A damaging derby day defeat at Easter Road has left Hibs in the bottom six of the Scottish Premiership, five points worse off than at this time last year.
Yet to some fans it could feel as though that side was light years ahead of this one. The midfield trio of John McGinn, Dylan McGeouch and Scott Allan, potentially available to re-sign, would never have been dominated and picked apart easily.
Will they spend the transfer money accumulated by McGinn’s sale to Aston Villa?
After all, Hibs are crying out for investment. Although not necessarily a load of players coming in. Perhaps just one or two game changers, particularly in the final third, that can get them vying for European qualification again. Add that to the quality they’ve already got and there’s no reason they can’t finish comfortably in the top six.
Their Europe-chasing rivals have missed numerous key players at different points throughout this season. Hibs are by no means out of it, having suffered themselves.
There’s a good squad there, a proven manager but there’s an element of creativity and a cutting edge still missing. Here’s hoping for the fans’ sake that it’ll arrive in January.