Hibs Scrape a Draw as Aberdeen's New Shape Takes Hold
The week started with a jolt at Easter Road. Nick Montgomery’s replacement, the popular and relatively successful David Gray, was told after just six league games that he would not be the man to take Hibs forward. By the time Aberdeen arrived in Leith, the squad were still processing that decision.
Adam Potter, back in his second spell as a coach at the club, spoke of lifting heads and leaning on the positives. Of turning a bruising few days into a line in the sand.
For 45 minutes, none of that landed.
Apart from Callum Wright, Hibs looked anxious and flat. Passes went astray, touches were heavy, and they repeatedly surrendered the ball to an Aberdeen side that thrived on the counter. Every turnover seemed to invite red shirts to surge into space. The home crowd saw the same old film: slow start, slack play, tension rising.
Aberdeen, under Stephen Robinson, knew exactly what they were doing. The manager had dismissed “shape is for pundits” earlier in the season as his side laboured in a 4-3-3. He has since gone back to what worked so well for him at St Mirren: three centre-backs, two strikers, structure with teeth.
The difference is obvious. This Aberdeen team presses with more conviction, looks far more secure without the ball, and carries real menace on the break thanks to the pace up top.
At the heart of it, two new pillars have emerged. Mats Knoester has quickly established himself as the club’s standout defender, reading danger and dealing with it. In front of him, Afeez Aremu covers ground relentlessly, pinching possession and then keeping things simple, feeding the players who can hurt teams.
That platform allowed Aberdeen to strike. Kevin Nisbet, in form and brimming with confidence, produced a moment of real quality: a sharp touch, a swift turn, and a crisp finish. It was his third goal in as many games, a streak that underlines his importance but also highlights a nagging concern – who else will share the scoring burden over the season?
With Nisbet ahead, Aberdeen looked set to manage the game. Hibs, though, finally woke up after the interval.
The second-half version of Hibs bore little resemblance to the tentative side that had trudged through the opening 45. They played with more directness, more aggression, more conviction. Challenges snapped in, runners broke lines, and Aberdeen were pushed back for long spells. The pressure built, wave after wave.
Eventually, it told. A clumsy challenge from Jack Milne undid so much of Aberdeen’s disciplined work and handed Hibs the route back they had been straining to find. For Robinson, that will sting. His side had done the hard part: silencing a restless stadium, striking first, and standing firm for most of the contest. One rash decision cost them two points.
Hibs, for their part, earned their equaliser on the balance of that second-half surge. Yet as the players headed into the international break, the same uncomfortable questions hung in the air.
Why can’t this team stitch together a complete 90 minutes? Why do they so often start games in a daze and only come alive when chasing? And, stripped of sentiment after Gray’s departure, does this squad truly have the quality required?
Those are the problems waiting on the desk of the next Hibs manager as club football pauses for three weeks.
On the other side, Robinson can at least see a structure taking root. After a grim start to the campaign, Aberdeen now look more solid, more coherent, and more dangerous in transition. The foundations he craved are beginning to appear.
The draw will frustrate him. The broader picture will not.
