FOR Montgomery deserves the time to get it right
Montgomery inherited a right mess
Absolutely beyond all doubt. Hibs were bottom of the Scottish Premiership when Lee Johnson left the building and, although David Gray had steered them to their first league points of the season just before Montgomery’s arrival, nobody would argue that the new man was being asked to build on a position of strength.
Hibs have been soft for years, under a series of different gaffers. There’s a reason why rival fans have taken to calling them Collapse FC. And everyone’s heard the ‘falling apart’ chant so beloved by opposition supporters.
Expecting any manager to change the collective mentality in one January transfer window – always the worst possible time to recruit – hardly seems realistic.
He hasn’t been given a chance to rebuild
This is true. While it’s easy to say Hibs should always be competing for European places simply because they’ve got a far bigger budget than, say, St Mirren or Kilmarnock, Montgomery hasn’t spent a penny of that budget. Not really.
Most January arrivals were loan deals. His one proper signing to date, Nathan Moriah-Welsh, arrived on a free from Bournemouth. Monty isn’t the guy who gave Riley Harbottle a three-year contract last summer.
The question asked by all boards when sitting in judgement over a manager, however, is whether they trust him to spend whatever funds might be set aside for the summer window, when all of the best business is traditionally done. Even when the funds are likely to be limited – which is now the case at Hibs.
Failure to make the top six will have a serious impact on their budget for season 2024-25. When every penny is a prisoner, absolute faith in the manager’s ability to spot a player – and accurately predict how said talent will fit into the existing group – is a necessity.