MALONEY HAS HIS WORK CUT OUT AS FRAIL HIBS ARE JEERED OFF PITCH
ON their previous outing at Motherwell, Hibs were unable to muster a shot on target. Yesterday, they gave the impression they couldn’t keep weans out of a close.
If Shaun Maloney thought this management lark was easy after opening up his Easter Road career with wins over Aberdeen and Dundee United, he won’t now. There is serious work to do with this lot — with an Edinburgh derby now days away.
This was rotten from Hibs. They deserved nothing, outplayed throughout the second half after Livingston had come to terms with Maloney’s 3-5-2 set-up by going three at the back themselves and man-for-man all over the park.
As for the goals Hibs conceded?
Oh, my days. All three were the direct result of some inexcusable stuff.
The boos that rang round the stadium at time-up were deafening and they continued until the players had sloped off the park.
Twice, the home side surrendered the lead here. Demetri Mitchell saw an early opener cancelled out by Ayo Obileye after goalkeeper Matt
Macey had taken a rush of blood to the head.
A lucky effort from Chris Cadden got them back in front before the break, but they blew up completely after the interval in conceding to Jack Fitzwater and Alan Forrest — who turned down a midweek move to St Johnstone, of course — and, frankly, losing the plot.
‘I am just really disappointed with how we defended and the way we played second half,’ said Maloney, who claimed he does not feel close to signing players ahead of Monday’s transfer deadline despite being linked with Ross County’s Regan Charles-Cook.
‘We lost control, it became really open and that type of game suits Livingston. I knew when I took the
job there was lots of work to do in certain areas. It’s the reason they were on the run they were.
‘When they changed and went man-for-man, they were aggressive and we didn’t deal with that.
‘It is why we need some speed one-v-one in those areas.
‘I don’t feel the fans are not with me. I think they know where they are at.’
To think, this started out looking like an exercise in pacifying the Hibs support with one-time Hearts man Mitchell scoring that early opener on his debut.
Following an unconvincing attempt from Livi to clear from a corner, the ball made its way to Cadden on the right. He put in a deep cross that picked out Mitchell and, after taking the ball on his chest, he poked it into the net from close range.
From then on, though, Hibs took their eye off the ball. They allowed Odin Bailey to scamper up the right into the area and referee Grant Irvine pointed to the spot after the winger had gone down under a half-hearted challenge from Macey.
It didn’t look like a penalty. And when linesman Gordon Crawford called the referee over to tell him so, after being subjected to furious protests from Macey, it is to Irvine’s credit that he overturned his original decision.
Hibs would find other ways to shoot themselves in the foot, though. With 18 minutes on the clock, Bailey floated a free-kick into the area, Macey committed himself miles from goal and missed the ball completely — seeing it bounce off the head of Obileye and into the net.
Cadden got the home side back in front just after the half-hour when a flukey cross from way out right somehow dipped over keeper Max Stryjek and crept in at the far post.
Even then, Hibs were incapable of staying on top.
Livi opened in blistering fashion after the break and had seized the lead by the hour mark. Thanks, in no small part, to their hosts.
The leveller came when a throw-in from Nicky Devlin was headed on by Joel Nouble, who didn’t come under as much pressure as he should have from centre-back Rocky Bushiri.
Fitzwater, shamefully, was left totally unmarked to nod home.
Six minutes later, Livingston were in front. After Josh Campbell had lost the ball in midfield for Hibs, Nouble laid the ball out left to Forrest and he beat Macey with a wonderful curling effort.
Kevin Nisbet did get a clear sight of goal towards the end, but blasted his low shot straight at Stryjek.
‘I will be having a conversation with Alan (Forrest) in the next seven to 10 days because we are the right club for him,’ said Livi boss Davie Martindale in the wake of the matchwinner’s decision to turn down a move to Perth. ‘When we have him in the right headspace, you can see what he brings. We were well worth the three points.’