capital crisis NO PACE NO PURPOSE NO PANACHE
Heckingbottom’s Hibs in freefall as Slivka pleas for patience from fans
TEN minutes from the end of their team’s miserable thumping at Fir Park, a section of the Hibernian fans began to deliver a venomous verdict.
It must have made for uncomfortable listening for their embattled manager Paul Heckingbottom, whose side has now won just once in nine Scottish Premiership matches.
‘Hecky, Hecky, get to **** ,’ beseeched a small but vociferous band within the away support at the former Barnsley and Leeds United boss.
The few visiting fans who remained by the time Steven McLean’s whistle had finally called time on an awful afternoon chanted even more viciously against the under-fire Yorkshireman.
Their frustration was wholly understandable after an anaemic 3-0 defeat to Motherwell that could so easily have seen the home side rack up four, five or more goals.
Worryingly, Heckingbottom’s Hibs lacked pace, purpose and panache. Only one of his summer signings played the whole 90 minutes, defender Adam Jackson, who gave away a penalty; a fairly damning reflection on the club’s recruitment.
The fear amongst the rank and file must be that the Easter Road side is regressing, from the excitement of the Alan Stubbs and Neil Lennon eras that had the fans flocking back to Leith, to the dark old days under Pat Fenlon and Terry Butcher.
With Hearts boss Craig Levein also under huge pressure following an awful start to the season at Tynecastle, the upcoming Edinburgh derby at Easter Road on September 22 is taking on major significance for both men. That’s assuming they both remain in their posts that long.
Afterwards, Hibernian midfielder Vykintas Slivka was a reluctant conscript for media duties but he claimed the dressing room is right behind Heckingbottom.
‘Of course we believe in the manager,’ said the Lithuania international. ‘We all just have to be focused on the next match and try to improve.
‘The manager was angry after the game. That was not the result that we came here to Motherwell for.
‘The players are angry, too. After a defeat, we all speak to each other about it.
‘The result was not great but we have to look forward and keep improving.
‘What would my message be to the angry fans? It would be to have patience. Results will come. We can improve.’
A weak header by Slivka presented Chris Long with a terrific early chance to open the scoring for Motherwell but the striker failed to bury the chance.
But on an afternoon when Sherwin Seedorf’s pace routinely burned Steven Whittaker down the left flank, the winger cut inside and sent a fierce low shot into the bottom right corner of the net.
A distant relative of the legendary Clarence Seedorf, it was his first league goal for Motherwell and his first time finding the net at Fir Park.
But credit must go to Motherwell keeper Mark Gillespie, who had launched a lightning breakaway after holding a shot by on-loan Rangers forward Glenn Middleton.
Whittaker must have sighed with relief when Seedorf left the pitch on 66 minutes but substitute Jermaine Hylton continued the torture of the veteran former Scotland full-back.
Hylton should have had a penalty when the frustrated Whittaker, who was clearly being targeted as a weak link by Motherwell, pulled him back in the box.
But a spot-kick soon arrived for the hosts, with ten minutes remaining, when Jackson handled a Declan Gallagher header.
Liam Donnelly coolly sent Ofir Marciano diving to his left as the ball rolled into the opposite corner.
It was the Motherwell holding midfielder’s eighth goal in eight games of what is proving a remarkable season for the 23-year-old.
When Hylton crashed home a third goal in the 86th minute, it was no less than the Steelmen deserved for a totally dominant performance.
Afterwards, Heckingbottom described his side as too soft and pretty — conjuring up memories of Lennon, when he took over at Easter Road in 2016, ruthlessly vowing to rid Hibs of the ‘boyband’ attitude that he felt had led to the club’s perennial underachievement.
‘How do we win our individual battles? We need to work hard in training and get better,’ shrugged Slivka.
‘We did okay in the first half and we created some chances but then, just as the gaffer says, we made some individual mistakes and we have to improve on that.
‘I agree that we have the quality and the ability in this squad to win football matches. It is just not happening for us right now.
‘The biggest problem for us right now is winning games. We just need to start picking up points. If we win a game or two, then we can get our confidence back.
‘Do we have a nasty side in us? It’s difficult to say. I do think that
everyone wanted to win this game It just did not happen for us.
‘We are all looking forward to the next game against Kilmarnock and, hopefully, we can win that and see what happens afterwards.
‘Let’s leave it to the manager (to sort it out).’
But time, you suspect, is not on this Hibs manager’s side.