RASCAL & ROOKIE
Hibs pair can prove to be a hit for Lennon
THE RASCAL and The Rookie. It sounds like some god-awful cop series that never made it past pilot.
Still, in football terms, pairing a wisecracking, rule-bending veteran with a relatively raw newcomer might make a hit.
And with Neil Lennon keeping an eye on the striking duo of Anthony Stokes and Simon Murray, promising to use a ‘stick across the backside’ should the former stray towards the ‘maverick’ side of his character, the risk of a flop should be reduced.
The Hibs manager took a couple of calculated gambles when he went all-in for Murray and Stokes this summer.
After one top-flight appearance for the Easter Road side, Murray has done a fair bit to silence the early grumbles of supporters, many of whom saw the Dundee United forward as too raw for the Premiership.
If Scottish Cup hero Stokes was always going to be welcomed warmly for a third stint in Leith, the Irishman’s reputation for waywardness inevitably raised some doubts.
Lennon, despite joking that ‘keeping Stokesy’s head in the right place… is a difficult thing to do!’, is deadly serious about the 29-year-old’s intentions.
‘I don’t think he takes a lot of managing,’ said the former Celtic boss, who worked with Stokes at Parkhead.
‘We have these figures in the game. The mavericks. The rascals. And, sometimes, the stories around them get blown out of all proportion. ‘But I’ve known him for a long time and I know the type of kid he is. He’s all right. ‘Yeah, if he needs a stick across the backside, then he’ll get one. ‘Look, he hasn’t come here for the money because there were overtures from abroad, places he could have gone to and earned a lot more money. ‘But he’s at the stage of his career where he needs to play — and he knows he’s got a great chance of playing here on a regular basis. ‘There is a familiarity there with myself and the club, too. ‘He also knows there is a line that he can’t cross with me.’ Insisting that he would never shy away from managing ‘characters’ deemed too much trouble by some coaches, Lennon (inset) said: ‘I think sometimes it gets blown out of proportion.
‘There is no doubting his ability. And you don’t lose the ability.
‘Sometimes you lose your way, whether it be through injury or things away from football.
‘But, if you can get him right and focused, the talent is still there.
‘He’s fit, he’s in great condition, he just needs match sharpness now.’
Stokes made a fairly uneventful 20-minute cameo from the bench in Saturday’s opening Premiership win at home to Partick Thistle — and spent 15 of those minutes alongside Murray, who was given a huge ovation when replaced.
The 25-year-old, whose route to Scotland’s top flight includes spells at Tayport and Dundee Violet, bagged his eighth of the season — from the penalty spot — in the weekend’s 3-1 triumph.
Lennon sees Stokes and Murray as his ideal partnership, with the younger man’s progress having surprised the Hibs coaching staff.
‘I knew all about his work rate and his physical attributes — but what I saw on Saturday that pleased me was his link-up play, which was superb,’ admitted the head coach, who welcomes Ayr United to Easter Road this evening for one of the tastier ties on the Betfred Cup card.
‘Even his first touch, which has been a little bit inconsistent, was very, very good.
‘So, he’s in a good place at the minute and, yes, he has exceeded my expectations so far.
‘What I liked about him was he got 18 goals last season, but he didn’t always start.
‘I watched him in the play-off games and, in the Falkirk game, Falkirk were the better team over the two legs. But he grabbed Dundee United by the scruff of the neck and really took the game to Falkirk. That showed me a lot of desire — and he’s brought that with him.
‘What we want to do is polish off the rough edges — if there are any.
‘But he’s doing it by himself at the minute. We haven’t really had to do a lot of work with him and his attitude has been fantastic.
‘I’ve had all kinds of different striker goals from him already. I think the fans appreciate his work rate and the stuff he does off the ball for the team.’
Murray suffered initially because supporters saw him as a direct replacement for Jason Cummings, despite Lennon making it pretty clear that last season’s top scorer was virtually irreplaceable.
What the manager is trying to do is put together a more rounded front line, saying of Murray: ‘He’s got different qualities that he’s brought to the team.
‘Allied to Stokes, Danny Swanson and Martin Boyle, we’ve got a decent front line now.
‘Will Stokes and Murray play together? Of course. In the main, I will go with two strikers.
‘I think I’ve got two really good ones in that pair, plus another who is different in Deivydas (Matulevicius).’