Ron Gordon may regret his Shaun Maloney “gamble” but Joe Newell reckons the safest bet for the Hibs chairman would be to give Leith legend David Gray the gig on a permanent basis.
Gordon went all in on rookie boss Maloney when he handed the former Celtic ace his first job in management back in December.
It was a bold move by the American tycoon, who was hoping Maloney could replicate some of the swashbuckling action he’d helped Roberto Martinez’s star-studded Belgium side produce.
But the risk-reward balance never came close to tipping in his favour and Gordon was forced to tear up his coupon after just 120 days, with Hibs’ dreams of the top six and Europe left in tatters after Maloney mustered a meagre six wins from his 19 games in charge.
The search is now on for the club’s third boss of a wretched campaign, with Gordon promising to lead the hunt for a proven gaffer with a track record of success.
But Newell believes the answer could be sitting right under the chairman’s nose.
Former skipper Gray – the man who delivered the club’s greatest moment with his 2016 Scottish Cup winner – has stepped into the breach for the second time this year by taking caretaker command. And he helped steady the ship with Saturday’s win over St Mirren, which should rule out the vague threat of relegation.
That’s the smallest of mercies for an outfit with much bigger ambitions but returning some semblance of stability to the club is now the aim for the short-term. And Newell knows who he’d put his money on.
After Ewan Henderson’s winner handed Hibs just their second league win of the year, Newell said: “David Gray needs no backing from me to tell you what he’s like as a football man.
“He’s a legend at this club and he would have been a legend even without that goal because he has been here that long and has so much respect from the players and everyone at the club.
“He’s a great guy so whatever the club wish to do with that is up to them but the players would be behind him.
“He has transitioned from everyone’s team-mate, everyone’s captain, to a coach and has done it very well. I’m sure he’s learned a lot this year, so whatever the club decide to do with that, whether they go with him or not, Dave will have all of our backing.
“He will be a manager in the future. I think he wants to be and he has the personality to do that.
“He’s a good guy, has good man-management skills and has worked under two different managers already this season.
“He will have learned a lot so going forward in the game, coaching wise, he will do very well.”
It appeared at times Maloney was trying to do too much too soon with a squad that never looked comfortable taking so many risks playing out from the back.
Those frailties were brutally exposed by Hearts during two derby defeats that ultimately cost the 39-year-old his job.
So it was no shock to see Gray stripping back the tiki-taka tactics and instead asking his players to get back to basics against Saints.
It wasn’t pretty. For 45 minutes it was pretty brutal from both sides.
Saints were in just as dark a mood as their opponents after also missing out on the top six and a dire first half was summed up when Newell wasted his side’s best chance with a wild fresh-air swipe.
But Hibs got the result that moved them 10 points clear of second-bottom St Johnstone after Henderson burst beyond the Buddies’ backline to squeeze home a fine finish at Jak Alnwick’s near post with 16 minutes left.
Newell said: “We knew we needed a win and the last thing you want is to be looking over your shoulder at this stage because it gets a bit nervy.
“The end of the season isn’t what we wanted, you don’t want to be playing dead rubbers, you want to be competing for stuff. But the position we’re in, it’s nice to finally feel safe.
“You want to be competing for Europe and in a cup final and it’s crap when you are playing games at the end of the season that are for nothing.
“That’s the season and it’s not just down to the last few games. It’s been the whole season and we just haven’t been good enough.
“In this game it was really just good to get the job done.”
