Jamie McGrath

[wee toon red]

57 minutes ago, Panda said:

He's a very good player, and he'll be a very good player for Hibs, but he struggled in Thelin's system.

Thelin wanted him playing off the left and he never really shined in that role. Hopefully Okkels becomes the player we all hope he will.

The big take away from this is Hibs taking a player from a direct rival and offering him a four-year deal, months after being able to offer Hoilett what we couldn't. Whether it proves to be financially prudent or not remains to be seen, but they're spending the Black Knights money. It's always been Hearts we've been worried about for third place, but Hibs have been quietly sneaking up on us.

I take the point about Hibs but if they're using this money to sign Hoilett and McGrath then I'll sleep easily for a while yet.

[BigAl]

2 hours ago, Panda said:

He's a very good player, and he'll be a very good player for Hibs, but he struggled in Thelin's system.

Thelin wanted him playing off the left and he never really shined in that role. Hopefully Okkels becomes the player we all hope he will.

The big take away from this is Hibs taking a player from a direct rival and offering him a four-year deal, months after being able to offer Hoilett what we couldn't. Whether it proves to be financially prudent or not remains to be seen, but they're spending the Black Knights money. It's always been Hearts we've been worried about for third place, but Hibs have been quietly sneaking up on us.

I prefer to look at it as wouldn't rather than couldn't.

And I believe on this occasion the club made absolutely the right decision, just like the decision last summer not to give Hoilett the two year contract he wanted. 

[Panda]

1 hour ago, wee toon red said:

I take the point about Hibs but if they're using this money to sign Hoilett and McGrath then I'll sleep easily for a while yet.

The point is McGrath and Hoilett are good enough to be in our first team. It's not like they're signing our bench warmers (granted, Hoilett not so much as McGrath, but he's made 17 appearances for Hibs this season and likely would have made similar for us).

Be interesting to see if boyhood Hibs fan Jack Mackenzie is next to make the move to Easter Road...

[RicoS321]

49 minutes ago, Panda said:

The point is McGrath and Hoilett are good enough to be in our first team. It's not like they're signing our bench warmers (granted, Hoilett not so much as McGrath, but he's made 17 appearances for Hibs this season and likely would have made similar for us).

Be interesting to see if boyhood Hibs fan Jack Mackenzie is next to make the move to Easter Road...

Hoilett would have been handy during first half of the season, but he'd have been sub, not a starter. McGrath and Gueye would both have started ahead of him. The intention would always have been to replace him in January too (although I don't think Okkels has reached the level hoilett did yet), so a two year deal would have been far too long. McGrath on a four year deal is different. There's a good argument for just giving him the deal with a view to getting 2-3 good seasons out of him. I can completely understand why the club wouldn't go for it though, especially as they've likely already begun scouting for a replacement. It seems that Hibs aren't outbidding us, just offering more security. 

[Jute]

McGrath is decent player in a winning team but usually disappears once things slip. That maybe down to the tiredness mentioned above but United supporters did say something similar about him disappearing when they were struggling. Better left sided player than Okkels but think his own preferred position was in the centre where Thelin rarely played him. Can’t blame him for punting for 4 year contract if we were only willing to offer a two year one. 

[manc_don]

Agreed, times aren’t always going to be good and he definitely channeled his inner McDonald and turned into Casper when things got hard. Fair play to Hibs offering him the deal he wanted, and getting a key player from a rival. 
 

either way, not overly fussed. 

[Reekie_Red]

15 hours ago, manc_don said:

Fair play to Hibs offering him the deal he wanted, and getting a key player from a rival.

Kinda feels a wee bit like when we nabbed Severin from Hearts cos we could offer him what he wanted ... although it was at a time when Hearts were in financial turmoil. Hibs have just had their debts cleared by Ian Gordon's family,