As someone best described as a golf hacker - I’ve used my handicap system to work out that Hibs are one shot away from being crowned unofficial Premiership champions.
A draw against Aberdeen tomorrow night would all but confirm a third place finish, best of the rest and it would feel as good as winning the league.
They won’t get a medal for it but it would be a huge accolade.
This isn’t to detract from Rangers and their unbelievable consistency this season, but let’s be honest, the Old Firm play off scratch while all other clubs operate within a budget which makes winning the title well out of bounds.
Glasgow’s big two having spending power which is at least 20 times what the Edinburgh clubs have to operate their squads.
Over a season they are too strong, they have too much quality, too many international players for others to compete and during a 38-game programme it always shows.
That’s why finishing third is so special, it’s not even close to being an even playing field when all teams stand on that first tee on the opening day of the season.
It may sound defeatist, Hibs fans will ask where the ambition is as they want the club to be able to challenge and I get that.
The hard fact is that unless owner Ron Gordon fires serious money at Jack Ross, and I’m talking many, many millions then it won’t happen. Mr Gordon just isn’t going to give over the kind of money which would be required.
Celtic and Rangers are out of reach, out on their own and that’s why my old club should trumpet what could become one of the best seasons in their history.
Here’s some context.
I was part of the last two Hibs teams which managed to finish third in the Premier League.
The first was back in 2001 under Alex McLeish and we had the class of Franck Sauzee and Russell Latapty in our ranks. We were actually challenging for the title around Christmas time but hit a brick wall towards the end of the season although still comfortably finished third.
The last time we did it was in 2005 under Tony Mowbray. I only played two games in that campaign but who’s counting?
That shows just how big a deal it would be if this side can emulate the achievements of those teams, it’s such a rare feat for the club.
If they can hopefully achieve that this season then it would only be the third time they’ve been best of the rest in the past 20 years.
That’s the scale of what’s at stake at Pittodrie. It would signal a changing of the guard for that tag as the third best force and let’s be honest, Hibs haven’t been consistent as the real deal in the top league for a long time. They’ve been a side which has also spent time in the Championship.
Only Aberdeen have shown that consistency over the last five or six seasons and Motherwell are also in that bracket by punching above their weight in the past few decades.
It won’t come as a surprise to some that when it came down to the last games of the season, I was on the survival end of the spectrum.
I was in the Dundee side which needed to beat Livingston on the last day of season 2005 to stay in the Premier League. We drew 1-1 and I hit the post with the last kick of the ball and when the final whistle blew there was a pitch invasion by Livi fans and there was a picture in the paper of their fans running past me, I was on my hands and knees bawling my eyes out.
The last time Dunfermline won the league to get into the topflight, I was a Falkirk player and they needed to beat us to go up which they duly did.
Another last day disappointment, it was a full house and they beat us 3-0, there were no waterworks from me thankfully on that occasion.
Now it’s about Hibs taking Aberdeen out of the equation. A draw would be enough, it would mean they would need to lose by a barrowload against Celtic on the last day and Aberdeen would require the floodgates to open at Rangers. It just ain’t going to happen.
Jack has a small squad but there are only about 13 or 14 players he would trust to go into the side and do the business.
He’s working with too small a squad to be expected to challenge for a title against the Old Firm who have two internationals for every position.
So finishing best of the rest, possibly winning the Scottish Cup and reaching the League Cup semi-final would represent one of the most successful campaigns ever for the club.
So they need to get the job done against Aberdeen. If they shank it now it would be criminal.
