I’ll have a stand-up argument with anyone who says we have no ambition LEEANN DEMPSTER
AMID the personal criticism that made next to no impact, one accusation — a broader and more damning insult thrown at the club in general — was guaranteed to provoke a reaction.
Leeann Dempster, declaring herself unruffled by people calling for her dismissal as Hibernian’s chief executive, will stand toe-to-toe with any punter or pundit who questions the Easter Road outfit’s desire to compete at a high level.
Her hackles visibly rising, Dempster declared yesterday: ‘The word ambition, right? People have been saying to me: “You’ve no ambition. The club’s not got any ambition”.
‘Well what does ambition mean? We’re backing ourselves. We back the people here, the team here, we back the structure. And people keep saying: “Oh, what’s your structure, this fabulous structure?”
‘It’s just a lot of good people working collaboratively with some of the best tech, some of the best equipment, some of the best minds — all to get those gains that will help us be better.
‘But sometimes people’s idea of ambition… I’m not specifically relating this to anybody but there’s a general chat about there being a lack of ambition at the club.
‘Well, I’ll have a standup argument with anybody who says that. Because it’s not true.
‘Ambition can be sometimes confused with recklessness. And it’s my job to make decisions that are as positive as they can be, get us continually moving forward.
‘Because I think the club has been ambitious. I think the club is ambitious, the people who work here are ambitious, the team are and the supporters are.
‘And because we’ve had a change of head coach — which happens in other clubs too, by the way — it doesn’t make us any less ambitious.’
Facing the media for the first time since Neil Lennon’s non-sacking, non-resignation departure from Hibs, Dempster came out firing at the club’s East Mains training base.
No, she hadn’t considered her position — not even once — during the furore that followed the leaving of Lennon, accompanied by one of the least enlightening statements in the history of football.
Yes, she might harbour regrets about how things panned out. Too few to mention?
But second guessing every decision isn’t a luxury afforded the chief executive of a major club. She’ll leave that to others.
As the former Motherwell chief exec spoke about new manager Paul Heckingbottom and the constant improvements the club needs to make, she admitted: ‘And somebody might say: “Actually the improvement you need to make is your chief exec”.
‘Fine. I’m happy to have that conversation. I’m sure there are plenty of folk, while I’m sitting in my plush office, who think that might be the way. That’s fine.
‘You know, people say you live or die by your decisions and all that malarkey. You make decisions all through life and take the consequences.
‘I don’t think I’m any better or worse at making decisions than other people. I just have to take them in this instance in the public eye.
‘You will be judged on the decisions you make. Sometimes they are good decisions. Sometimes they are bad decisions.
‘It would be brilliant to go back and be able to change things all the time but, unfortunately, life is not like that. You need to deal with each minute as it hits you.
‘Was I disappointed how things ended? Absolutely. It’s always disappointing when you transition from one head coach to another.
‘But you need to just focus and get on with the task at hand — and the task at hand is to bring a new person to the club. ‘Folk want to know everything and, when the club’s not briefing, there is a vacuum to be filled. And speculation. I felt it wasn’t right for us to add to that speculation. ‘Has it been difficult? It’s not been pleasant, let’s be honest. It never is. But, if you want to be popular, don’t join a football club.’
Asked if she’d ever considered her own future, Dempster said: ‘That’s a question for other people rather than myself.
‘I didn’t consider it was time for me to leave the club. Others may have had that opinion. Others in the press and maybe some fans.
‘I didn’t really consider my position. Actually, I didn’t at all. If other people did, they certainly didn’t vocalise it to me.’
Dempster refused to add anything to the official record over Lennon’s departure, saying: ‘I know why you are asking me.
‘Neil was great for us and we were good for him — but I’m going to tell you the boring bit, which is that we both agreed that we wouldn’t talk about it. That’s the way it’s going to stay.
‘We have both agreed a statement, which says that we won’t go into detail. I’m going to respect that.’
In terms of standing in the game, any successor was going to pale in comparison to Lennon; coaches with Champions League progress and a victory over Barcelona on their CV are few and far between.
Heckingbottom has clearly impressed both Dempster and head of football operations George Craig, though, with the former saying: ‘What I really like about Paul is that he’s hungry.
‘He has experienced promotion before so he is a success. He has won a trophy. And listen, we need to back ourselves.’