Capital punishment: Axe falls for Heckingbottom
HIBERNIAN are looking for their eighth manager in a decade after calling time on Paul Heckingbottom’s short-lived and regrettable reign at Easter Road.
The Englishman lasted just shy of nine months in the job before paying the price for a dismal sequence of results that has seen the team win just once over the course of 90 minutes since the opening day of the league season on August 3.
Following questionable summer signings and a lack of victories, the axe finally fell yesterday afternoon in the first major test of the tutelage of new owner Ron Gordon, who took over from Sir Tom Farmer and Rod Petrie in July.
With city foes Heart of Midlothian also seeking a new manager following the removal of Craig Levein last week, the Hibs hierarchy could now be in competition with their rivals as they seek a replacement capable of reviving fortunes on the pitch and reconnecting with disaffected supporters in the stand.
Jack Ross, currently out of work after being sacked by Sunderland last month, and Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson will undoubtedly be mentioned in despatches as the search for a successor kicks off, with Ross’s assistant James Fowler taking in last week’s league meeting with Livingston. But the Easter Road club have at times in the past taken a more left-field approach.
Should they decide that a Hibs connection is desirable, the likes of John Hughes, John Collins and Ian Murray, currently manager at Airdrie, or boyhood Hibee Gordon Strachan and former manager Alan Stubbs, may come into contention. Australia head coach Graham Arnold was linked with the post before Lennon’s appointment and could be considered again.
In the meantime, youth coach Eddie May, first-team coach Grant
Murray and veteran player Steven Whittaker have been placed in temporary charge of the team, who face a huge match away to St Johnstone on Saturday amidst the possibility they could plunge to the foot of the Ladbrokes Premiership table with a defeat.
A brief club statement released last night confirmed: “Hibernian FC today announced that head coach Paul Heckingbottom and his assistant, Robbie Stockdale, have been relieved of their duties at the club.
“Head of player development Eddie May will take charge of the team on an interim basis supported
by assistant coach Grant Murray and Steven Whittaker. “Supporters can expect further comment from the club in the coming days.”
Heckingbottom, who enjoyed success with Barnsley but lasted just four months in his next appointment at Leeds United, made a good first impression following his arrival in February, steering the club on an initial 10-game unbeaten run, which included a win against Hearts at Tynecastle for the first time in six years. But he closed the season with successive defeats to Rangers, Kilmarnock and Aberdeen.
After releasing the likes of Marvin Bartley, Mark Milligan, Gael Bigirimana and Ross Laidlaw in a summer clear-out, and preferring other options to loan signings Mark McNulty and Stephane Omeonga, Heckingbottom’s revamped team and new recruits have failed to convince since kicking off their competitive campaign with a 1-1 draw against Stirling Albion in the Betfred Cup in July.
Their narrow 1-0 victory over St Mirren on the opening day of the Premiership season three months ago remains the last time the team and supporters were able to celebrate a league victory, with the 6-1 thrashing from Rangers at Ibrox that followed eight days later losing Heckingbottom plenty of backers.
The 2-1 defeat at home to Hearts in September in a game dubbed the P45 derby because of the question marks hanging over both teams’ managers was the final straw for plenty more.
The recent capitulation to draw 2-2 at home to Ross County after being 2-0 up highlighted deficiencies in the spine of the team but the 2-2 draw courtesy of an injury-time leveller against Livingston last Wednesday indicated the players were at least still playing for their boss.
However, Saturday’s 5-2 thumping from Celtic in the Betfred Cup semi-final at Hampden, in a game that was effectively over after just 20 minutes, proved to be the 42-year-old’s last act of a stint that is likely to remembered by supporters for all the wrong reasons.