Hibs discover Europa League bid opponents

Hibs will face FC Midtjylland from Denmark in the UEFA Europa League second qualifying round
The first leg will take place on Thursday 24 July in Denmark and the second leg one week later on Thursday 31 July at Easter Road.
The draw was made at 12pm UK time, from UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
David Gray's side were unseeded in the draw.
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The Guardian

8 hours ago

• The Guardian

Cult of celebrity feels like a fundamental tension at the heart of the game

It is in the details that the truest picture emerges. Quite aside from the endless politicking, the forever-war with Uefa, the consorting with autocrats and the intriguing broadcast rights and partnership deals, there has been, not a new, but growing sense during the Club World Cup that Fifa doesn't really get football. There is something cargo-cultish about it, creating outcomes without engaging in processes. Perhaps that is inevitable with Gianni Infantino's style of leadership; like all populists, he is big on vision and short on practical reality. It was there in the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams. OK: how will the tournament be organised? Sixteen groups of three. Won't that mean either lots of potential dead rubbers (one team from each group goes through) or opportunities for collusion (two go through)? Oh, actually, the four-team groups at the 2022 have worked so well, we'll go with 12 groups of four. Sure, but then you have eight best third-place teams going through which: a) diminishes jeopardy; and b) undermines sporting integrity by giving an advantage to teams in later groups because they have a clearer idea of what is needed to progress, again offering opportunities for collusion. No response, because all that matters is a bigger tournament equals more votes for the president and (in the short term) more revenue. One of the oddest aspects of the Club World Cup has been the way players are greeted on to the pitch individually, like swimmers before an Olympic final. At Ulsan HD v Mamelodi Sundowns, they may as well have gone on and introduced the crowd as well. Who needs this? Who wants this? Why does the first player out have to hang around for several minutes waiting for the 22nd player? For well over a century the two teams have walked out side by side. This has always been part of the gladiatorial ritual of football. This is the contest: one team against another. But as Fifa has sought desperately to improve attendances and stimulate interest, its focus has become more and more on the individual. That is why there was all that talk, much of it emanating from Infantino, about Cristiano Ronaldo potentially securing a short-term deal with a qualifier, and why qualifying was gerrymandered to ensure the presence of Lionel Messi's Inter Miami. But there is a potentially self-defeating short-termism to this. While the desire to see Messi is entirely understandable, especially as he enters the late autumn of his career, Inter Miami are sixth in MLS's Western Conference, their form having disintegrated since the end of March. From an MLS point of view, the ideal scenario would have been for one of their sides to beat a storied opponent, perhaps push on to the quarter-finals, generating interest in North America's domestic league. The best way of doing that would have been to have the best-possible MLS representation, but Inter Miami are in no sense one of the best three sides. As it is, none of the MLS sides won their opening game, although Porto's dismal form and Messi's dead-ball ability may get Inter Miami through anyway. It might also be pointed out that Auckland City are not the best side in New Zealand, nor are Red Bull Salzburg one of the best 12 sides in Europe, but the consequences are greater for the host nation, particularly when there is apparently so much potential for growth. The celebritisation of football is not new, but it is intensifying. When Paul Pogba returned to Manchester United in 2016 and, rather than speaking of the Premier League or becoming a European champion, said he dreamed of winning the Ballon d'Or, it felt shocking, a player elevating his own interests and a silly bauble above the glory of team success. But that has become normal. Improving his Ballon d'Or chances is one of the reasons Neymar left Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain; even Trent Alexander-Arnold mentioned the Ballon d'Or as a motivation for joining Real Madrid (good luck with that from right-back). Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion The marketing of football is almost all focused on individuals. That's been particularly so at the Club World Cup, but it is true of almost every competition. Even the way lineups are introduced on Sky's Premier League coverage, with the players performing a fake celebration, seems designed to introduce them as characters. Yet there is a tension there. While individual players are celebrated, the increasing use of data means image and self-projection may never have mattered less. The stats will find the talent, even if the talent has no gift for self-promotion. At the same time, the best teams have never been so cohesive, so integrated. PSG provide a useful case study. For years they signed stars with seemingly little thought to how they might play together. Although their immense resources won them the French league, they habitually choked in Europe. Then there was a change of approach, the money was spent not on Neymar and Messi but on players on the way up who still had a hunger for success and who could play together. The result was the Champions League and, despite their defeat by Botafogo, possibly the inaugural world title in the expanded format. If it was conceived as a two-stage strategy – build the brand through celebrity, then win the actual competitions – it has worked to perfection; in reality, it's probably trial and error that has brought them to this point. At Real Madrid, meanwhile, Florentino Pérez still seems locked in his galáctico vision of football, insisting on adding Kylian Mbappé to a squad that already contained Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo, resulting in imbalance and an expensive downturn in form. This goes deeper than transfer policies, though. This feels like a fundamental tension at the heart of the game. What, after all, is success in modern football? Manchester City for the past decade have been a much better football team than PSG, and yet they have nothing like the brand awareness. Is success winning trophies, or making money? Is it winning trophies or becoming more famous? Is it winning trophies or marketing the individual? The individual walk-ons only blur the lines further, suggest organisers who struggle with the concept that football, perhaps more than any other sport, is a game of the team.

BBC News

8 hours ago

• BBC News

David Gray hopeful Rocky Bushiri & Nectar Triantis will be back for Hibernian

Gray hopeful Bushiri & Triantis will be back for Hibs , Nectar Triantis (left) and Rocky Bushiri (right) were integral parts of David Gray's side last season 3 hours ago Head coach David Gray revealed Hibernian have held positive talks as they bid to secure the services of Rocky Bushiri and Nectar Triantis for the upcoming season. Both players were instrumental in helping the the Leith side finish third in the Scottish Premiership last term. Centre-back Bushiri has been with Hibs since January 2022, but the 25-year-old is currently out of contract and weighing up his future. "Rocky's season was prolonged by going away on international duty, so he's been away doing that," Gray told the Press Association. "A couple of weeks off for him, a lot of positive talks in the meantime, and he's someone who did incredibly well for Hibs last season. "Naturally, there will be interest in him from elsewhere, but as I said, there have been real positive talks on that one. It's certainly something we're trying to do and working towards." Australian midfielder Triantis was one of four nominees for the Scottish Football Writers' Player of the Year award after excelling during his season-long loan from Sunderland, where he is contracted until 2027. "His parent club obviously got promoted to the Premier League, so there are conversations going on there about what's next for Nectar," Gray added. "Clearly, he's someone who was really, really good for us last year and someone you'd like to bring back.

Daily Record

10 hours ago

• Daily Record

Nectarios Triantis holds 'positive' Hibs transfer talks as David Gray provides Rocky Bushiri update

Leith fans are desperate to see the Aussie sign on a permanent transfer after helping drive them to third place last season Hibs head coach David Gray insists talks to sign Sunderland star Nectatrios Triantis on a permanent deal are progressing well. The versatile Aussie midfielder initially arrived in second half of the 2023/24 campaign but it was last season that the 22-year-old really found his groove, scoring three times in 28 matches in all competitions to help the Hibees claim a third place finish in the Premiership. ‌ Gray has already bolstered his squad this summer with the arrivals of Jamie McGrath on a free transfer from league rivals Aberdeen and the capture of Austrian goalkeeper Raphael Sallinger. ‌ But fans in the capital will be desperate to see Triantis - who was nominated for the SWFA Player of the Year last month - return despite Sunderland 's promotion back to the Premier League and Gray reveals that 'positive talks' are ongoing. The former Easter Road captain also says they remain hopeful of tying down out of contract defender Rocky Bushiri to a new deal. Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: "He is another one who had a fantastic season. You seen how much he improved last year, playing week-in, week out. "His parent club have just got promoted to the Premier League and their are conversations going on. "Clearly he was a big part of what we done last year and it is a position that we are going to need to fill. "There is conversations going on there that are positive at the minute but you always need to be proactive and making sure that you are trying to get your work in as early as you can." ‌ "Rocky is someone who clearly had a fantastic season last year. "His season got prolonged because he had to go away with his national team but positive talks are happening all the time. ‌ "We are trying to get something done there and we'll just have to wait and see how it pans out in the next few days." Hibs have banked £900,000 from the sale of forward Dylan Vente to Heerenveen and Gray knows they still have work to do on the recruitment front across the board with next month's Europa League second round qualifier with FC Midtjylland on the horizon. "The support we have had (from the board) has been incredible and will continue to be there. "We know we need to do work in the window and we are working hard to do that. "It's about making sure we get the right people in to add to the good group we have already got.