Dean Gibson, the coach of the Hibernian Women side thrashed 9-0 by Fran Alonso’s rampant Celtic side in the SWPL1 opener at Airdrie, has admitted that his team embarrassed the Easter Road club yesterday.
Hat-tricks for Cal-Jac (Clarissa Larisey and Jacynta), a double from former Hibs star Amy Gallacher and an own goal all added up to a nine goal mauling and it could have been more had Fran Alonso not withdrawn his front two with the job well and truly done.
The Hibs manager was brave enough to face the Hibs TV cameras and tried to put into words his shock and disappointment at the hammering that embarrassed the football club.
“Embarrassed. Pride’s hurt. We let ourselves down. We let the club down. I feel let down. Never really in two and a half years have I felt let down,” Gibson told Hibs TV.
“It’s hard to put into words. there are elements that I understand were difficult today, but I am not going to stand and make excuses. For me you can lose a game but lose it with pride. We’ve embarrassed the club today.
“There has to be a huge reaction. For us, for any Hibs team to lose by that scoreline is not acceptable. Where it was difficult today was 50% of our squad has done a pre-season, not 50% has just come in but through injuries, niggles that kind of thing, we’ve had 10 or 11 players for pre-season so you could see today defensively we were not quite there.
“We were playing against a side that is quick, sharp, professional, full-time. We’re in the environment now but they’ve had a great pre-season and you can see that.
“I would understand losing goals late today because of fatigue, but we lost far too many in the first 25 to 30 minutes and we can’t give teams of Celtic’s quality that chance.
The comments below – “Gibson out” and “9-0 is not Hibs class,” summed on the mood of the Easter Road side’s support.
At least they all got the chance at watching Glasgow Celtic putting on a show…
