Hibs set for windfall as Cummings moves on
HIBERNIAN chief executive Leeann Dempster last night thanked Jason Cummings for helping the club earn promotion to the Premiership before banking a seven-figure fee for his transfer.
The 21-year-old yesterday completed a £1million-plus move to Nottingham Forest, signing a three-year deal to compete in the Sky Bet Championship.
The sale comes just a year after Hibs kicked out a similar bid from Peterborough United and persuaded Cummings (below) to sign a new long-term contract.
Cummings’ 19 league goals helped Neil Lennon’s side achieve promotion but he will not be part of the club’s first top-flight campaign since relegation in 2014.
‘Jason goes with our very best wishes,’ said Dempster via a club statement. ‘At this time last year, Jason had one year left on his contract and the club had spent time trying to secure him on a new deal.
‘Had we failed to secure that deal, it is likely that Jason’s contract would have run down. That would have meant that, had he wanted to, he could have signed a pre-contract with another club and then left for nothing this summer.’
Cummings will report for pre-season training with his new team-mates next week but took time to thank his former club for taking a chance on him after he found himself out of the game following his release from Hearts.
In a social media post, he said: ‘Hibs gave me a chance and believed in me and I’ll always be grateful for that.
‘Gutted to leave but I feel like it’s time to further my career. Thanks for all the memories and all the best for next season.’
Lennon has already recruited former Dundee United forward Simon Murray for next season but can be expected to move to secure a replacement for Cummings.
TOMMY WRIGHT has vented his frustration towards St Johnstone chairman Steve Brown after the loss of defender Tam Scobbie to Dundee United.
The Perth boss is unhappy at the failure to retain the left-sided defender, despite the 29-year-old’s willingness to take a pay cut and his own recommendation that a deal should be done.
The former Falkirk man had a campaign disrupted by injury but started regularly as Saints finished the season strongly to claim fourth spot in the Premiership and a European place.
‘It disappoints me that we weren’t able to keep him,’ said Wright. ‘I spoke to Thomas and he was prepared to take a pay cut to stay.
‘I don’t deal with the contracts, the chairman deals with that. My recommendation as manager was that he should stay. Ultimately, it’s up to the club to do the deal.
‘I certainly didn’t want him to leave. I tried everything for the club to get him to stay.’
As recently as last month, Brown stated that Wright’s ability to consistently achieve success on a tight budget would lead to his eventual departure to a bigger club.
Derek McInnes’ decision to remain at Aberdeen has closed off one potential avenue but, although far from unsettled, Wright is certainly not enamoured at losing a trusted player to a team in a lower division.
Despite his willingness to sacrifice, Scobbie found a more agreeable offer at Tannadice and he will now help Ray McKinnon’s side focus on gaining promotion from the Championship.
‘Dundee United have got a very good player,’ continued Wright. ‘He is someone who has been very underrated in his time here by quite a few people.
‘People maybe see him leaving for first-team football but that wasn’t the issue. Players like Thomas have been important for this club because it has been built on a squad, not one to 11.
‘I’m going to miss him on the pitch and off. He was a big influence and a character in the dressing room.’
Having also lost Danny Swanson and Michael Coulson this summer, Wright is in a hurry to add new faces to his squad.
Saints are due to find out their Europa League qualifying opponents tomorrow and, with the first leg of the tie to be played on June 29, they have now tied up former Sheffield United midfielder Stefan Scougall on a two-year deal.
He added: ‘I have lost Coulson, I have lost Danny Swanson and Tam Scobbie when I didn’t want to lose him. I’m now looking for a left-back which is something I hadn’t planned on.
‘It can be a frustrating time when things don’t go the way you like. Ultimately, the business will get done but as a manager you want to get things bedded in early, get people integrated into the group.
‘We have only four senior defenders at the minute. If anything was to happen to one of them, we are going to have to rely on some of the youngsters.’
St Johnstone have become regular participants in the European qualifiers under Wright, so he is used to preparing his players at this early juncture in the summer.
There have been memorable nights — notably in defeating Rosenborg and Luzern — but Wright would love to see the club break new ground by making it to the group stage of the tournament. However, he knows the odds are stacked against any team entering at this earliest of stages.
The club’s last involvement in the competition two years ago saw them pitted against Armenian side Alashkert and they fell at the first hurdle.
‘The stats prove it is difficult for teams coming in at this stage,’ he added. ‘We’re seeded for the first two rounds which is a help but that didn’t help us against Alashkert.
‘But you can’t be saying, let’s just get through two rounds. Our aim has to be to get into the group stage.’
Centre-back Joe Shaughnessy made his debut for the club against Alashkert and the 24-year-old Irishman remembers a physically taxing assignment.
‘It must have been about 40 degrees when we were playing,’ recalled the former Aberdeen defender. ‘There were quite a few new lads in the team and Alashkert were a lot better than we expected.
‘We’re definitely more settled and better prepared than the last time. There’s definitely a confidence there that we should be getting through as long as we can hit the ground running.’
Shaughnessy is the archetypal Saints player. His performances rarely excite but he is consistently effective and fully deserved recognition arrived at the end of the season when he was named in the SPFL team of the year.
‘I certainly didn’t expect that,’ he admitted. ‘It’s nice to know people rate me enough to put me in there. I’m probably a bit like the team, it seems to be the way of things here that even if you do well the season before, no one expects you to do it again.
‘But we keep on producing. For me, I’m just happy to plod along and do my job. I don’t need everyone talking about me!’