David Gray responds to Hibs dig by Bill Foley as he states where his full Easter Road belief sits
He responded to the comments after a friendly against Watford.
David Gray says he has full belief in his ability to take Hibs forward after Bill Foley’s dig at the club prior to a friendly with Watford.
The English Championship side ran out 3-2 winners in a worthwhile training exercise for the hosts, who used almost two entirely different XI’s in each half. Josh Campbell and Harry McKirdy netted either side of half-time for the home team with Gray getting a look at several of his players.
Prior to the match, billionaire Bournemouth owner Foley said the Easter Road club’s hierarchy "have not been listening” to input from his Black Knights group consortium. The American spent £6m to take a 25% stake in Hibs and he also backs French side Lorient - who were relegated from Ligue 1 last season - plus Auckland in New Zealand.
A Premier Sports Cup group stage finale is to come against Peterhead this weekend, with a spot in the knockout rounds not yet secure after a 1-0 loss to Kelty Hearts last weekend. Foley’s comments came in the wake of that defeat and responding to them after the Watford clash, Gray said he firmly believed in his ability to lead the club.
He commented: “I've got enough going on with what happened at the weekend in terms of results. And where we are. My job is fully focused on preparing the team as best I can to make sure we do what we can do on the pitch. The hierarchy at the football club, that's all above my head.
“I need to concentrate fully on what I'm trying to do every single day. And what I do know is I've went through the process and been given this opportunity because the club believed I was the right man to take it forward. And I firmly believe in my ability to be able to do that. It's up to me now to go and demonstrate that.”
On the game against Watford, while not wanting defeat to become a habit, Gray was pleased with the runout it handed some of his men. Next up is Peterhead at home in their Premier Sports Cup group stage finale, with a win needed to ensure progression to the knockout round.
He added: “Yes, I think in terms of that, it's a massive box ticked in terms of getting minutes into the boys. Obviously, you don't want to lose games of football, however, that's not something you want to become a habit. So that's something that I'm obviously disappointed with.
“But the actual run out for the players, the minutes into the legs again for ones that needed it, even in addition to some of the younger ones coming in, done really well, really pleased with them and how they handled that occasion against a good side.
“The full focus has always been about Saturday and today, that's why we treated the game the way we did, with the two 45 minutes, making it as close to what we would normally do on a training day as possible.”