Next up for us was the semi final of the Betfred Cup and Dundee FC stood between us and a 2nd domestic cup final in 2 years...
It was an entirely dominant display from us and Dundee were never in the game! On to the final we go and Rangers will await us there!
We went into our 5th group game in the Europa League knowing that if we could beat Basel and Braga failed to get a win against Real Betis, then we would qualify for the knockout stages...
And everything went to plan! We got our bit done in convincing style, whilst Betis absolutely battered Braga as well! We're through to the knockout stages and this is a moment to savour!
I was hoping we could ride the wave back into the Premiership as we took on Motherwell...
But our inconsistency shines through once again as we draw with the side propping up the division! Not good enough!
It was St Johnstone up next and they're flying this year, sitting 3rd after 14 matches. We drew 1-1 at our place earlier in the season, so we knew we'd need to be at our best to get something at theirs...
And we simply weren't good enough. On the stats we matched them, but the chances they created were of a lot higher quality than ours!
With qualification in the Europa League already assured, I took the opportunity to play a second string away at Betis in our final group game. We matched them right up until the final minutes of the game, then 3 goals gave them a very flattering scoreline that they didn't deserve on the balance of play.
Still, there's no taking away that qualification from this group is a fantastic achievement for us!
And we'll take on Holland's finest in the first knockout round.
I reverted back to a full strength side for our encounter with Rangers in the league...
And we hammered them!! What a great result and with our Betfred Cup Final against them only a couple of games away, this could well give us a psychological edge.
Our next game was Hearts away from home. It was to be played just 3 days before the cup final, so I rested a whole host of players. I wasn't comfortable with it against our fiercest rivals and hoped that some of the backups could grind out a result...
And fair play to the lads as they pull off a big win! Young Ethan Laidlaw took advantage of his opportunity for a rare start up front as he bagged the second and decisive goal.
With Christmas just around the corner, we had a League Cup Final to play and it might determine how happy the festive period might be or not for the fans! We took on Rangers who would be favourites for the game, but we had every reason to feel we could pull off an upset after beating them in 5 of our last 6 meetings.
We made it 6 wins in 7 and I lift my first trophy as Hibs manager! It feels so good to win this final after losing the Scottish Cup final last season and hopefully this will be a big morale boost for the lads to kick on!
We took the momentum back to the league, beating Livingston as well. We definitely weren't at our best but got the result!
And we finished off the year 2023 with a win over the champions! ******* brilliant!
We've finally started to string together some results in the league and it's seen us move up to 4th position. If we can win our game in hand as well, we would go within 5 points of leaders, Celtic!!
Our first game back after a couple of weeks of the New Year off was against Ross County...
The match between 4th and 5th ended with the sides sharing the spoils.
PLAYER SIGNED; With the January transfer window now open, I was keen to add a couple of reinforcements. The first is central midfielder, Josh Laurent, who signs from Norwich for £975k.
Laurent went straight into the starting lineup, but it wasn't a good debut for him as we suffer a disappointing defeat to Dundee!
PLAYER SOLD; Christian Doidge becomes the first player to leave during this window. He didn't prove good enough to me after being given another chance this season, so he joins Preston for £100k.
Away from the transfer dealings of my office, and back on the pitch, we got our first win of the new year against St Mirren in a dominant display.
PLAYER SIGNED; The departure of Christian Doidge did leave a void up front and I needed to bring in another striker. Now there is nothing better than weakening one of your league rivals and Ross County's Bruce Anderson has 12 goals in 21 games this season, so I was happy to activate his £475k release clause and ****** him away from them!
And there was a debut goal for our new man as he scored the decisive 2nd goal in a win over Dundee United.
We made it to the final of the Scottish Cup last season and we'll be looking for a good showing again in this year's competition. Our first venture into it this year would be against lower league Annan Athletic...
They gave us no problems whatsoever as we cruise into the next round.
PLAYER SIGNED; You have to love a board that will back you! I only had £800k left in the transfer kitty, but made an offer of £1.6 million for centre back, Zak Vyner from Watford. I thought if it got accepted, then I could potentially shift a player to facilitate it. However, I didn't need to as the board made the necessary funds available and confirmed the deal for me.
It's fair to say my new signings were having a positive impact as we went on to win our next 3 league games, including a solid result over St Johnstone which saw us move above them in the table into 3rd!
After just beating Motherwell 2-0 in the league, we then had to take them on in the Scottish Cup...
We repeated the result to progress to the quarter final! With the Betfred Cup already in the bag this season, could a potential double be on the cards?
After a couple of months away from European competition, it was time to take on Ajax in the first knockout round of the Europa League. We'd go out to Holland first, with the hope of getting any sort of result to bring back to Scotland...
They were too strong for us in their own back yard, but getting that goal gives us a sniff if we can perform at our absolute best at home!
Before the 2nd leg, we had a Premiership game to play and I'll admit I'd have preferred something easier than Rangers away...
I decided to still take the risk of resting a number of players and it unfortunately backfired and we were well beaten.
It leaves us in 4th place with 6 games to go before the league split! Celtic have a 6 point lead at the top and it's St Johnstone that are still surprising everyone this year with a great effort from them! Motherwell and Dundee United are miles behind the rest and having their own little battle for who is going to finish bottom!
Next up was the 2nd leg of our Europa League tie against Ajax and we had a 3-1 defeat to try to overturn! I'd rested a number of first choice starters for the Rangers game in the league and it was time now to see whether that defeat was worth it...
We were so unlucky!! A brilliant performance against the Champions League regulars from Holland and a great win to get under our belts. Unfortunately, across the two legs we were edged out by a single goal, but we can be proud of ourselves here!
We carried that momentum back into domestic action though, recording a win over Hearts in the Edinburgh Derby.
And we continued the good little run as we beat Livingston as well. Things are going pretty well as the season draws close to it's finish.
But we were halted in our tracks by a determined Dundee side who still harbour hopes of breaking into the top half of the table before the league split.
And there will be no domestic cup double for us this year as we are knocked out of the Scottish Cup in the quarter final by Hearts!
The annual youth intake is decent enough, although not mind-blowing!
With the right development, Sandy Petrie could become a very good striker further down the line.
Next season, I will be looking to revert back to my favoured 4-1-2-3 DM formation, so I thought it would be a good idea to get the lads back in that groove now and we switched up to that tactic against Ross County...
And it worked perfectly, as we limited our opponents to a single shot on goal in a comfortable 2-0 victory!
It did the job against Celtic as well! A great win against the reigning and probable champions!
The result actually means we have beaten Celtic in all 3 of our league games this season!
It left us only one game remaing before the league splits in two...
And we finished off the regular season with a nice win at St Mirren.
It was a win that saw us jump above St Johnstone into 3rd place. Now we'll play the Championship group to determine our final placings over the last 5 games.
Our first game in the Championship group would see us play 4th placed St Johnstone. Both of us were looking to put some form of pressure on the top 2 so a win was massively important to both sides...
But neither side could get it as we played out a 0-0 draw. We were the much better side throughout and should have won the game though!
It's been a good month of football for us and that was reflected as I picked up the Manager of the Month award.
Meanwhile, Josh Doig won the Young Player of the Month for the 5th time this season! My left back is maturing into a fine player!
Which is probably why he is attracting interest from Rangers and I may have a job on my hands this Summer to fend off interest from them!
Back to the action now and we got back to winning ways with a solid 1-0 at home to Ross County. Joe Lolley popped up with the winner, scoring his 4th goal in his last 5 games.
Then there was another award for me, as I pick up the Player's Manager of the Year award!
Although I couldn't celebrate my new award with a win as we lost to Celtic. The scoreline was respectable but if we're being honest, we got away with it here, as they absolutely battered us for 90 minutes and we didn't really turn up!
Our performance against Rangers was much better and we controlled the game for long periods. Unfortunately the two early goals they got with their first 2 shots of the game did the damage and we couldn't find the back of the net ourselves!
Our last game of the season would pit us against Dundee who have beaten us in our last two meetings...
And although we didn't lose this time, it's bitterly disappointing we didn't win afyer dominating the entire game with 62% possession and 18 shots on their goal!
Taking only a single point from our last 3 games ultimately cost us 3rd place and a spot in next year's Europa League. Instead, we have to settle for 4th and the Europa Conference League next season! Celtic again won the league, although it was a lot tighter at the top this season!
Premiership = 4th (qualified for Europa Conference League)
Scottish Cup = Knocked out in Quarter Final by Hearts (competition won by St Johnstone)
Betfred Cup = Winners
Europa League = Knocked out in first knockout round by Ajax (competition won by Lazio)
Looking over the squad stats this season, there were far too many players that just had a decent season and not enough that had a great one. Although in the league, we pretty much matched our points tally from last year, we seemed to grind out a lot of results this season rather than breeze through some of the games that we should have. There were some great wins over Rangers and Celtic this year, but we lost entirely too many games to teams in the bottom half of the table. Zak Vyner and Chris Mepham have formed a solid partnership at centre back though and that bodes well for next season, whilst I do now have a number of options in central midfield. Bruce Anderson proved to be a good signing in January as he scored 8 goals in 14 games for us, whilst Jonson Clarke-Harris managed 22 in another decent season for him up top! I feel our wide players is where we need some improvement as we aren't getting enough goals outside of my first choice wingers, Pantovic and Lolley who did both get to double figures!
The Awards...
I didn't manage to get a screenshot of this, but Josh Doig was voted our Fan's Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year, as he continues to get better and better each year. Doig also led the assists charts with 14, whilst Jonson Clarke-Harris was our top goalscorer with 22 in all comps.
Doig was also voted as the Scottish Football Writer's Young Player of the Season!
The Best 11...
The dressing room atmosphere could be a bit better, but as we end another season, there is still plenty of support for my management of the club!
One thing that has been a real positive this season is that our performance in the Europa League saw us rise a massive 80 places in the European club rankings!
The Commercials...
I'd love to be making some good signings to improve the squad this Summer, but the board have been extremely tight on the budget and I'm not quite sure what I'll be able to do over the next couple of months with such little money to play with. It may come down to who we can offload to raise transfer funds.
One player that will need replacing this Summer though is Paul Hanlon. The Hibs legend has left the club at the age of 34 with his contract coming to an end. I did try to convince him to stay on for another season, but he wasn't having it! He was my captain for the first 2 seasons and a consistent performer at the heart of my defence and it's with a heavy heart I see him leave the club!
Two more players were released from the club. Paul McGinn who again has been an important part of my team, but at the age of 33 he isn't getting any better and I feel I have better options at right back.
Finally, Jordan Clark leaves the club. I didn't renew his contract as ever since his arrival for £215k two seasons ago, he simply hasn't lived up to expectations. With only 5 goals and 5 assists in 50 appearances for the club, I'm looking for a lot, lot more from my attacking players!
2 PLAYERS SIGNED; Both of these deals were sorted back in January as pre end of contract agreements. It's time to add some South American flair to the side and to snap up both of these guys on free transfers is excellent business if I do say so myself! First up is Paraguayan central midfielder, Andres Cubas, who comes in from French side, Nimes. He's got a great work rate and is a good tackler and passer of the ball and will provide an excellent option in my midfield trio. The 2nd signing is the more attack minded Fernando Valenzuela, who comes in from Braga. I was desperate to bring in better wide attackers and this guy could prove to be the answer!
PLAYER SIGNED; Another wide attacker who joins on a freebie at the end of his contract is Manchester United's Tahith Chong. He's another player who will bring plenty of flair and excitement to the attacking line and I look forward to seeing him in action!
PLAYER SOLD; The first player to be sold this Summer is Demetri Mitchell. He is now surplus to requirements following the recent arrivals above and joins Sunderland for a fee of £900k.
Our pre season campaign kicked off with a bang with a massive win over las year's relegated side, Motherwell. We backed that up with a few more decent results as well in a bunch of friendlies that generally went ok.
PLAYER SOLD; 21 year old striker Elias Hoff Melkersen was seen as one of the club's brightest prospects when I arrived. However, he has failed to impress here or on loan at St Mirren and Derby County, with poor match ratings and hardly any goals or assists. I therefore didn't have the faith to put him in my first team and when Stabaek were prepared to pay £2.6 million to sign him, I snapped their hand off!
With the new league season about to start, the preview shows that the bookies have us at our shortest odds yet to win the title. Clearly they believe that this is the best squad I have had since taking over at the club and I have to agree! Still nobody good enough to break into the media dream 11 though!
Our season was set to begin with a game against an Aberdeen side that we have had very mixed fortunes against so far under my management, in fact it's very even between us.
On this occasion though, it was us who come out on top as we start our season with a very solid victory! Great to see Fernando Valenzuela bagging a debut goal as well!
If we want to make the group stage of the Europa Conference League this year, we are going to have to get through two qualifying rounds first. The first one would be against Lokomotiv Plovdiv with the first leg being out in Bulgaria...
And we bring back a one goal advantage with us! And there was another debut goal as Tahith Chong scores a fine effort!
Just 3 days later, we would take on Rangers in the Premiership...the games are already coming thick and fast in these early stages of the season...
We definitely weren't at our best, but came away with a very good point!
Back in the Europa League, we completed the job at home to Plovdiv to progress to the next qualifying stage.
And now only Panathinaikos stand between us and the group stage.
Before that though, we had our first game of the Betfred Cup to play and we'd drawn Dunfermline in the second round as we begin our quest to retain our trophy...
We were entirely dominant but only managed a 1 goal win in the end which came from 19 year old Ethan Laidlaw.
Our final qualification game to make it to the group stages of the Europa Conference League would be against Panathanaikos and we would play the first leg out in Greece...
I think it's fair to say we'll be in the group stages after this win, barring a complete meltdown in the 2nd leg.
Back in the league, we took on a Dundee side that we haven't beaten in any of our last 3 meetings...
But we put an end to that little run with a solid 2-0, which could and probably should have been 4 or 5! We were all over them!
Winning the first leg of our Europa Conference League qualifier so convincingly out in Greece allowed me to heavily rotate the squad here for the 2nd leg...
And the players that came in took their opportunity to impress as we cruise to another big win against opponents that I frankly would have expected better from! Still, I'm not going to complain and we move to the group stage with ease!
The draw for the group stages was very kind to us (although I half expected it as we were 2nd seeds) and this is a very winnable group!
In domestic competition, our 4th league game of the season would see us take on Arbroath...
And it's another dominant performance and another win on the board!
The International break gave the lads a 2 week rest before we returned to take on Ross County in the Premiership...
The break obviously did us good as we battered County! Bruce Anderson was on top form here as he banged in two crackers from outside the box against his former club!
Our first group game in the Europa Conference League would see us welcome Belgian side, Mechelen, to Scotland...
And we sent them packing with no points as we set our stall out early that we're here to make an impact in this competition this year!
Back in the league, we record another win as well against St Mirren, with Tahith Chong impressing with his first 2 league goals for the club.
We were flying as we went into the quarter final of the Betfred Cup against Dundee United...
And although we weren't at our best, we still managed to creep through to the next round. These are the sort of results you grind out when you're in good form!
Just as I expect we would do in our next league game against Livingston...
Or not! Our first defeat of the season is a disappointing one based on the fact we had 21 shots at goal and hit the woodwork 3 times!
Despite that defeat, we do still sit on the top of the table after our positive start to the season with a 2 point lead!
It didn't take long for us to recover from that defeat though as we go out to Turkey and batter Besiktas in the Europa Conference League!
Our 8th league game of the season would provide our first encounter with Celtic this season. They hadn't had the best of starts though and had already lost 2 of their opening 7 league matches...
And we were just a couple of minutes away from inflicting their 3rd defeat of the season on them! Gutting to concede that late goal, but a draw against the champions isn't the worst result.
Kilmarnock were promoted back to the top tier last season, but their first campaign back in the Premiership wasn't going great as they came into the game against us bottom of the table which just 1 win so far this season...
And we inflicted a little bit more misery on them here with a convincing victory!
The Kilmarnock result saw Tahith Chong bag a brace and it's fair to say the winger has settled into life here very well! He already has 6 goals and 3 assists in all competitions this year!
Back in the Europa League, we were to play a St Gallen side that sound like they should be from Ireland, but in fact we were inviting them from Switzerland...
And we sent them back there with nothing! Even though we did our best to let them back into the game in the 2nd half!
So at the half way point of the group stage, we have a 100% record and have all but qualified for the knockout stages already!
There is no denying that St Johnstone have been the biggest improvers in Scotland since I took over at Hibs, climbing to a 3rd placed finish last season as well as winning the Scottish Cup too. They would come into our next game against us sitting 3rd after another positive start to their season...
But we put them firmly in their place with a really good performance from my lads. Liam Henderson dominated the midfield and his man of the match performance set the tone for the rest of the team!
However, we couldn't take that momentum into the Edinburgh Derby and were well beaten by our local rivals!
I made it clear to the lads that I was disgusted with their display and expected much better against Rangers...
And the boys delivered with a brilliant response! Good to get this win after failing to beat Rangers in our last 3 meetings.
With us having already pretty much qualified for the knockout stages of the Europa Conference League, I took the opportunity to heavily rotate the squad against St Gallen in our 4th group game. That included handing a debut to 17 year old Connor Hughes.
And the youngster took full advantage of his opportunity, bagging a brace in a debut to remember!
And that win did confirm our safe passage out of the group!
Resting so many players would allow us to be at virtually full strength against Dundee in the league...
And a superb defensive display which saw us keep Dundee from having a single shot at our goal, ensured that our single goal was enough to take all 3 points!
After 13 league games, we remain top of the table and now have a 3 point lead over the reigning champions! Fair to say that the first 3rd of the season has gone very well for us in all competitions!
And we would look to keep up that great start as we took on Rangers in the Betfred Cup semi final. A win would see us reach the final for the second season running and get us 1 step closer to retaining our trophy...
A fantastic comeback from 2-1 down at half time, saw us through to the final! Excellent stuff and an amazing performance from Fernando Valenzuela who is proving to be a vital part of the team following his addition in the Summer.
The player that came in on a free is worth around £10 million now and has contributed to 19 goals in just 18 appearances in all competitions this season!
None other than Celtic will await us in the final and we'll have to beat the best if we are going to make it back to back Betfred Cups.
Thanks to our positive performances in Europe over the last couple of seasons, the bank balance at the club is pretty healthy with more than £6.5 million in the account. So I was pleased the board agreed to invest the vast majority of it into once again improving our training facilities.
On top of that, we will invest further into the level of coaching in our academy, meaning we have one of the best in the country!
We made it 5 wins from 5 in the Europa Conference League, beating Besiktas with relative ease at home.
And we finished off the group stage with a draw against Mechelen. I played mostly second choice players for this one, we still dominated and should have won, but who cares!
I mean, we absolutely p155ed the group anyway! A brilliant performance so far in this year's European competition!
Sandwiched between those two Europa Conference League games, were 7 more points in the league which included a good draw away at Celtic! To this point, we have still only lost 2 games in all competitions this season!!
A further win against Ross County as we came from 1-0 down, saw us extend our unbeaten league run to 10 games.
With the League Cup Final just around the corner, I was prepared to field a weakened team and risk that unbeaten run against St Mirren...
But we kept it going with another 1-0 win. The scoreline suggests a tight game but it was anything but and on another day we'd have scored 3 or 4 here.
So 3 days before Xmas, we had the Betfred Cup final to play and Celtic stood in our way of retaining our trophy...
It was a tight game, back and forth for 90 minutes and the scores were level at full time, meaning extra time would be required to settle this one.
Extra time couldn't settle it either, with neither side really creating a meaningful chance in the extra half hour. A penalty shootout was required...
And we held our nerve with a perfect 5 to retain our Betfred Cup Trophy!
I'm so pleased to have our second trophy in the bag and to beat both Rangers and Celtic on route to winning it this season makes it even sweeter! A fantastic performance!
We only had a small gap before we had to play Aberdeen in the league and with fatigue setting in amongst the squad, I feared we wouldn't be at our best...
But our strength in depth is shining through this season and yet again we pull off another good win away from home!
And we finished the year 2024 with a hammering over our local rivals! I'll admit that this one tasted sweet, really really sweet!
Our excellent season is reflected by the league table! After 20 games, we have an 8 point lead over the big 2 and even have a game in hand on Rangers as well! Could this be the year we dethrone them?!
PLAYER SIGNED; The January window is officially open and with it, the arrival of a young midfielder for the future. George Williams signs on a free transfer from LAFC and looks to have some stats to grow into a first team player over the next few years.
Talking of building for the future, we continue to up the standards at the club and our youth recruitment is now classed as exceptional!
Our return from the Winter break wasn't a pleasant one as we fall to defeat at St Johnstone. By the time we'd actually got our act together, they were already 3 goals in front and we'd left ourselves too much to do!
I demanded a response against bottom of the table Kilmarnock and I got it.
That would lead us into a game against 4th placed Livingston who were having a quality season...
But we were too strong for them in the end. We weren't really at the races for the first half, but a kick up the backside at half time saw a much improved performance in the second period.
And we made it 3 league wins in a row with a narrow victory over Dundee. We were all over them for the full 90 minutes but that second goal eluded us, so it was never really comfortable.
Motherwell would present our first opposition in the Scottish Cup this season. They were relegated last year and were struggling this season in the Championship sitting 8th, so I expected a pretty easy win...
And even with most of the second string coming into the starting lineup, it was still as easy as you like.
LOAN SIGNING; Transfer deadline day came and I only really wanted to bring in cover for one position and that was across both wings. Amourricho Van Axel Dongen (what a mouthful that is) is one of Ajax's bright young future stars and he joins us on loan for the rest of the season.
We went away to St Mirren in our next league game and came away with just a point. We played some beautiful football at times and created some great chances, but just couldn't finish them off to take the win.
We came back with 2 wins against Ross County and Arbroath in the league though and are quickly back on track.
Next up was the Scottish Cup and we had been handed a tough tie away at Livingston. We were 2-0 down after 53 minutes and I made all 3 subs in a bid to turn the game around. Then Fernando Valenzuela was forced off through injury and we were reduced to 10 men. Looking like we were about to crash out of the competition, incredibly we managed to turn the game on its head and progress to the next round. One of those subs, Ethan Laidlaw bagged a brace and was a huge contributor to our progress!
Laidlaw is a product of our youth system and now that he has reached 20 years old, he is coming into his own. He now has 12 goals and 8 assists in all comps this year and his stock is growing with each game he plays!
Back in the Prem, we had a tough game away at Rangers, knowing they'd desperately be trying to get the win to close the gap on us...
But we hold them to a draw and maintain our 8 point advantage over them!
St Johnstone had the potential to upset the applecart...
But a solid defensive performance ensured we beat them as well!
There are now only 4 games of the regular season to go before the split and we have a 6 point lead over the reigning champs! We're in a genuine title challenge now with 9 games remaining!
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