SPL Fanzone: Season review - Hibernian

Published on Wednesday 23 May 2012 04:02

A largely disappointing season failed to do a U-turn with a heavy defeat to Hearts in the cup final, as John Robertson reflects on a forgettable season for Hibs

Season highlight

Leigh Griffiths’ semi-final goal at Hampden was probably our only really exhilarating moment of the season. There couldn’t have been any Hibs fan who thought this team would make it to the Scottish Cup final.

Season lowlight

We are spoiled for choice. Given how bad we were all season it was no surprise to end it with spectacular failure. It doesn’t help that the cup final was ruined as a contest early in the second half when the referee was conned in to giving a penalty that never was. That’s not sour grapes, Hearts were worthy winners on the day.

Manager’s report card

Pat Fenlon’s main task was to make sure we avoided relegation so on that basis he has to be awarded pass marks. He needs a decent transfer kitty to allow him to do better. 6/10

Player of the season

It is hard to resist the temptation to nominate our mascot, Sunshine the Leith Lynx. But James McPake deserves it for several do-or-die defensive displays.

Expectations for next season

Winning at home on a more regular basis would be nice. A decent position in the league should follow on from that. The football will also have to be more pleasing on the eye.

What needs to be on the club’s summer shopping list?

With so many loan players departing, we are looking for players in every position. We can only pray the club goes for quality over quantity this time around or we will find ourselves at the wrong end of the table again.

What was the worst moment of the 2011/12 season?

When the full extent of the financial shenanigans at Rangers was revealed it brought home to fans of all other clubs just how uneven a playing field the SPL is.

And what was the best?

We may have lost big style but the Salt‘n’Sauce final was a breath of fresh air. Two non-Old Firms teams packed out Hampden and showed that intense rivalry does not have to mean that the air is contaminated with bitterness and bile. The scenes inside the stadium pre kick-off were a real credit to Edinburgh.

John Robertson

www.hibs.net

Taken from the Scotsman