Who are Hibs' most effective players so far this season?

Much analysis has focused on Nick Montgomery, and the changes he has made at Hibs since replacing Lee Johnson back in September. The manager has introduced a new formation, a new style of play, and has extracted improved performances from some players who were well out of the picture under the previous regime.

But enough about systems and tactics for a moment – what can the numbers tell us about Hibs’ best individual performers this season? Our partners at StatsBomb use a metric known as ‘On Ball Value’ to measure the importance of individual actions on the pitch.

OBV does this by assessing the change in probability of a team scoring as a result of a player’s action, taking into account factors such as location on the pitch, match context (e.g set-piece vs open play), and pressure from the opposition. Needless to say, passes or dribbles which take Hibs closer to the opposition goal will add positive OBV, while giving the ball away in bad areas, or making too many backward passes, has a negative impact.

Here, we have collated the five Hibs players who have provided the most OBV so far this season to evaluate who have been the club’s most effective performers.

Lewis Miller – OBV 3.25

It’s little surprise that the Australian ranks high in a number of areas, and you probably didn’t need statistics to tell you that is the case. But as well as passing the eye test with flying colours, the numbers around Miller’s season to date are also favourable. He scores Hibs’ highest overall OBV, and stands out individually as the most effective passer of the ball at 0.20 OBV per-90.

Drilling into his defensive numbers, we can see Miller is among the best in the Premiership for tackles and interceptions, and above average for how often he presses the ball. The 23-year-old has taken his game to another level since the arrival of Montgomery, and perhaps even has a case for being the league’s most improved player.

Elie Youan – OBV 2.95

The Frenchman is arguably Hibs’ most exciting and most frustrating player, and seems to be able to alternate between the two in a matter of minutes. But there is no doubt Montgomery’s side are more dangerous with Youan on the pitch, and he is capable of producing moments few others in the team have in their locker. With an OBV of 2.95 for the season to date, Youan is ranked as Hibs’ second most effective player, and is, unsurprisingly, the best performer in terms of carries and dribbles.

A defensive action OBV of 0.04 is comparable with the likes of Miller, plus attacking team-mates Martin Boyle and Dylan Vente. It shows that Youan is, perhaps, more defensively efficient than he is given credit for. He is certainly a willing worker under Montgomery, albeit how much of that is to do with the manager’s constant bellow of ‘ELIE!’ on the touchline, we’ll let you decide.

Martin Boyle – OBV 2.78

Consistently among Hibs’ best players season after season, Boyle has made a good start to life under Montgomery. Operating either off the flank or in a central striker’s role, he has been among the manager’s most used players. Boyle is Hibs’ second most effective passer, and most effective dribbler, with an overall OBV of 2.78. . Both his passing and dribbling OBV is above that of the average Premiership winger.

Defensively, too, Boyle is providing good value to the team. His defensive OBV of 0.03 per-90 is again above the league average for wingers, and it demonstrates the willingness to graft that Montgomery has extracted from his wide players, who have primarily been Youan and Boyle.

Jimmy Jeggo –  OBV 2.32

The unsung hero, Montgomery described Jeggo as a ‘warrior’ earlier this season, and he has certainly proven a useful option in midfield. Playing 4-4-2 requires a certain profile of midfielder, and Montgomery perhaps sees something of himself in Jeggo. With so many forward-thinking players on the pitch, the 31-year-old’s role doing much of the dirty work becomes more important.

And the numbers indicate he’s been doing it well, with a defensive action OBV of 0.14 per-90, by far the highest in the Hibs squad. For comparison, the next highest is Rocky Bushiri at 0.08. Jeggo also scores well above the Premiership average for interceptions, an encouraging statistic given how importance this is in his role within the team. He’s never had a reputation as a tough tackler, but it’s clear the Australian is an effective reader of the game, and knows where to be in order to win back possession.

Joe Newell – OBV 1.82

Another almost ever-present figure, Newell has racked up 1198 minutes so far this season, behind only Will Fish. His passing OBV per-90 comes in at 0.12, making him the third most effective passer in the Hibs squad, and the most effective midfielder. This will come as no surprise given how clear it is that so much of Hibs’ play flows through the Englishman.

His individual metrics show strong performance against the league average in a number of areas, including being above the mean for tackles and interceptions. Like Jeggo, Newell has a hugely important brief off the ball, with Montgomery’s 4-4-2 demanding a lot of his two central midfielders. Notably, both Jeggo and Newell are above-average performers in keeping possession turnovers to a minimum, again highly important in that two-man midfield.