Former Leeds and Reading boss Brian McDermott has been announced as Hibs' new sporting director.
The Easter Road side have been on the lookout for a new appointment to aid Lee Johnson with recruitment and held talks with Mixu Paatelainen over the vacant post. But it emerged on Wednesday night that the experienced McDermott was the frontrunner and he has now been announced by the club ahead of officially joining the Premiership side in the summer.
McDermott has been out of work since leaving Reading in 2016 but carries a wealth of experience at all levels of the game. His playing career took him from Arsenal to Sweden while he also scouted for the north London side and he now takes up a prominent post in Leith. He said: I’m delighted to join such a great, community-orientated club like Hibernian FC.
“I scouted Hibs games many times in the past and have always been taken by the fantastic atmosphere at Easter Road. I am very grateful for this opportunity. Having met the Chairman, the Board of Directors, Executives, Lee Johnson, all the staff, and understanding more around the culture of the Football Club and the objectives, I’m really excited about the challenge.”
Chief executive Ben Kensell added: "We are delighted with the appointment of Brian McDermott after a long and extensive process. We are conscious that this appointment has taken some time, which is partly due to the sad passing of our late Chairman Ronald J Gordon, but we also wanted to make sure that we had the right steps in place and a thorough process, to make sure we’ve got the right person in the door.
“Brian joins us with substantial experience in the game and has worked across numerous different roles across a Football Club on the sporting side, which sets him up perfectly for this role. We also wanted someone that has a strong recruitment bias, and he has that in abundance having scouted across the world for some high-level clubs. Brian’s background, contacts, and experience will be vital as we continue to move the Club forwards.”
