Paatelainen brainwashes Hibs to cure away form

MIXU Paatelainen, the manager of Hibernian, spoke yesterday of striving to brainwash his players in an effort to improving the club's indifferent performances away from home in the Scottish Premier League.

As he prepares to lead his men to Inverness tomorrow – over the past six years Hibs haven't scored a goal never mind won a match at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium – Paatelainen believes Hibs must become mentally stronger if they want to duplicate their performances at Easter Road on the grounds of opposition clubs.

"I think it's nearly all mental," reflected the manager. "Yes, I can appreciate we can look at it tactically. Sometimes teams do play differently at home and away. But, for me, the biggest problem is mental.

"If you ask any of our players, they will tell you: 'Of course we can win (away from home].' But deep down it's in there somewhere. We can change that by brainwashing them. Tell them it's the same situation ( home or away]. Concentrate on your own runs. Okay, we only have a few supporters and they have much more, but it's the same game."

Now playing a more direct style of counter-attacking football which created at least half-a-dozen clear-cut chances in the 3-2 win over Falkirk on home turf at the weekend, Paatelainen is also hopeful the way he wants Hibs to play can prove as effective on the road as it was in Leith on Saturday.

Last season Hibs won only four of their 16 league games on opposition grounds and scored just 13 goals. This compared with just three losses in 17 matches at Easter Road where the team scored 34 times. Most sides perform more effectively in front of their own supporters, but the pattern is even more marked with Hibs when they travel north.

"Our record at Inverness is horrendous," Paatelainen admitted. "But runs always end somewhere. And hopefully this bad run against Inverness will come to an end on Saturday because we've never won there or scored a competitive goal."

While Paatelainen wants his players to show better concentration in defence than was evident against Falkirk, he won't be able to bolster his options in attack this weekend by fielding the young French forward, Steve Pinau. The 20-year-old joined the club on loan for a year from Genoa, but is still waiting for the authorities to clear away the red tape before he can play in the SPL.

"Our club and the SFA have done everything and it's now just a case of waiting (for clearance]," the manager added.

Goalkeeper Yves Ma-Kalambay is also still on duty at the Olympics where he's part of the Belgian squad which faces Brazil today in the third place match to decide which nation takes home bronze medals. "It would be nice to see an Olympic medal in our dressing-room," grinned the big Finn.

Although the young Belgian can expect a warm welcome on his return from China and Andy McNeill was solid against Falkirk, Paatelainen is still searching for another goalkeeper. He's currently looking at an American after assessing a German in training. "We'll see how that goes, and if it doesn't happen, then we'll bring in the next one. There's a queue."

The Hibs' manager also commended the initiative which brought managers, coaches and referees together at Hampden earlier this week in order to better understand "where we're all coming from".

The Finn has reminded his own players to treat officials with respect and not to pick up avoidable cards for dissent. "At the end of last season it was very unfortunate when we had two men sent off," he recalled. "We raised it there and then and told the players that the referee makes the decision and we have to get on with it. There's no point (in arguing]."

Although he didn't want to discuss the specifics of the recent get-together at Hampden, the Hibs manager reported that the managers had suggested how they wanted the officials to operate, and the other way around.

"There was a lot of very frank talking and I think it cleared up some issues," he said. "It was straight talking, asking questions, asking about consequences. It was good and I think it will help create a better understanding between managers, players and referees.

"We are all in it together, we all want to make the game fair, to have it free-flowing and I think it is important all parties talk to each other and realise what the difficulties are for each side - that we understand each other."