Bill Foley and the Hibs hierarchy have met for showdown talks but the future of under pressure boss David Gray was NOT on the agenda.
The American, who owns a minority share in Hibs via his Black Knights group, caused a stir earlier this season when he publicly admitted that the Easter Road hierarchy “weren’t listening” to them and that performances and results might improve if they did.
That cast doubt on whether Foley, his rep on the Leith club’s board Ryan Caswell and Black Knight Football Club president Tim Bezbatchenko really wanted Gray in the hotseat. CEO Ben Kensell and sporting director Malky Mackay, as well as head of recruitment Ian Gordon have since insisted that the relationship with Foley and his people remains strong. But they still held clear-the-air discussions when Kensell and Gordon jetted out to Las Vegas for a summit during the recent international break. However, the Daily Mail reports Gray’s future was not part of the discussion.
That’s not to say it won’t be in the near future, however. Since the meeting, the Hibees have slipped to the bottom of the Premiership table thanks to a stunning stoppage time collapse against Dundee Utd at Tannadice on Saturday.
A first league win of the season for rivals Hearts, who beat St Mirren 4-0 at Tynecastle, saw the capital clubs swap places ahead of this Sunday’s first Edinburgh derby clash of the season. Should Neil Critchley inflict defeat on Gray, then the pressure would be ramped up even further on the Scottish Cup winning legend, who was promoted to the top job in the summer following Nick Montgomery’s sacking.
A weekly dialogue between Hibs chiefs and Bezbatchcenko has now been opened up, and the hope in Leith is that there is a positive derby result to report back on next week.