Former Barcelona prospect's Hibs chances rated as gaffer makes 'stop-start' admission over red-card midfielder
January signing off sent off on debut and made just one start - in final game of season
Former Barca prospect Alasana Manneh has been backed to hit the ground running after a “stop-start” introduction to the chaos of the Scottish Premiership. The midfielder, Hibs boss David Gray’s only signing of the January window, has struggled to adjust to the pace of the game in Scotland since being sent off on his debut for two bookable offences.
Since that nightmare substitute appearance away to St Mirren back in February, when two bookings in a little over 10 minutes saw the Gambia international suffer an ignominious first appearance in a Hibernian jersey, Manneh has made two substitute appearances and one start. The former Odense star, who had been on the Danish league’s winter shutdown when he secured his move to the SPFL, played just under an hour in the final game of the season, a 2-2 draw with Rangers at Easter Road.
Gray is adamant that the 27-year-old, who made it as far as Barca B during his time in Spain, has already been a ‘brilliant addition’ to the squad. And he’s sure that Manneh will only improve once he gets a proper pre-season programme under his belt.
The former skipper, admitting he was reluctant to make wholesale changes as his team recovered from a horror start to put together a 17-game unbeaten run in the league, eventually finish third with a game to spare, said: “He’s not had the game time he wants but he's been a brilliant addition in terms of how he is, how he trains. A really hard-working professional as well.
SPFL boasts ‘completely different intensity’ to Scandinavian leagues
“So that's been really beneficial for us, and it's really kept the group together. I think he's a very good footballer, can really handle the ball and I think we’ve seen glimpses of it in the games.
“He'll massively benefit from a pre-season. He joined us at a time where the team was flying as well, so when we're doing really well it's difficult for him to get minutes as a result of that.
“Also his league had just finished over in Scandinavia, they were on that sort of winter break when they were on the shutdown. So he wasn't up to speed.
“And it's a completely different intensity, Scottish football. We know that, especially in the middle of the pitch.
“Every week's completely different. Sometimes you go into Celtic Park where it's all about the discipline without the ball, knowing you’re not going to have it.
“And then the other times it's about the blood and thunder of the Premiership, which is 90% of the time. And you need to be ready for that.”
Training intensity a ‘shock’ for Gambia international
With Hibs still working hard to secure an Easter Road return for Nectar Triantis, their options including a potential permanent transfer for a Sunderland prospect who has already enjoyed two loan spells with the Edinburgh club, competition for places in central midfield next season could be intense. Especially with club captain Joe Newell expected back for pre-season.
Admitting that the way Hibs work on the training ground, driven by that competition, may have been a factor in Manneh’s slow start, Gray said: “He's adapting to training all the time and the intensity that we train at, which has been probably a bit of a shock to him initially. So he's benefiting from this all the time
“I still believe - not still believe because I never ever doubted - that he's going to be a really good addition and will benefit from a real strong pre-season.”