David Gray insists he’s been given no short term ultimatum by the Hibs board – but knows last week’s vote of confidence carried a warning that results must turn quickly.
The Easter Road side sit bottom of the Premiership table with just one win and eight points from 12 league games. Gray was given a vote of confidence by the Hibs board after the defeat to St Mirren a fortnight ago stretched the winless run to seven games. Next up is a trip to face Dundee on Saturday evening following by a Tuesday night clash with Aberdeen in Leith and then an away meeting with Motherwell next Saturday.
Hibs hero Gray – who was only appointed in June – has held detailed discussions with the hierarchy. But he’s been set no points target. He said: “No, no sort of ultimatum. It was pretty self-explanatory for me, which is you need to start winning quickly, we know that; I’m well aware of that.
“It’s not a case of one game, two games, three games, how many points it could be over the course of that. The position we find ourselves in at the moment as a football club isn’t good enough and we need to change that as quickly as we can and we’ve got an opportunity to try and do that at the weekend.
“If we win at the weekend, you go one point behind Dundee who are currently seventh in the league, so that’s how quickly that can change again. As I say, I’m not looking past that because I know the fine margins we’re dealing with at the moment.”
Hibs fans turned furiously on chief executive Ben Kensell, sporting director Malky Mackay, Gray and his players after the St Mirren defeat. But having sacked four managers in under three years the board gave the 36-year-old their backing in a statement released 48 hours later.
And Gray, who welcomes Mykola Kuharevich back from suspension this weekend, said: “Listen, the communication from myself, and the club has been very consistent ever since I took over, to be honest. I understand because of the position we’re in, the league position, the form, why the questions have been asked, why the club put a statement out.
“It wasn’t a surprise to me at all because of the conversations I’ve already been having. We know the position isn’t good enough, but also to come out and show the support that they’re still giving me, again, wasn’t a surprise to me because of the communication and the situation I inherited, which was the manager will be given time to try and turn things around – and we believe we will.
“I’m constantly explaining decisions, why we do things. I think everyone, myself, everyone involved, constant communications, myself and Malky, with Ben, with Ian, are always about trying to improve, trying to make us better because we know the situation we find ourselves in. It isn’t where we need to be at all, the league position, the form, but we know how quickly it can change as well, so it’s about sticking together and believing in what we’re doing.”
Asked if he feared their decision might go the other way after the Buddies defeat, Gray said: “No, I don’t think so. I was asked that even before the St Mirren game, I was asked the question about fearing for my job. I don’t think fear is the right word.
“I fully understand it’s not good enough, what I’ve delivered – and I’m responsible for the results after the number of games I’ve had. So, as I said after the game and I still stand by, I fully understand why people would ask the question and the noise would be there, 100 per cent, fully accept that.
“But I also believe I can turn it around and I still feel that way, even having the last two weeks on the grass with the players, the feeling I get from them is about how quickly things can change. But I also know that you don’t just get an endless amount of time. The statement clearly said as well that they’ve got support in the manager – but things need to improve.
“I need a reaction from the first half performance especially, which we got in the second half against St Mirren. I know we didn’t go and score to make it 2-2, but the reaction was then clearly there for the players, players that came on to the pitch made a difference, the togetherness is there, so some of the players that came on hadn’t been playing but they’re still massively part of it.
“You can see that with the way they performed, so there is a real togetherness still here. I still feel it all the time and they’re doing that every day in training, and I know that a lot of the players have come out and said what they’ve said and how they feel about it, but that also gives me the confidence knowing that there is still a real togetherness there and a desire to change it and I believe that we will.”
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