Billionaire Hibs investor accuses board of 'not listening' to advice in blistering intervention

Bill Foley is now on the Hibs board - but growing frustrated.

Billionaire Bournemouth owner Bill Foley has accused Hibs of ignoring his expert advice – despite his Black Knight group’s track record of achieving success in the game. But the American investor, who bought a 25 per cent stake in the club earlier this year, believes the humiliating weekend loss to Kelty means the Easter Road hierarchy will now start taking his group’s input on board.

Foley, one of two Black Knight figures granted a place on the Hibs board after his £6 million investment, went public with his concerns in an interview with BBC Sport – laying bare the divisions between his own group and the controlling Gordon family, who still control over 60 per cent of shares. Although Foley’s group have achieved success at Bournemouth, French club Lorient, the other main player in the Black Knight stable, were relegated last season.

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Hibs have made it very clear that the Gordon family retain total control over all major decisions, including the appointment of David Gray as manager and the recruitment of Malky Mackay as sporting director. The Gordons, Leslie Robb and the fan group HSL all pumped new cash into the club during the summer via a new share issue over the summer.

Asked for his reaction to Saturday’s Premier Sports Cup loss to League One opposition, Foley told the BBC: "I am absolutely looking out for them. If the other ownership group at Hibernian listens to us, they will do better.

"So far, they really haven’t been listening to our input. I believe they will listen to our input now.

"We have a very good relationship with Lorient. They are listening and are hiring the right people to develop that club.

"Our goal is to have similar coaching, similar playing styles and similar players that can progress through our system. It is not just going to be Bournemouth and a bunch of other teams.

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"It will be a whole system that allows players to progress from team to team to team. That will be our competitive edge and we will be able to develop a really good team."

Hibs have made it very clear that they will not act as a feeder club to Bournemouth. And it’s been repeatedly stressed that any loan deals or signings tied to the Black Knight group will have to be of benefit to the Hibs first team, immediately.