Ron Gordon has defended the role of his son in Hibernian’s recruitment and promised the new manager will have the final say on this summer’s new signings.
Gordon installed son Ian as head of recruitment in a shake-up earlier this season after the departure of Graeme Mathie and insists he understands accusations of nepotism.
He is adamant Gordon Jr is not ‘untouchable’ and his work will be scrutinised in the same way as any other employee.
But some supporters have questioned the former technical scout’s credentials for such a key role at the club.
He was in place for the January transfer window, during which Hibs signed 10 new players.
Despite that overhaul manager Shaun Maloney claimed a major revamp would be required this summer – before he was unceremoniously sacked as manager on Tuesday, after just four months in charge
And Gordon Sr has backed his son and staff to identify the right talent for Maloney’s replacement.
He said: “No position is untouchable, I would start by saying that. Whoever is not doing a good job and is not contributing to the success of the club is not going to work.
“What you will find in me is a commitment to Hibs, I think second to none. I’m not going to trade off a commitment to excellent if it’s not happening.
“To be honest with you, I get why people ask the question, whether Ian is the right guy for that job. I get it, because he’s my son.
“But I think he’s working extremely hard, he’s got very good insights, and he’s put together a very solid team to help him.
“But he is just one player in a team in the recruiting department. He doesn’t make the decisions, he co-ordinates the vetting of the options that the club has. That’s really what the recruitment department is doing.
“At the end of the day, we have a committee that decides. The manager has the final say. We’re not going to stick the manager with a player he doesn’t want.
“But we’re going to bring to the manager the best options.
“So, I think we’re trying to make a mountain out of a molehill with his particular issue. I know this is a little bit of a niggle for some people but the recruitment department at this point has six people.
“The commitment is there for us this summer (in terms of signings). We have some holes and we’re very focused on that.
“The only caveat is we would like to get the manager in place before we make some of these final decisions, because ultimately they’re going to be playing for that individual and we want to make sure he’s comfortable with whomever we bring to the club.”
Gordon Sr has backed Hibs’ business in the January transfer window, when the likes of Harry Clarke, Rocky Bushiri, Demetri Mitchell, Sylvester Jasper, Ewan Henderson and Elias Melkersen were recruited.
However, he has confessed that Martin Boyle’s big-money sale to Saudi Arabia, combined with injuries to Kevin Nisbet and Christian Doidge, have left the team woefully short of options in attack.
That is one area in which Gordon admits Hibs need to strengthen in the summer.
He added: “In terms of player recruitment, I don’t really buy the premise that it’s not been good enough, because I do think when you look at the players we’ve been bringing in there’s a certain calibre and level.
“Perhaps they’re a little bit on the younger side and we need to maybe balance that out. And we have some holes we need to fill. I think we’re aware of that.
“But I think if you look at the players who have come in over the last six months those are all quality players.
“This is my perception, and I know it’s shared by others, but I think our squad is better than it’s showing. I honestly believe when you look at our squad man for man, we certainly had a top-six squad.
“Can we improve it? We need to improve it at the top of the pitch.
“We’ve had issues. Losing Martin Boyle was certainly not in our plans, but circumstances dictated that, having Kevin get injured, having Christian Doidge injured and not fully fit, losing Demetri, losing Harry Clarke - these are all significant players who give us offensive energy and we lost them.
“So, we’ve got to rebuild that and certainly the top of the pitch is an area where we’re looking to strengthen this summer.
“But, generally speaking, when I look at the recruitment it’s headed in the right direction.”
