Hibernian Opposition Report

Marink Reedijk’s Hibs: his four league games, with WhoScored event data for all four. David Gray’s six games and the caretaker’s one are shown only for contrast.

1. 01Scouting brief

   The three findings that matter most, then the essentials. Every point is backed up further down the page.

   • 1. More of the ball, less threat. Under Marink Reedijk, Hibs have 55.5% of the ball against 49.7% under David Gray, but 24 touches a game in the opposition box against 33, and 0.71 open-play xG a game against 1.10 (fast breaks included). The pattern holds with the Rangers and Celtic games left out. Four and six games against different opponents: a pattern, not proof that one causes the other.
   • 2. Set pieces carry their attack. 40% of their xG under Reedijk has come from set pieces (1.92 of 4.75), and Kerr and Ivezic are the aerial targets. Their only goal from a corner in these games was Ivezic's header at St Mirren.
   • 3. Their shots get blocked. 25 of their 52 shots under Reedijk were blocked (48%). Across the 40 league games we hold event data for, the average is 32%. It was nearly as high in the three earlier games we hold (43%), so this looks like a Hibs habit rather than a Reedijk one.
   • Form: Bottom of the league on eight points from 11 games, with a game in hand. One point from Reedijk's four league games, but he won his first match in charge on Sunday: Hearts 1-2 Hibs in the League Cup semi-final.
   • Their record is worse than their chances: 11 goals from 16.6 xG this season and 17 conceded from 17.2. Two of the six goals conceded under Reedijk were own goals.
   • Away from home: Seven of their eight points have come on the road (two wins, a draw, two defeats), and one point from six home games.

2. 02What Aberdeen need to know

   Our reading of the data for Saturday. Labelled where it's a judgement rather than a number.

   Where Hibs are strong

   • Set pieces: 40% of their xG under Reedijk. Jason Kerr is the target: all three of his shots were headers from set pieces. Ivezic (191 cm) scored from a corner at St Mirren.
   • The right side: Felix Passlack is their main creator: six open-play chance-creating passes, five of them from the right, which is Aberdeen's left.
   • Confidence: They have just beaten Hearts at Hampden, and seven of their eight league points have come away from home.
   • Due a turn: 11 goals from 16.6 xG over the season. If the finishing catches up, it could start on Saturday.

   Where Hibs can be got at

   • The box: They have the ball but don't get into the box (24 touches a game) and get almost half their shots blocked. Our reading: if Aberdeen keep the middle of their own box crowded, Hibs have struggled to find a way through.
   • The ball in their own half: They build short and lose the ball in their own half more often than any side in our sample: 55 possessions a game, against an average of 47. Those losses haven't been more dangerous than average, though (4.6% led to a shot, against 4.7%). The exception was Falkirk, who had seven shots that way. A high press can force errors, but the numbers don't show a defence that collapses.
   • Errors: Five in four games, 1.25 a game against 0.76 across the games we hold. Only five events, though.
   • Crosses rarely land: Last in the league for cross accuracy (18.1%, Sportmonks, season).
   • Results: One point in four league games, the worst of the three managers this season.

   Key matchups

   • Aberdeen's left v Passlack: He creates and takes the throw-ins on the right (58 in four games). Our reading: the space behind him is worth watching when he gets forward.
   • Aberdeen's press v Hibs' build-up: Their centre-backs play 9% of their passes long and Sallinger 57%. Aberdeen are third in the league for recoveries (Sportmonks).
   • Aberdeen's set pieces v Hibs' defending: Aberdeen create 0.45 set-piece xG a game, fifth in the league. Hibs conceded no goals from corners in Reedijk's four league games, but the attacking side won the first contact on eight of 20. In the cup semi, Hearts scored a fourth-minute header from a Calvin Miller corner. Check the film for who lost the header. One goal is not a pattern.
   • Getting into the box: Last time, Aberdeen had eight touches in the Hibs box, their lowest this season. That was against Potter's back three, though, and Reedijk's back four is a different test.
   • What's at stake: On the predictor (2 November), a win takes Aberdeen's top-six chance from 26% to 34%, and a defeat cuts it to 18%.

3. 03The Reedijk effect

   FotMob, league games, per game: Gray six, Potter one (the Aberdeen game), Reedijk four. Only Reedijk's games describe the side Aberdeen face on Saturday.

   • A back four: Reedijk has started in a 4-2-3-1 in all four league games, after Gray used back threes in five of his six.
   • More of the ball: 55.5% possession under Reedijk, against 49.7% under Gray. Aberdeen average 46.9%.
   • Less in the box: 24 box touches a game, against 33. Without the Rangers (Gray) and Celtic (Reedijk) games: 27.7 against 35.8.
   • Less from open play: 0.71 xG a game from open play and fast breaks, against 1.10. Non-penalty xG is 1.18 against 1.48: Gray's figure includes two penalties.
   • Fewer conceded too: 1.41 xG against a game, from 1.80.
   • Fewer corners: 4.0 a game, from 7.7.
   • Points: Gray six from six games, John-Paul Potter one from one, Reedijk one from four.

   FotMob. Gray averaged 33 a game over his six, Reedijk 24. Highlighted: Celtic (13), the lowest.

   Why the attack might be blunter

   Possible explanations, with the evidence for each. None is proven: four games against different opponents.

   • Deeper possession: FotMob has 31.7% of their passes in the opposition half under Reedijk, against 40.3% under Gray. Counting every pass from the event data, the drop is smaller (about 40% against 43% in the two Gray games we hold), so the direction is clear but not the size.
   • Short build-up: 131.8 centre-back passes a game, only 9% long. The ball spends a long time at the back.
   • Little through the middle: 22 of their 28 open-play chance-creating passes were along the ground, six were crosses and none were through balls.
   • Crowded boxes: Almost half their shots are blocked, and only 28% of their shots come from outside the box (a normal share across the seven games we hold), so most of the blocks are inside the area.
   • Supply to Elding: He has two goals from 0.96 xG and also four chance-creating passes of his own. Whether the midfield gets the ball to him in the box often enough, and where he receives it, needs video.

   The cup semi: a change, or a one-off?

   • Different from the league: Against Hearts, Hibs had only 40% of the ball (55.5% in the league), nine shots to eight and six on target to three (FotMob). Unlike their league games, they won without dominating the ball.
   • Joe Newell: Two league starts under Reedijk (169 minutes). In those, he received the ball most from Mulligan (10) and Chaiwa (7) and passed most to Passlack, Kerr and Mayor. We have no event data for the semi, so his role at Hampden, and how he linked with Chaiwa, Mulligan and Elding, needs video.
   • Our reading: One cup derby, in a high-emotion game, isn't evidence that the league patterns have changed. Watch whether Reedijk keeps the lower-possession approach at Pittodrie.

   PER GAME	GRAY	POTTER (CARETAKER)	REEDIJK
   League games	6	1 (Aberdeen)	4
   Points (total)	6	1	1
   xG for	1.75	1.40	1.19
   xG against	1.80	0.70	1.41
   Possession %	49.7	52.0	55.5
   Box touches	33.0	31.0	24.0
   % of passes in opp. half (FotMob)	40.3	44.8	31.7
   Open-play xG (regular play)	0.89	0.28	0.60
   Fast-break xG	0.21	0.00	0.10
   Non-penalty xG	1.48	0.61	1.18
   Set-piece xG	0.39	0.34	0.48
   Corners	7.7	6.0	4.0

   FotMob, league games only. xG is the sum of FotMob’s shot list; Gray’s games include two penalties and Potter’s one. Potter’s one game was the 1-1 with Aberdeen on 19 September. Four Reedijk games against different opponents is a small sample: these are differences, not causes.

4. FULL SCOUTING ANALYSIS

   The evidence behind the brief: every section, chart and table.

5. 04The coach: Marink Reedijk

   Background from Hibernian FC, Hibs Observer, Sporza, Voetbal International, Flashscore and RSSSF. Sources give different birth dates, so we leave his age out.

   • Appointed: 24 September 2026, after David Gray was sacked in mid-September. His assistant is Rogier Molhoek, a former AZ Alkmaar midfielder who was coaching in NAC Breda's academy (Hibs Observer).
   • Dutch, and a career coach: Youth teams at Ajax, academy work at West Bromwich Albion, and assistant roles at Roeselare, West Brom and Vitesse (Sporza, June 2024; Hibernian FC).
   • First head-coach job: RSCA Futures, Anderlecht's second team in Belgium's second tier, in 2023-24.
   • Beveren, first season (2024-25): Fourth in the Challenger Pro League with 51 points (14 wins, nine draws, five defeats), then out of the promotion play-offs in the quarter-finals.
   • Beveren, second season (2025-26): Champions without losing a league game: 28 wins and four draws from 32, 74 goals scored and 23 conceded, 88 points and 21 clear of Kortrijk (RSSSF). Promotion was sealed in February with eight rounds left, the earliest in the league's history (Flashscore). He left in June, saying it was "time for something new" (Voetbal International, translated).
   • What he says he wants: "I want us to be an assertive team, brave, intense and committed" (on his appointment). Malky Mackay, for Hibs: "His teams are proactive, high-energy and dynamic" (Hibs Observer, September 2026).
   • What the data shows so far: More of the ball than under Gray (55.5% against 49.7%), but a PPDA of 16.6, a little less pressing than Aberdeen (15.4), and fewer touches in the box (see The Reedijk effect). Four games, and Beveren's numbers come from Belgium's second tier, so neither tells us much yet about how his Hibs will settle.

   CAREER

   1. Before 2023
      Ajax, West Brom, Roeselare, Vitesse
      Youth and academy coach, then assistant
   2. 2023-24
      RSCA Futures
      Head coach · Anderlecht's second team, Belgian second tier
   3. 2024-26
      SK Beveren
      Head coach · promoted as unbeaten champions
   4. Sep 2026
      Hibernian
      Head coach · one league point from four, then a cup final

   LEAGUE RECORD AS A HEAD COACH · WON · DRAWN · LOST

   Beveren 2024-254th, play-off quarter-final · 51 pts

   14

   9

   5

   Beveren 2025-26Champions, 21 points clear · 88 pts

   28

   4

   Hibernian 2026-27Four league games · 1 pts

   1

   3

   Belgian Challenger Pro League records from Wikipedia (2024-25) and RSSSF (2025-26); Hibernian from FotMob, league games only. Second-tier Belgian football and four Premiership games: the bars show his record, not how good his Hibs side is.

6. 05What Reedijk has said

   Published interviews, quoted with the outlet and date. This is the manager's account, kept apart from the event data.

   • On this weekend: Asked whether Europe is still realistic: "I don't know, because I cannot see the future. It is for me this Saturday, Aberdeen. And then we look from Aberdeen onwards to the next game" (Edinburgh Evening News, 4 November 2026).
   • On what he wants every week: "Whether your win or if you lose, this needs to be our second nature, that this intensity stays on the pitch." And: "for me, it's now about consistency in performance - and then I believe that also the consistency in result will come" (Edinburgh Evening News, 4 November 2026).
   • On how they play, before the semi-final: "I think we're compact together defensively, and we're defending on the front foot. Against both Celtic and St Mirren, we've recovered the ball high up the pitch a few times. On the ball, we have clear patterns" (pre-match press conference, via Deadline News, 31 October 2026).
   • On dictating games: "We just need to focus on our way of playing and make small adaptations to ensure we dictate the game" (Deadline News, 31 October 2026).
   • After Hampden: "If you look at how we dominated the game and how we dominated Hearts." And: "if you have these performances you are a team who can compete with anyone and dominate teams and then the results will come" (BBC Sport, 1 November 2026).
   • On the second half at Hampden: "In the second-half, it was about mentality and taking the game over the line. For me, that's one of the big areas where we've improved" (Hibs TV, via Deadline News, 2 November 2026).
   • On Martin Boyle: "If Martin Boyle is fit and hungry, especially in these kinds of matches, he can do something special and you saw it today" (BBC Sport, 1 November 2026).

7. 06Results and underlying form

   FotMob xG for every league game, oldest first. The last four are Reedijk's games, with WhoScored event data.

   • Two defeats the xG didn't deserve: 1.29 to 0.68 against Falkirk and 1.23 each against Celtic, both lost 1-2.
   • Out-created in the other two: Dundee United (0.83 to 1.84, lost 1-0) and St Mirren (1.40 to 1.90, drew 1-1).
   • Shooting: 2.5 shots on target a game under Reedijk, against 4.8 under Gray. Only one on target at St Mirren.
   • Away form: 1.57 xG for and 1.86 against a game away from home this season. That's more open than their home games (1.46 and 1.31).
   • Aberdeen for comparison: 1.37 xG for and 1.56 against a game over their 11 league games.

   ■ Hibernian xG   ■ xG against

8. 07Shape and selection

   • Settled shape: A 4-2-3-1 from kick-off in all four league games (WhoScored) and in the semi-final.
   • Seven ever-presents: Raphael Sallinger, Felix Passlack, Marko Ivezic, Jason Kerr, Josh Mulligan, Miguel Chaiwa and Owen Elding started all four.
   • Who rotates: Adam Mayor (three starts), Thibault Klidje (three), Joe Newell and Jamie McGrath (two each), with Boyle, Cadden, Wright, Abdulai, Iredale and Suto starting one each.
   • Last league XI (St Mirren away, 28 October): Sallinger; Passlack, Ivezic, Kerr, Mayor; Chaiwa, Newell; McGrath, Mulligan, Cadden; Elding.
   • In-game changes: 4-1-4-1 from the 16th minute at St Mirren, and 4-1-3-2 from the 78th against Falkirk.
   • Team news: Grant Hanley and Adam Mayor are both out, Reedijk said at Friday's pre-match press conference: "Grant Hanley was operated on his thumb," and Mayor "had some hamstring issues" in training this week (Hibs Observer, 6 November). Jordan Obita (calf) and Jacob Devaney aren't expected back until after the international break. Nathan Lowe misses the trip with a back problem ("it will take a few more weeks for sure") and Callum Wright, who came off the bench at Hampden, will be in the squad, Reedijk told the Edinburgh Evening News this week. Kanayo Megwa is still out and Rocky Bushiri is back in limited individual training (Hibs Observer). Boyle ("is back") and Chaiwa ("fine after his knock") were cleared before the semi-final (Deadline News, 31 October). Check the line-up before kick-off.
   • Aberdeen team news: Mats Knoester (tendon) and Emmanuel Gyamfi (thigh) are out for at least 10 weeks, and Ayoub Mouloua misses out with illness, Stephen Robinson said at Friday's press conference (afc.co.uk and BBC Sport, 6 November). Dan Happe and Toyosi Olusanya are available again, and Brad Lyons trained after a knock: "He'll train today, so he'll be fine for tomorrow." Chris Cadden isn't back yet. On the approach: "We have to try and take the game to them, and we'll pick as positive a team as we possibly can." Check the line-up before kick-off.

   at Dundee UtdL 0-1

   v FalkirkL 1-2

   v CelticL 1-2

   at St MirrenD 1-1

   Starting XI in each of Reedijk's four league games, oldest first, in WhoScored's position slots (4-2-3-1 at kick-off every time). Within a position, left to right follows where the players actually played. Attacking upwards.

9. 08In possession

   WhoScored events, Reedijk's four league games, unless marked. Sportmonks ranks cover the whole season, all three managers.

   • Where the xG comes from: Open play 2.42 (51%), set pieces 1.92 (40%), fast breaks 0.41 (9%). No penalties.
   • Built on the ground: 22 of their 28 open-play chance-creating passes were ground passes, 11 of them from the left. Six were crosses and none were through balls.
   • Crossing a lot, landing few: Third in the league for crosses a game (24.6) and last for cross accuracy (18.1%, league average 22.8%) (Sportmonks, season).
   • Short at the back: Their centre-backs play 9% of their passes long. Sallinger goes long with 57% of his.
   • The main creator: Passlack has six open-play chance-creating passes, five from the right. Elding has four.
   • Blocked: 25 of their 52 shots were blocked, 10 were on target and 17 missed or hit the post. Eight of the 52 were headers.

   FotMob xG: 4.75 in total. Highlighted: set pieces, 40%.

   Successful open-play passes WhoScored flags as a key pass or assist.

10. 09Where their attacks come from

    WhoScored events, open play only, Reedijk's four league games. The comparison is every other side in the 2026-27 league games we hold event data for (76 team-games). Left and right are Hibs' own: their right is Aberdeen's left. Four games is a small sample.

    • Into the box down their right: 14 of their 31 open-play passes into the box (45%) came from the right, against 38% for the average side. Felix Passlack made 10 of them. That's Aberdeen's left side.
    • But the chances come from all over: Of their 28 open-play chance-creating passes, 13 came from the left (Nicky Cadden three, Adam Mayor two, and Mayor is out), seven through the middle and eight from the right (Passlack five).
    • Shots from wider spots: 12 of their 34 open-play shots (35%) came from wide in the box, against 23% for the average side, and 11 (32%) from the central part of the box, against 42%. Josh Mulligan had six of those central shots.
    • Fewer ways forward: 24.5 open-play passes into the final third a game, against 29.3 for the average side, split 45% left, 15% through the middle and 40% right, which is close to normal.
    • What it means for Aberdeen: Passlack running at Aberdeen's left is their main route into the box, and Mulligan arriving centrally is their best shooting threat in open play.

    OPEN PLAY, SHARE BY LANE	THEIR LEFT	MIDDLE	THEIR RIGHT
    Passes into the final third (98)	45% (43%)	15% (16%)	40% (41%)
    Passes into the box (31)	26% (39%)	29% (23%)	45% (38%)
    Chance-creating passes (28)	46% (33%)	25% (37%)	29% (30%)

    WhoScored events, open play, Reedijk’s four league games: Hibs first, the average side in brackets (76 team-games, 2026-27). Lanes are thirds of the pitch’s width, from where the pass was played for the box and chance rows and where it landed for the final-third row. Their right is Aberdeen’s left.

11. 10Out of possession

    PPDA is the hub's zoned definition: opposition passes in their own 60% for each Hibs defensive action there. Lower = more pressing.

    • PPDA: 16.6 on average (median 14.9), against Aberdeen's 15.4 (median 13.8). So they've pressed a little less than Aberdeen.
    • Two different games: 11.9 at St Mirren with 11 high regains, but 24.7 against Celtic.
    • High regains: 5.0 a game. Reedijk pointed to Celtic and St Mirren, and the events back him: five and 11 high regains, against one and three in his first two games.
    • Little counter-press: 2% of their losses in the opposition half were won back within five seconds.
    • Set-piece defending: 0.26 xG a game against from set pieces under Reedijk.

    Highlighted: their two most active presses, Falkirk (12.1) and St Mirren (11.9). Aberdeen's season median is 13.8.

12. 11Losing the ball

    Our own measures from WhoScored events, not provider statistics. A possession lost = the first own-half failed pass, dispossession, failed touch or take-on, or recorded error before the opponent has the ball; repeat failures in the same spell count once. Compared with every side in the 40 league games we hold event data for, using identical code.

    • Often: 54.8 own-half possessions lost a game, the most in our sample (average 47.4). Falkirk (68) is the outlier; the other three games were 46 to 53. Counted as individual failed actions, it's 73 a game. Sportmonks also has them third for possession lost across the season.
    • But not more costly: 4.6% of those possessions ended in an opposition shot within 15 seconds, before Hibs touched the ball again. The average is 4.7%.
    • Falkirk was the exception: Seven of the 13 such shots came in that game. There were none at St Mirren.
    • Errors: Five in four games, 1.25 a game, against 0.76 across the games we hold: Ivezic, Klidje and Sallinger against Falkirk, and Mulligan and Chaiwa against Celtic. WhoScored only records an error when it leads to a shot, so every error is followed by one by definition.

    Our measure from WhoScored events: shots before Hibs touched the ball again. The average side in our sample allows 2.35 a game. Highlighted: Falkirk (seven).

13. 12Set pieces and corners

    WhoScored events, Reedijk's four league games. The corner maps below show delivery and what followed.

    • Their corners: 16 in four games, six of which led to a shot, and one goal (Ivezic at St Mirren, 77th minute). 11 of the 16 were outswingers.
    • First contact: Hibs won the first touch on four of their 16 corners.
    • Takers: Nicky Cadden (six) and Martin Boyle (five).
    • The target: Jason Kerr. All three of his shots in these games were headers from set pieces. He also headed both of Hibs' own goals, against Celtic and St Mirren, both from corners.
    • Corners against, four league games: 20, seven led to a shot, no goals. The attacking side won the first touch on eight. 16 were inswingers and six were played short.
    • Corners against, cup semi (no event data): Hearts scored a fourth-minute header from a Calvin Miller corner. Film check needed on how the delivery was defended and who lost the header. One goal; not a pattern.

    Hibernian's corners: how they swing and where they land

    Inswingers4 delivered, 2 with a shot

    Outswingers10 delivered, 3 with a shot

    CORNERS TAKEN (STRONGER FOOT)

    Cadden (L)

    6

    Boyle (R)

    5

    Matondo (R)

    2

    McGrath (R)

    2

    Elding (L)

    1

    CORNERS, AND THOSE WITH A SHOT WITHIN 15 SECONDS

    Dundee United

    2 of 3

    Falkirk

    2 of 6

    Celtic

    0 of 2

    St Mirren

    2 of 5

    WhoScored events, Reedijk's four league games. Lines run from the flag to where the delivery ended; highlighted where the side taking the corner had a shot within 15 seconds (a ring marks a goal). It records the shot, not who won the first header. Swing is inferred from the taker's stronger foot and the side. Attacking upwards.

    Corners against Hibernian

    Inswingers11 delivered, 5 with a shot

    Outswingers3 delivered, 1 with a shot

    CORNERS TAKEN (STRONGER FOOT)

    Nygren (L)

    4

    Ciubotaru (L)

    3

    Cameron (R)

    3

    Strain (R)

    3

    Baur (R)

    2

    Phillips (R)

    2

    Iqbal (R)

    1

    Yoro (?)

    1

    Thomas (L)

    1

    CORNERS, AND THOSE WITH A SHOT WITHIN 15 SECONDS

    Dundee United

    4 of 8

    Falkirk

    1 of 3

    Celtic

    0 of 6

    St Mirren

    2 of 3

    WhoScored events, Reedijk's four league games. Lines run from the flag to where the delivery ended; highlighted where the side taking the corner had a shot within 15 seconds (a ring marks a goal). It records the shot, not who won the first header. Swing is inferred from the taker's stronger foot and the side. Attacking upwards. Takers here are Hibernian's opponents.

14. 13How they concede

    • Six goals in four games: Three from open play, two own goals and one fast break. 5.65 xG against in all.
    • Soon after losing the ball: Three of the six came within 20 seconds of Hibs losing it, but only one in their own half: Klidje's back-heel in his own corner before Falkirk's second. Abdulai lost it in Falkirk's half before Falkirk's first, four seconds from regain to goal. Newell lost it in Celtic's half before Celtic's second, which still took five Celtic passes from their own third.
    • Early and late: Celtic scored in the fourth minute. Kerr's own goal at St Mirren came in the 82nd and cost them two points.

    Falkirk 1-0, 13th minute: Abdulai loses it in Falkirk's half

    Falkirk 2-0, 37th minute: Klidje loses it in Hibs' own corner

    Celtic 2-1, 43rd minute: 16 seconds and 5 Celtic passes after Newell lost it in Celtic's half

    WhoScored events, the scoring side attacking left to right (top = their left). The white dot is where Hibs lost the ball; red is the scoring side's regain (dot) and passes (arrows), dashed where a pass didn't find a team-mate; grey is Hibs' last touch; the white arrow is the shot. Only Klidje's loss was in Hibs' own half. Event positions only: nothing about where other players stood.

15. 14Players who shape how they play

    Ages, heights and how they joined: Sportmonks. Numbers: Reedijk's four league games, WhoScored events and FotMob minutes. On target excludes blocked shots and matches FotMob's team totals.

    • Felix Passlack (right-back, 28, 170 cm, signed from VfL Bochum in February 2026): Six open-play chance-creating passes, 6.0 progressive passes per 90 and 17 crosses (four completed). He also takes their throw-ins on the right: 58 in four games. All five of his shots were blocked.
    • Adam Mayor (left-back, 21, 178 cm, free transfer from Millwall in July 2026): 12.8 progressive passes and 8.3 passes into the final third per 90, the most in the side, and 28 recoveries.
    • Josh Mulligan (midfield, 23, 175 cm, free transfer from Dundee in 2025): 10 shots, two on target and seven blocked, 0.98 xG and no goals. He commits the most fouls in the side (12) and was dispossessed six times, also the most.
    • Owen Elding (striker, 20, signed from Sligo Rovers in January 2026): Two goals from 0.96 xG, against Falkirk and Celtic, and four open-play chance-creating passes.
    • Jason Kerr (centre-back, 29, 180 cm, free transfer from Wigan in July 2026): Hibs' set-piece target (three headed shots) and their busiest clearer (27 clearances).
    • Martin Boyle (winger, 33, 172 cm): Only one league start under Reedijk, but scored at Hampden and has 3.11 xG this season (FotMob). Reedijk said he "is back" before the semi.
    • Joe Newell (midfield): Two league starts under Reedijk. He started at St Mirren alongside Chaiwa. His role in the semi needs video (see The Reedijk effect).

    PASSLACK: 6 CHANCE-CREATING PASSES · 15 OTHER CROSSES, 2 COMPLETED

    Felix Passlack's open-play passes in Reedijk's four league games, WhoScored events. Gold: passes WhoScored flags as a key pass or assist (two of the six were crosses). White and red: his other crosses, completed and not. Hibs attack left to right; the bottom of the pitch is their right, Aberdeen's left.

16. 15The last four games

    • Dundee United 1-0 Hibs (10 October): Reedijk's first game. 0.83 xG to 1.84, beaten by Daniel Bennie's 34th-minute goal.
    • Hibs 1-2 Falkirk (17 October): 70% of the ball and 1.29 xG to 0.68, but 68 own-half possessions lost (the most of the four) and three errors that led to shots. Jacob Murrell scored both.
    • Hibs 1-2 Celtic (25 October): Elding scored in the second minute, but Kerr's own goal and Camilo Durán's goal had Celtic ahead by half-time. 1.23 xG each.
    • St Mirren 1-1 Hibs (28 October): Ivezic headed in a corner on 77 minutes, then Kerr's own goal five minutes later. 1.40 xG to 1.90.
    • Cup semi-final, Hearts 1-2 Hibs (1 November): Not in the league data. Hibs had 40% of the ball and six shots on target to three (FotMob). Hearts scored after four minutes; Boyle and McGrath replied.

Data: FotMob (xG, shots, possession and box touches, all 11 league games) and WhoScored match-centre events (Reedijk's four league games: Dundee United, Falkirk, Celtic, St Mirren). Sportmonks for league ranks across the whole season (all three managers) and for player ages, heights and transfers. PPDA is the hub's zoned definition. Turnover, chance-creating pass and corner definitions are our own and are given where used. Four games is a small sample, and opponent quality is not controlled for. The coach's background: Hibernian FC, Hibs Observer, Sporza, Voetbal International, Flashscore, RSSSF and Wikipedia. Quotes are as published and attributed: Edinburgh Evening News (4 November 2026), Deadline News (31 October and 2 November 2026, from Reedijk's press conference and Hibs TV) and BBC Sport (1 November 2026). Team news: Reedijk's pre-match press conference (Hibs Observer, 6 November 2026) and the Edinburgh Evening News (this week); Aberdeen's from Robinson's press conference (afc.co.uk and BBC Sport, 6 November 2026); it can change before kick-off. What's at stake: the season predictor's xG model, run on 2 November (no league games have been played since).