Hibs are flirting with disaster

Clyde 3- 0 Hibs
MIXU PAATELAINEN today admitted Hibs face a grim start to the season unless his players show a sudden and dramatic improvement over the next nine days.

It was a chilling warning which will do nothing to quell the growing anxiety among many Easter Road fans dismayed at their side's dismal pre-season form which has seen them not only fail to win any of their six matches but also find the back of the net. While the lack of success against IF Elfsborg in the InterToto Cup and Spanish giants Barcelona was at least explainable, Paatelainen has been at a loss to understand the subsequent failings in matches with lower division opposition.

Having delivered a stinging rebuke of his faltering stars following the shock defeat by Cowdenbeath two days earlier, Paatelainen was again raging at their ineptitude after watching them concede three goals to Clyde, a side which had to battle for First Division survival last season.

Now time is fast running out as Paatelainen seeks to rectify the glaring deficiencies which have surfaced over the past month before Hibs head to Kilmarnock a week on Saturday.

The big Finn has argued long and hard over what has been a less than satisfactory run of events that everything has been geared towards that trip to Rugby Park but even he was forced to concede that prospect is looking increasingly fraught with danger given the events of last night.

"Poor, really poor," was his assessment of 90 minutes in which Clyde ran out deserved winners. "If we play like that against Kilmarnock then it won't be a pretty sight."

Adding to Paatelainen's concerns will be the fact that the side he fielded last night was, apart from skipper Rob Jones, injured playmaker Merouane Zemmama and new signing Joe Keenan, at full strength. Having already stated a number of players had all but put themselves out of contention for the opening day of the season thanks to their woeful performance against Cowdenbeath on Monday night, Paatelainen's options look minimal.

Both at Central Park and again last night at Broadwood, the failings which need to be corrected in double quick time were obvious, a stuttering attack allied to a slack defence, the classic combination for defeat. A near-post flick from a corner gifted Clyde star David McKay the first of his two goals, Roddy MacLennan adding a second before the interval as young Paul Hanlon backed off before McKay enjoyed the break of the ball after McLaren, who had beaten David van Zanten all too easily, had seen his shot break off Chris Hogg to complete a comprehensive victory for the home side.

Throughout Paatelainen sat, a dejected figure showing none of the histrionics which had led to him being ordered from the dug-out at Central Park, an act which will see him banished to the stand for the SPL clashes with Falkirk and Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

And afterwards he was in no mood to mince his words. He said: "We are trying to pass the ball but some players, quite clearly, are not yet, or maybe never will be, good enough to do that."

It was a damning indicment from Paatelainen, who continued: "The mistakes we made at the back were unbelievable, our defending was very slack. I could still be playing if defenders were to stand ten yards off me."

Paatelainen was equally scathing of his strikeforce, the partnership of Steven Fletcher and Colin Nish which looked so promising when they were first thrown together in February now looking pretty toothless.

Both had chances, Fletcher glancing a header wide as did Nish who also fired an angled shot into the chest of Clyde goalkeeper Peter Cherrie who also brought off an unbelievable close-range save from Alan O'Brien, but otherwise the home defence were comfortable as they saw their visitors visibly sag in front of their eyes.

Paatelainen said: "We had chances but our strikers are not sharp enough to convert them, they are nowhere near ruthless enough and don't have that arrogance they should have in front of goal." Again, however, Paatelainen's options look severely limited with Clayton Donaldson available for transfer, Abdessalam Benjelloun angling for a move to Belgium and 20-year-old Damon Gray loaned out to Partick Thistle until January, leaving the Hibs boss with only Ross Campbell, who has yet to score a competitive goal, as back-up.

Middlesbrough and Wigan Athletic will provide Hibs with, one would imagine, even sterner opposition than that they have faced in Raith Rovers, Cowdenbeath and Clyde, offering, it would seem, little chance for morale to be restored before the serious action begins.

But somehow in the space of a few days Paatelainen must strive to put right the wrongs, something which hasn't been achieved over the course of more than a month. He said: "We must improve a lot, we must get much, much sharper. Every player must take more responsibility and improve.

"I told the players there is no point and no room for anyone to feel sorry for themselves at all. Quite clearly everyone needs to realise what they need to do. Everyone needs to be sharper, to make sure they are not the one who makes a mistake because we have far too many players making mistakes.

"We should be better than that. It was a fantastic big pitch, an excellent surface, ideal conditions to pass the ball well and create chances but we are still forcing the passes and giving the ball away far too easily.

"If you do that then you are defending and then if you defend in a slack manner you concede goals and that's what happened." Paatelainen, of course, has until the close of the transfer window at the end of next month to bring in further new faces to add to those of Van Zanten, Keenan and Steven Thicot, but it is clear a squad which overflowed with quality only a couple of seasons ago is lacking that commodity, a consequence of the inevitable sale of talent and a failure to find adequate replacements.

While, by his own admission, Paatelainen has an over-blown squad, there are obviously a number of players he doesn't deem good enough.

The problem he has, however, is that while he needs to move at least some of them on to free wages for others, some will be reluctant to do so knowing they have the comfort of a contract at Easter Road which will have to be honoured unless the club comes to an agreement to offload them now and so allow Paatelainen further room for manoeuvre.

Hibs: McNeil, Van Zanten, Hogg, Murray, Hanlon, Shiels, Thicot, Rankin (Yantorno 61), Fletcher (Morais 61), O'Brien. Subs not used: Grof, Stevenson, Canning, Campbell.

Referee: Eddie Smith.