BrahimHemdani 1 Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 (edited) Hibs win at Livingston last night was a big disappointment, as a loss and a win for us v Falkirk on Saturday would have been enough to secure second spot, a bye to the Play Off Semi Final and fix the date of the 3rd Gernet Dinner as 23 May, much to the relief of SteveC who has already booked flights. As things stand, Falkirk come to Ibrox still with a mathematical chance of finishing fourth, although they would need to beat us and Hibs at home on the last day and can't afford QoS (who have a vastly better goal difference) taking even one point from Dumbarton at home and Livingston away. A highly unlikely set of circumstances one would think especially as Falkirk's minds may drift to the Cup Final. Falkirk have only one point to show for 4 encounters with us this season and a total of 2 goals for and 10 against. That said they will not lie down to us and are perfectly capable of taking something from the game; but I expect us to win and Hardie to score again. Alloa go to Easter Rd on Saturday needing points to avoid the relegation play-off spot. HIbs lost the first league encounter when they were struggling in August but have since beaten the Wasps three times. Fyvie was in top form last night and I expect Hibs to win. Falkirk have already beaten Hibs 1-0 home and away in the League as well as the Cup but Hibs will be looking for revenge for the Scottish Cup Semi Final defeat on the last day when Falkirk may have nothing to play for other than avoiding injury ahead of the Final. I think we have to assume Hibs will win that. Which means we will have to win at Tynecastle. We lost home and away in 2014, including the embarrassing performance at Tynecastle in November but for me the victory at Ibrox on the 5th of April was our best performance of the season. Hearts will want to end the season on a high even if it makes life slightly easier for Hibs and it will take another epic performance for us to win again; but we are capable of that. Then all we have to do is beat the second bottom in the Premiership, most likely Motherwell who have 3 wins in their last 4 outings. But we have cup wins over St Johnstone and Kilmarnock this season, whose league positions suggest they are better teams than Motherwell; although Motherwell have a win and a draw against Kilmarnock in recent matches. Odds against accomplishing all that, 50/50 at best? Edited April 23, 2015 by BrahimHemdani Motherwell etc 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rousseau 10,812 Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 Hibs win at Livingston last night was a big disappointment, as a loss and a win for us v Falkirk on Saturday would have been enough to secure second spot, a bye to the Play Off Semi Final and fix the date of the 3rd Gernet Dinner as 23 May, much to the relief of SteveC who has already booked flights. As things stand, Falkirk come to Ibrox still with a mathematical chance of finishing fourth, although they would need to beat us and Hibs at home on the last day and can't afford QoS (who have a vastly better goal difference) taking even one point from Dumbarton at home and Livingston away. A highly unlikely set of circumstances one would think especially as their minds may drift to the Cup Final. Falkirk have only one point to show for 4 encounters with us this season and a total of 2 goals for and 10 against. That said they will not lie down to us and are perfectly capable of taking something from the game; but I expect us to win and Hardie to score again. Alloa go to Easter Rd on Saturday needing points to avoid the relegation play-off spot. HIbs lost the first league encounter when they were struggling in August but have since beaten the Wasps three times. Fyvie was in top form last night and I expect Hibs to win. Falkirk have already beaten Hibs 1-0 home and away in the League as well as the Cup but Hibs will be looking for revenge for the Scottish Cup Semi Final defeat on the last day when Falkirk may have nothing to play for other than avoiding injury ahead of the Final. I think we have to assume Hibs will win that. Which means we will have to win at Tynecastle. We lost home and away in 2014, including the embarrassing performance at Tynecastle in November but for me the victory at Ibrox on the 5th of April was our best performance of the season. Hearts will want to end the season on a high even if it makes life slightly easier for Hibs and it will take another epic performance for us to win again; but we are capable of that. I am doubtful. As you say: the run in suits them better. I'm confident of beating Falkirk, but Hearts at Tynecastle is going to be very difficult. I can see them winning all their remaining games. I suspect we may have to do it the hard way. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,652 Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 Impossible to predict as both Hibs and us have been so inconsistent. 1. Can we beat Falkirk? Yes but it's not a certainty. 2. Can we beat Hearts? Again, yes but it's not a certainty. 3. If we finish 3rd can we beat Queen of the South in the play-off quarter final? Yes we can but it's certainty a difficult task over two legs given the league results. 4. Can we beat Hibs if we finish 2nd or 3rd? Of course but league results also suggest it will be tough. 5. Can we beat Motherwell in the play-off final? Recent games against them suggests so and this may, in fact, be our easiest game. Overall, one has to say the odds of us being promoted are against us. We should be beating all these teams but it's far from a formality. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott7 6,155 Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 "2. Can we beat Hearts? Again, yes but it's unlikely" Bit of impertinent editing there, Boss. You're dead right about 'Well. Easiest of the lot by a mile. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rousseau 10,812 Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 Impossible to predict as both Hibs and us have been so inconsistent. 1. Can we beat Falkirk? Yes but it's not a certainty. 2. Can we beat Hearts? Again, yes but it's not a certainty. 3. If we finish 3rd can we beat Queen of the South in the play-off quarter final? Yes we can but it's certainty a difficult task over two legs given the league results. 4. Can we beat Hibs if we finish 2nd or 3rd? Of course but league results also suggest it will be tough. 5. Can we beat Motherwell in the play-off final? Recent games against them suggests so and this may, in fact, be our easiest game. Overall, one has to say the odds of us being promoted are against us. We should be beating all these teams but it's far from a formality. I actually think a two-leg tie gives us more of a chance. A one-off game would be nervy, but two gives us a margin of error. It's still not going to be easy though! Hibs will be tricky either way, and yes, ironically, the premiership tie could be the easiest one! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,652 Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 "2. Can we beat Hearts? Again, yes but it's unlikely" Bit of impertinent editing there, Boss. You're dead right about 'Well. Easiest of the lot by a mile. All about opinions mate! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,652 Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 I actually think a two-leg tie gives us more of a chance. A one-off game would be nervy, but two gives us a margin of error. It's still not going to be easy though! Hibs will be tricky either way, and yes, ironically, the premiership tie could be the easiest one! I disagree with the two legs. If we were to play any of these teams in a one-off game at Hampden, I'd be confident. Over two legs, especially with a game at Palmerston, I'm not as confident. That's why 2nd place is so important for us - let Hibs have the tricky prospect of an artificial surface deciding their season. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rousseau 10,812 Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 Impossible to predict as both Hibs and us have been so inconsistent. 1. Can we beat Falkirk? Yes but it's not a certainty. 2. Can we beat Hearts? Again, yes but it's not a certainty. 3. If we finish 3rd can we beat Queen of the South in the play-off quarter final? Yes we can but it's certainty a difficult task over two legs given the league results. 4. Can we beat Hibs if we finish 2nd or 3rd? Of course but league results also suggest it will be tough. 5. Can we beat Motherwell in the play-off final? Recent games against them suggests so and this may, in fact, be our easiest game. Overall, one has to say the odds of us being promoted are against us. We should be beating all these teams but it's far from a formality. It goes to show: there is no gulf in class between top Championship sides and the bottom dwellers of the Premiership. It makes the case for an extended top division. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,652 Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 It goes to show: there is no gulf in class between top Championship sides and the bottom dwellers of the Premiership. It makes the case for an extended top division. Yeah, I think that would be worthwhile but not until we're promoted first.... 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,803 Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 Well, we all said that the Championship will be the most competitive league in Scotland. So it proved. We did not exactly expected that much competition at the end though ... 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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