"Baffling"; Hibs have today continued their incessant moaning ahead of Celtic clash

By David Walton

November 24, 2021

Hibs have continued their moaning ahead of next month’s Premier Sports Cup final against Celtic at Hampden.

Recently, the Easter Road club have taken issue with both their final ticket allocation of 17.5k, as well as their fixture schedule ahead of the clash with 7 games coming up before the cup final.

This is the same as Celtic in fairness, yet you haven’t heard a peep out of the Parkhead club in recent days. Instead, it’s been Hibernian and Jack Ross leading the calls for change. The Hibs boss yesterday claimed that Hibs had been in contact with the SPFL and had failed in a bid to ease their pre-cup final schedule [Sky Sports].

And Ross has been out complaining about the rejection in fresh comments published by the Edinburgh Evening News. He’s had the following to say:

“If you look at the work FIFPro are doing, looking into the demands on players at the top level, where they end up playing all year round, then it does take its toll.

“If you look at it scientifically, there is a fairly strong argument that it is not ideal. It does seem surprising that that is discounted – not just the opinions but the facts behind it as well. David Martindale has already spoken publicly about Livingston’s schedule and, without breaking a confidence, I know another Premiership manager who has told me that he was quite happy to have one of our games against them rescheduled because of the number of games they’ve got.

“For me, it’s baffling. If you have all these clubs and as many managers all thinking the schedule is too busy, why would you not want to listen to them?”

Hibernian really need to simply get on with it as Celtic clash nears

It’s actually getting tiresome in fairness. Yes, Hibernian had every right to complain about their ticket allocation, but the fixture rescheduling stuff is just straight up nonsense.

Yes there’s an argument to say the calendar should be rejigged so that no club has such a heavy workload in December. But why are Hibs only bringing it up now? That’s something that should be tackled across the board. The SPFL had every right to throw their request in the bin.

Celtic have exactly the same number of games separating them from the cup final. You haven’t heard the Hoops come out and complain about anything since we beat St Johnstone on Saturday either. Why? Because that’s what happens when you’re a successful football club in modern-day football.

If Hibs want to be treated like a big club then they need to start acting like it. Whether that be selling out semi-final allocations or tackling heavy fixture schedules without requesting postponements. It’s becoming a touch frustrating.

The SPFL also have to take into account fixtures that may need to be rescheduled when the bad weather kicks in. Filling up the new year with games from 2021 would be a dangerous move from the governing body.

So it’s time for Hibs to stop having a pop and just get on with it.

In other news, “I would like to see Celtic win”; Experienced German coach makes allegiances known for Thursday