Therewill be a few people nervously watching Hibs’ last 10 games of the Premiership season with their finger poised over the ‘delete tweet’ button.
The decision to give David Gray the job last summer was not universally welcomed and there were plenty willing to clatter the keyboard as they took aim at Ian Gordon. I was right behind his appointment but I’ll be the first to admit I did openly question some of the other calls made by the club’s US owner as well as former CEO Ben Kensell. I wasn’t the only one.
I’m sure we all remember Bill Foley’s comments when hitting out in the wake of his Black Knight group being overruled on giving the job to Gray after Nick Montgomery’s sacking. With Hibs toiling after a horrid start, it looked like fair comment. But Gordon will feel he can now, quite rightly, tell his doubters to f*** off. And I’ll happily admit I was wrong about Gordon if Davie and his team can seal a remarkable turnaround to lead the club to third place.
But maybe only after I join the other naysayers in rushing to wipe those critical posts from my X account. I imagine Ian will have all the screenshots saved anyway so he can have a pop back. He’ll be well within his rights to do so if Hibs can finish the season off strongly.
The Black Knight folk will certainly owe Gordon and big Malky Mackay – appointed sporting director last summer too – an apology if Hibs can pull this off. Publicly questioning the appointment of Gray was an appalling move – even if they were right to demand a bigger say in the running of the club having sunk £6million in last summer.
Talking of millions, it was great to see Gordon take accountability for the mistakes he has undoubtedly made by announcing his family will cover this year’s £7.2million losses. It must be great to have that kind of cash to throw around.
If Ian wants to take a look at my gas bill, he’s more than welcome. But it’s a move that will put a lot of Hibs fans’ minds at ease amid fears of a growing debt pile.
Supporters will always have that worry about what happens next if the owner decides to pull the plug. You only have to look back to what happened when Vladimir Romanov did just that across the city.
But Gordon has shown again that he is committed to Hibs, which is hugely reassuring. It will have been a costly lesson for the owners but perhaps it will teach Ian to be a bit more careful with his decision-making in future.
The situation Hibs have got themselves into, financially, is entirely self-inflicted and began with the decision to sack Jack Ross. Since then, it’s been a catalogue of expensive mistakes. But hopefully things can perhaps start looking up now.
With life going so well on the pitch, the last thing Hibs need is off-field troubles to dampen the feel-good factor Gray’s players are generating.
The fans are right behind the team again – as you saw after last weekend’s win over Celtic with that rendition of Sunshine on Leith. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen those kind of scenes at Easter Road and Davie will not want anything interfering with that,
not with a huge game coming up on Sunday.
I read my rival Record Sport columnist Ryan Stevenson write that this weekend’s derby is the biggest in years. I don’t often agree with what the former Jambo has to say but he’s bang on this time. It’s a key match for both clubs as they chase third and, for once, the two teams are coming in with confidence surging.
Neil Critchley has done a great job getting Hearts going again, just as Gray has with his side. And there is a huge prize ahead for whichever team comes out on top.
If you can pip Aberdeen and Dundee United to third, you will be guaranteed group stage football if Celtic win the cup. They’ll have a play-off game to reach the Europa League, with the safety net offering a route into the Conference.
We’ve seen how much money clubs can make in these tournaments, which is why the four hopefuls will be doing all they can to snatch third. If you spend the cash wisely, you can go and put a stranglehold on that best-of-the-rest slot.
But right now, Hibs just need to concentrate on seeing off Hearts. The gap is four points but a win will take it to seven, which would be a massive advantage with 29 games played.
There’s still a long way to go but I really feel Hibs are on the right track.
They’ve got a real steeliness about them and it’s been a long, long time since I’ve be able to say that about a Hibs outfit. For me, they mirror their manager.
As a player, Davie was a hardy character with a good mentality. When Hibs went 1-0 down on Wednesday night to Dundee United, I was waiting for all those tweets about them “Hibsing it”.
But maybe the critics had deleted them all by the time the full-time whistle had gone…