Monty addresses future as rain pours on Hibs’ dull parade
Nick Montgomery has called for some patience after the Hibs boss watched his team suffer a 4-0 defeat by Aberdeen at Easter Road, writes Ben Banks.
The hosts started brightly but the roof caved in when Leighton Clarkson curled home the opener. Then Dante Polvara, Bojan Miovski and Fletcher Boyd all netted to compound a miserable day as the rain ironically poured on a weekend of sunshine in the Capital.
Apathy set in from the stands during the game but fans remaining inside Easter Road come full-time let the boss and players know what they thought of the display. Hibs are in ninth ahead of their two final matches with Motherwell and Livingston.
Hibs have won nine of their last 32 leagues games. Speaking post-match, Montgomery answered a question on whether he expected to see out the season, and insisted patience is needed. He said: “I hope so. Unless anything’s changed. The discussions I had coming into the club, they knew the challenge we had this season.
“The big picture was the investment coming in from Black Knight moving forward, the opportunity to put your own squad together which every manager wants to do.
“I keep saying we need four or five players, we need quality in the building. There are players moving on who are out of contract. There is definite change coming and we need a little bit of patience.”
Club chiefs have already slammed the bottom six finish this season as “unacceptable” and a “comprehensive evaluation of the entire football operation” will commence.
Fans are showing their frustration but Montgomery remains steadfast in his belief. He explained: “I remain confident. I believe in myself and in the direction I feel I can take the club. Those were the discussions we had when I took the job.
“Of course, my worry was managers have changed numerous times. But the board were really supportive. I have had one January transfer window. I tried to bring in players to improve the squad and felt like we did.
“But with a summer transfer window coming up and the chance to bring in players on permanent contracts and have a good pre-season, which is really important to build a culture and environment, I believe in myself. But results like today don’t help because there has been a lot of frustration and negativity around the club for a long time. I have said we need a bit of patience now. Change is difficult and uncomfortable.
“But today’s result was difficult for everyone because you don’t want to be losing at home and conceding the goals we did. That’s also because we don’t punish teams when we have chances and we had plenty of chances today.
“The expectation on this club and the pressure from the fans is normal. Moving forward we need players who can accept that pressure and expectation. I understand their frustration. It was an embarrassing result for us at home. For 30 minutes we were good enough to be a goal or two ahead. They’ve seen it too many times, they’ve had too much frustration over recent seasons.
“I can say no doubt that it’s just as frustrating for me. We can’t change the result now. We have to move on to Wednesday and try to put it right.”