Hibs’ wobble goes on as

WHILE Glasgow’s big guns disappear into the middle distance at the top of the top flight table, their Edinburgh equivalents currently seem to be involved in a demoralising race to the bottom. This was another weekend of capital punishment in the Ladbrokes Premiership, with Hibs slipping to a 3-0 defeat at Motherwell and Hearts making little headway with another underwhelming home draw.

Now that the festival has been and gone, next week will be all about the blood sport of wondering whether Paul Heckingbottom and Craig Levein will still be in post by the time international week has come and gone. What else did we learn from a day in Lanarkshire where the foibles of this Hibs team were laid bare by a bravura display from Stephen Robinson’s home side? There is a danger of reading too much into one match, but the depth and variety of Motherwell’s wide players have what it takes to run most team’s full-backs ragged this year. For his first trick on Saturday, Robinson lined up with the pace of Sherwin Seedorf to test the mobility of veteran Steven Whittaker on one side, and the tall, physical James Scott on the right to unsettle the diminutive Lewis Stevenson on the other.

When Seedorf had done his bit by steering in a fine opening goal, the Northern Irishman then had the luxury of introducing the quicksilver Jermaine Hylton and Devante Cole to the mix with half an hour remaining to make them run even more. The really bad news is the fact the Motherwell manager feels his wide men are only operating at around 60% of their efficiency and will be hitting top speed after the international break. Scott Allan does things in every game that make your jaw drop. There were at least three passes here which were every bit as perceptive and wellexecuted as that one which became a short-lived Twitter sensation at Ibrox. The only problem is that there are usually at least a couple of times in a game where his efforts to win back a ball or at least get back behind the ball just don’t cut the mustard.

With the likes of Allan, Stevie Mallan, Daryl Horgan and Flo Kamberi around, the Easter Road side are a lovely team to watch with the ball – even if this wasn’t young Glenn Middleton’s best afternoon. Without it, though, you worry for them.

Caught numerous times up the field, they could have lost this match by a far heavier margin. Supporters are entitled to feel they could have done with a Marvin Bartley or Mark Milligan in there to do the dirty work. Squeezed out of the top half last time around by the performance by Hearts and Hibs, the Lanarkshire side are well placed to profit from any drop off in play from these two Edinburgh rivals. “I believe we are a very dangerous team in this division now,” admitted Hylton, still flush after scoring his team’s third goal of the game, a shot as he cut in off the left which Ofir Marciano could only palm into the net. “We are so far away from what we are going to be. It is a very exciting prospect.

“Top six is what everyone wants to aim for,” he added. “It is very early, just four games in. A couple of games ago, after the Hearts game, it looked like the end of the world. And everyone was thinking our season is going