League placing: 6th
Scottish Cup: fourth round
League Cup: round two
Europe: round two, Intertoto Cup (All first hurdle exits)

Ins: John Hughes, manager; Patrick Cregg, midfielder; Daniel Galbraith, forward; Kevin McBride, midfielder; Graham Stack, goalkeeper.

Outs: Mixu Paatelainen, manager; Steven Fletcher, forward; Rob Jones, defender; Alan O'Brien, forward; Grzegorz Szamotulski, goalkeeper; Denes Rosa, midfielder; Fabian Yantorno, midfielder; Damon Gray, forward; Andrew McNeil, goalkeeper; Ross Campbell, forward; Jordan Cropley, midfielder.

John Rankin Hibernian midfielder

We saw the way Falkirk passed the ball last season and I don't think it is going to much different to the way we are going to play this year.

I think if you have a chance of finishing third then your target is third. If you go hell for leather and you fail then fair enough because you made a great effort to get there.

We are not going to sit here and say our target is sixth - because it is not. At the start of the season the likes of Aberdeen, Hearts, Dundee United and ourselves all target third place.

We have perhaps further to go than these teams because we finished sixth last year and, with a new manager coming in with a new system, to obtain third is going to be difficult, but we are going to do our utmost to get there.

Craig Paterson Former Hibs defender and BBC Scotland pundit

Having lost two fantastic players in Steven Fletcher and Rob Jones and without money to spend, I'm not expecting huge strides, but a top-six finish should be within reach - a place in Europe would be a bonus.

Yet again, the club has brought in a lot of money without splashing the cash and that is frustrating for the fans, but Hibs have a great academy in place now and are on a sound financial footing.

Anyone who has watched Falkirk over the years will know John Hughes wants to see a passing game, with the ball being monopolised on the deck.

He's a former Hibs player, with a strong connection with the club and he knows that is regarded as the Hibs way.

If Hibs are to be successful playing that style of football, they will need a cutting edge that Falkirk lacked in recent seasons; a striker banging in 15 to 20 goals makes a huge difference.

Losing Fletcher is an obvious blow, but Colin Nish will prove a handful for most defences and Derek Riordan will get his fair share of goals.

The fans are excited by the return of Merouane Zemmama and he is a fantastic talent.

It's sometimes difficult to know where to accommodate him, but I'm sure big Yogi will want to see him getting on the ball and opening up defences.

Paddy Cregg, Kevin McBride and John Rankin are all hard-working midfielders and they can put in the graft to support the flair of Riordan and Zemmama, although that might have to change for trips to Parkhead and Ibrox.

Rob Jones will be very difficult to replace since he was a colossus at the back and really came on to a game at the end of last season. His towering presence at set-pieces will also be sorely missed.

Some of the double-winning Under-19 side have been involved in pre-season, but it's hard to imagine more than one or two breaking through.

I can't see us getting up to third or fourth by next May, but a year of steady progress will do me and hopefully we'll move on up the following season. The big question will be "can we keep our best players until then"?
ritchiebabySOFBRTC

MY SPORT: DEBATE How will Hibs fare this term?

Happy enough with the squad. Youngsters coming through look promising as always. We never seem to replace what we sell by buying players, we just get the youths through quicker.
hfcdave1875

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