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2006–07 Hibernian F.C. season

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Hibernian
2006–07 season
ChairmanRod Petrie
ManagerTony Mowbray
John Collins
SPL6th
Scottish CupSemi
CIS CupWinners
Intertoto CupR3
Top goalscorerLeague: Killen, 13
All: Killen, 15
Highest home attendance16747[1]
Lowest home attendance10674[1]
Average home league attendance14488[1] (up 670)

Season 2006–07 was a mixed season for Hibernian; their league form suffered from extended cup runs, and they eventually finished sixth. The reward for their cup form was a first trophy in 16 years, thrashing Kilmarnock 5–1 in the final to lift the CIS Cup. Hibs were knocked out of the Scottish Cup in a semi-final replay by Dunfermline.

The season was also notable for the departure of manager Tony Mowbray, the appointment of John Collins as his replacement and a players' revolt that quickly followed the CIS Cup triumph.

Pre-season

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The competitive football started early in 2006–07 for Hibs due to their qualification for the Intertoto Cup. They were given a bye to the second round, where they comfortably beat their first opponents Dinaburg (Latvia) 8–0 on aggregate. Hibs were eliminated from European competition on the away goals rule by Danish team OB in the third and final Intertoto Cup round.

Hibs only played one friendly match in the 2006 pre-season, a 3–2 win at Easter Road against Premier League side Charlton Athletic.

Results

[edit]
2 July 2006 Intertoto Cup Hibernian 5–0 Dinaburg Easter Road, Edinburgh
Killen 38'
Brown 49'
Sproule 72'
Murphy 75'
Fletcher 85'		 Attendance: 11,731
Referee: Sinisa Zrnic
8 July 2006 Intertoto Cup Dinaburg 0–3 Hibernian Celtnieks Stadium, Daugavpils
Konte 18', 56'
Sproule 75'		 Attendance: 350
Referee: Petteri Kari
15 July 2006 Intertoto Cup Odense 1–0 Hibernian Fionia Park, Odense
Sorensen 33' (pen.) Attendance: 2,341
Referee: Philippe Kalt
22 July 2006 Intertoto Cup Hibernian 2–1 Odense Easter Road, Edinburgh
Jones 55'
Dalglish 80'		 Grahn 51' Attendance: 10,640
Referee: Matteo Trefoloni
25 July 2006 Friendly match Hibernian 3–2 Charlton Athletic Easter Road, Edinburgh
Brown
Brown
Campbell 		Hasselbaink
Walker 		Referee: Calum Murray

League season

[edit]
John Collins is introduced as the new Hibs manager by Hibs chairman Rod Petrie at a news conference on 31 October 2006.

Hibs got off to a slow start in the new league season, taking eleven points from the first nine matches. The highlight of the early part of the league season was a 2–1 win over Rangers on 17 September, but this was then followed with two disappointing losses against Falkirk and St Mirren, both by 1–0.

On 7 September 2006, the management team of Tony Mowbray and Mark Venus signed new 12-month rolling contracts that were due to come into force in July 2007. A month later, however, Mowbray left the club to become manager of West Bromwich Albion. Venus took charge of the team for their next game, an Edinburgh derby, but followed Mowbray to West Bromwich in the following week. John Park and Mark Proctor took charge of two games on a caretaker basis,[2] before John Collins was appointed as manager, with Tommy Craig as his assistant. Mark Proctor became the reserve team coach before taking the manager's job at Livingston,[3] while John Park returned to his "behind the scenes" role before taking a similar post at Celtic.[4]

Before Collins took over as manager, Hibs had gone through a particularly inconsistent start to the league campaign. They were capable of beating Rangers and causing problems for every team in the league, but were also capable of losing to "lesser" sides, including St Mirren and Falkirk. In the period immediately after Collins took over, Hibs' league form improved somewhat, meaning that they clinched a place in the "top six" of the SPL with three games to spare.

After that, however, Hibs didn't win another game until they beat a shadow Celtic side on the final day. During this winless run, reports emerged in the media of a dispute between Collins and many of the Hibs players.[5] The players strongly criticised the manager for constantly chopping and changing the team and formation. Reports claimed that almost all of the first team players went to chairman Rod Petrie hoping to get Collins replaced.[6] The period of unrest was apparently quelled when club captain Rob Jones made a statement on behalf of the squad apologising "to the management, supporters and board of the club for any distress or embarrassment that has been caused".[7]

Results

[edit]
29 July 2006 SPL Hibernian 1–1 Aberdeen Easter Road, Edinburgh
Shiels 31' Crawford 19' Attendance: 15,046
Referee: Stuart Dougal
5 August 2006 SPL Kilmarnock 2–1 Hibernian Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
Nish 48'
Naismith 72'		 Shiels 31' Attendance: 6,299
Referee: Mike McCurry
12 August 2006 SPL Inverness CT 0–0 Hibernian Caledonian Stadium, Inverness
Attendance: 4,623
Referee: Iain Brines
19 August 2006 SPL Hibernian 3–1 Motherwell Easter Road, Edinburgh
Benjelloun 30'
Brown 65'
Jones 82'		 McDonald 90' Attendance: 13,274
Referee: Dougie McDonald
26 August 2006 SPL Celtic 2–1 Hibernian Celtic Park, Glasgow
Zurawski 62'
Vennegoor of Hesselink 66'		 Brown 8' Attendance: 58,078
Referee: Charlie Richmond
10 September 2006 SPL Dundee United 0–3 Hibernian Tannadice Park, Dundee
Killen 52'
Shiels 81'
Sproule 90'		 Attendance: 6,387
Referee: Craig Thomson
17 September 2006 SPL Hibernian 2–1 Rangers Easter Road, Edinburgh
Killen 8', 81' Sebo 65' Attendance: 16,450
Referee: John Underhill
23 September 2006 SPL Hibernian 0–1 Falkirk Easter Road, Edinburgh
Milne 9' Attendance: 14,828
Referee: Alan Freeland
30 September 2006 SPL St Mirren 1–0 Hibernian Love Street, Paisley
van Zanten 39' Attendance: 6,008
Referee: Stuart Dougal
15 October 2006 SPL Hibernian 2–2 Heart of Midlothian Easter Road, Edinburgh
Zemmama 5'
Killen 16'		 Velicka 28', 72' Attendance: 16,623
Referee: Charlie Richmond
23 October 2006 SPL Dunfermline Athletic 0–4 Hibernian East End Park, Dunfermline
Sproule 44'
Killen 62', 90'
Benjelloun 89'		 Attendance: 6,057
Referee: Mike McCurry
30 October 2006 SPL Aberdeen 2–1 Hibernian Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen
Miller 56'
Severin 90'		 Killen 47' Attendance: 11,179
Referee: Kenny Clark
4 November 2006 SPL Hibernian 2–2 Kilmarnock Easter Road, Edinburgh
Stewart 53'
Fletcher 57'		 Martis 48' (o.g.)
Naismith 65'		 Attendance: 13,510
Referee: Charlie Richmond
11 November 2006 SPL Hibernian 2–0 Inverness CT Easter Road, Edinburgh
Fletcher 65'
Killen 83' (pen.)		 Attendance: 12,868
Referee: John Underhill
18 November 2006 SPL Motherwell 1–6 Hibernian Fir Park, Motherwell
McGarry 83' Brown 10'
Killen 25'
Sproule 29', 40'
Jones 73'
Shiels 90'		 Attendance: 6,190
Referee: Iain Brines
26 November 2006 SPL Hibernian 2–2 Celtic Easter Road, Edinburgh
Sproule 12'
Thomson 63'		 Sno 70'
McGeady 74'		 Attendance: 16,747
Referee: Mike McCurry
2 December 2006 SPL Hibernian 2–1 Dundee United Easter Road, Edinburgh
Jones 45'
Fletcher 73'		 Martis 24' (o.g.) Attendance: 14,032
Referee: Steve Conroy
9 December 2006 SPL Rangers 3–0 Hibernian Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow
Prso 16'
Sionko 32'
Ferguson 36'		 Attendance: 49,708
Referee: Iain Brines
16 December 2006 SPL Falkirk 2–1 Hibernian Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk
Martis 14' (o.g.)
Craig 21'		 Fletcher 56' Attendance: 6,142
Referee: Charlie Richmond
23 December 2006 SPL Hibernian 5–1 St Mirren Easter Road, Edinburgh
Beuzelin 21'
Killen 32'
Shiels 58'
Zemmama 65'
Benjelloun 74'		 Sutton 41' Attendance: 13,053
Referee: Craig Thomson
26 December 2006 SPL Heart of Midlothian 3–2 Hibernian Tynecastle, Edinburgh
Hartley 2'
Jankauskas 49'
Mikoliunas 70'		 Killen 55'
Shiels 61' (pen.)		 Attendance: 17,369
Referee: Mike McCurry
30 December 2006 SPL Hibernian 2–0 Dunfermline Athletic Easter Road, Edinburgh
Killen 63', 72' (pen.) Attendance: 14,061
Referee: Iain Brines
2 January 2007 SPL Hibernian 0–0 Aberdeen Easter Road, Edinburgh
Attendance: 16,278
Referee: Brian Winter
15 January 2007 SPL Kilmarnock 0–2 Hibernian Rugby Park, Kilmarnock
Sproule 51'
Fletcher 87'		 Attendance: 4,963
Referee: Charlie Richmond
21 January 2007 SPL Inverness CT 3–0 Hibernian Caledonian Stadium, Inverness
Dargo 20'
McBain 30'
Wilson 42'		 Attendance: 4,577
Referee: William Collum
27 January 2007 SPL Hibernian 2–0 Motherwell Easter Road, Edinburgh
Brown 66'
Benjelloun 90'		 Attendance: 14,280
Referee: Mike McCurry
10 February 2007 SPL Celtic 1–0 Hibernian Celtic Park, Glasgow
Beattie 54' Attendance: 59,659
Referee: Stuart Dougal
18 February 2007 SPL Dundee United 0–0 Hibernian Tannadice Park, Dundee
Attendance: 6,453
Referee: Kenny Clark
4 March 2007 SPL Hibernian 0–2 Rangers Easter Road, Edinburgh
Adam 4', 60' Attendance: 16,265
Referee: Charlie Richmond
10 March 2007 SPL Hibernian 2–0 Falkirk Easter Road, Edinburgh
Benjelloun 52', 74' Attendance: 12,572
Referee: Craig Thomson
1 April 2007 SPL Hibernian 0–1 Heart of Midlothian Easter Road, Edinburgh
Zaliukas 81' Attendance: 15,953
Referee: Kenny Clark
4 April 2007 SPL St Mirren 1–1 Hibernian Love Street, Paisley
Sutton 89' Jones 20' Attendance: 4,031
Referee: Iain Brines
7 April 2007 SPL Dunfermline Athletic 1–0 Hibernian East End Park, Dunfermline
McGuire 84' Attendance: 6,001
Referee: Craig Mackay
21 April 2007 SPL Aberdeen 2–2 Hibernian Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen
Anderson 25'
Foster 80'		 Gray 19'
Shiels 44'		 Attendance: 9,753
Referee: Stuart Dougal
28 April 2007 SPL Hibernian 3–3 Rangers Easter Road, Edinburgh
Fletcher 20'
McCann 45'
Whittaker 62'		 Adam 24', 78'
Hutton 54'		 Attendance: 16,747
Referee: Charlie Richmond
5 May 2007 SPL Hibernian 0–1 Kilmarnock Easter Road, Edinburgh
Nish 49' Attendance: 10,674
Referee: David Somers
12 May 2007 SPL Heart of Midlothian 2–0 Hibernian Tynecastle, Edinburgh
Pospisil 1'
Driver 23'		 Attendance: 17,349
Referee: Stuart Dougal
20 May 2007 SPL Hibernian 2–1 Celtic Easter Road, Edinburgh
Brown 60'
Sproule 90'		 Riordan 56' Attendance: 13,885
Referee: Iain Brines

Final table

[edit]
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[a]
4 Heart of Midlothian 38 17 10 11 47 35 +12 61
5 Kilmarnock 38 16 7 15 47 54 −7 55
6 Hibernian 38 13 10 15 56 46 +10 49
7 Falkirk 38 15 5 18 49 47 +2 50
8 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 38 11 13 14 42 48 −6 46
Source: Scottish Professional Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
Notes:
  1. ^ Teams played each other three times (33 matches), before the league split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last five matches.

Scottish League Cup

[edit]
See also: 2007 Scottish League Cup Final
The CIS Cup is paraded.
18 March 2007

Hibs advanced to the League Cup quarter finals under Tony Mowbray due to two straightforward wins over lower division opposition (4–0 v Peterhead and 6–0 v Gretna). Following John Collins' appointment as manager, the team defeated Hearts 1–0 in the quarter-final and St Johnstone 3–1 after extra time in the semi-final at Tynecastle.

On 18 March 2007, Hibs beat Kilmarnock 5–1 at Hampden Park to win the League Cup for the third time in their history. This was the first major trophy that Hibs had won in 16 years; the previous trophy win being the 1991–92 League Cup competition.

Results

[edit]
22 August 2006 Scottish League Cup Hibernian 4–0 Peterhead Easter Road, Edinburgh
Good 7' (o.g.)
Benjelloun 32'
Brown 52'
McCluskey 66' (pen.)		 Attendance: 5,500
Referee: Chris Boyle
20 September 2006 Scottish League Cup Hibernian 6–0 Gretna Easter Road, Edinburgh
Fletcher 11'
Brown 18'
Jones 20'
Shiels 24', 63'
Benjelloun 72'		 Attendance: 11,075
Referee: Craig Thomson
8 November 2006 Scottish League Cup Hibernian 1–0 Heart of Midlothian Easter Road, Edinburgh
Jones 32' Attendance: 15,825
Referee: Calum Murray
31 January 2007 Scottish League Cup St Johnstone 1–3 (a.e.t.) Hibernian Tynecastle, Edinburgh
Scotland 76' Fletcher 3'
Murphy 92'
Benjelloun 120'		 Attendance: 16,112
Referee: Craig Thomson
18 March 2007 Scottish League Cup Kilmarnock 1–5 Hibernian Hampden Park, Glasgow
Greer 77' Jones 28'
Benjelloun 59', 85'
Fletcher 66', 87'		 Attendance: 52,000
Referee: Dougie McDonald

Scottish Cup

[edit]
Hibs faced Queen of the South in the 2007 Scottish Cup quarter-final.

Hibs started their Scottish Cup campaign with a difficult tie away to Aberdeen, where they drew 2–2. In the replay, Hibs produced one of their best performances of the season to win 4–1 despite conceding the first goal of the game.

In the next round Hibs comfortably beat Gretna, who they had already hammered in the Scottish League Cup, by 3–1. Hibs were then drawn away to Queen of the South, where they won 2–1 thanks to a free kick by David Murphy.

The semi-final with Dunfermline Athletic on 15 April was overshadowed by the player revolt which had immediately preceded it. The match was drawn 0–0 and the tie was replayed on 24 April. Hibs lost the replay 1–0 to a late Panenka penalty by Jim McIntyre.

Results

[edit]
10 January 2007 Scottish Cup Aberdeen 2–2 Hibernian Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen
Brewster 58'
Nicholson 89'		 Sproule 43'
Killen 73'		 Attendance: 7,905
Referee: Craig Thomson
18 January 2007 Scottish Cup Hibernian 4–1 Aberdeen Easter Road, Edinburgh
Fletcher 13'
Stewart 45'
Benjelloun 47', 56'		 Nicholson 10' Attendance: 11,375
Referee: Craig Thomson
3 February 2007 Scottish Cup Hibernian 3–1 Gretna Easter Road, Edinburgh
Jones 28'
Fleming 54' (o.g.)
Benjelloun 59'		 Berkeley 80' Attendance: 14,075
Referee: Iain Brines
24 February 2007 Scottish Cup Queen of the South 1–2 Hibernian Palmerston Park, Dumfries
O'Neill 48' Murphy 45'
Sowunmi 51'		 Attendance: 6,400
Referee: Stuart Dougal
15 April 2007 Scottish Cup Hibernian 0–0 Dunfermline Athletic Hampden Park, Glasgow
Attendance: 25,336
Referee: Craig Thomson
24 April 2007 Scottish Cup Dunfermline Athletic 1–0 Hibernian Hampden Park, Glasgow
McIntyre 88' (pen.) Attendance: 8,536
Referee: Craig Thomson

Transfers

[edit]
Hibernian home kit (2006–07)
Hibernian away kit (2006–07)

Before the season started, Tony Mowbray made some significant changes to the Hibs squad. He brought in two new central defenders (Rob Jones and Shelton Martis) to replace the departing Gary Smith and Gary Caldwell. Derek Riordan had also left the club, but Merouane Zemmama was brought in to provide more creativity.

Top goalscorer Chris Killen had a prolific season for the Hibees, but it was cut short by an Achilles injury suffered while playing Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup. With Killen out for the rest of the season, John Collins signed Thomas Sowunmi, a 28-year-old Hungarian international striker, on a six-month contract as cover. Former Hibs striker Tam McManus, released by Falkirk in the January transfer window, was offered a trial period but did not earn a full contract and later signed for Dunfermline Athletic.

The most high-profile transfer activity during the season involved Kevin Thomson and Scott Brown. Speculation persisted that both would be sold during the January transfer window, despite Collins' insistence otherwise. Thomson eventually departed to Rangers, for a reported fee of £2M, on the transfer window's final day. Brown was eventually sold to Celtic at the end of the season for a record transfer fee between Scottish clubs of £4.4 million.

Young players

[edit]

Some younger players in the Hibs squad developed significantly during the season, particularly Abdessalam Benjelloun. 'Benji' gained a reputation as a 'supersub', scoring important goals in the Scottish Cup ties against Aberdeen and Gretna, the CIS Cup Semi Final against St Johnstone, and two goals in the CIS Cup Final victory. Steven Fletcher also scored two goals in the CIS Cup Final and one goal in the CIS Cup Semi Final.

Several youngsters were given their first opportunities in the Hibs first team by John Collins. These included 20-year-old goalkeeper Andrew McNeil, 19-year-old right back Kevin McCann and 18-year-old left back / midfielder Lewis Stevenson. Midfielder Sean Lynch made his debut aged 20 against Gretna and then followed that up by keeping his place in the starting line up against Celtic at Parkhead.[8]

Ross Campbell, Dermot McCaffrey, Ross Chisholm and Damon Gray (who scored on his league debut at Pittodrie) also featured. Some of these opportunities were because Collins has had to balance a relatively small squad with a heavy workload due to the two extended cup runs, but most of the young players performed creditably.

Player stats

[edit]

During the 2007–08 season, Hibs used 32 different players in competitive games. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.[9]

No. Pos Nat Player Total SPL Scottish Cup League Cup Intertoto Cup
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK England ENG Simon Brown 10 0 4 0 2 0 0 0 4 0
GK Poland POL Zibi Malkowski 22 0 19 0 0 0 3 0 0 0
GK Scotland SCO Andrew McNeil 22 0 15 0 5 0 2 0 0 0
DF England ENG Chris Hogg 24 0 15 0 4 0 1 0 4 0
DF England ENG Rob Jones 49 9 34 4 6 1 5 3 4 1
DF Switzerland SUI Oumar Kondé 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DF Netherlands Antilles ANT Shelton Martis 34 0 27 0 2 0 5 0 0 0
DF Northern Ireland NIR Dermot McCaffrey 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DF Scotland SCO Kevin McCann 12 1 8 1 2 0 2 0 0 0
DF England ENG David Murphy 47 3 33 0 5 1 5 1 4 1
DF Scotland SCO Jay Shields 6 0 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
DF Scotland SCO Steven Whittaker 49 1 35 1 6 0 4 0 4 0
MF France FRA Guillaume Beuzelin 34 1 25 1 6 0 3 0 0 0
MF Scotland SCO Scott Brown 42 8 30 5 5 0 5 2 2 1
MF Scotland SCO Ross Chisholm 7 0 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
MF Scotland SCO Stephen Glass 13 0 10 0 0 0 1 0 2 0
MF Scotland SCO Sean Lynch 5 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
MF Scotland SCO Jamie McCluskey 8 1 5 0 0 0 2 1 1 0
MF Northern Ireland NIR Dean Shiels 33 9 23 7 4 0 3 2 3 0
MF Northern Ireland NIR Ivan Sproule 46 10 32 7 6 1 4 0 4 2
MF Scotland SCO Lewis Stevenson 24 0 16 0 6 0 2 0 0 0
MF Scotland SCO Michael Stewart 39 2 29 1 3 1 3 0 4 0
MF Scotland SCO Kevin Thomson 31 1 23 1 1 0 3 0 4 0
MF Morocco MAR Merouane Zemmama 26 2 23 2 0 0 3 0 0 0
FW Morocco MAR Abdessalam Benjelloun 45 14 33 6 6 3 5 5 1 0
FW Scotland SCO Ross Campbell 4 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
FW Scotland SCO Paul Dalglish 5 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 1
FW Scotland SCO Steven Fletcher 44 12 31 6 5 1 5 4 3 1
FW England ENG Damon Gray 5 1 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 0
FW New Zealand NZL Chris Killen 24 15 18 13 1 1 2 0 3 1
FW Mali MLI Amadou Konte 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
FW Hungary HUN Thomas Sowunmi 6 1 5 0 1 1 0 0 0 0

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "Average Home League Game Attendances". fitbastats.com. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  2. ^ Park wants to stay at Hibernian, BBC Sport, 23 October 2006.
  3. ^ Proctor takes over at Livingston, BBC Sport, 22 May 2007.
  4. ^ Hibs lose youth chief to Celtic, BBC Sport, 23 January 2007.
  5. ^ "Hibs Revolt". Daily Record. Trinity Mirror. 9 April 2007. Archived from the original on 25 April 2007. Retrieved 5 June 2007.
  6. ^ "Col: I won't walk away". Daily Record. Trinity Mirror. 12 April 2007. Retrieved 5 June 2007.
  7. ^ "Hibs players apologise to Collins". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 April 2007. Archived from the original on 25 May 2007. Retrieved 5 June 2007.
  8. ^ "Sean Lynch - U20 Squad". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  9. ^ "Hibernian 2006–07 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 24 November 2008.
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