Matty Fairnie of the Longbangers podcast has a look back at a rather busy few days for Hibs on and off the park

It’s been an interesting week as a Hibs fan. After a gritty 1-0 win in Livingston – a result that saw Hibs leapfrog Hearts into fourth place – all attention turned to off-field events as American billionaire Bill Foley’s minority investment took another step towards coming to fruition.

Hibs met with the SFA board on Thursday and, well, it turned out to be a bit of a damp squib. Fans had largely been hoping that news of the SFA’s ratification of Foley’s investment plan had been granted and instead Hibs put out a statement saying only that they had had a “positive” meeting and were now seeking written permission.

Nevertheless, the fact that Foley’s involvement has reached this stage and is being talked about openly by the Bournemouth owner is surely a sign that all parties are confident that there will be few, if any, hitches. 

What this means for Hibs in the immediate future is hard to say. Foley has been clear that he will support transfer activity, and Hibs manager, Nick Montgomery, has referred to being able to sign players who are “out of reach” at the moment. 

It may be the case that Bournemouth signings are loaned to Hibs; Romain Faivre was signed by Bournemouth for £12.8m and immediately loaned to Lorient, where Foley also holds a minority investment. It’s fair to say that a player of a similar standing would likely go straight into the Hibs side and make a notable difference. 

There is, of course, some scepticism still around the investment. Some fans are uncomfortable with the idea of becoming a feeder team for a side that has traditionally been smaller than Hibs. The counter point to that is that Hibs are, to all intents and purposes, a feeder team at the moment, just not to one specific club. 

Hibs have seen players sold in recent years to the English Championship and Italy’s Serie A but we have not been a market for English Premiership sides. Having players at a level to reach that stage would be a step up for Hibs – in fact, a step up for most teams in the league, and so there are clear positives to the approach.

From my own perspective, I hope the deal progresses quickly and specifically in sufficient time for the January window to be impacted so that Hibs can seriously challenge for third. The win at Livingston, which was Hibs’ 4th win in 5 games, almost negated the poor start to the season that saw Lee Johnson relieved of his duties. Until Perth, that is. 

Even without investment, Hibs should be in the mix for third and there does seem to be a grittiness developing amongst the squad at Easter Road. Livingston threw everything at Hibs on Saturday, as Aberdeen had done the week before, yet the Hibs defence remained impenetrable.

Having taken the lead through Martin Boyle, Hibs had a second goal correctly ruled out for offside, before they survived a late VAR scare as Paul Hanlon was adjudged to have handled in the box in injury time. Thankfully for Hibs, the penalty award triggered an offside review, and the play was called back for a free kick to Hibs. Again, although the review process was clunky and took longer than it should have done, VAR helped the on-field referee arrive at the right decision.

The games are coming thick and fast for Hibs and they are down to the bare bones of a squad at the moment with Montgomery having to manage players carefully through fatigue and injury. Getting to January still in contention at the top end of the table and having the prospect of refreshing the squad is crucial for Montgomery. 

Elias, we hardly knew ye

On that subject, Hibs sold Elias Melkersen recently. While Hibs did well out of the deal, I was sad to see him leave without us really seeing whether he could make it at Easter Road. Melkersen burst on to the scene with a fantastic double at Motherwell in the Scottish Cup and it looked at that point that Hibs had unearthed a real gem. 

Melkersen never really came close to repeating that in the few opportunities he had, but as a young player learning football in a new country it would have been great to see how he’d have got on under Montgomery’s management. I hope Elias goes on to have a great career, and not just because of the sell-on that Hibs secured as part of the deal! 

Forgettable festive fixture

Finally, Hibs did nothing to lift the Christmas night out hangover on Saturday with an almost instantly forgettable defeat to St Johnstone in Perth. It was, to put it mildly, an awful game of football. Ross County manager, Derek Adams, bemoaned the standard of Scottish football after his side lost to Dundee, and I suspect he’ll have to watch the full 90 minutes of Hibs’ defeat as he prepares his side to face Hibs this weekend. I dare say it won’t improve his opinion of the game in Scotland.

A misplaced Dylan Levitt pass as Hibs played out from the back handed St Johnstone’s Graham Carey possession and he found the far corner of the net from the edge of the area. That moment summed up Hibs’ afternoon with only David Marshall – enjoying a welcome return to form – getting pass marks. 

Hopefully, this result and performance is just a blip and Hibs get back to winning ways in Dingwall to stay in the hunt for third spot come the end of the season.