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Transfer deadline looms
With the Scottish transfer deadline (31 March) fast approaching, there have been
a clutch of moves concerning Scottish clubs. One of these involved Scott
Bannerman, who never really established himself at Easter Road, and who has
signed for Airdrie - a club desperately trying to put a team together to
complete this season's fixtures.
The Scotsman, meanwhile, are reporting this morning that Hibs are interested in Livingston goalkeeper, Ian McCaldon.
Finally, Derek Collins, who I had almost
forgotten was still on the books, is now on loan with Preston until the end of
the season, after completing his loan deal at Partick Thistle.
24 March 2001
Laursen deal confirmed
As expected, Hibernian have today confirmed the extension to Ulrik Laursen's
contract - the player is now tied to Easter Road until 2005.
Also, Alex McLeish has said that Arpinon may not be the only signing before the
31st March transfer deadline, although he will not be signing either of the
striking trialists, Hadda or Pierre, both of whom he wants to see more of before
committing himself.
23 March 2001
Hibernian already planning for
next season
Hibs have announced that they will warm up for next season by playing in a four way tournament in Canada with a Canadian and two English teams (one of whom is Wolves). Hibs, of course, have strong links with Canada with Paul Fenwick, Mike Franks and Emilio Bottiglieri currently on the books.
Meanwhile, new signing, Freddy Arpinon, went straight into action yesterday playing 85 minutes in Hibs under-21's 2-0 victory over Hearts. The player got good reviews and looks certain to make his debut in our next league game away at St. Johnstone. This was made even more likely when John O'Neil received a two match suspension,
after his booking in the Dunfermline game, which will keep him out of this fixture and the home game with Rangers.
22 March 2001
12-(6+x-y)=?
Thinking ahead to the split in the SPL which happens after we play Rangers on 8th April. The current top six includes Celtic, Rangers, Kilmarnock, Hearts and Dunfermline plus ourselves. Of this five, we have already played four of them away twice. Rangers are the only team we will have played at home twice. Now there is no way we will be given four home games and one away, so if this is the top six at the split, we will be forced to play at least one of these teams away for a third time.
As I understand the rules for the split, and they are far from clear, the fixtures are based on a prediction, made at the start of the season, of who will be in the top and bottom six. The top six prediction includes the old firm, Hearts and ourselves but not the other two. It should always work out that you have two home and two away against the sides that were correctly predicted. So I am assuming that we definitely get Celtic and Hearts at Easter Road, Rangers away. How they decide where we play the other two is anyone's guess. Could be yet another trip down to Rugby Park (our fifth this season).
Don't you just love this 12 team set-up. Really simple and logical. I think not.
22 March 2001
Arpinon
paraded as Hibs player
The signing of Frédéric Arpinon (right) was made official today when the
player was paraded at a morning press conference.
21 March 2001
Latapy and Celtic - surely not !
There are persistent stories going around that Russell Latapy is going to Celtic and what's more, that the Glasgow side will pay a fee to gain his services before the end of the season.
If this is true, and it could well turn out to be garbage, then Celtic would stand condemned in my eyes. They have won the CIS Cup and they have won the league - they don't need Latapy for that. The only trophy still to be fought for is the Scottish Cup. Latapy can't play for Celtic in this competition beacuse he is cup-tied. Hence Celtic would be paying the fee purely to stop Latapy playing for Hibs in a possible Cup final confrontation. What other reason could there be, as they could have the player for nothing after the Cup final.
For a club that has been bleating on for years about lack of competition in Scotland (and wants to join an Atlantic League to get more meaningful games), this would be an act of such pure hypocrisy that everyone outside of the Parkhead faithful would view the transfer with revulsion.
20 March 2001
Latapy rumours run wild
I have read so many rumours about Russell Latapy in the last few days that my
head is swimming. Probably just as well that he is out of the country and Hibs
have no games for a fortnight. Hopefully some semblance of calm will have
returned to this situation by the time we take to the field against St.
Johnstone on April Fool's Day (when we really could do without any practical
jokes). A straightforward win would be nice.
McLeish says Latapy is still in the plans for
this season and Latapy says he is still big buddies with McLeish and is happy to
play for Hibs and give his best. If he plays at McDiarmid and scores, all the
miles of newspaper columns that have been filled in the last week will be
forgotten.
19 March 2001
Laursen
signs his extension
It is my understanding that Ulrik Laursen has already put pen to paper on the
extension to his contract and that an announcement will be made early next week.
Great news at a time when the club is going through a sticky patch in an
otherwise successful season.
17 March 2001
Latapy out in the cold as
Hibees beaten
Hibs lost 2-1 at Dunfermline this afternoon, making it back to back defeats.
Worth remembering, however, that this is the first time this season we have lost
two in a row so there is a need to keep things in perspective. At least we now
have a two week break giving us a much needed chance to regroup before our next
game - away again at St. Johnstone. By then many of the familiar faces will be
back and we will line up in our more preferred 3-5-2.
Events at East End Park were overshadowed by the
dropping of Russell Latapy - the player said by Alex McLeish to be 'not in the
right frame of mind'. Read in to that what you like, but if Latapy were not to
play for Hibs again, it would be an ignominious end to his time at Easter Road.
Hopefully it won't come to that.
17 March 2001
Arpinon deal already done !
It is being widely reported in France today that Frédéric Arpinon has already
signed for Hibs, committing himself to Easter Road until 2003. I have also had
e-mails to this effect, in which fans of Troyes congratulate Hibernian on
capturing an 'excellent' player, who they are sure will do well in Scotland. The
announcement from Easter Road will likely follow early next week.
16 March 2001
Who's up for the defence
Hibernian head for Dunfermline tomorrow without the services of Franck Sauzee, Ulrik Laursen, Paul Fenwick and Martin McIntosh. Who exactly will play in defence is anyone's guess. Dirk Lehmann replaced McIntosh in the Aberdeen game. Other possibilities include Mark Dempsie returning to the first team or Matthias Jack dropping back from his midfield role.
It will be a tough game with Dunfermline in the fight for a top six finish and ourselves still in with a chance of second spot as Rangers continue to stumble ahead of us.
Will the Hibs fans be cheering Russell Latapy ? I would really hope so. Will he still be committed to Hibs cause ? I think he has known he was going for a while and he has shown no signs of switching off. The man enjoys playing football too much for that.
There are those, of course, who have always questioned his work rate. Looking back on Latapy's time with Hibs, I have always been astonished when I hear Hibs fans shouting the likes of, 'you owe us a really good shift today Russell' or 'let's see you work for the shirt.' As far as I am concerned guys who will give you 100% in every game are ten a penny. Just think back to the Jim Duffy era and the real triers we had in the team - the problem there was, of course, that
most of them were mince. Guys who can do what Latapy can do are one in a million
(and I would rarely fault him for effort either). If I were Hibs manager, I would have the team sheet pre-printed with his name already on it.
I will miss the wee man so much and I am determined to enjoy his final performances in the green and white.
16 March 2001
Arpinon
close to signing ?
Received some information on Hibs latest signing target, Frédéric Arpinon (left), from an ESTAC Troyes fanzine. He is described as a creative midfield organiser who can play centre or right with decent natural ability. However, he is also said to have a reputation in France
for being a mercenary and he has certainly played for quite a few clubs. Apparently he tried to engineer a move away from Troyes and stopped training. Although he later regretted this course of action, it effectively finished his chances with Troyes and he has seldom played this season.
Alex McLeish is said to be convinced the player can do a job for Hibs and with
no transfer fee involved, a signing looks likely.
16 March 2001
Latapy will leave Hibs at end of season
Alex McLeish today ended months of speculation by announcing that Russell Latapy will leave Easter Road at the end of the season. Until that time Latapy will continue to play and, I believe,
stay committed as Hibernian continue their push in both league and cup.
Meanwhile, it is widely reported today that another French player, Frederic Arpinon, is in Edinburgh and is likely to sign for Hibs. He is described as an attacking midfielder and is a player that Hibs have been watching for some time. No-one can replace Latapy and his unique style but hopefully Alex McLeish has unearthed another gem for us. Certainly looks like he has been aware of Latapy's position and has been planning accordingly. Arpinon is available for free from his current club, Troyes. The player lists amongst his former clubs Nice, Nimes, Sedan, Metz and also Strasbourg where he was a team-mate of David Zitelli.
14 March 2001
A game too far
Hibs lost 1-0 at Pittodrie tonight to a Guntveit goal after just 90 seconds.
However, Nick Colgan had to make several good saves to keep the score down.
McLeish chose to do a major reshuffle, fielding a 4-4-2 formation and choosing
to leave Latapy on the bench until the second half. With injuries and suspension
decimating the normal defence, and so soon after the massive effort in the cup
quarter final, it was never going to be a great time to play the Dons, who are
proving something of a bogey team for Hibs.
13 March 2001
Latapy quoted as making optimistic noises
My attention was still focussed on the cup after Hibs game on Saturday with the two matches on Sunday and the match reports in Sunday and Monday's papers.
[By the way, the strangest thing happened to me during the Celtic Hearts game. I am so sick of the old firm - the relentless monotony they bring to Scottish football and the arrogance of everyone involved with these clubs (and
for that matter, the crass tabloid media who print pages of drivel about them every day), that I found myself willing McSwegan on to score when he had that half chance towards the end of the game. Finding yourself supporting Hearts in your own front room on a Sunday afternoon can certainly shake a man up.
No such conflicting emotions on Sunday night of course. Did you notice that Rangers got knocked out. Shame. Still Dick Advocat says he knew that these players weren't good enough ages ago and that he will clear them out. Unfortunate for him that he didn't realise they weren't good enough before he signed most of them. Unfortunate for him, highly amusing for us. And the wee soul's only had £75 million to spend. Shame.]
Anyway (after that long detour) as I was saying, my focus was on the cup and I nearly missed an article in The Scotsman on Monday about Latapy and the ongoing contract talks. Now, you may remember that McLeish promised a statement on Monday and we all thought that would be a confirmation that he was going. Now Latapy has made one or two more encouraging statements. He is quoted as saying, 'I am probably a bit nearer than I was a month ago to getting things sorted, put it that way. We are obviously still some distance away, but the good thing is that we are sitting down and talking. As long as there is dialogue, there is hope. The good thing is that it’s been amicable and there have been no disputes, but in negotiations you have to fight for what you want. I would hope that a resolution can be found soon. I don’t want to disclose things which have happened between myself and the club. When I make my final decision, we will let everyone know.'
Some hope yet then. Retaining Latapy would be a tremendous fillip for the club, and supporters of course, for the run-in to the end of the season.
13 March 2001
Patched-up Hibees head for
Pittodrie
It is asking a lot of Hibs, after the amount of effort they put in on Saturday,
to raise themselves for a league match at Pittodrie tomorrow night, but that is
what they must try and do. Fenwick's suspension starts for this match and Sauzee
and Laursen are definitely out through injury so not difficult to see which part
of the team requires a major reshuffle. I can't believe we will switch from the
tried and tested 3-5-2. Gary Smith and Martin McIntosh will certainly play in
the back three whilst Murray could be asked to join them or take the left wing
back slot. Matthias Jack, if he is fit, could also drop back into defence,
leaving Brebner in the midfield holding role. Who knows, we might even see Mixu
continue deputising for Laursen after his heroics in that role against
Kilmarnock. All will become clear tomorrow. Three points would be tremendous and
would really keep the pressure up on Rangers, who only have second place in the
league to play for. It would be fantastic if we were still in touching distance
of them when they come to Easter Road on the 8th April.
Other News : Hibs Scottish Cup semi-final against
Livingston is confirmed for Saturday 14th April, 3pm kick off.
12 March 2001
Livingston next in line
Hibernian have drawn Livingston in the Scottish Cup semi-final in what can only
be seen as a very favourable draw. The other semi pits Celtic against Dundee
United, who overcame Rangers tonight. These matches should be played on 14/15th
April at Hampden.
11 March 2001
McManus the hero as Hibs go
through
A patched up Hibs team won through to the Scottish Cup semi-final today with a
battling performance at Rugby Park. Jack never made the starting line-up and
Hibs problems were compounded when Sauzee limped off early on, followed later in
the first half by Ulrik Laursen. I thought I could predict all Hibs tactical
options pretty accurately but the site of Mixu Paatelainen coming on at left
wing back showed me that I couldn't. The plaudits from the big Hibs travelling
support went to Tom McManus who nodded home a Latapy freekick in the last
seconds of the game to give us a 1-0 victory. Match Report.
10 March 2001
No decision on Hadda,
Pierre next in line
Abdeljilil Hadda has returned to Spain without Hibs committing themselves on
whether they are interested in the player. McLeish says he has not written off a
transfer but would like to see the player in action for club or country before
committing himself. A quick flick through some Sporting Gijon websites will tell
you that the player very rarely plays for his club and hardly warrants a
mention, so McLeish will be lucky to see him playing in Spain. The Gijon coach
is said to be unhappy at the amount of time the player spends with the Moroccan
national team so I guess playing for his country is the most likely stage to see
this man in action.
Nigel Pierre is the next striker in line to show
what he can do at Easter Road. The T&T player has arrived for his trial with
glowing praise from his national manager, Ian Porterfield, who sees a big future
for the player and Hibs as an ideal club for the youngster to improve himself
at.
9 March 2001
Scottish Cup showdown in Ayrshire
Hibs will take a big travelling support to Rugby Park on Saturday for the Scottish Cup Quarter Final. How big a game is this for us ? Massive, would be my one word answer to that question.
Kilmarnock have knocked us out of the League Cup this season and last in Ayrshire and we owe them for that. Looking at it from their point of view: We have proven ourselves the third force in Scotland this year in the league and that is a position that Kilmarnock also aspire to so they will feel they have something to prove to us.
Our place in Europe looks secure but we are not going to win the league so this competition is our chance to end a fantastic season with a trophy. Add to that the fact that we have not won the Cup for ... well you know how long, and you will understand why I choose the word massive.
Sauzee is reported as being likely to play after recovering from his knock at Parkhead but Gary Smith is struggling to shake off an injury picked up against Motherwell. Ian Murray showed he is a capable replacement on the left side of the defence and Fenwick can play right so we have the cover if necessary.
Paatelainen and Jack were said to be still recovering from flu when they took to the field on Sunday and that could explain their performances. Jack will still keep his place based on performances over the season and rightly so. Paatelainen is harder to call. Libbra looked keen and sharp when he got his chance and it is just possible he may get the nod.
(It was interesting, by the way, that Murray got selected in front of McIntosh for the 'Well game. Everyone assumed that McIntosh would get his chance when Fenwick's suspension kicks in - maybe not so).
Other News : Hibernian chairman, Malcolm McPherson, will appear on Radio Forth tomorrow night (Friday) at 6pm on their Sports programme, hosted by Mark Donaldson, to answer fans questions. You can e-mail questions in advance to mark.donaldson@fortham.co.uk or you can ring in on 0845 345 4002.
8 March 2001
It's Killie away - again!
On Saturday, Hibs will make the trip to Rugby Park for the fourth time this
season after Kilmarnock beat Inverness CT tonight in their Scottish Cup replay.
Our league results down there have been not bad - one win and one draw. However,
Killie knocked us out of the League Cup this season and last season at Rugby
Park and Hibernian will have to be at their best to keep the Scottish Cup dream
alive . This will be a pay at the gate match - no tickets required.
6 March 2001
Hakim heads home
Hibernian
have agreed to terminate the contracts of Hakim Sar-Temsoury and Shaun Dennis
with the players. Dennis, who would have left Easter Road in the summer anyway,
has fixed himself up a deal to play for Raith Rovers until the end of the
season. More surprising is the departure of the young French midfielder, who
arrived with glowing praise from the manager and a fair bit of media attention.
Sar is said to be homesick and will return to his family in France without
having fixed himself up with a French club after failing to make much impression
with Hibs.
6 March 2001
Laursen rumours refuted at Easter Road
Rumours that Rangers have offered £1.5 million for Hibernian's Danish defender, Ulrik Laursen, were angrily rejected by Alex McLeish today. McLeish insists there has been no contact with the Ibrox club and added that it would take three times that amount of money to prise Laursen from Hibs. The club only recently announced that they were close to agreeing an extension to the defender's contract that would see him tied to ER until 2004.
I know that many of you will recall that Kenny Miller signed a similar extension shortly before departing down the M8 but the tone of McLeish's rebuttal of the rumours gives me hope that a similar scenario will not be played out this time.
5 March 2001
Disappointing Hibs get a draw
Hibernian took about 55 minutes to get going tonight and finally mangaged to scrape a 1-1 draw against Motherwell. Sauzee missed the game through injury and a number of other players were way below their best as Hibs struggled against a makeshift opposition.
Match Report.
4 March 2001
Hadda could be a Real
Bargain
Real
Sporting Club of Gijon player, Abdeljilil Hadda, could move to Hibs for around
£150,000 or so Alex McLeish is estimating. The problem is that the freezing
weather has afforded Hibs no opportunity to see the player in action. With the
weather predicted to turn milder however, the player should get some outdoor
action next week when he will be joined on the Hibs training ground by T&T
international striker, Nigel Pierre.
Weather permitting, Hibs will know their Scottish Cup quarter final opponents on Tuesday night, after Kilmarnock and Inverness CT try again to settle their tie.
The Sun are confidently predicting this morning that Latapy is on his way to Celtic and not the English Premiership. Still anyone who believes everything they read in The Sun needs their head examined. In fact, anyone who believes anything they read in The Sun needs their head examined.
McLeish (and John O'Neil) have been singing Marc
Libbra (right) praises this week so it could be he may even get a starting slot
tomorrow. I would guess it is between him and the returning Paatelainen, with
the Finn probably favourite as we have been putting out a predictable eleven
whenever possible.
3 March 2001
Hibees make rare appearance at Easter Road as rebuilding work continues
Hibs take on Motherwell on Sunday night, in front of the Sky cameras. This is Hibs only home game in March, followed by four away fixtures on the trot (including the Scottish Cup Quarter final), so three points is vital.
Now that his probable departure from Easter Road at the end of the season is public knowledge, all eyes will be on Russell Latapy. After a big game for his country and a gruelling travel schedule, the fans will still expect him to show that he is committed to Hibs drive for second spot in the SPL.
Motherwell are something of a team in crisis with star players leaving amidst a big cost cutting exercise. That could spell danger for Hibs in that little is expected of them in this match and they have nothing to lose. Hibs will be alert to this danger, however, and I would expect them to approach the game in the correct manner.
Paatelainen missed the Celtic game with flu and Sauzee went off during that match with a thigh knock but I would expect them both to take their normal places in the starting line-up. Will the home fans get a chance to see Marc Libbra ? I would expect him to be on the bench and to get a game at some point depending on how it is going.
2 March 2001
| Now you see it |
Now you don't |
|
 |
Hibs will play in front of the
Sky cameras on Sunday night against Motherwell and pictured right is how the
backdrop will look without the West stand. Anyone buying tickets for this
match will get preferential treatment in obtaining tickets for the Celtic
and Hearts games after the split (assuming Hearts make the top six). A
full preview of Sunday night's game will appear soon. 1 March 2001 |
 |
Hibs continue the search
for more striking options
Hot on the heels of Marc Libbra arriving on
loan from Toulouse, Alex McLeish has revealed that he is bringing two more
strikers to Easter Road on trial. These are Moroccan, Abdeljilil Hadda (right), and
Nigel Pierre (left), another of Russell Latapy's countrymen from the T&T team.
Hadda is 28 and currently plays in Spain for Sporting Gijon. He played for
Morroco throughout their France 98 World Cup run and scored the second goal in
his country's 3-0 win over Scotland. Pierre plays for Caribbean club, Joe Public,
and is a member of the T&T national squad, although he did not feature in
last night's 1-0 defeat in Jamaica.
1 March 2001