THERESA MCCALLUM

@ Theresamccallu5

Last season was really disappointing. With the exception of the League Cup semi- final win against Rangers, it was one to forget – a bottom- six finish and some extremely dull football. The big talking point is whether the unknown youngsters we’ve signed from Portugal, Australia, England and even Gambia will help to turn a corner. This season will be different because we’ve added a bit more experience via David Marshall and Aiden Mcgeady under incoming manager Lee Johnson [ below]. A new era, perhaps?

Our key player will be Ryan Porteous [ above]. Unfairly vilified by the media, the lad has it all: strength, pace, good passing and intelligence. He only has a year left on his current contract, so we’re praying that we can keep him.

I won’t be happy unless we manage to beat Hearts at home!

Our most underrated player is Chris Cadden. One of only a few players to get pass marks in a turgid campaign.

The opposition player who grinds my gears is Lewis Ferguson at Aberdeen, who tries to officiate games himself. Where next for him?

Fans think our owner is possibly naive when it comes to Scottish football, but Ron Gordon is learning all of the time. After the four- month Shaun Maloney debacle, he needs things to settle on and off the pitch. He seems to support the playing side, but having his son as head of recruitment has brought a lot of flak from fans. I’m least looking forward to playing

Celtic. I used to relish them coming to Easter Road under Neil Lennon, but we got a bit of a chasing in one of the games last season. If they bring that form again it’s a difficult 90 minutes.

The fans’ opinion of the gaffer is still formulating, because he joined after last season ended. Johnson is a young manager with over 400 games under his belt, so hopefully he’ll settle quickly. Our first home game is against Hearts…

The pantomime villain will be Andy Halliday. A healthy banter between him and Hibs fans spans back to May 2016, when he thought his goal had won the Scottish Cup final…

We’ll finish top six – but anything less than top four will be a failure.

FFT VERDICT

5TH

Last season was a bit of a disaster with Jack Ross’ harsh dismissal in December, then Maloney lasted only four months. Newly installed Johnson will be given more time to rebuild and Hibs have been busy in the transfer market – Marshall and Mcgeady are big- name recruits.