WHILE Glasgow’s big guns disappear into the middle distance at the top of the top flight table, their Edinburgh equivalents currently seem to be involved in a demoralising race to the bottom. This was another weekend of capital punishment in the Ladbrokes Premiership, with Hibs slipping to a 3-0 defeat at Motherwell and Hearts making little headway with another underwhelming home draw. Now that the festival has been and gone, next week will be all about the blood sport of wondering whether Paul Heckingbottom and Craig Levein will still be in post by the time international week has come and gone. What else did we learn from a day in Lanarkshire where the foibles of this Hibs team were laid bare by a bravura display from Stephen Robinson’s home side?
MOTHERWELL’S WINGERS PROVIDE A REAL X-FACTOR
There is a danger of reading too much into one match, but the depth and variety of Motherwell’s wide players have what it takes to run most team’s full backs ragged this year. For his first trick on Saturday, Robinson lined up with the pace of Sherwin Seedorf to test the mobility of veteran Steven Whittaker on one side, and the tall, physical James Scott on the right to unsettle the diminutive Lewis Stevenson on the other.
When Seedorf had done his bit by steering in a fine opening goal, the Northern Irishman then had the luxury of introducing the quicksilver Jermaine Hylton and Devante Cole to the mix with half an hour remaining to make them run even more. The really bad news is the fact the Motherwell manager feels his wide men are only operating at around 60% of their efficiency and will be hitting top speed after the international break.
HECKINGBOTTOM’S HIBS ARE LACKING IN BALANCE
Scott Allan does things in every game that make your jaw drop. There were at least three passes here which were every bit as perceptive and well-executed as that one which became a short-lived Twitter sensation at Ibrox. The only problem is that there are usually at least a couple of times in a game where his efforts to win back a ball or at least get back behind the ball just don’t cut the mustard.
With the likes of Allan, Stevie Mallan, Darryl Horgan and Flo Kamberi around, the Easter Road side are a lovely team to watch with the ball – even if this wasn’t young Glenn Middleton’s best afternoon. Without it, though, you worry for them.
Caught numerous times up the field, they could have lost this match by a far heavier margin. Supporters are entitled to feel they could have done with a Marvin Bartley or Mark Milligan in there to do the dirty work.
MOTHERWELL CURRENTLY SEEM A MORE CONVINCING BET FOR A TOP SIX SPOT THAN EITHER EDINBURGH SIDE
Squeezed out of the top half last time around by the performance by Hearts and Hibs, the Lanarkshire side are well placed to profit from any drop off in play from these two Edinburgh rivals. “I believe we are a very dangerous team in this division now,” admitted Hylton, still flush after scoring his team's third goal of the game, a shot as he cut in off the left which Ofir Marciano could only palm into the net. “We are so far away from what we are going to be. It is a very exciting prospect.
“Top six is what everyone wants to aim for,” he added. “It is very early, just four games in. A couple of games ago, after the Hearts game, it looked like the end of the world. And everyone was thinking our season is going to be terrible. Now it is looking very exciting.”
HECKINGBOTTOM IS APPROACHING A POINT OF NO RETURN
Things have escalated quickly for the Englishman, and not in a good way. While the away support were mainly good natured, there were angry calls for his removal after the final whistle. You can’t get rid of your manager every week, but if he is granted a stay of execution, he needs a win very soon. He may need more players too.
“Of course, we believe in the manager,” said midfielder Vykintas Slivka. “We all just have to be focused on the next match and try to improve. Of course, the manager was angry after the game. That was not the result that we came here to Motherwell for. We are angry too. My message to them would be to have patience. Results will come. We can improve. I agree that we have the quality and the ability in this squad to win football matches. It is just not happening for us right now.”
LIAM DONNELLY IS QUIETLY TEARING UP THIS LEAGUE
This 23-year-old Northern Irish international midfielder has four goals in the league already this season, his latest one being his side's crucial second goal on Saturday, slotted away coolly from the penalty spot after a Declan Gallagher header had been blatantly palmed away by Adam Jackson. As of yesterday, this was more than Alfredo Morelos or Odsonne Edourd, equalled only by the early-season heroics of Celtic’s Ryan Christie. All quite remarkable, considering the former Fulham player is usually deployed as a holder.
This boy can play a bit, and the midfield blend between him, the strong running and hungry Allan Campbell and the cultured passing of Liam Polworth is functioning well.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here