THE FUEL MONTY
Stubbsy: Other boards may have pulled trigger before 2016.. if Nick is Hibs’ man, give him a good run
ALAN STUBBS led Hibs to their stunning Scottish Cup success in 2016 – but admits he might not have even made it to Hampden under the current trigger-happy board.
The former easter Road gaffer fell short in his big target of getting promotion back to the top flight eight years ago.
But he delivered the ultimate glory when he ended their 114-year wait for Scottish Cup silverware.
It’s been a rollercoaster ride for Hibs ever since and several managers have paid the price since American Ron Gordon and his family took ownership.
Nick Montgomery’s in the firing line now with the side in the bottom six and while Stubbs admitted the club are not getting a bang for their bucks, he hopes the boss can get the backing he received.
Hibs face Rangers on Sunday in the last eight on the road to Hampden and Stubbs said: “you’ve seen the turnaround of managers at the club and I think their wage bill is high as it’s ever been.
“But they have stalled a little this season. Hibs have not hit the heights you’d expect and their position is not a reflection of their spending.
“I just feel their recruitment has been left short over the last couple of years.
“When you look at what they’ve got for their budget, they have underachieved.
“The club would want to be pushing for top four and this would have been one of the years they would have a chance with Aberdeen struggling. It was realistically up for grabs – but they’re nowhere near it.
“The club has to have some sort of stability though. They can’t keep changing managers.
“If they think he’s the right guy – and they must have done when they appointed him – they need to give him a good run, unless things are drastically going wrong, which they don’t seem to be.
“When you’re trying to achieve something you need a bit of assurance from above.
“you have to believe. The good thing I had at Hibs was, we were all on the same page. There were no differences of opinion over how we wanted to progress.
“We failed on our priority in our second year, because we didn’t get promotion. It wasn’t to be but I think they could see what we were doing on the pitch.
“Some other clubs might have pulled the trigger quicker. That’s where you need people who don’t just believe in you but who are strong characters.
“I had that and thankfully we were able to repay their confidence with a trophy.
“Whenever you are trying to win people over and putting a stamp on the club, it’s important to get big results. This weekend for Nick, it will be a big result if he wins against Rangers.”
Stubbs would love to see his old club repeat the feat of 2016 – when they overcame Mark Warburton’s Gers in a 3-2 Hampden epic that had just about everything from last-gasp goals to a post-match pitch invasion.
He said: “I still get that hairs-on-theback-of-your-neck moment when you watch clips of it.
“On the day was it was a really good game of football.
“There has to be one winner and that day it fell on our side. With what went on around it in terms of the timescale since Hibs had won the last Scottish Cup, that made it more of a special occasion.
“My only regret – and it’s only a small one – is the fact we didn’t have a chance to do a lap of honour in front of the fans with the cup and celebrate that way but I’m not complaining.
“It was 114 years of frustration boiled over on the day.
“This is obviously going to be tough. This Rangers team are more of a winning machine.
“They’re stronger and they’re steamrolling a few teams because of their physicality and their power.”
● Alan Stubbs was promoting Viaplay’s live and exclusive coverage of Celtic v Livingston & Hibs v Rangers on Sunday. Available to stream from viaplay. com or Sky, Virgin and Prime as an add-on subscription.