David Gray slammed Hibs “unprofessional” defending and accused red card sinner Nectar Triantis of a lack of discipline as his side slipped to 10th after defeat at home to Motherwell.
Gray ’s men were pushing for a winner at 1-1 when Triantis needlessly lunged in on Tony Watt for a second yellow – having been booked in the first half for a dive. The defeat means Hibs – who fought back from losing the first goal to level through Junior Hoilett – have tasted victory just once in seven league games this season. The exasperated boss admitted they need to start winning games. And he wasn’t hiding his frustration towards on-loan Sunderland midfielder Triantis.
He said: “I think the reaction for the boys once they lose the goal was good to get back into the game. Junior takes his goal well. And then when you’re on a yellow card, you can’t go off the ground again and give the referee a decision to make. You can’t do what he does, being on a yellow card. Regardless of what you get for the first one, whether he’s looking for it, whether it’s contact, that’s all debatable.
“The issue is, when you’re on a yellow card, you can’t do what you do in the second half. You can’t leave the ground, you can’t jump in, especially in that situation in the pitch. He wasn’t going anywhere.
“From that moment, it’s definitely cost us. I understand that if you’re the last man and you’re trying your best to stop a clear, obvious goal scoring opportunity.
“But in that situation, it’s just a lack of discipline and out of character for him, to be honest. But, at the same time, he needs to learn from that and we certainly can’t accept that.”
Hibs bossed large parts of the game but missed big opportunities with Mykola Kuharevich and Chris Cadden the chief culprits. But it was the manner of the two goals conceded from set pieces which enraged Gray most. The manager had warned ahead of the game about the “mayhem” of Kofi Balmer’s long throws.
But Well’s winner came from the Englishman’s launch to the back post while Apostolos Stamatelopoulos’ opener arrived when Hibs switched off at a free kick. Gray said: “The performance is almost irrelevant when you lose the game. It’s about results. We know it’s about results. We created numerous chances.
“You can’t create as many chances and dominate as much as we did and not take the chances. Nearly every shot they had in the second half, I think it was five, four or five in the second half, all came as a result of the set-piece.
“Which in some situations is unprofessional if it’s just not doing your job. Whether it be not tracking your man or not showing that desire to make sure your opponent doesn’t get in front of you. By switching off in these moments, these are big moments in the game. We knew that going into the game.
“You certainly don’t give up on anybody. Not at all. It’s a collective. We win or we lose all together. The reality situation is that we’ve not got enough points or good enough results for the level that we’re at at the moment.
We know where we need to improve. Now we’ve got two weeks in this international break to think about all the areas in which we do need to improve and work as hard as we can to make sure we get that right. That’s not just one person, that’s everybody altogether.
“It’s clear the results need to improve. That’s the ultimate that comes out of today, regardless of performance and individuals. It’s all about the results in the end.
“I can talk about individuals and performances and areas where we need to improve. We need to start winning games of football quickly. Where this club needs to be and where we believe we should be, we’ve not got enough points on the board, that’s for sure.”