Banished Lennon finds Hibs make pleasant viewing
UNWANTED and uncomfortable as his seat in the Easter Road directors’ box may have been, Neil Lennon took advantage of an enhanced position to form a considered view of his players’ competitive qualities. Having begun his reign as Hibernian manager in characteristically combative fashion as referee Juan Manuera sent him to the stand just 30 minutes into the Europa League qualifier against Brondby, Lennon was pleased to report that his new charges looked equally ready for the fight on the first night of the season.
Losing a goal after just 16 seconds was never in the plan but Lennon was heartened by the team’s refusal to wilt in the wake of that hammer blow, nor in the face of some meaty tackling from the Danes.
Although Hibs will have to produce a performance on the levels of last term’s Scottish Cup-winning exploits to overturn the 1-0 defeat in Thursday’s second leg in Denmark, Lennon won’t rule his side out.
Still convinced that the Jason Cummings goal ruled out for offside should have stood, the Northern Irishman saw enough from his players to make him believe a comeback is possible.
Although his reaction to that disallowed goal will result in him watching the return from the stand, he expects his players to be better again come kick-off.
‘First of all, the players had to recover and that’s taken a day or two,’ he said. ‘They put a lot in but we’ll go again. It’s very difficult to accelerate their match sharpness but they will be better. I know from my own experience of pre-season that a week is a massive benefit.
‘We need to find a goal in the tie, but we also need to be patient and adapt to their crowd and the environment quickly. But I think that 90 minutes will stand them in good stead and the belief is there.
‘I thought we matched them physically, which surprised me, because I thought we were going to run out of steam. The will and desire in the team was fantastic.
‘We were surprised by Brondby’s (physical) approach but we did stand up to it. Once the players found their level, they thought “we’ve got to match this” and they did,
‘I thought Darren McGregor, Paul Hanlon, David Gray and John McGinn were outstanding. And for Grant Holt, at 35, to come through the game so early was pleasing. He will get sharper. We just lacked a wee bit of sharpness in the final third but overall I’m pleased.’
If Otso Virtanen’s first-minute fumble only made the search for a new goalkeeper more of a priority in the weeks ahead, Lennon knows his team needs to improve in attack.
‘We got off to a horrendous start with the individual mistake,’ he said. ‘It should have been avoided but we’re not here to hang anyone out to dry. There’s rustiness and we’re lacking sharpness but some of our approach play was brilliant, and we scored a brilliant goal that should have been given.
‘We’ve played a very good team at this stage of the season and I think we had the toughest draw of all Scottish teams.
‘I did think we’d wilt and the game would get stretched but we didn’t. We were the ones trying to put our foot on the pedal and make something happen. We just need a bit of quality with the final ball.’ If Hibs are to progress and take on the even more daunting challenge of Hertha Berlin in the next round, at least one goal will be needed in Denmark. He has not been seen much in a Hibs strip over the past couple of years but Alex Harris could yet be charged with trying to provide it. The young winger appeared from the bench on Thursday night, a reward for a pre-season that prompted some glowing praise from the new manager. Having broken through spectacularly under Pat Fenlon, netting a stunning Scottish Cup semi-final goal against Falkirk along the way, Harris faded from view under Terry Butcher before injury. Loan moves to Dundee and Queen of the South kept him out of the team for the two-year duration of Alan Stubbs’ tenure.
Still only 21, he has returned to the club hungry to impress.
‘It’s obviously been a while, so it was good to get back out on the pitch,’ said Harris. ‘I’ve had a good pre-season and it’s been great to hear the manager’s words after being away on loan for so long. I’ve got a new chance, a new manager to impress and it’s now down to me.
‘The boys did really well last year, so I wasn’t expecting to come back and be involved straight away but the new manager has a different approach.
‘He’s just said to me to get my confidence up a bit. Everyone’s got a clean slate. You can see that in the fact everyone’s training to impress.
‘There were big expectations on me when I was younger and it’s frustrating that I didn’t kick on, but I’m only 21. It’s down to me — I put demands on myself every day and that’s what I’ll keep doing.’