“Tam McManus blames two ‘important’ stars for Hibs’ relegation to the Scottish Premiership.”
With Hibs mired to the bottom of the Scottish Premiership, Tam McManus was unreserved in his criticism of the goalkeeping combo of Jordan Smith and Josef Bursik, saying they are as useless as “chocolate teapots.”
Smith was selected for the midweek match against Aberdeen after Bursik, who started as the team’s goalkeeper at the start of the season, managed just one victory in 12 games. With three goals given up in the Granite City that were only prevented by the team’s attacking players, who also managed to put three goals past the home team to salvage a point at the end, it’s easy to say he didn’t impress.
Additionally, since Hibs is leading the standings, if they don’t defeat Motherwell before December, they will at least be in one of the two relegation-threatened spots alongside rivals Hearts. McManus has blamed the goalkeeping staff for their string of errors.
“I made my living as a striker… but I know a dodgy goalie when I see one,” McManus told the Daily Record. Sadly, Hibs currently have two keepers who are simultaneously killing them and David Grey. The manager needs guys he can trust because his job is on the line.
However, the two men in the most crucial roles are as trustworthy as a chocolate teapot. The most important decision Grey must make before his journey to Motherwell tomorrow is this one. Regardless of whether it’s Jordan Smith or Josef Bursik, Steelmen manager Stuart Kettlewell will have seen the previous games and will be instructing his players to put every corner and free-kick directly on top of the goaltender.
“Smith earned his opportunity against Aberdeen on Tuesday, and Bursik has made several mistakes since the season began. However, he blew it. He was largely at blame for the Dons’ second goal, and in my opinion, he ought to have saved the third as well. Hibs is losing this season because to individual mistakes, and the goalies are the main offenders. For Grey, it’s a serious problem. The Easter Road recruitment squad, who recruited both of those players this summer, has yet another black mark since neither of them is good enough.
“With whom does Grey visit Fir Park? He might give Max Boruc a chance if the third time is a charm. The few times he played last season, he looked the part, and he just can’t do any worse. Hibs must quit giving away goals or they will remain at the bottom of the table.
Poor goalies at Hibs are nothing new to McManus. The former striker said that Morten Hyldgaard was precisely the same back at Easter Road, failing to play for the team after managers discovered they ‘had signed a dud’.
“Back in my day, we signed a Danish man named Morten Hyldgaard as Daniel Andersson’s backup goalie,” McManus added. Every Friday, we practiced shooting with Bobby Williamson’s assistant, Gerry McCabe. Stephen Dobbie, Derek Riordan, Garry O’Connor, and I were in queue to take shots at the new keeper. Every shot went in, so even though we constantly made it a competition, there was no winner during Morten’s first week.
“At around 6′ 6”, Hyldgaard was a behemoth who, when on his knees, could touch the crossbar. However, it took us around two minutes to figure out that the large man was unable to reach his left. We would hit the net with every shot we took. It began as a joke, but as Bobby and Gerry understood they had signed a jerk, you could see their anger growing. It should come as no surprise that Hyldgaard never played for Hibs.
“Bobby must have concluded, ‘I can’t trust this guy,’ after watching that drill. Regretfully, Grey must be considering his two keepers in the same way.
