VAR gripes and ticket prices don't offer much festive cheer

Hibs had back-to-back league wins for the first time this season following a hard-fought, but well deserved, 1-2 win over Dundee. It’s testament to the character that’s building in Nick Montgomery’s side that they saw out the win having been reduced to ten men following Lewis Miller’s red card just after the hour mark in the game.

By that time, Hibs had established a two-goal lead and had been looking very comfortable in the match. The red card, a result of two soft-looking yellow cards, meant that the final half hour of the match was more backs-to-the-wall than it should have been. Dogged defending and some inspired goalkeeping from David Marshall, saw Hibs see the game out and it feels like the sort of win that should instil belief in the side.

Hibs opened the scoring with a cracking goal from man of the moment, Jair Tavares. It was a move straight from the training ground. Rocky Bushiri played out from the back to Jair, who spun his marker before feeding Dylan Vente, who had pulled his marker out wide to match his run. Vente cut the ball back into the space he’d vacated and Josh Campbell’s clever dummy saw the ball run through to Jair, who’d continued his run into the box. The young Portuguese winger made no mistake with his finish.

Hibs’ second had less artistry about it: a Joe Newell corner was met by the head of Lewis Miller and he steered the ball into the top corner to double Hibs’ lead. It was just reward for a Hibs performance that saw them control much of the game. It’s clear now that the players are becoming more accustomed to Montgomery’s style of play, and despite tweaks to the line up match to match, there is a familiarity and an identity to Hibs that had been sorely missing in recent seasons.

Miller can feel aggrieved at his dismissal. His first booking was for a foul that looked worse than it was, the young full back did all he could to pull out the challenge and in the context of the game, worse challenges had gone unpunished.

Miller’s second yellow was more controversial. Dundee’s left back, Owen Beck, went down under the merest of contact but it was enough to convince referee Don Robertson to brandish a card. Beck can consider himself fortunate that he, too, didn’t receive a second booking at that point – his theatrical gesturing to encourage the booking is a bookable offence. The referee, for whatever reason, was less inclined to deal with that.

Ironically, it was Beck himself who would pull a goal back for Dundee as the game was closing out but it was too little, too late for Dundee.

In the post-match interviews, Will Fish spoke of his surprise at seeing what Jair was capable of. Fish’s comment about Jair not having been in the same dressing room was an eye-opener and doesn’t reflect well on Lee Johnson’s time in charge. Hibs brought Jair from Portugal with much fanfare, and to effectively ostracise a young player to the extent that the first team still don’t know him after a year at the club, is a disgrace. Thankfully, Montgomery’s remedied that situation, and I hope Hibs review the circumstances to see what lessons can be learned.

VAR (what is it good for)

Before wrapping up on this match, it’s worth noting that Hibs will again have cause to question why they’re paying towards a VAR system that seems intent on flat-out refusing to get involved when it should. This week’s gripe comes from what looked a clear foul on Miller in the Dundee box. He was caught late on his foot. It’s a foul anywhere else on the pitch, and I cannot get my head around why, again, VAR has not asked the referee to take a look.

I try not to get into tin-foil hat conspiracy theories, but when you see the VAR interventions in other games over the weekend, it does set the mind racing to try and find some rationale for another big moment in a game going against Hibs.

Not much festive cheer in Aberdeen ticket pricing 

Next up for Hibs, is Aberdeen on Sunday. The Dons had a tough game in Finland on Thursday night, in a game that was stopped for snowballs and snow clearing, I can’t help but think that the conditions will have taken a lot out of the Aberdeen players. Their form has been indifferent this season. On the face of it, it looks like they’ve struggled to cope with the hectic schedule of European football and league football, an issue that Hibs faced earlier in the season that ultimately saw Lee Johnson dismissed.

Aberdeen won the last tie between the sides, which was at Hampden in the Viaplay Cup. Hibs were arguably the better side on the day but failed to capitalise when they were on top and Aberdeen took full advantage. With a win each this season, it’s a tough game to call. Hibs’ home record over Aberdeen in recent seasons has been good, so here’s hoping that continues.

Hibs have priced this match at £34 for the travelling fans, with some home supporters facing tickets at £36. This feels steep for a fixture which barely nudges into the category A banding these days, and at a time of year that’s already expensive, particularly for Hibs fans who face a run of away games until we host Hearts after Christmas, the club could have priced this game better.