Tony Mowbray would tick a lot of boxes for supporters if he were to be the chosen one for next Hibs manager.
He was the man who got rid of me from Easter Road - there’s another box ticked for many fans - but I would never hold a grudge as he was brilliant for the club in his two years in charge.
When Tony came into the club he was fortunate that he inherited the golden generation of players.
But in his first management job he led the club to third and fourth place finishes and that remained their best finish until last season.
His time as manager of Blackburn Rovers is set to end next week and if Hibs had any chance of luring him back to Leith they should grab it.
I will never forget Tony’s first words when he was introduced to us back in the summer of 2004. His appointment took us all by surprise.
We had a young squad and he came into the dressing room and said straight off: “I want to manage in the English Premier League”.
We were all thinking, ‘ooft he’s got a ticket for himself’.
But that showed the ambition he had and he told us if we weren’t the same, if there was anyone who didn’t have that drive or ambition to play at the very top then there was no point being there.
A lot of that team did just that, Broonie, Fletcher, Riordan, Steven Whittaker to name a few.
He set his stall out straight away and, no disrespect to Hibs, knew that if the players did well for Hibs then it would help everyone achieve their bigger objectives. It would also help the club be successful.
Not that I got a big move out of it!
He was straight with me when he took over. I had just signed a new five-year deal under Franck Sauzee and was probably the top paid player at the club.
Tony came in and said straight away ‘we can’t play you’. I’d played a few pre-season games but he had Derek Riordan, Steven Fletcher and Stephen Dobbie there and it was pointless splashing out big wages on another striker when other areas of the team needed strengthened.
He had to get me out by hook or by crook but he did it the right way, put me out on loan to Boston United and spoke to me regularly because that’s the kind of gaffer he was. A gentleman.
His two seasons in Leith were excellent. The football was thrilling, attack minded. He inherited good players but he signed well.
If the question was; would Hibs fans want Tony Mowbray back then it would be a resounding yes.
But would he want to come back up the road? He spoke very honestly about his future last week when he mentioned spending more time with his family.
I can’t see anyone who would be a better candidate to be honest. I’m glad the board are taking their time and appear to be looking far and wide.
Nobody in Scotland is really jumping out the page.
I hear folk talking about Kevin Thomson or Broonie but Hibs have just gone down that route with an inexperienced manager and I don’t think they’ll go down that route again.
I’m sure there’s lots of good managers out there who would love the opportunity to manage Hibs.
And fans will be desperate for the summer to come and a new regime to take over.
The end of this campaign just can’t come quick enough. Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Livingston was the same old story. The players worked hard, chances were created but 18 shots on goal and zero on target? Enough said.
It’s a limp to the end of the season and they should be looking to throw in a couple of the excellent youngsters who have helped the under 18s to the top of their league.
Unfortunately Josh O’Connor is injured but Ethan Laidlaw and Connor Young have been doing really well and deserve a chance.
It happened with Derek Riordan and Garry O’Connor when we finished in the bottom half many years ago and that didn’t go too badly.
There’s nothing to lose and it would give the fans a lift going into a huge summer for the club.
