Individual offenders singled out as Easter Road side brace for derby impact
Hibs boss David Gray was left cursing his team’s inability to keep their heads amid the chaos of the Scottish Premiership, as the rookie head coach identified TWO key turning points in a calamitous loss to Dundee United at Tannadice. Leading 2-1 with 93 minutes gone, Hibs somehow managed to end the afternoon as 3-2 losers rooted to the foot of the league table.
Gray picked out Joe Newell’s red card with five minutes of regulation time remaining as a key moment. And he admitted that goalkeeper Josef Bursik, implicated in the equaliser, had no business in coming for the cross that allowed Meshack Ubochioma to score a winner in the final minute of injury time.
Gray admitted: “It makes me angry. It’s frustrating. If it’s not for the red card, I firmly believe we’re going to win the game.
“But that’s an excuse because after that we still need to be better. There’s not long left in the game. In these big moments, we’re seeing poor decision making or a lack of desire at times, when we need to make sure we get out of that game with at least a point once it goes to 2-2.
“Every time we’ve been asked a question at the moment, we’re coming up short – and we’re also being punished for every individual error that we’re making.”
With just one win from their opening eight league fixtures, Hibs have contributed heavily to their own downfall on more than one occasion. That appeared to be the case again yesterday, with Bursik looking especially culpable for the late, late winner.
“I have not watched him back in great detail at the moment just because it’s very raw for me at the moment,” said Gray. “Without having seen it back properly, you know the second one he should stay on his line.
“He makes the decision to come off his line – and he does it for the right reasons. He’s coming to try to affect the game.
“When you’re down there and things are going against you the ball hits the underside of the bar and goes. Whereas if everything’s going well and you’re getting away with things at the time, it maybe hits the top of the bar and goes over.
“But again that’s just an excuse. We need to be stronger, stick together and believe that you’re going to turn it around -and work as hard as you can to make sure you do.”
Gray – who must get his men back up and ready for Edinburgh derby action as Hearts visit Easter Road next Sunday – thought Newell’s first-half booking at Tannadice was “very soft” and, turning to the decisive second yellow, he criticised referee Chris Graham for playing wave on initially, saying: “Joe goes into a tackle wholeheartedly with the inside of his foot so he’s not leading with the studs or trying to hurt anybody. His momentum then takes him into the player – but I also understand when you slow it down it probably doesn’t look great.
“My frustration probably comes from the fact that the referee doesn’t give a foul at all. It goes 15, 16 seconds, however how long it is after it. I think the fourth official decides to give a foul after that and then from that moment on – that’s when the frustration kicks in
“But that’s just one thing. You then need to move on and make sure we come out of the game in a better result than we did.
“Of course Joe will be disappointed. I think he’s probably not thinking about next week. He’s very disappointed in himself.”
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