Hibernians seem to be on the right track to regain their place among the leading teams in the Premier League.
A thrilling 3-3 draw against Sliema Wanderers on the opening day was followed up with a morale-boosting 2-1 victory over Marsaxlokk on Friday – a result that lifted the spirits at the Paola club after a series of upsets last season.
Indeed, 2010-11 was a campaign to forget for Hibs. They played in the Relegation Pool and were outside the race for the major honours from early on.
This summer, coach Mark Miller was retained and tasked with a rebuilding process in a bid by the club to restore fortunes of old. However, while other clubs opened their pay cheque to add new signings, the Englishman took a completely different approach.
His main transfer activity consisted in bringing in quality foreigners while keeping faith with an array of young players who cut their teeth in the top flight the season before.
“I’m quite pleased with how things have developed so far,” Miller told The Times yesterday.
“Four points from the opening two matches is a good return but still premature to make any conclusions. Last year, we had a similar bright start but all of a sudden things took a turn to the worse and we struggled for the rest of the season.
“The main bonus is the fact that we have players like Steve Pisani, Triston Caruana and Jonathan Pearson showing more confidence in the Premier League.
“Added to that we have Clayton Failla back at the club and it seems that he has already rediscovered his old form.”
For Miller, banking on youth talent has become a mantra at Paola since joining Hibernians in 2008.
In fact, during the past three years, Miller introduced several youngsters from the nursery and it’s a policy he has to maintain given the financial constraints on most of the clubs.
“At Hibernians, our challenge is to give the ones coming up a chance to prove themselves in the first team,” Miller said.
“We’re in no position to fork out the kind of salaries that a few others are offering these days, so we need to unearth talent from within our nursery.
“This summer we decided to loan out Jean Paul Farrugia, Matthew Gauci and Daniel Balzan for the season.
“It was a tough decision as with them three in the team we would have been much stronger but we have to look long-term. More regular football elsewhere will make our players better and stronger and Hibs will reap the rewards in the near future, no doubt.”
Apart from the youngsters’ contribution on Friday, Miller was also impressed with the impact of Brazilian new signing Luis Edison Tarabai.
The former Vittoriosa Stars forward was an inspirational figure for Hibs against Sliema and Marsaxlokk, netting two goals in the process.
“Luis is a fantastic player,” Miller said.
“He is really fast and the best thing about him is that he is unpredictable.
“Last week he was sick for three days but still wanted to play against Marsaxlokk. We adviced him to take it easy on his return but Luis ended up as our best player, scored one goal and could have had another two.
“And we have Marcelo Dias still nursing an injury and yet to make his debut. He will be an asset for us as well.
“Dias is powerful in the box and will form a great partnership with Tarabai in attack.”
The Premier League will now observe a two-week break for the national teams to figure in European qualifiers.
Miller, a former Malta U-21 coach, will be at Corradino on Thursday to watch Malta facing Slovenia before next week’s clash against Finland. The Hibs coach believes that Ray Farrugia’s team stand a good chance of winning more points in the group.
“In the next 10 days I will be watching the U-21 qualifiers with certain interest as Hibs have four players in that squad,” Miller said.
“The U-21s have had an excellent start in the group and in my opinion they’re good enough to win more points against the likes of Finland, Lithuania and Slovenia.
“You can see there’s great enthusiasm among the players and that is mirrored in the performances on the pitch. I’m looking forward to these matches as more positive results will continue to boost our football for sure.”
Turning sights back to Hibs, Miller reckons the next match against Birkirkara will be an ideal barometer to gauge the competitive levels of his team.
“Our biggest test will be our next match against Birkirkara,” he said.
“Personally, I think Valletta and Birkirkara are the two strongest teams in the league so in our next match we shall have a clearer picture of our true potential.
“In my view, the championship will be a great challenge. The promoted teams still have to find their feet and apart from Valletta and Birkirkara, the other teams are mostly of the same level.
“Consistency will again be a key issue. Our goal will always be to make a top-six finish but there is a lot of work still to be done to achieve that goal.”
Premier League statistics
Scorers, dismissals
Balzan Youths: Micallef.
Red card: Pedrinho (vs Qormi).
Birkirkara: Avila 3; Cilia 2 (1 pen).
Red card: Decesare (vs Mosta).
Floriana: Caruana, Cassar, Odwong.
Own goal: Everton (vs Tarxien).
Ħamrun Spartans: Ribeiro 2 (1 pen); Grima.
Red card: Agius (vs Balzan).
Hibernians: Edison 3; Failla, Caruana.
Marsaxlokk: Obiefule 4; Deanov, Farrugia.
Red card: Templeman (vs Hibs).
Mosta: Martin, Zammit (pen).
Own goal: Buhagiar (vs Birkirkara).
Mqabba: Nil.
Qormi: Farrugia 2; Pereira.
Sliema: Jorge 2; Mifsud Triganza, Lima, Scerri.
Red card: Scerri (vs Hibs).
Tarxien: Bueno 2 (1 pen), Everton.
Valletta: Effiong 3; Barbosa, Denni, Borg.
Current standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Valletta | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 6 |
| Birkirkara | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Floriana | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| Sliema | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| Hibernians | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Marsaxlokk | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| Qormi | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Ħamrun | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Tarxien | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| Mqabba | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Balzan Youths | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| Mosta | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
Next fixtures
Saturday, September 10
National Stadium
17.00 Birkirkara vs Hibernians
19.00 Valletta vs Qormi
Sunday, September 11
Hibernians Stadium
17.00 Tarxien vs Ħamrun Spartans
19.00 Floriana vs Sliema Wanderers
Monday, September 12
National Stadium
18.00 Balzan vs Mosta
20.00 Marsaxlokk vs Mqabba