Gray urges Hibs to move quickly
David Gray has urged Hibs to move quickly to appoint a new manager after finishing his fourth spell as caretaker boss with a 1-1 draw at Livingston.
Gray was placed in interim charge following the sacking of Nick Montgomery last week, collecting four points from the final two league fixtures as Hibs finished seventh in the Premiership table.
The 46-year-old is considered among the main contenders to become the next permanent boss and he urged the Easter Road hierarchy to waste no time in filling the vacancy to give the team the best chance of hitting the ground running next season.
“My full focus has been just on a difficult period that we were in and was just to get to the end of the season and I’m suremovingforwardwe’llfind out exactly what is happening," he said.
“I think for the football club, the League Cup starts straight away, so you need to be as quick as you can making sure you come in on day one of preseason with a clear idea of what needs to be done because Hibs need to be competing for the opportunity of winning trophies and that competition starts very early.”
On doing his own cause no harm during his latest interim tenure, Gray added: “Listen, unfortunately, every time I have been in this position it has always been in difficult situations.asihavesaidmanytimes, it is about trying to get a reac-* tion out of the players, first and foremost.andthenfromthere, very conscious of the fact people have lost their jobs, so it is not always about me at all.
“On reflection, with every time I have been in the position, you always then start to get a little taste for it to find out exactly and assess what you think went well and what didn’t. I think every time I have been in the position, I have learned from the previous experiences, which has definitely helped me.”
Myziane Maolida signed off his Hibs spell with another goal – the Comoros international’s 11th since joining onloan from Hertha Berlin in January – but Gray was unable to give a definitive answer on the attacker's future.
“That’s not a question for me. I was asked to prepare them as best I could between last week and today," he said.
“Moving forward, I’m sure there will be many suitors for him, if he is available. But that’s a question for the next manager and the powers that be at the football club. I think if you can get a player with that quality, it can only add to your squad, 100 per cent.”
Gray was also quizzed on Lewis Stevenson's assertion that Hibs are making a “big mistake” in letting Paul Hanlon go, with the 34-year-old defender set to be released upon the expiry of his contract. Asked if that decision – taken under previous manager Montgomery – could be reversed, Gray said: “That’s a question between Paul and the football club.
"Listen, Paul and Lew have had fantastic careers here and they will both keep playing, I am very confident of that. They both showed the other night they are more than capable of playing at this level and I 100 per cent agree with that.”
The League Cup starts straight away, so you need to be as quick as you can David Gray
brought the curtain down on a season to forget with a 1-1 draw in Livingston that neither boosted nor damaged David Gray's chances of becoming permanent manager.
While a meaningless endof-season encounter against an already relegated side may not count for much, Gray has now accrued a not insignificant sample size of 12 matches in caretaker charge over four separate spells.
Five wins, three draws and four defeats is a mixed record, but considering that each short-lived tenure has come amid difficult circumstances, the 2016 Scottish Cup hero has fared particularly well.
Consider also that two of his defeats were to Celtic in a League Cup final and away to Aston Villa in Europe and his record looks even better.
As Hibs search for their sixth manager in four years, the answer could be right under their noses. With Malky Mackay in the building, it could be the right time for Hibs to take a chance on an up and coming young manager-in-waiting – who also happens to be a club legend – under the wing of an experienced sporting director.
This stalemate at the Tony Macaroni Arena will be unlikely to feature heavily in the Easter Road hierarchy's final decision as both sides looked keen to draw a line under diiffcult campaigns.
Hibs’ failure to make the top six cost Nick Montgomery his job. For Livingston, the Championship now beckons and they will hope they can do a Dundee United and bounce straight back up, rather than an Inverness, who now find themselves in League One nine years after finishing third in the top flight.
"There is still going to be a good group at the football club that can hopefully take them back to the Premiership," said manager David Martindale, whose own future remains uncertain amid an ongoing legal dispute over the ownership of the club.
For Hibs, the game marked the end of an era. Paul Hanhibs
lon wore the captain's armband and received a standing ovation from the travelling fans as he left the field for the final time with five minutes remaining.
He and Lewis Stevenson are to depart the club this summer after over two decades of service. More comings and goings are likely with a chunk of the £6 million injection from Bill Foley's Black Knights group set to be spent on improving the squad.
Keeping hold of Myziane
Maolida would be a statement of intent but it would seem more likely that this was his Hibs swansong ahead of his return to Hertha Berlin following a highly fruitful fivemonth loan.
The Comoros international signed off with another goal – his 11th in 19 appearances for Hibs – which highlighted his quality as he showed quick feet at the edge of the box to create a chance out of nothing before firing a volley into the net via a slight nick off a
defender. Maolida's 49th minute opener was only the third shot on target in the game after an eventful first half.
The second half was a little livelier and Livingston gave their home fans something to cheer with an equaliser from Bruce Anderson in the 67th minute.
The striker, playing his last game for the club, controlled a Joel Nouble cross at the back post and side-footed home as Hibs claimed unsuccessfully for a push in the box.