Ian Gordon finally spoke and he spoke at length. The Hibs owner last week conducted a series of interviews as he finally broke his silence since arriving in Scotland to initially work for the club his dad had purchased.
The American was up front about mistakes made in the past. There was an admittance of fault with regards to bloating the squad, creating a behind-the-scenes structure which didn't possess the required expertise, and changing managers too often to try and pacify an emotionally-charged, disgruntled fanbase.
It was undoubtedly the right thing to do. Hibs supporters have been starved of communication from the very top since Ian took over the running of the club following the passing of father Ron in February 2023. Scottish football fans are notoriously demanding and are certainly guilty of being too knee-jerk at times, but lines of communication from the custodians to the lifeblood should always be there, and it's been one of many aspects of life at Easter Road recently which hasn't been good enough.
Regrettably, it's something supporters are used to. Former owner Sir Tom Farmer was always explicitly a back-seat figure, which was forgivable since he saved the club from potential extinction despite not having really any passion at all for football. He preferred to leave it in the hands of people who knew what they were doing, or at least were supposed to. Unfortunately, long-term chief executive Rod Petrie often appeared stubborn or dismissive whenever he felt moved to face the music on whatever problem Leith's most famous institution was experiencing at the time.
Gordon certainly appeared contrite, admitting blame in a manner you wouldn't normally expect from owners, who typically deploy deflection tactics. But even after giving so many answers, a good few questions remained.
He talked about the need to bring the wage bill down, but it remains to be seen how that will affect performances on the park over the coming transfer windows. Recent Scottish football history has been littered with managers who've maintained success on the park while seeing their budget slashed. However, it's rarer for a manager to elevate both performances and league position when he's having to fight against the tide. Hibs were a bottom six club last season and, though they are beginning to look improved after Saturday's routine win over St Johnstone, it's hard to imagine them making a serious challenge to Aberdeen for third this season, which is where supporters want them to be.
Gordon can stress his newfound respect for stability at the manager's position, but it's a huge task for David Gray in his first job. His status as a Hibs legend is untouchable, regardless of how this spell in charge goes, and should buy him a bit more time than your average coach, but there's still a feeling of skepticism around appointing someone without prior experience in the hotseat. If the fans turn hostile at any point this campaign or next, will Gordon now have the resolve to stand behind the man he appointed?
On the subject of backing employees, Gordon also insisted there was no plans to make a change at CEO despite Ben Kensell's unpopularity with the fans. In fairness, he was hardly going to say "aye, I'll be booting him out the door soon" but when you're talking about bringing expenses down, it may be prudent to look at a position which once handled the business side and the football side of the operation but now mainly looks after one of those while still, presumably, costing the same six-figure salary.
On that topic, the hiring of Malky Mackay as sporting director was addressed. The existence of the elephant in the room was denied as Gordon insisted there was no issue with the Black Knights and investor Bill Foley, despite the latter revealing earlier this summer that Hibs hadn't listened to their advice before appointing both Mackay and Gray. Gordon played it down, saying it was all part of a collective process, but it doesn't augur well when one key member of that group – and a man who recently gave you £6 million – is complaining about things to the media and the recent transfer window saw no players within the Black Knights network enter Easter Road. Missing too from the discussion about Mackay’s appointment was the fact his appointment returned Hibs to the model that the Gordons inherited when they took over.
Gordon also admitted a mea culpa regarding the infamous period where he was quietly made the club's head of recruitment, a position he kept for the best part of two years. His explanation was that it made sense to the family at the time as they examined the structure of the club. What he didn't elaborate on was why, if they thought it was the right thing to do, they were secretive about it: making no announcement, listing him in the role on the club's website then removing that once fans started asking questions, while also trying to get the word out through the media that this wasn't in fact the case.
For this writer, the importance of the local community at Hibs was an issue which was conspicuous by its absence across these interviews. Not long after the Gordons took over, they were quite ruthless in moving out loyal and long-serving employees who were devoted supporters of the club in order to bring in their own people. Other than the treatment of former community engagement manager Sue McLernon, this hasn't really been reported on in the media but is well-known throughout the fanbase. Is that one of his regrets? Does he recognise now the importance of having people working for the club who have passionately wanted Hibs to succeed their entire lives?
Gordon certainly seems to share his father's passion for making a success of things at Easter Road. This fronting up was designed to be a line drawn in the sand. Mistakes were made, now let's move on together. The problem is that crowds have shrunk over the course of his family's ownership and while there were many who were pleased with what they heard, many others remain to be convinced. And how could you blame them?
