Hibs: The game that started decline, clue that manager had been sacked, 'good sign' from club

Twelve months ago, Hibs were closing in on their highest league finish in 16 years and had a Scottish Cup final to look forward to.

A year on and it all feels so different. Now they will see out the remainder of a chaotic season, in which cup ambitions have already been denied, in the bottom half of the table, and with a caretaker boss at the helm after not one, but two managers paid the price for the team’s underachieving.

And, although they are still struggling to pinpoint how it all went wrong, the players have a better idea of when things started to disintegrate.

“We were talking about it recently,” said Paul McGinn, who is one of a number of players who have struggled to recreate last season’s form, partly due to the disruption caused by covid, suspension and injury. “Remember that game at Ibrox when Ryan Porteous was sent off.

“If he doesn’t get sent off we are flying high and it’s bizarre to think it’s the same season, it’s a strange feeling.

“It shows you what happens in football if you don’t get things right.”

Despite their current predicament, Hibs remain the only side outwith the Glasgow pair to lead the league this term. In the opening 13 games of their season, they lost just one. But after that reversal by Rangers, things began to slide as they racked up seven defeats in 10 games and arresting that decline has proved impossible as draws and losses became the norm. “You look back and think: ‘Is that the same season?’ [That Rangers game] wasn’t just three games in, we’d played a decent spell.

“But it’s mostly on us, really, isn’t it? It’s a results business and that’s the sign of a not-so successful season.

“Don’t get me wrong, we got to a final and a semi and the margin of not being in the top six is pretty