Shaun Maloney: Five reasons things didn't work out for Maloney at Hibs

Losing Martin Boyle

Hibs weren’t actively planning to sell Martin Boyle to Al-Faisaly, even if it wasn’t totally unexpected. It was life-changing money for the 28-year-old and came with a sizeable transfer fee but his 14 goals and talismanic properties were always going to be hard to replace.

Even though Maloney admitted that a like-for-like replacement would have been hard to find, he would have hoped some of the January signings would be able to at least help fill the void.

Every club has injury problems but a mounting list of short- and long-term casualties hampered Hibs in the second half of the season. Kyle Magennis had already been sidelined for a significant period of time but the loss of first-team regulars including Paul Hanlon, Paul McGinn, and Kevin Nisbet for varying amounts of time came at a cost.

So too January signings Harry Clarke and Demi Mitchell enduring lengthy spells on the sidelines. Christian Doidge’s long-term injury and illness issues were also a blow and the number of absences eventually led to youth players being thrust onto the bench to make up numbers.

Red cards for Rocky Bushiri, Joe Newell, and Ryan Porteous didn’t help in terms of picking up results. Porteous was ruled out of four league games – two of which are still to be played – after his second red card of the season in the 3-1 defeat by Aberdeen in March was compounded by a failed appeal and decision to lengthen his suspension.

The side looks better defensively with the 23-year-old and he has been missed during his bans. Bushiri’s dismissal came at a time when Hibs were struggling for defenders and while Newell’s ban will kick in in next season’s Scottish Cup tournament, his ordering-off left Hibs playing 25 minutes with ten men