in the position of having nothing meaningful to play for in the final match. They had been pipped to fourth spot by Queen of the South, and are counting down the days to the Scottish Cup Final, which they reached (as we know) by triumphing against their final visitors.

Due to work commitments, I was limited to goal updates on Sky Sports. Fortunately, we have an abundance of screens showing Sky Sports in the office, so with the Hearts v Rangers game within viewing distance, I was able to keep up to date with what was going on there as well as at Falkirk.

The Hibs fans that did manage to get a ticket (Hibs sold out their allocation of tickets, requested more, then sold them out as well, and could have sold more still, such was the demand for the game) had their nerves calmed early on, when Martin 'Squirrel' Boyle burst forward and played a neat one-two with Scott Allan before firing a shot across Jamie McDonald to put Hibs a goal up with just a few minutes to spare.

So Hibs had made the first move, it was now up to Rangers to see if they could put some pressure on the Leith men, and sure enough - Rangers took the lead at Tynecastle. Shortly afterwards. Rangers would survive a penalty appeal when their goalkeeper looked like he fouled Osman Sow, who had earlier been booked for diving. Perhaps the referee considered it a case of 'the boy who cried wolf' or perhaps he missed the incident (or chose to ignore it), but the Rangers goalkeeper could consider himself very fortunate not to have conceded a penalty, which, if it had been given, would likely have seen the goalkeeper red carded for his troubles.

Unlike Hearts, Rangers didn't dwell on the decision, and they took full advantage moments later when Kenny Miller side-footed home from inside the penalty box to give Rangers a two goal advantage.

So far, so good for Rangers. If they had wanted to turn the heat up on Hibs, this was exactly what they needed to do. Hibs, however, responded almost immediately. Jason Cummings found himself staring down Jamie McDonald from a few yards out. Cummings dropped a shoulder and sold McDonald a dummy before wandering round the grounded goalkeeper to walk the ball into the now unguarded net. It was a classy finish from the young player who finished the season on top of the scoring charts, a remarkable achievement for a lad that was working as a gardener just a couple of years ago. It rounded off a good week for Jason, who had been voted 'Young Player of the Year' by Hibernian supporters a few days earlier.

Hibs now held the aces in the race for second place, and Rangers were running out of cards to play. As the game progressed at Tynecastle, Hearts shuffled the deck and brought on man-mountain Genero Zeefuik who proved to be almost worth his weight in goals as he headed Hearts back into the match before shooting home a late, late equaliser which finally prompted the Hearts fans into voice, the goal signalling the end of the apparent sponsored silence which seems to be a staple of a Hearts party these days, if the 90 minutes at Tynecastle on Saturday and their party at Easter Road where they lost the last derby of the season are anything to go by.

As if that wasn't enough to sour the Rangers' day, they would hear that Do-do-do-Dominique Malonga had scored for the third consecutive game to give Hibs an unassailable three goal lead going into the final moments of the game.

The results left Hibs in second place, as they had started the day. Few would have given Hibs much hope of second in December and it's testament to Alan Stubbs and his team that they proved the doubters wrong.Questions had been asked about Stubbs's side's bottle, and they were answered in spades in the final weeks of the season. It is ironic that Hibs played much better, in my opinion, in the semi-final against Falkirk where they were accused of bottling it, than they played in Saturday's win. That's football, I suppose.

Rangers now face Queen of the South to see who will meet Hibs in the play-off semi final. Rangers will not be approaching the game with any great amount of confidence. Their last outing at Palmerston ended in a 3-0 reverse, with Queen of the South capitalising on a dire performance from the visitors. Rangers have shipped five goals without reply on their travels to Queen of the South this season, and so the play-off fixture is far from a formality.

Queen of the South are in an almost enviable position of having virtually no pressure on them. Expectations throughout Scottish football at the start of the season were that, aside from whoever was to win the league, the other team likely to be promoted would come from Hearts, Rangers, or Hibernian. With Hearts being the title winners, pundits have practically discounted Queen of the South from any notion of them being contenders. It's not an opinion I share. Both Hibs and Rangers have struggled against Queen of the South this season - their stuffy, park-the-bus approach at Easter Road has subjected me to some of the most negative football seen in the East of Edinburgh since the Alex Miller years. With Hibs tendency to find themselves knocked out by the sucker punch on so many occasions this season, the thought of going up against that will not fill the players with joy.

However, both Rangers and Queen of the South would happily trade places with Hibs. The advantage gained in finishing second is significant, especially if the quarter final turns out to be a gruelling, hard fought affair.

It is vital, though, that Hibs remain focussed. Finishing second was just the start of the job and nothing has been achieved yet. The next two games (and, hopefully the two after) are amongst the most important in the club's history. Negotiate these games effectively, and Hibs can put the nightmare of the Championship behind them and look forward to taking their seat at the top-flight table again next season.

I have no doubt that Hibs are capable of winning these games, and although their sternest test will likely come from the SPL side hoping to avoid swapping places with their Championship counterpart, Hibs have the players in their team that have it in their locker to go on and win.

There may be a question of whether or not they have the temperament to do it, but I think that questions has been put to bed on many occasions this season, and Hibs have stuck at it. In finishing second, Hibs accumulated more points that Championship winners Dundee collected last season. Dundee have held their own in the SPL this season, so Hibs should take confidence that they can mix it with the big boys.

Hibs biggest barrier to overcome is to make sure that the focus remains on the job in hand over the next couple of weeks until they need to play again. The risk is that in achieving a milestone in finishing second, they get the chance to relax and let complacency seep in. In Alan Stubbs, Hibs have a manager who is ideal for preventing that from happening. Stubbs has insisted on high standards all season, and it's finally paying dividends.

I am hopeless at predictions, but my gut instinct is that Hibs will once again be a top flight side next season. The one thing I can say, is that so long as Stubbs and his backroom stay, and the hugely impressive work behind the scenes at Easter Road continues, then it's only a matter of time before Hibs are challenging at the right end of the right league, even if it doesn't happen this year.

Congratulations must also go to Championship Player of the Year, Scott Allan. What a joy it has been watching him grow and develop at Hibs this season. He was impressive when he first arrived but having had the bulk of the season under his belt, he has improved immeasurably under Stubbs' guidance. This improvement is a trend that's evident throughout the side, and Allan had some close competition from his team-mates for the award.

Scott has another year on his contract, and I desperately hope Hibs resist any advances for him. He is a player that the Hibs fans appreciate, and he fits the style of play that Stubbs is stamping on the team like a glove. The phrase 'build a team around' gets used a lot in football, and never has it been more fitting than in Scott Allan's case at Hibs.

What has also been very noticeable, in contrast to the abject misery and disillusionment of last season's closing stages, is rather than seeing an impending exodus of players, we are hearing stories of players being desperate to stay at Hibs, and we've gone from seeing loan players who simply couldn't give a toss about the club (yes, Matt Doherty, I mean you) to players like Martin Boyle who showed with his celebration on Saturday exactly what it means to him to be at Easter Road.

It's like night and day comparing the Hibs from then to the Hibs of now. We have some of the most talented young players (the potential in Jason Cummings is unbelievable, in my opinion this guy could go on to be the best striker Hibs have produced since Riordan and Fletcher), as well as some experienced players (Fontaine, Gray, Hanlon, Stevenson, Craig, Robertson) who have raised their game considerably this season. It's a great mix, and Stubbs will have a lot of food for thought over the close season to decide how he is going to build on this nucleus of talent.