Sallinger's Commitment to Hibs After Hearts' European Exit
Raphael Sallinger spent Tuesday night in the Tynecastle stands watching Hearts crash out of Europe. By Thursday, he intends to make sure Hibernian don’t share their fate.
Hearts’ 2-0 home defeat to Sturm Graz sealed a brutal 6-0 aggregate exit, the club’s heaviest ever two-legged loss in European competition. The humiliation played out in front of a familiar face: Hibs’ Austrian goalkeeper, in enemy territory but with a very personal reason to be there.
“My missus actually works for Sturm Graz as a nutritionist so it was obviously clear for me to go and watch her at Tynecastle,” Sallinger explained. “She’s not over in Scotland very often. She’ll be at our game tomorrow as well to support me.”
So he watched Hearts unravel while Sturm, his partner’s club, marched on. No conflict of interest, he insists, just a professional eye and a personal connection.
“Sturm are a very good team,” he said. “Of course there were a few conversations when we knew they were playing Hearts, but only about small details, nothing special. I’m happy for them that they went through.”
Now the focus is Easter Road, and a very different kind of European story.
From Tynecastle spectator to Easter Road last line of defence
On Thursday night, Sallinger will swap the role of observer for that of last line of defence as Hibs try to dig themselves out of a hole of their own making. A 2-0 first-leg defeat to Kosovan underdogs Malisheva has left them staring at an early Conference League exit that would sting every bit as much as Hearts’ collapse across the city.
The word “minnows” has hung heavy over this tie. It only deepens the sense of embarrassment around that opening loss. Sallinger doesn’t hide from it.
“We as a group spoke about a lot of things which went wrong in that game. There are clearly things we can improve on, but we’ve worked very well this week,” he said.
The admission is blunt: Hibs were nowhere near good enough. The response, he insists, has been equally clear.
“These are the moments where you can see what character is in this team and we will show that character tomorrow.”
No excuses. No dwelling. Just a demand to respond.
No margin for error
The equation is simple: Hibs must win, and they must win well. Anything less than overturning the deficit against Malisheva at Easter Road would drag them into the same European autopsy currently unfolding at Tynecastle.
“It doesn’t matter which side we’re playing against. The main target is getting through to the third round of the Conference League,” Sallinger said. “We have to make sure we win tomorrow. We don’t want to look back too much on the last game. All we can do is look forward and try to change things around.”
Across the city, Hearts’ worst European scoreline in history is still raw. At Easter Road, the warning is clear enough. Hibs have seen what a European embarrassment looks like up close.
Now they have 90 minutes – maybe more – to prove they’ve learned from it.
