Hibees Mart all over again
in January but was forced to take a pay cut when they were relegated at the end of last term.
That opened the door for a stunning Leith homecoming as fans waited eagerly after manager Lee Johnson admitted this week Hibs would be forced to pay up to get the winger back through the door.
Their patience was rewarded as Boyle’s second stint in the capital was conf i rmed with the promise he’ll be on hand to watch Johnson’s side clash with their city rivals.
A club statement said: “We can conf irm that Hibernian has come to an agreement w ith Al-Faisaly for the transfer of Martin Boyle.
“We wi l l announce Boy le ba ck t o the Hibernian faithful on Sunday ahead of our game against Hearts, so make sure you arrive 15 minutes early. Further information rregarding the transfer and BBoyle’s contract will be rrevealed to supporters in due course.
“Everyone at Hibernian iis delighted to see Boyle rreturn to the club!”
A statement from AlFFaisaly said: “The club’s management has agreed tto an offer from Scottish club Hibernian on the ttransfer of Austral ian fifirst-team player Martin BBoyle, wishing him more success.”
Meanwhile, Johnson has called on Hibs’ ball-boys to play their part in a famous derby win over Hearts.
The Easter Road gaffer wants them to get involved i n today ’ s clash by speeding up the game.
Johnson was annoyed at St Johnstone last week that in 97 minutes, the ball was only in play for 41.
The Hibees gaffer says that makes Scottish footbal l BORING and believes the ball-boys can ensure it doesn’t happen in the derby.
Johnson invited them into the club’s Tranent t ra ining cent re on Wednesday for a training session.
Ahead of Hearts’ first visit to Leith this season, Johnson said: “At St Johnstone the ball was in play for 41 minutes.
“What are we doing about this? How boring is
that? We have to speed up the ball-boys and referees have to manage the game better to keep it flowing.
“We can’t accept people wasting time all the time.
“We have to create a brand for Scottish football and part of that is high tempo, keeping the ball in play for as long as possible.
“It’s bril liant that in Scotland we have multiball so the authorities have obviously thought about it. In England they don’t and it frustrates me.
“I pl a y e d a g a i n s t Northampton and the ball was in play for 29 minutes. They were shelling it out the park, it was crazy.
“Players were having to run into the stand to get the ball back – it was more like rugby.
“I’m not moaning at St Johnstone but last week was boring, we have to set an entertaining tempo.
“The best games are end-to-end and will be full of action.
“If you watch Celtic’s ball-boys, they’re fantastic. They’re d r i l led l i ke Wimbledon ball-boys.
“If Celtic are down or d r awi n g , t he ba l l comes back rapidly and throw- ins are taken in five seconds.
“We had our ball-boys in on Wednesday. We had a kick- about with them and tried to create a fast-paced tempo.
“We tried to make it like the tempo of a derby, f inding the solutions within that.
“We had a catch-up with them and at the end made sure they’re switched on. They were brilliant.
“We gave them little scenarios and it was good because they were involved in the performance.
“We talk about fans being involved but the ball-boys can be another big part of it.”