Hibernian

Matty Fairnie
Fan writer

I never thought we'd see a Hibs manager quoting Pablo Picasso in his post-match interviews, so when Marink Reedijk quoted the legendary artist - and said "learn the rules like a professional, so you can break them like an artist" - it showed again how much Hibs have broken the mould with the young Dutchman.

Hibs were outstanding again at the weekend. The question of whether we could back up the Hampden win over Hearts last weekend with another strong performance against Aberdeen was answered comprehensively by a side that's being orchestrated beautifully from the middle of the pitch by Joe Newell.

It would be lazy to suggest that it's solely Newell's presence that has lifted the team, but he's played a significant part, however the whole side has been lifted by Reedijk.

Miguel Chaiwa and Josh Mulligan, two highly-rated and highly-valued young midfielders, have cut frustrated figures for much of this season. Criticised for their decision-making and execution, many Hibs fans had questioned whether either should be considered starters in the side.

Both are now flourishing in Reedijk's system and they were back to their best on Saturday evening, as was Jamie McGrath, who showed his own piece of artistry with a wonderful opening goal.

A clean sheet and four goals was the perfect answer to those that questioned if last week's performance was a one-off.

It looks like Hibs have found a diamond in Reedijk, and the mood around the club going into this international break is night and day from how we felt at the last one.

It feels great to be looking to the rest of the season with optimism again, and Reedijk can take the credit for that.

You can find Matty Fairnie at Longbangers Podcast, external

Hibernian's on-loan Stoke City forward Nathan Lowe, 21, has a stress fracture that needs to be managed weekly. (Edinburgh Evening News - subscription required, external)

Tuesday's Scottish gossip

Andy Halliday believes it is clear to see the imprint Marink Reedijk is looking to make on his Hibernian side after a hugely encouraging week for the Dutchman.

Jamie McGrath says his stunning goal in Hibs' 4-0 win over Aberdeen had "been a long time coming". (Edinburgh Evening News - subscription required, external)

Monday's Scottish gossip

We asked for your views after Hibs made it back-to-back wins with a 4-0 trouncing of Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

Here's what some of you said:

Neil: You can definitely see the difference in Hibs' style of play, it's more pleasing on the eye and once everyone is fit and really tuned in to what Marink Reedijk wants, we will be a pleasure to go and watch again. Hope we can get cup win to really emphasise this.

Rob: Brilliant last two games. Rome isn't built in a day and Hibs seem to be a better team for the new manager. Maybe we will go on a wee run to the top six now and have a cup win on the way. Happier days for t he Hibees.

Paul: Total football? Not quite but we are clearly looking like a team now rather than 11 individuals thrown together for a bounce game. Can't deny that there's been a huge improvement in performances. Pleasing.

Sandy: Sheer poetry in motion. Marink has this team playing a Dutch total football style that took us to another level on Saturday. Clean sheet and four goals with a Jamie McGrath wonder strike and three substitutes scoring. This was entertaining, and you have to feel more to come. Hibs are back in business.

Kenny: A fantastic display, especially the second half as we played Aberdeen off the park. The team looks a lot fitter and we are playing with confidence which is probably the main thing. We look like we can go up against anyone now. Well done to all.

Ross: Bit of a slow start, but once we hit top gear in the second half we were unstoppable. Goal of the season contender, but we really had no failures. Marko Ivezic is fast becoming a top centre-back. Strolled it again. Special mention for Alex Williams who did very well. Third place up for grabs.

Hibernian's crushing four-goal victory over Aberdeen lifted them off the bottom of the Scottish Premiership, leapfrogging their opponents, and piled further pressure on Pittodrie boss Stephen Robinson.

Read the full match report here.

Have your say on the game via this link.

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Hibernian manager Marink Reedijk: "The combination of performance and result is really good. What is also really good is the guys who come on make a difference - Alex Williams had a fantastic match after coming on in 10 minutes.

"It's fantastic how he coped with it and kept on fighting. That's what we need. Also the guys who came on, there are three of them on the scoresheet. That is a good sign.

"I can be critical as well, because we had to score in the first half. We allowed Aberdeen into the match too much for my liking. But 4-0 here in Aberdeen is a result which gives me a good feeling.

"We did well. Jamie McGrath's goal really opened the game up. The other goals were really good, the sprint Thibault [Klidje] had for the second goal. I'm delighted that he then scores as well, because he works hard.

"And Nicky Cadden scores with I believe his wrong foot, if I am correct? Yes. That was a nice one to finish it off with.

"[The result means a lot] not only to the group, but the whole club. It's important to confirm what we did last week, and with the performances in the last few weeks.

"I didn't want it to be a 'one-day fly', I wanted us to show we are a good team. It's difficult to go from such a high into a difficult away match, but how we performed was really good."

Scotland centre-half Grant Hanley will miss Hibernian's visit to Aberdeen on Saturday after undergoing an operation on an injured thumb. (Edinburgh Evening News, external)

Read Saturday's Scottish Gossip in full.

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Hibernian manager Marink Reedijk has challenged his players to replicate their Hampden hunger against Aberdeen as they get back in the "rat race".

Reedijk told them "I want music, I want beer, I want everything" when they returned to the dressing room after beating Hearts in Sunday's Premier Sport Cup semi-final and joined in a rendition of Sunshine on Leith with their fans.

"It was a very beautiful moment," he said. "After the match, you saw what it meant to the fans, what it meant to the club and what it meant to the players. That is important because this is what football is about.

"The best thing for me was that we showed we can get a result in the way we want to play. We can come back from 1-0 down, play beautiful football but also do the dirty work. That was important to see.

"However, it's history now. We need to make sure we can do it over multiple matches and for a longer period of time."

However, Reedijk stressed that they now have to focus on Aberdeen on Saturday and securing a first Scottish Premiership victory of his tenure.

"We're in a sort of rat race, with game after game after game," the Dutchman added. "We do everything at the highest possible intensity, from training sessions to matches.

"Whether it's Hearts or someone else, we need to have the same hunger for every match."

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Aberdeen defenders Mats Knoester (tendon) and Emmanuel Gyamfi (thigh) will be out for 10 weeks, while Ayoub Mouloua will miss out with a sickness bug.

Dan Happe and Toyosi Olusanya return, but Kristers Tobers (knee), Chris Cadden (hamstring), Lewis Mayo (foot) and Connor Ronan (knee) remain sidelined.

Hibs are without defenders Grant Hanley and Adam Mayor through injury.

Centre-half Hanley has had an operation on a thumb, while left-back Mayor picked up a hamstring problem during training.

Nathan Lowe, Jacob Devaney, Kanayo Megwa (thigh), Rocky Bushiri (Achilles) and Jordan Obita (calf) have been out long term.

• Hibs have earned 88% of their points this season away from home (7/8) - no other side has more than 54% on the road.

• Aberdeen have won just one of their last five home league games (D1 L3), failing to score in four of those matches.

• Aberdeen have won two of their past three home league games against Hibs (L1), and are looking for successive Pittodrie victories over the Leith side for the first time since November 2022 (3 in a row).

• Only Ryan Carr (30) has conceded more fouls in this season's Scottish Premiership than Aberdeen's Toyosi Olusanya (26). Indeed, since his league debut for the club in January, Olusanya leads the division outright for fouls (47).

• Hibs have won four of their past seven league games against Aberdeen (D1 L2), although are winless in their last two (D1 L1).

Hibernian manager Marink Reedijk urges his players to maintain the "intensity" they showed in Sunday's Scottish League Cup semi-final win over Hearts. (Edinburgh Evening News - subscription required, external)

Thursday's Scottish gossip

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After wearing the armband consistently for the past two years Hibernian forward Martin Boyle shrugs off new manager Marink Reedijk's decision to make Felix Passlack his captain, saying: "It didn't affect me one single bit." (Edinburgh Evening News, external)

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Martin Boyle is determined to capitalise on his latest shot at League Cup glory with Hibs after twice suffering final heartache.

The winger was a late substitute in Hibs' 2-1 defeat by Ross County in the 2016 showpiece and featured in the 2-1 loss to Celtic five-and-a-half years later.

Boyle, 33, helped fire the Premiership bottom club into next month's final against Rangers, scoring the equaliser against Hearts on Hampden on Sunday before Jamie McGrath's strike completed the comeback.

"We've lost a League Cup (final) a few times, Celtic's the recent one," Boyle said.

"The highs and lows of that game, obviously scoring and we thought we could maybe see it out and we concede about 20 seconds later.

"There's a lot of emotion in games, there's a lot of rollercoasters at this club, but I think people appreciate the moments like this (Hearts win), certainly that we can look back on and say that was an outstanding day.

"So really looking forward to the final. It will be another great occasion.

"Hopefully we can go one step further than we did a few years ago when we played against Celtic.

"We need to get back to winning league games first and foremost and when the cup final comes around we can certainly enjoy it."

Assessing underdogs Hibs' first win over Hearts at Hampden at the fifth attempt - and Marink Reedijk's first win as Hibs boss, also at the fifth time of asking - Boyle said: "Football's funny. They're obviously doing really well (Hearts), they're in Europe, doing really well.

"We're bottom of the league and can't get a run of performances together.

"We showed up at Hampden and maybe no one expected us to win. All the pressure was on them and we could go out and enjoy ourselves and I feel like we did.

"We got the result so we know what we're capable of, we all stick together.

"We know we're going through a sticky patch at the moment. It is a big transition at the club and there's no doubt in our minds that if we stick together we can come out the good end and push up the league."

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Hibs and Rangers will receive a 50/50 split of tickets for next month's League Cup final at Hampden.

The showpiece has been confirmed as a 15:00 GMT kick-off on Sunday 13 December, live on Premier Sports.

Rangers fans will be housed in the South, West and North Stands, with Hibs occupying the South, East and North Stands.

The majority of adult tickets will be priced at £42, with adult tickets in the North and South Stands costing £49.

Concession tickets are priced at £27 and £30.

Hibs beat Edinburgh rivals Hearts 2-1 at Hampden on Sunday to reach the final, with Rangers seeing off Aberdeen 1-0 the previous day.

The clubs' only previous League Cup final meeting resulted in a 2-1 Rangers win in October 1993 at Celtic Park.

Matty Fairnie
Fan writer

"I want music, I want beer" were the words Marink Reedijk said to his victorious Hibs team in the Hampden dressing room on Sunday, sparking celebrations from the players and staff.

The footage, shared by Hibs' media team, showed a dressing room hanging on his words and looking completely behind a manager who has been under fire from the media recently.

It was an unbelievable afternoon in Glasgow. We travelled through more in hope than expectation with a number of players out injured or, in Martin Boyle's case, just returning from illness. Reedijk had some selection headaches for the game.

The early Hearts goal was a setback and there were more than a few Hibs fans in the stadium thinking "not again".

Reedijk's team finally clicked though - those incremental improvements we've seen game to game eventually added up to a complete performance.

Hibs were outstanding, completely bossing the first half and when the inevitable push for an equaliser came from Hearts, the team stood up to everything thrown at them.

The scenes at full-time were tremendous, Sunshine on Leith is an incredible football anthem, and the Jambos couldn't get out the stadium quickly enough to escape hearing it as they saw another year added to the 64 that it's been since they last won the League Cup.

Hibs need to use this victory as a springboard for the rest of the season and take those performance levels into the Aberdeen game at the weekend.

If we do, we'll quickly climb the table - a Hibs side in that form will be a match for any team in the league.

You can find Matty Fairnie at Longbangers podcast, external

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Edinburgh derby match-winner Jamie McGrath hopes Hibernian's Hampden cup heroics can turn around their alarming league campaign.

The Leith side went into the Premier Sports Cup semi-final against rivals Hearts bottom of the Scottish Premiership, with Marink Reedijk looking for his first win as boss.

And the Dutchman's side achieved that in spectacular fashion when goals from Martin Boyle and McGrath cancelled out Claudio Braga's opener.

"We haven't given the fans too much to shout about so far this season," McGrath said. "So I think they would have bitten your hand off for a win at Hampden against Hearts.

"It's obviously a great feeling, into a cup final now, so something to look forward to. Hopefully now this is the start of us getting a turn on things and building on that.

"We have to get our league form back on track because that hasn't been good enough."

Meanwhile, experienced Hibs midfielder Joe Newell said the emotional post-match scenes, during which the jubilant fans belted out club anthem Sunshine on Leith, were something that would live with him forever.

"I'm probably getting emotional now, but it's just seeing that at Hampden, it's just incredible," Newell said.

"We've been through a lot this season, obviously, already, the fans. So to give them that, it's unbelievable. You can't actually put it into words.

"It's such a special feeling inside. A lot of the boys have probably seen it for the first time.

"And if they didn't know now how special the club is, they will do."

We asked for your views after Hibernian secured their first-ever Edinburgh derby win at Hampden to book their place in next month's Premier Sports Cup final.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Bill: Great performance from Hibs, with no weak links. Martin Boyle was immense. Hopefully, we can see this repeated in the league. On the downside, does this mean no new signings? Praise to the new manager for finally getting the players behind him.

Nathan: The best Hibs display I've seen in a long time. They looked like a cohesive unit who were playing for each other and the folk in the stands. Despite all of Hearts' attacking power, it never looked like they were going to touch us. If Marink Reedijk can get similar performances out of the team going forward, we'll be just fine.

Kev: The best 45 minutes of football Hibs have played in years in the first half. Then defended well in the second half, with chances to score more. Well done, Hibs.

Innes: Where on earth did that come from, Hibs? An organised backline, apart from that first corner, and an attack that looked good. If we play like this in the league, we can surely expect a top-half finish.

Mike: What a domination of Hearts! I haven't seen a Hibs performance like that in a long time. Felix Passlack had one of the pundits' most highly praised players (Josh McPake) in his pocket all game. A 2-1 scoreline that could have been, and most probably should have been, four or five.

David: The players have set the standard, and they now need to match it week in, week out. We dominated the first half with some brilliant play and had steel and grit about us in the second half.