Playmaker Merouane Zemmama had gone off with what looked like a bad injury early on and with John Hughes’ team unable to score even against nine men, the thought that they could pose a threat to the top two looked laughable.
But a cross came in from the right, Colin Nish glanced in a header, and another three points were won. It was not the most impressive win of Hughes’ short spell in charge, but it might have taught him more than most.
He knows, if he didn’t already, that Zemmamma (whose injury was a mild groin strain), Anthony Stokes, Derek Riordan and Abdesselam Benjelloun are impressive players on their day but infuriating when off form, which is why they’re at Hibs. But he knows too that he has a strength in depth in his squad unmatched outside the Old Firm: Nish is a decent, burly SPL centre-forward who will score 15 goals most seasons, but whereas last season Hibs relied on him, now they can bring him off the bench to change a game.
Hughes also knows that his players have the composure and character to adhere to his insistence on patience, and are brave enough to play football even when time is running out. Hibs refused to panic, followed the manager’s instructions to create width, and eventually got their reward.
And Hughes knows how to manage press as well as players. After Maurice Ross and Chris Maguire had been sent off, Aberdeen were furious that Ian Murray didn’t get punished for a thumping tackle on Fraser Fyvie with 10 minutes to go. Well after the post-match media conferences had ended, Hughes returned to the press lounge to insist that he had “watched the incident on prozone, that it was 60-40 Murray and he got the ball”. Anyone thinking about arguing otherwise in their match reports had been well telt.
Murray did get the ball, but seemed more than happy in the process to remind Fyvie, who had been tugging Murray’s shirt, that professional football is a man’s game. The impact led to the impressive 16-year-old twisting his leg and he will now be out for a lengthy spell with damaged ankle ligaments. It capped a depressing day for Aberdeen, whose efforts to cling on with nine men deserved reward.
“Obviously you’re not happy with it,” said Jamie Langfield, the Aberdeen goalkeepeer. “[Murray’s] an experienced defender and I think he knows what he’s doing. He knows he’s going to get the ball but he also knows he’s going to get the man as well. Although maybe if we started doing that as well, getting the ball first, then going through people, we wouldn’t get men sent off.”
Steven Nicholls was refereeing only his second SPL match of the season after his first, St Johnstone v St Mirren in September, saw him blasted by both managers. Saturday wasn’t much better: Nicholls could perhaps claim he got both sendings-off right, by the very strict letter of the law, but his eagerness to reach for his pocket was frustrating and helped ruin an enticing fixture. He has refereed five games this season and shown 22 yellow and six red cards; maybe he would argue he’s only following rules, but he wasn’t for explaining anyway.
“It just seemed to be relentless our way,” said Langfield. “You got no response from him whatsoever – I was talking calmly to the referee asking him to explain some things but he just had a blank expression and said, ‘Jamie walk away’.
“There’s certain referees you can talk to. I go back to the likes of Hugh Dallas and Kenny Clark, but nowadays you can’t seem to have that.”
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