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1999 / 2000 Season - 2000 Papers

17.05.00
Full steam ahead for transfer rumours

With the 1999 / 2000 football season now over, the tabloids have switched the back pages to their favourite summer sport - no, not cricket - but a never ending serious of football transfer rumours. Hottest Hibs story is that Rangers are after Miller. Hibs have confirmed that a bid was received from an unnamed party, in the region of £1.5 million. I have stated before that for Hibs to sell a hot property like Miller for that kind of money (remember John Collins was sold for £1 million some ten years ago) would be stupidity on a grand scale. Very average players are trading for 3 and 4 million in the English Premiership. Miller is on a long contract and there should be no rush.

Ayr United seem to be the favourite destination for unwanted Hibs players if you believe the papers, with Paul Lovering seeming to be the likeliest to move in that direction.

17.05.00
Sar highly rated

Received mail from a Nantes supporter with a glowing first hand opinion on Hakim Sar - roughly translated the relevant section is given below :

"I saw this player, Hakim Sar (and not Tsar), in several matches playing sweeper in the Nantes reserve team last year. He is a player, who in my opinion, has a big future and I cannot understand the reason why he has quit Nantes (money ?)."

13.05.00
Tsar puzzle continues

Got an e-mail from the webmaster of one of the biggest Nantes websites / mailing lists and he assures me that no-one at Nantes has heard of Hakim Tsar.

13.05.00
A million a month ?

Worrying article on Friday Sportscene last night. They reported that the European Union want to do away with transfer fees for players in contract. They want football to adhere to the same rules that other industries do, where if another business wants to entice a contracted employee then they simply buy out their contract.

They gave as an example, Kenny Miller. If he was getting £200,000 a year at Hibs, say, and he had three years left on his contract, then another club could buy out his contract for just £600,000.

If this legislation comes in then it will be another nail in the coffin of smaller clubs. In Scotland for example, the old firm could effectively just pick up any emerging talents for what is to them small change. However, when Barcelona or Man United fancy a Rangers or Celtic player, then the old firm will have the exact same thing done to them.

Imagine what the top players will be paid in this environment. How long before someone earns a million a month?

12.05.00
Superkid signs on at ER

Hibs first signing for next season, Hakim Tsar, described by the Evening News as a French "Superkid", turns out to be something of a mystery. Earlier in the week we were told he played for Toulouse. Today, when the signing was announced, we were told he played for Nantes and that Toulouse and Marseilles were also after his signature. Well I looked through more than ten Nantes websites, many of which were very comprehensive, and could not find a single mention of the player. Likewise for Toulouse and Marseilles websites. Whoever he is, he does not have a high profile in France. Nevertheless, McLeish would not give a three year deal to a nineteen year old unless he saw something special. Here's hoping he is right.

12.05.00
A propos de Didier Agathe

Got into some interesting correspondence with a Montpellier website. The site owner gave me some detailed info on Didier Agathe. He was born on the small French island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean and although he has been with Montpellier since 1992, is still only 25. He described him as a strong, attack minded midfielder who can also play as a striker. Most importantly, he highly recommended him.

The webmaster added as a postscript, that Franck Sauzee was the best player he had watched at Montpellier since Eric Cantona. When you look through the list of players that have played for that club, this is praise indeed.

10.05.00
Coming in, going out ?

The Herald has a summary of Hibs rumours this morning. They are speculating that Hibs are after Martin Baker of Kilmarnock who is a left sided defender. He is seen as a replacement for Lovering who is rumoured to be wanted by Ayr. Furthermore, they report that Franck Sauzee has convinced former Montpellier teamate, Didier Agathe (right), currently with Raith Rovers, that his future lies with Hibs. We will wait and see.

02.05.00
The revolving door

It's that time of year again. The time of year when the revolving door starts operating and we see who is leaving and who is coming in. Gottskalksson was allowed to find another club (Brentford) and it looks like Michael Renwick will do the same - he is in talks with Darlington says the Evening News. Two club stalwarts in John Hughes and Pat McGinaly are out of contract as well and a decision will have to be made soon on whether either of this pair gets a new deal. Does anyone know what is happening with Paatelainen ? I have a suspicion that he is out of contract as well and he seems to have disappeared in the last couple of weeks.

What we haven't heard anything about is who might arrive at the club - if last year is anything to go by, the process of bringing people in will run right up to the start of next season.

01.05.00
The end of an era

The papers over this weekend have concentrated largely on the passing of an era with some nostalgic stuff about famous players tearing down the Easter Road slope, cheered on by the faithful in the West stand - a creaking relic of a bygone age.

I sat in the creaking relic on Saturday and watched a pretty tepid match with little to get excited about (No match report I'm afraid - bone idle). Luckily the club had handed everyone a wad of papers to read so at least we had an alternative source of amusement. Some interesting stuff in there as well. The pitch is going to be flattened (fair enough) and moved 5 metres to the east.

This moving of the pitch deserves further examination. The capacity will be cut to just 10,500 at the start of next season because the West stand will be demolished but also the front of the East stand will be knocked down to accomodate the pitch move. Firstly you have to applaud the board for a brave decision. It would have been easier, and safer, and cheaper to just squeeze in a structure that would fit in the existing space. But the board have been bolder and have planned for a better long term solution (and a stadium that can be further expanded at a later date by filling in the corners). To take the cut in income that is necessary to do this work is a brave decision indeed.

Couple of points that struck me however. Sitting in the West stand and looking out, it seemed to me that to move the pitch 5 metres will require taking a sizeable chunk of the East terrace away including the bit where the roof supports sit ! Secondly, the North and South stands line up with the pitch as it presently sits and so are going to be 5 metres out of line with the new pitch - does that mean that these two structures will be lengthened at some point ?

The club may end up with more season ticket holders as people try to ensure their position for the start of next season when every game will be all ticket. I don't think the price increases will put people off. (Good PR by the way - get all the papers writing great positive stuff about a modern stadium and a football academy and then slip in the price increases on the back of this wave).

Interesting snippets in today's papers about the Player of the Year awards where young Kenny Miller picked up the Young Player of the Year. What also caught my eye was the fact that Stevie Crawford picked up the First Division award, and what's more, is rumoured to be wanted by Hearts !

27.04.00
Hibernian announce details of Football Academy

Plenty of details in the press today of Hibs ambitious plans for a Football Academy. The project, situated at Vogrie Country Park near Dalkeith is a joint venture with Midlothian Council and will be a state-of-the-art complex with eight training pitches, all weather pitches, indoor training areas and facilities. It is anticipated that Hibs will be based there, except on match days. Though part of the complex will be for public use, Hibs will have exclusive use of their facilities. The development is subject to obtaining a National Lottery Grant for 50% of the cost. Details of how the other 50% will be raised are still being worked out. The Academy will be ready for the start of the 2001/2002 season although it will not be completed until a year later.

Fabulous news and without a doubt a move in the right direction. There is a trend in Scottish football towards building this kind of facility (and not before time) with Livingston, Hearts and Rangers all making similar announcements recently. A facility of this type gives you two advantages - better facilities to prepare for matches and the ability to raise your own players for the future.

26.04.00
It's all burst into life over there

What astonishingly bad timing! Yesterday I write an article lamenting the fact that it has all gone quiet on the stadium rebuilding front and today the Evening News do a major article on just this subject.

The club are ready to announce the plans for the new West stand which will cost £6 million and seat 6,500. First, the pitch will be levelled and moved slightly and then construction of the stand will commence with a twenty week programme envisaged. This, of course, means that it will not be completed for the start of next season. The Evening News article confirms my hunch that the hold-up was over the land sale from The Albion Trust to Hibs which turned into a protracted affair. The £6 million is said to be coming from a commercial mortgage and not from an injection of cash.

Further to this, Hibs are believed to have found a 40 acre site near Dalkeith for locating a state-of-the-art training complex. The plans are in place and agreement reached with Midlothian Council. The funding question for this development is still to be resolved.

25.04.00
It's all gone quiet over there -------->

This is a story that has definitely not been in the papers - and that worries me. The brave predictions on the stadium rebuilding front at the AGM have been replaced by a deafening silence from down ER way. Remember the image (right) of how the completed stadium was to look. Yeah, I do too.

So what has happened. TPOE can reveal that the plans for the new West stand are in place and it will not look like this picture. There will be no green spaghetti on top of the roof although it will be a two tier structure built to match the North and South stands. Unfortunately I have no idea why no-one will talk about timescales. I have more faith in this board than some of its predecessors and I don't believe that they would say they had the funds if that were not so. My hunch, and it is no more than that, is that the land issue is unresolved. Remember how the club wanted to buy a small plot of land to allow the stand to be constructed and the owners of that land were accused of asking an unrealistic price. Was this ever resolved ? I don't think so. If anyone knows any more then drop me an e-mail - I would love to know the full story.

23.04.00
Battling Hibees make a point in Glasgow.

So, a draw at Parkhead for Hibs and another championship for Rangers. Plenty of musings in the papers over the ease with which Rangers claimed the title. Graham Spiers piece in the SoS struck a chord with me. In this article he marvels over how the Ibrox legions can be captivated year in year out by such easy victories. Now last year, in the First Division, we were in a very similar position to Rangers, where we were easily the best team and won the title by some 23 points. Teams came to Easter Road and the only question was how long they would last before the first goal and the inevitable drubbing that followed. I have to admit that I could not have gone to ER year in year out to watch that spectacle and yet there are no shortage of takers at Ibrox. Different kind of 'fan' perhaps.

You have to take everything you read in the press with a healthy dose of skepticism. I have read so many times recently about how Celtic get 60,000 every week, that I was beginning to believe it. Only this week we had Camara at Liverpool waxing lyrical about how marvellous it was that 60,000 turned up no matter how well or badly the team were doing. I have read a couple of reports of the match yesterday where Hibs got a lot of praise for a very spirited display. Sounds like we could have scored a few in the first half. It was a bit of a makeshift team as well with Jack playing in midfield ! And the crowd was ... 33,000.

Do I feel any sympathy for Celtic - a team who regularly finish last in a race of two? Well no actually. Celtic spend easily more each season on players than the eight teams outside the old firm put together. Now both old firm teams are prodigious at squandering their millions, Celtic are just slightly better at it. I remember Tommy Burns lamenting how he was only given £16 million to spend during his manager's tenure. Poor wee soul. Doesn't your heart bleed for them.

19.04.00
All over bar the shouting

I have to admit to a certain apathy in reading the sports papers over the last few days. Results could not have been any worse at the weekend with all the issues now settled as far as I am concerned. Rangers will win the league. Hearts will claim the European spot for third place. Aberdeen will finish bottom and will pay no penalty. St. Mirren and Dunfermline will be promoted without any play-offs. With about six games left for most SPL clubs, this is bad news for crowd sizes. Doubtless Rangers will win the cup final as well. Yawn.

07.04.00
Sportscene visits The Pride of Edinburgh ?

The run up to the Scottish Cup semi-final has meant a plethora of stories about the participants in all the papers, with Hibs even getting regular stories in old firm stalwarts like The Daily Record and The Sun. Most of the stories are harmless nonsense that amounts to little. The interview with Ebbe Skovdahl in The Scotsman this morning was good for a laugh with the likeable Dane lavishing praise on Hibernian in the most obvious piece of gamesmanship you are ever likely to see.

And did anyone see Sportscene tonight where they ran a preview of the match? Highlight of this was, of course, the interview with Sauzee where he confirmed he will stay for another year. One of the other story lines was that Hibs might win the Cup now that the Harp was back on the club badge - yeah right. However, during this piece, they flashed up the four club badges that the club has used during its history. I am certain that these were taken from the article on this website entitled 'Badge of Honour'. They used the exact four images in this article, including the picture of the crown badge on a black background which is not exactly a common representation of that badge. I think I will e-mail them and see if they admit to it.

03.04.00
Sauzee may stay !

Franck Sauzee hinted in an interview on Radio Forth tonight that he may well reconsider his decision to hang up his boots at the end of the season. The carrot could well be the chance to play again in Europe - just adds that extra bit of spice to the Cup semi on Sunday.

03.04.00
Hibs return to winning ways

Unanimous support in the papers for my opinion, that Dundee United were hopeless on Saturday and would not have scored if the game had gone on all night. I was at the match but am too idle to write a match report - or, rather, I am saving the pen for the cup semi. Hibs had one eye on that match with Kenny Miller rested and Sauzee, McIntosh and Collins all taken off for minor knocks as a precaution. Add to that, the fact that Latapy was on international duty, and Hibs comprehensive dominance of this match is put in perspective. I would add a few words of praise for some Hibs players that are not always the fans favourites. I thought Shaun Dennis was rock solid at the back and I thought McGinlay and Lovell showed a level of tenacity and workrate that was exceptional. Paul Hartley had his best game for a while and all the more impressive when we learnt after the match that he was nearly sold to United for the Friday transfer deadline. (Wonder who McLeish had in mind to buy if Hartley had gone ?).

26.03.00
Fancy a half-day off to buy a ticket ?

Can anyone fathom the thinking behind the ticketing arrangements for the cup semi-final ? This is the most important match the club have played in a long while and one where they would hope to take 20,000 or more fans to.

They give out vouchers at the Dundee game which is a reasonable ploy to try and get a decent turn out for that match. Then, I read, that season ticket holders plus voucher holders will get one week (commencing Tuesday 28th March) to buy their tickets before they go on sale to the general public. How many tickets will that first week sell - certainly well short of 10,000. The tickets then go on sale to the general public on Tuesday 4th April, just five days before the match. And what's more, you have to turn up at Easter Road to buy - there are no postal or credit card sales. Crazy - why put obstacles in people's way. I would have thought the club would be offering every possible help to people who want tickets.

Meanwhile, it is reported that Alex McLeish will watch current signing target, Georgi Nemsadze (pictured left), captain Georgia in an international friendly in Israel this week.

22.03.00
Signing in the offing ?

The Scotsman are reporting this morning that Hibs are about to sign Georgian international captain, Georgi Nemsadze, who has been training with the club for a week. The report says the player bought out his contract with Italian club, Reggiana, and is rated at £1.5 million.

16.03.00
Ohhh yeah !

The Daily Record carries a story today which has got 'wind up' written all over it. This concerns the supposed setting up of a gay Hibs supporters club. The 'facts' behind this story come straight from a chat site on Hibs.Net and appear to have had no validation whatsoever. However, you can hardly expect The Daily Record to bother checking its facts when it offers the sub-editor such a glorious opportunity - he takes his chance well with a picture of Miller and the headline, 'Nice Tackle Kenny'. The story finishes by saying that Hearts fans have taken note - I can't help wondering if the chat line did not start from that source as well.

13.03.00
Huge game for Hibees

I think Hibs were kindly treated by the papers reporting on the Falkirk game. The focus was mainly on Latapy and his performance after his late return from international duty. The fact that we were awful for the entire second half seems to have been skimmed over.

Latapy has another international match that clashes with the semi-final date but has stated that he is determined to play for Hibs in that match. We will see.

Assuming Rangers win the other semi-final and the league, then the winner of the Hibs Aberdeen game will get a UEFA Cup place just for making the final. Makes an already big game even bigger.

The debate for the semi will be over the venue. In the past Hibs-Aberdeen might have gone to Dens Park or Tannadice but the capacity is not particularly high for a match that could attract a sizeable crowd. Tynecastle is another option but Aberdeen are unlikely to allow us to play in Edinburgh. Which means the match may well be played in Glasgow.

10.03.00
The Youth Policy

The Evening News has been assiduous in its coverage of the SPL under-21's league this year and should be congratulated. This has made pleasing reading for Hibs fans, with our youngsters out ahead in this league. So at first pass, there might have been a slight sense of disappointment among supporters at the recent spate of loans which has taken some of the brightest prospects out of this team (Liam O'Sullivan, Martin Hughes and Tom McManus have all started loan deals recently). But you have to remember that the main purpose of a youth policy is to bring players forward that are good enough for the first team, not to win the under-21's league, pleasing though that would be.

This season, we have seen Mark Dempsie, Ian Murray and, of course, Kenny Miller all make the breakthrough into the first team so it would appear that the youth policy is working. And Alex McLeish obviously has a firm belief that loaning out youngsters to play tough matches in the lower leagues is the best way to bring them on   - you can't argue with the progress that young Miller has made after a spell with Stenhousemuir last year. Don't forget also, that loaning players worked well for Hibs in the past - Pat Stanton, no less, was loaned out to Junior Football in his youth to 'harden him up'.

06.03.00
A paltry £2 million

The Sunday Mail ran a story yesterday saying that West Ham were ready to swoop for Hibs hot property, striker Kenny Miller, with an offer of £1.25 million. The paper suggests that Hibs will hold out for £2 million.

Firstly, this story is pure speculation and will no doubt be followed by a host of similar stories for as long as young Miller keeps scoring. More importantly, if there is going to be speculation then lets at least get the figures in the right ballpark. Hibs sold John Collins and Andy Goram for £1 million each some ten years ago. In today's market, where average 30 year olds sell for £3 or 4 million in the cash rich English Premiership, Hibs should be talking way more more than £2 million for a prospect like Miller who is on a very long contract. I, for one, would be gutted to see him go but if he does go, let's at least not sell ourselves short.

02.03.00
Controversy. What controversy ?

There is an article in The Scotsman today by Ian Wood about the huge 'controversy' caused by the new Hibs club badge because it has the Irish Harp on it. Wood uses this article as a vehicle for a series of weak jokes before rightly concluding that it would be a bit ridiculous for a club with the name Hibernian to try and hide its Irish roots.

I agree with the thrust of the article that putting the Harp on the badge is a simple link with the club's roots and nothing more. Hibernian were long ago integrated into Edinburgh society where thankfully the mindless who want to ape the Old Firm bigots are very small in number.

What I do take issue with is where he gets the idea that this badge has caused controversy. What controversy ? I haven't met one single person that takes issue with this badge.

If you want to read a short pictorial history of the Hibernian club badge then click here.

Meanwhile, in the Evening News tonight, Alex McLeish boldly reveals that Martin McIntosh will make his debut against Celtic on Sunday night.

25.02.00
Latapy hogs the headlines

It is a measure of Russell Latapy's importance to Hibernian and his appeal to the papers, that the little magician has had more space in the news whilst playing for Trinidad and Tobago in the USA than the rest of the Hibs team have had whilst playing here. Rumours abound about whether he carried a groin injury through the Gold Cup. Latapy himself tries to put this to rest in the Evening News tonight saying he is fully fit and raring to go, whilst admitting he did play with a 'tiredness' in his groin. What will compound Hibs supporters worries are comments that he may return to play World Cup qualifiers for T&T in the immediate future.

20.02.00
Scottish Cup blues

I think Hibs got off pretty lightly in the papers this morning considering we had just failed, at Easter Road, to beat a team detached at the bottom of the First Division by an alarmingly large margin. I guess the press have had bigger upsets to concentrate on this year in the Scottish Cup.

To play with ten men for nearly an hour and then go one down, I guess we should just be thankful that we are not out of the competition. Still, worrying shades of what happened last year with Stirling Albion. Surely Clydebank have had their chance and we should finish them off in the replay. Surely ?

7.02.00
So long Sauzee ?

Alex McLeish, in this morning's Scotsman, appears to confirm the story doing the rounds in the Sundays that Franck Sauzee will hang up his boots at the end of this season. One small crumb of comfort for disappointed Hibees comes in the words McLeish chooses - 'it looks as if he is not going to be with us next season.' These sound like the words of a man who has not given up all hope. There is no doubt Sauzee is good enough to go on and there is no doubt he still enjoys himself on a football field. Whilst these two things hold true, there must still be a chance that he will change his mind.

7.02.00
There's only one Kenny Miller

The press are full of praise for Hibernian's efforts in the 2-2 draw against Rangers last night, with the spotlight firmly on young marksman, Kenny Miller, who bagged a fine brace of goals. Many pundits are already saying he should go straight into the full Scotland team - not just the squad but the actual starting line-up!

Just be thankful that we have him on a very long contract as the hype surrounding the player mounts.

31.01.00
Hibby bits

A few Hibees snippets in the press today. The Daily Record were quoting the Dunfermline chairman this morning, saying that they were close to finalising the deal which would take Stevie Crawford to East End Park on a permanent basis.

Meanwhile the Evening News were continuing on the Latapy club v country story, pointing out that even after the Gold Cup, Latapy is likely to play in World Cup qualifiers for T&T which will mean missing even more games for Hibs.

Finally, Scot FM seemed to be the first to get hold of the Martin McIntosh story, reporting that he was in Edinburgh today for talks. A quick flick through some Stockport County websites shows that he is highly regarded by the supporters of the English First Division outfit.

31.01.00
Haste ye back

The Evening News runs a story tonight about how many games Latapy might miss whilst playing in the Gold Cup for Trinidad and Tobago in the USA during February. Latapy will play in the Rangers game next weekend and then depart. His return date will depend on how well T&T do in the tournament but he could well miss the next round of the Scottish Cup.

Seems a bit churlish to hope that T&T drop out of the Gold Cup at the earliest possible stage but that is exactly what a lot of Hibs fans will be doing. Russell Latapy is a big, big player for us and the sooner he is back the better.

27.01.00
Soca Warriors

The Evening News reported last night that Hibs are bringing over two players from Trinidad and Tobago for trials at Easter Road next week. Striker Earl Jean and centre-half Atiba Charles, who both feature in the T&T international set-up, will spend about a week in Edinburgh.

If either of them are half as good as Latapy then they are well worth signing.

24.01.00
Nil nil

The papers have really struggled to get an angle on the Dundee United game which from all accounts was a pretty drab affair.

Personally, I found the team selection much more interesting than the match reports. Lovering goes straight back in to the team ahead of Smith - interesting. Even more interesting and encouraging was the debut of another teenager, Ian Murray, breaking through into the first team. Finally, after substitutions, we had Paatelainen, Miller, Lehmann and Hartley all on the field at the same time. Very surprising and shows that McLeish was really trying to win the game.

10.01.00 Latapy is a wanted man The Evening News have been speculating that Hibs will take the opportunity whilst in Trinidad and Tobago to try and reach a compromise on the club v country issue facing Russell Latapy. Latapy, capped over 100 times, is wanted for a tournament in February which Trinidad and Tobago will use to gel a team together ahead of World Cup qualifiers. Hibernian, not surprisingly, are desperate for Latapy to turn out for them after the restart. It is hoped that face to face talks will produce a compromise that keeps all parties happy. Latapy himself is said to be prepared to travel between Scotland and his homeland between matches if a schedule can be agreed.

6.01.00
Miller signs

The news that Hibs supporters have been waiting for over the last few weeks arrived just before the team flew out to Trinidad and Tobago for the mid-season break - Kenny Miller finally agreed a deal that will keep him at Easter Road until summer 2004 (i.e. four more seasons after this).

If you believe The Scotsman, then he does not have a get-out clause in this contract similar to the one that allowed Rangers to snap up Neil McCann and Billy Dodds.

The Scotsman are also reporting today that Hibs made a £300,000 bid to Stockport County for their Scottish centre-back Martin McIntosh, but the English First Division outfit knocked it back.

5.01.00
Hibee snippets

The papers are on short rations now that the mid-season break has commenced so expect some real drivel to fill the back pages over the next couple of weeks.

Here is a quick round up of Hibee snippets I have seen in the last couple of weeks. Paul Holsgrove returned from Airdrie after his one month loan. Fabrice Henry has returned to France after his six month contract was not extended.

Meanwhile, Paul Hartley has joined the competition in the First Division to see who can be the Hibs fringe player to have the biggest effect on that league. Barry Lavety has been on fire for St.Mirren after completing his transfer away from Hibs. Stevie Crawford has started his third month on loan to Dunfermline, who are desperate to keep him, and now Hartley is half way through a month loan at Morton.

Alex McLeish has said that he thinks a month playing for Morton will do Hartley's fitness a lot of good and you can't disagree with that. I would be very surprised and disappointed if Hartley was allowed to leave - I don't believe his situation is the same as that of Stevie Crawford, who I now doubt will play for Hibs again.

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