The new era at Hibs gets under way competitively on Saturday in the group stages of the Premier Sports Cup when Clyde visit Easter Road. There will be a new strip on display, a raft of new signings and a new face in the dugout.
Former Bristol City and Sunderland manager Lee Johnson has been tasked with pulling the club up the Premiership table following a forgettable season which resulted in a bottom-six finish, a semi-final and final defeat at Hampden Park and two managerial sackings.
The early signs have been promising. Hibs defeated English opposition in Hartlepool United and Burton Albion while on a pre-season training camp in Portugal ahead of the return to competitive action. New signings showed up well, there were positive aspects to the team’s play all the while players gained minutes in the leg.
It is very much a new-look side. No team has added more than the nine signed by Hibs with Johnson hopeful of adding at least two more. However, stalwarts of old remain in place with Paul Hanlon and Lewis Stevenson, as well as Ryan Porteous and other figures who have been at the club for a couple of seasons to provide a semblance of continuity.
So, with all that in mind, and taking into consideration the two pre-season matches, with the caveat that there was a different XI in all four halves of football, what can we expect from Hibs when they line-up against Clyde?
Speaking in May about transfers, Johnson suggested systems and formations are not of massive relevance to him.
"Don't worry about formations,” he said. “It's not about formation, it's about the principles of how you want to play and bringing those players in that are elite in the key factors that we want for that position. Therefore we can be flexible, because
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