DOWN to eighth in the SPL with just one win from their past seven games, Hibs find themselves mired in a quandary not entirely explained away by manager Mixu Paatelainen's explanation that a rash of individual defensive errors is currently to blame for the team's woes.
While it's true lapses in concentration were contributory factors in the most recent defeats at the hands of Dundee United and Inverness Caley, there are plenty of followers of Hibs who would also argue that tactics, formations and team selection hav
e not exactly been a raging success either during a two-month spell when the club's only victory was a 2-1 win at Aberdeen.
Having conceded more goals at home – ten – than any other side in the SPL apart from the backmarkers, Hamilton, it is clear Hibs are in the bottom six because of defensive frailty. In the circumstances, yesterday's news regarding the imminent arrival of Jonatan Johansson, the experienced Finnish international striker, would not have struck many observers as the most obvious area of the team in need of immediate attention.
The commitment to playing attacking football with 4-3-3 as the preferred formation has put the Hibernian rearguard under consistent pressure this season. Against United at Tannadice on Wednesday, when Fletcher missed out through injury, Paatelainen tweaked the system of play to 4-3-1-2. Nish and Riordan were deployed mostly in wider areas up front with Dean Shiels, their most effective performer, operating in the space between midfield and attack.
This left the diminutive trio of Ross Chisholm, Joe Keenan and John Rankin to combat United's settled midfield quartet. Where Hibs were again found wanting was at the back. Sol Bamba, who has played at centre-half and as a holding midfield player since moving from Dunfermline, was deployed at right back. Perhaps it was anticipated Bamba's pace would help to deter Craig Conway from making much of a difference to the outcome.
This turned out to be a false hope. Bamba's understanding of the full-back position in the second half was slight. He didn't stay tight on his man and Conway turned out to be United's key player. His crosses from the left flank supplied the ammunition which eventually exposed the shortcomings of another new-look centre-back pairing of Steven Thicot and Chris Hogg.
In recent weeks, Hibs have wielded the knife in this key area of the team with unnerving regularity. Hogg and Rob Jones, the club captain who missed Wednesday's game for an unexplained personal reason, played together against Inverness. And Jones and Bamba teamed up against St Mirren.
It could be argued the root of Hibs' defensive problem is just as likely to lie in the lack of meaningful cover from central midfield as it does with the errors made by the centre-backs. If the centre-halves didn't come under so much pressure from opponents because of a lack of protection would they come up short so often?
Whether all of Hibs' ills would be solved by switching to 4-4-2 is a moot point. What does seem clear, though, is that the current balance between attack and defence is out of kilter. Against Inverness, for example, no fewer than five of the front six who started the match – Riordan, Fletcher, Nish, Shiels and Fabian Yantorno – were players better known for going forward than tracking back.
Standing his corner after the 2-0 defeat at Tannadice, the Hibs manager pinpointed unforced errors as the team's Achilles heel. "If people say we do not cover things, that we do not pay enough attention to detail tactically or organisation wise I would disagree," he countered. "If players sleep they get punished. It was unbelievable. It's always a different person and the players have to understand how important it is they feel responsible and do their jobs out there, it's as simple as that."
While the gulf in performance between United and Hibs drew jeers of disapproval from some of the Edinburgh club's travelling support on the final whistle, Paatelainen insisted: "The training is right, the organisation is there, we have covered everything. But, if players are not concentrating, we are punished.
"Everything stops with me and that's fine. I know exactly what we must do."
