Hibernian European Tour 2023/24

[Ken Deans]

Hibs supporters shouldn't worry. The EPL is the strongest league in the world and qualifying from that league is the mark of an excellent team. Realistically its no as bad as getting gubbed off some Eastern European shite

[Lyle Lanley]

2 hours ago, Leith Green said:

Tickets for the away match were sold out before last nights match, and all those attending (plus many more) have already booked travel and hotels etc.

I dont think anyone will be cancelling because of what some tube on twitter says......

 

[AndyM]

1 hour ago, Zing. said:

Emery has apparently said he’ll play his strongest team next week so that’s good news.

Don't believe that for a second. It'll be a very mixed team. The tie is dead.

No danger are they risking a £40m signing getting cemented by a HIbs player with important league games at the weekend.

[Joe Terrapin]

And to think that Villa side got pumped 5-1 by Newcastle. Thank f**k we wont be playing the Geordies(or any Sportswashing conglomerate any time soon)Scary as the money is I wonder if there's as much a gap in finances between Newcastle and Villa? Can't be arsed to look it up. Back to the game. I was hoping we could limit it to 3. Villa could have scored at will, we were chasing shadows last night. Much as I hate Johnson(and I really do) I think he was on a hiding to nothing. Much talk of we should have turned it into a battle but they still would have pumped us and possibly by more. That's not to say he gets away with playing Josh Campbell when everyone and his granny can see the boy is not up to it. 

[DC92]

5 hours ago, VincentGuerin said:

And the season Hearts ran Liverpool close, they were in a downwards spell and were certainly not 'Liverpool.' They'd finished eighth the season before, and seventh the season we played them. In an era when the teams outside the Champions League spaces were generally much-of-a-muchness shite.

Broadly agree with your post, and they certainly weren't Klopp's Liverpool, but they were probably only slightly below average compared to their last 30-odd years imo. They started a strong team at Anfield featuring some very good players who went on to nearly win the title the following season.

It's worth saying we were also pretty gash that season and finished 10th, although we had a fairly solid defence, which is the bare minimum you need to make it respectable in these kind of games.

[gazelle83]

1 hour ago, Frankie S said:

Anyone who thinks any other Scottish side outwith the OF (both of whom I’d expect Villa to beat fairly comfortably in a two-legged European tie) would have done much better against Villa is deluded. That’s the most one-sided game of football I’ve ever seen, and I was at the Malmo game. Yes, Hibs have a porous defence (and to be fair some reasonable quality in attacking areas as shown by the Luzern games), but Villa always had several gears in reserve and treated much of the match (second half especially) as a training session. Villa have quality in every position, and are simply streets ahead of anything Hibs will encounter in the Scottish Premiership.

Hibs played very narrow, and gave Lucas Digne the freedom of Lochend, but Villa would have sworded them if the full backs had got drawn out too. The first touch and passing of the Villa players was on another level, and while Hibs pressed reasonably effectively at times in the first half, Villa’s technique and precision allowed them to play out with ease. A good example was towards the end of the first half, when McGinn (who, along with Digne and Watkins, was one of Villa’s best players - that slide-rule pass to Digne for the cross for the third goal was sumptuous) was under pressure in his own box from a three man press: he simply pinged a pass right across the six yard line to Diego Carlos, with Youan positioned no more than a yard or two out of the line of the pass. The pace on the pass meant Youan wasn’t getting there, but any slight inaccuracy would have left the Hibs player with a tap in. Hibs instantly went from having a good press on to being hit on the break, and in that break Watkins should have slid in a fourth, for his hat trick, just before half time. That, in microcosm, was the story of the game, and the gulf between the sides.

It’s likely Villa will play a second string team in the second leg, but their squad is deep, and even that will be a daunting prospect for Hibs.

 

 

Would you say Aston villa are better than the Bayern Munich side of 2008? They aren't even close and we got a draw... deservedly so. Fair enough we got destroyed over there but nobody should be beating Hibs by 5 at home. Even had it been man city, it would still have been a poor result. 

[10menwent2mow]

1 hour ago, gazelle83 said:

Would you say Aston villa are better than the Bayern Munich side of 2008? They aren't even close and we got a draw... deservedly so. Fair enough we got destroyed over there but nobody should be beating Hibs by 5 at home. Even had it been man city, it would still have been a poor result. 

I think that's harsh. The gap in the last 15 years has grown enormously and will only continue to do so. 

A Liverpool team that only finished 5th took 7 off the **** as Ibrox last season. Let's not kid ourselves, the days of a Scottish club side running an English club side even close are gone. See also Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal

[Les Cabbage]

The below is pretty much where I’m at, obviously before the game you had the “what if?” Excitement, but in reality anyone that expected anything different is on cloud cuckoo land.

7 hours ago, VincentGuerin said:

A wee lesson for some of the lunatics you see running about on this site saying how great it would be to draw an English side. Drawing Englsh teams is fucking awful these days.

Aberdeen fans talk about taking Burnley to extra time. But Burnley were shite, had over-achieved the previous season, and finished 15th in the Premier League the season Aberdeen played them. Pumped out the Europa League before the group stages, early exits in both domestic cups. Hard to recall a worse English side to play in Europe in the last decade or so. And the season Hearts ran Liverpool close, they were in a downwards spell and were certainly not 'Liverpool.' They'd finished eighth the season before, and seventh the season we played them. In an era when the teams outside the Champions League spaces were generally much-of-a-muchness shite.

The reality of playing an English club these days is that you're likely to be facing an upwardly-mobile club with an upwardly-mobile coach and a squad deep as f**k with excellent players from a league where getting into Europe is no longer a case of just being better than all the shite there used to be outside the top four.

Add to that that these clubs now see the Conference League and Europa League as worth winning because they are ultimately a back door to the Champions League, and you've got a situation where you're likely to take a complete rag-dolling.

Hibs didn't help themselves. It was tactically dreadful, gutless, and lacking the basics of defending. The goals they lost in the first half were laugh-out-loud bad. But the result being the result is no surprise. I actually called 5-0 on kick-off yesterday. Should have had a bet.

Was our defending utterly crap? Yes, did Youan, our star player have the worst game of his Hibs career? Yes.

The two points really didn’t help us but even if we were at our best it would have probably been a similar scoreline.

The reasons for this aren’t because of Lee Johnson and I’m not exactly his number 1 fan, they aren’t because of a “Hibsing,” it’s because of Sky Sports, the financial doping and the competitiveness being taken away from football.

Some dreadful takes in this thread however none are worse than this one:

20 hours ago, Old Pack said:

I pity the poor b*****ds that have already shelled out for the trip down to Birmingham

A fan of *checks profile* St Johnstone.

If the thought of a trip down to Birmingham with all your mates with probably another 5k+ of your fellow supporters to be spent in the pubs is to be pitied then you’re following the wrong sport.

I suppose as a St Johnstone fan you’ve never had the opportunity to have such an experience so that may be a factor.

Hopefully Villa play the kids and we can at least get a goal or something to celebrate to give us our moment.

All in all it’s been a brilliant experience this season being in Europe, 6 matches, 2 more than expected and beating a team we were expected to lose to based on seedings and bookies odds.

See you again next season @EuropaConferenceLeague.

[Old Pack]

31 minutes ago, Les Cabbage said:

The below is pretty much where I’m at, obviously before the game you had the “what if?” Excitement, but in reality anyone that expected anything different is on cloud cuckoo land.

Was our defending utterly crap? Yes, did Youan, our star player have the worst game of his Hibs career? Yes.

The two points really didn’t help us but even if we were at our best it would have probably been a similar scoreline.

The reasons for this aren’t because of Lee Johnson and I’m not exactly his number 1 fan, they aren’t because of a “Hibsing,” it’s because of Sky Sports, the financial doping and the competitiveness being taken away from football.

Some dreadful takes in this thread however none are worse than this one:

A fan of *checks profile* St Johnstone.

If the thought of a trip down to Birmingham with all your mates with probably another 5k+ of your fellow supporters to be spent in the pubs is to be pitied then you’re following the wrong sport.

I suppose as a St Johnstone fan you’ve never had the opportunity to have such an experience so that may be a factor.

Hopefully Villa play the kids and we can at least get a goal or something to celebrate to give us our moment.

All in all it’s been a brilliant experience this season being in Europe, 6 matches, 2 more than expected and beating a team we were expected to lose to based on seedings and bookies odds.

See you again next season @EuropaConferenceLeague.

I’ve seen us win in Trondheim, draw in Lucerne and lose to a very good Monaco side so I do know what it’s like to follow my team in Europe.

It should have been double figures last night and your team were shit.

[gazelle83]

35 minutes ago, 10menwent2mow said:

I think that's harsh. The gap in the last 15 years has grown enormously and will only continue to do so. 

A Liverpool team that only finished 5th took 7 off the **** as Ibrox last season. Let's not kid ourselves, the days of a Scottish club side running an English club side even close are gone. See also Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal

Are you saying that Aston villa would give a game to that Bayern team ? Schweinsteiger, Kroos, Toni, Klose, Altintop etc? They would get thumped. If you are at home and up for it, then you shouldn't lose 5-0. If they had been away possibly but I'm not having Aston Villa are some amazing team. Hibs were poor, very poor! 

[10menwent2mow]

20 minutes ago, gazelle83 said:

Are you saying that Aston villa would give a game to that Bayern team ? Schweinsteiger, Kroos, Toni, Klose, Altintop etc? They would get thumped. If you are at home and up for it, then you shouldn't lose 5-0. If they had been away possibly but I'm not having Aston Villa are some amazing team. Hibs were poor, very poor! 

Hibs were awful. But it's comparing apples with oranges. Even in 15 years the game has moved on massively. Yes Bayern were a world class team at the time we played them, what the f**k were they doing in the UEFA cup though, they weren't that good if they were in that competition 

[Crùbag]

21 hours ago, GHF-23 said:

Complete failure to build a squad tbh. See also Lewis Stevenson. We should have sourced long term replacements for both at least two years ago. Tbf, we did bring in Cabraja last year who was superb before his family problems ruined him. Still now we've got a guy who will definitely leave in the summer and may leave in January as our first choice RCB. Shouldn't have anyone on loan as a first choice player if you aren't confident he'll be your player at the end of it. 

Same with our midfield, we've got all the different types of third men for the midfield but Newall is the only good all round central midfielder we have. 

Cheers. Was a genuine question. As much as we enjoy Hibs' woes usually, that type of horsing would be handed out to any Scottish team bar Celtic. Spurs did it to us years ago.

Not a fan of loans usually. Would rather teams were compelled to play a certain quota of Scots with loans limited to one or two. Scottish teams' academies seem to be largely reduntant in producing top level players here.

[Leith Green]

A sensible take, despite it being Talksport

 

 

[MacDonald Jardine]

2 hours ago, Les Cabbage said:

The below is pretty much where I’m at, obviously before the game you had the “what if?” Excitement, but in reality anyone that expected anything different is on cloud cuckoo land.

Was our defending utterly crap? Yes, did Youan, our star player have the worst game of his Hibs career? Yes.

The two points really didn’t help us but even if we were at our best it would have probably been a similar scoreline.

The reasons for this aren’t because of Lee Johnson and I’m not exactly his number 1 fan, they aren’t because of a “Hibsing,” it’s because of Sky Sports, the financial doping and the competitiveness being taken away from football.

Some dreadful takes in this thread however none are worse than this one:

A fan of *checks profile* St Johnstone.

If the thought of a trip down to Birmingham with all your mates with probably another 5k+ of your fellow supporters to be spent in the pubs is to be pitied then you’re following the wrong sport.

I suppose as a St Johnstone fan you’ve never had the opportunity to have such an experience so that may be a factor.

Hopefully Villa play the kids and we can at least get a goal or something to celebrate to give us our moment.

All in all it’s been a brilliant experience this season being in Europe, 6 matches, 2 more than expected and beating a team we were expected to lose to based on seedings and bookies odds.

See you again next season @EuropaConferenceLeague.

He might have got a European trip after beating Hibs in the SC Final.

(CBA checking if we were still on lockdown then,)

[Jacksgranda]

6 hours ago, Leith Green said:

I sit in the West, and watched that all happen just as you described it - I turned to the boy next to me, we looked at each other, shook our heads and he said "its a different sport".

He is right, these Villa players shouldnt even be in the same competition as Hibs, frankly.

Next week they won't be...

[HibeeJibee]

2 hours ago, 10menwent2mow said:

Hibs were awful. But it's comparing apples with oranges. Even in 15 years the game has moved on massively. Yes Bayern were a world class team at the time we played them, what the f**k were they doing in the UEFA cup though, they weren't that good if they were in that competition 

Bayern finished 4th previous season (Bundesliga only got 3x CL slots) albeit only 10pts off 1st.

However season they beat Aberdeen they won league + cup + league cup and reached UEFA Cup SFs.

[Les Cabbage]

6 hours ago, Old Pack said:

I’ve seen us win in Trondheim, draw in Lucerne and lose to a very good Monaco side so I do know what it’s like to follow my team in Europe.

It should have been double figures last night and your team were shit.

I’m 26 years old and I’ve seen more European away wins than that, you’re also posting a defeat like it’s some form of win here which is pretty funny, back down to the championship where you belong next season sir.

[Bully Wee Villa]

6 hours ago, gazelle83 said:

Are you saying that Aston villa would give a game to that Bayern team ? Schweinsteiger, Kroos, Toni, Klose, Altintop etc? They would get thumped. If you are at home and up for it, then you shouldn't lose 5-0. If they had been away possibly but I'm not having Aston Villa are some amazing team. Hibs were poor, very poor! 

Would fancy our chances to be honest, most of those Bayern lads will be knocking on a bit, now.

 

[The Other Foot]

3 hours ago, ancientnoise said:

Excellent summary.

Point of doubt is that multiple Euro Tourney winner Emery doesn't put out weakened sides. We'll see.

Cantankerous quibble: Are Hibs hamstrung by the quality (or lack of ) play by domestic opposition?

In a slightly related topic, I wonder if youth teams play European opposition regularly? Or is it just the top youth sides, once or twice a season?

[Leith Green]

14 minutes ago, The Other Foot said:

In a slightly related topic, I wonder if youth teams play European opposition regularly? Or is it just the top youth sides, once or twice a season?

Certainly Hibs youth teams play Euro opposition, one of my mates has a 16 year old signed to Hibs and his team have been in Europe playing this summer.

Obviously we know that the older laddies were playing in the premier Euro competition last season, but there a a few other "friendly" type tournaments for younger age groups.  Good experience I think.