Intertoto Cup for Hibs
It is the Intertoto Cup for Hibs after Hearts held onto second place in the SPL. Hearts claiming the second Champions League place means that Gretna will qualify for the UEFA cup through reaching the Scottish Cup final. Rangers get the other UEFA cup place by finishing 3rd in the SPL.
After beating Hearts 2-1 Hibs then lost their last three games, Aberdeen 4-0, Rangers 2-1 and Kilmarnock 3-1. Despite these results Hibs still managed to finish fourth, a point ahead of Kilmarnock and two points ahead of Aberdeen. Considering Hibs were around 10 points clear of these teams after Christmas we were made to sweat as finishing any lower in the league after last years 3rd place would have been disappointing. Hibs have suffered a horrendous injury list robbing us of a complete midfield plus back up, this can be used as an excuse for the last third of the season but does not account for the slip ups before Christmas. Next season Hibs will have to be stronger at the back where a no-nonsense centre half would be a welcome addition. Some of the new players who have only started to feature in the team in the last few games look as if they will be good replacements for our departing players.
Hibs opponents in the Intertoto cup will be either from the Faroe Islands or Latvia, these games are scheduled for July 1st and 8th.
The Round Ball in Ankara! Dedicated to football lovers in Ankara (Except for those who follow Osmanlispor)
Hibee Kanka, how do you know who your opponents for the Intertoto Cup will be? Isn't it all a bit early?
ReplyDeleteWhat is more worrying is the date of the games. July!!! Whatever happened to the cricket season??
ReplyDeleteUEFA have a very complex system for country/team co-efficients that means their seeding of teams and leagues breaks different teams into different qualifying rounds. Hibs are in the second round of the Intertoto and scheduled to play the winners on Latvias representative and the Faroes representative. Should Hibs win this match we even have a pretty good idea who will be waiting for us.
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the qualifying groups for the Champions League it shows how hard it is for teams trying to establish themselves in Europe. They are almost gaurenteed a big team to play before the group stages. Countries such as Spain, Italy, England etc getting four entries just makes a mockery of the mname Champions League. Check out the link.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/index.html
Dear Gulay,
ReplyDeleteAll cricket in England/Scotland/Wales this summer is merely a warm-up for the real battle in eight months time.
Greetings Kankas. I couldn't access the link which you gave Hibbie Kanka. However, the bottom line on this subject is that UEFA changed the rules of the Inter Toto this season. Probably with the World Cup in mind I would guess. It will not be an elongated knock-out competition as in the past, but a more simplified competition.
ReplyDeleteSo, if (or should I say WHEN) Hibs knock out the team from either Faroe or Latvia then they will have another team to play, and if they win that one then they will qualify for the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Cup. Clear ??!!
By the way, what is all this talk about cricket on a footie blog ? Also, and more importantly, what is cricket ???
All the best from Eski Kanka Jim
GLORY TO THE GREAT HIBEES !!
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