Seven days til bedlam. The Edinburgh derby is on the horizon but there’s two crucial matches before Hearts and their top three bandwagon arrive at Easter Road.
The pressure cooker is about to hit fever pitch.
Which is why Shaun Maloney might just be regretting getting all hot and bothered about Jack Ross.
Maloney claimed he found his Hibs predecessor's comments on Martin Boyle - suggesting the player should be allowed to take up an offer of life-changing money - “difficult” and “disrespectful”.
To be honest the only thing I found difficult was keeping a straight face when I heard his dig at Ross live on the radio.
No slight against Shaun. I was in stitches because he clearly had it in his head - desperate to spit it out because he certainly wasn’t prompted by the interviewer.
Jack’s comments have clearly irritated him that much he had to get it off his chest.
But it leaves him open to accusations he’s a touch sensitive and the new boss is certainly going to need a thicker skin.
Because there’s one certainty in football - when results don’t go the manager’s way then the flak certainly does.
Maloney is now the manager of a big club in a city with a volatile football rivalry and no matter how successful he is there’s going to be times the flak flies.
Opposition managers will pick up on any sign of weakness too.
Hopefully it was just a wee slip because what I will say about Shaun - and I’ve seen it first hand - is that he is no shrinking violet. He’s certainly not a pushover.
He’s a spiky character and has that little bit about him if he’s not happy about something then he’ll come out and say it.
I saw it when we were in the Scotland U21 squads. Small in stature but not a guy to be messed about with.
This might surprise a few but he would stick his foot in on the training pitch when needed.
Then off it, if something needed said about tactics or whatever then he’d say it.
Because of his ability people respected him. Quiet yes. But if he had to get something off his chest or look after himself on the park he could definitely do that.
Now because of his involvement with Belgium he has even more clout.
He is clearly not happy with Jack’s comments and that’s up to him. I was surprised because Jack was only responding to a question - he was only giving his opinion on a player he worked with and who he had a lot of respect for.
In terms of being a manager you need a rhino skin. Don’t bite when the opposition are trying to lure you into a trap.
He’s going to come up against guys that love a bit of mind games and trying to get a bite.
Maybe sooner than he thinks with this massive derby match just seven days away and Robbie Neilson not shy of a controversial wee soundbite or two.
Ahead of a derby you need to be ultra-careful with what you say.
Alex McLeish was the best at it - he learned from the master in Alex Ferguson.
We were well warned by Bick Eck before derby games not to say anything that would come back to haunt us.
I remember the Millennium derby and we went to Tynecastle. The dressing room was filled with headlines about what they were going to do to us - Stephane Adam had had a go at us and it was pinned up on the wall.
It was pointed out to us ‘this is what they think of you’.
It was like Any Given Sunday .. the blood was pumping as the team ran out. And I wasn’t even named in the squad!
We battered them 3-0.
So I can assure you there will be employees on both sides of the divide trawling the internet for things to put up on the board as motivation.
It’s just a massive shame Hibs will go into the derby without Boyle after his switch to the land of big bucks.
He deserves his move. Hopefully he uses a bit of his new deal to get a golf instructor because he’s rotten on the course.
But he was obviously a huge hit with the fans and Hibs have a giant hole to fill now and they need to give serious thought to how much they are going to spend to replace the winger.
You saw it against Cove - the part-timers played a very high line but there’s not way they’d have done that if Boyle was about.
You’ll find a lot of teams doing that until Hibs get proper pace up front.
It’s vital Shaun goes and gets pace at the top end of the park, wide and through the middle.
But it’s also time for a new hero to step up. It might be Elias Melkerson or Mueller who played well the other night.
Or Kevin Nisbet of course. I had a dig at Kevin last week but he responded brilliantly.
He came on, showed desire and scored the winning goal.
He did the olf fingers in the lugs celebration - fair play I’ve been in that situation wanting to get it up the critics.
The best thing it to stick the ball in the net and let your performances do the talking. He needs to do that every week now.
