David Gray insists there’s no crisis at rock bottom Hibs ahead of Sunday’s basement battle derby showdown with Hearts. But he has reminded his players they are paid to win football matches – not just play the game.
The Easter Road boss knows dumping the Jambos in his first capital clash as manager would go a long way to lifting the gloom setting in around Easter Road with his side rooted to the bottom on goal difference behind their arch rivals. But he is adamant there’s no panic in the ranks – and insists a win this weekend will quickly turn the narrative.
Hibs have won just one of their eight league games and have lost three on the spin – imploding spectacularly after red cards in the last two. Gray said: “No, it’s not a crisis. I think it needs to be better. I think we all know that. As I’ve said to the players, we’re not looking for excuses. We’re not using the fact that we went down to 10 men in the last two games as an excuse for not getting results.
“Is it a factor? Of course it is. I think momentum in games, there’s all sorts of things that go that way against you at times but we also know what’s in the group, we also know how good we can be when we do get it right and I’ve still got that firm belief in everybody involved that we will turn it round.
“I feel it on Monday when we came back in here, people are hurting straight away because they know we can be doing better in terms of results. We’re being judged on results, which is rightly so, that’s what you get paid to do. Being a football player, you don’t just get paid to play football, I don’t just get paid to coach the team, I get paid to win games of football. That is the ultimate challenge that faces us as players and staff. And I think we all know that and we all need to be doing better to make sure that we can get that.”
Hibs were winning 2-1 when skipper Joe Newell saw red in the 85th minute at Dundee United on Saturday – and went on to lose to two injury time goals. For Gray it was a painfully similar outcome to the previous outing when Nectar Triantis was ordered off at 1-1 against Motherwell before the Steelmen snatched a late winner.
Hibs hero Gray knows as well as anyone the emotion that courses through a derby clash with Hearts. That will be amplified this weekend with the two sides locked at the bottom. And the manager has demanded his players keep their cool.
He said: “There has to be a calmness, 100 per cent. You need to be calm in the chaos. You can’t allow your emotions to get the better of you or be reckless within the game.
“I think once the game starts though, it’s using the momentum and the motivation, what’s at stake and what we can get from the game and feeding off the crowd. I think that’s something I always loved as a player. The extra noise and enthusiasm to drive you forward can really be a bonus and we need to make sure we have that in the game.”
Despite the costly red cards in the last two outings Gray is adamant there’s no problem with discipline in his ranks. He added: “I can’t sit and say is discipline a problem. I think when we go down to 10 men, the decision making we’re making at times is definitely a problem. That we need to fix, we know that.
“I’ve said many times nobody does these things on purpose. I think even in the context of Joe’s second yellow card, there’s nobody more disappointed than him. He feels that and rightly so because he knows he shouldn’t do what he does.
“During these times when we do make mistakes, this is when you need to rally around. Your teammates need to work even harder to go extra lengths to make sure that you dig your mate out of the hole. I think that’s something we need to definitely get better at.
“All you can do is address the issues as quickly as you can. Talk about them and try and learn from them as quickly as you can.”