Hibs 2021/22 season review: File under 'forgettable' as club hits the reset button - again

In a game rife with clichés this review of the last ten months at least makes sense, although cynics might suggest that the near-vertical drop of the Oblivion ride at Alton Towers would be a better description.

It has felt like a long, long campaign. Even the 3-1 Premier Sports Cup semi-final victory over Rangers seems like a distant memory when in reality it was just six months ago.

There have been plenty of contributory factors: the club’s injury problems; 11 red cards in all campaigns; two different managers and one caretaker boss; the sale of talisman Martin Boyle; the Covid-19 outbreak, and an over-reliance on inexperience and youngsters. We could go on.

For most clubs, reaching the final of one cup and the semis of the other might be seen as a decent return. Indeed, Hibs did likewise last term as well as finishing third.

Finishing eighth with no permanent manager and half the first team out injured was a far cry from the start of the campaign when Hibs, still in Europe, roared back to defeat Motherwell 3-2 at Fir Park in a breathtaking season-opener.

After the relative highs of the 2020/21 campaign, and the fact it was the first season with fans back, the way the season played out was all the more disappointing.

The 3-1 victory over Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final surely has to be up there. Not just the performance but the fact it came after the Covid-19 outbreak with the team having not played for weeks, too. Martin Boyle was simply unstoppable that day and a strong defensive performance ensured another famous win over the Ibrox side at Hampden.

Apart from that, the away win against Dundee United earlier in the same competition was another sign of what Hibs were capable of when everything clicked.