Ex-Hibs boss reveals hierarchy 'disagreements' that spelled end of his tenure as he shares how spell went awry
The former Hibs boss has since been at Tottenham and is now with Nottingham Forest.
Nick Montgomery has revealed how he ended up as Hibs manager in 2023 - and why the stint lasted less than a full season.
The former Sheffield United man was this week hired an assistant coach with Nottingham Forest, as part of Ange Postecoglou’s backroom staff. He was with the Aussie at Tottenham last season as the Europa League trophy was clinched but before that, Montgomery had endured a difficult stint at Hibs.
Montgomery moved to Leith after a promising stint in Australia at A-League side Central Coast Mariners. He lasted less than a campaign as Hibs eventually finished in the Premiership’s bottom six. Now with the Training Ground Guru, the former boss has revealed some disagreements with the club hierarchy that ultimately paved the way for his exit, but there’s little bitterness on his part.
Why Hibs hired Nick Montgomery
The new Nottingham Forest coach said: “They sort of headhunted me after I'd won the championship in Australia, sort of rebuilt the team, took pre-season and I think five games into the season, they were bottom of the Premiership. And yeah, they offered me the job. They headhunted me. I think there was a lot of people that wanted the job. I knew it was a big job. I knew it was a team that was in a transition and needed a full rebuild and that's sort of one of the big reasons why I took the opportunity.
“The team was bottom of the league, rock bottom of the league after four or five games. It was the oldest squad in the league. So sort of coming in, I knew exactly what I was coming into. I spoke to the owner and the people at the club, Brian McDermott, who was there at the time. They were sort of not in a good space and they also had a lot of players out on loan. They had 20-odd players out on loan that were brought in as part of a development squad that hadn't worked out.
“Sort of a failed experiment. But coming in, I took the challenge on. They were bottom of the league. I took them up to fourth in the table, semi-final of the Scottish League Cup. Then mid-season, there was an Asia Cup and Africa Cup of Nations. We sort of lost half the starting team for two months of the season. We had five or six academy debuts, 16-year-olds playing in the first team. Wasn't planned, but ultimately, the squad needed a revamp, needed a rebuild and look towards the end of the season. There were sort of differences in terms of the recruitment and what we'd agreed on.
Why Nick Montgomery left Hibs
“Ultimately, that's football. I don't leave with any bitterness. We disagreed on a few things and there was a mid-season buy-in from Bournemouth’s group, from Black Knights, so there was sort of external issues going on that were well documented. In the end, we parted ways. That's when the opportunity came up to join Ange. So I believe everything happens for a reason.
“Really enjoyed my time there, good club, good fans. Obviously working in the Premiership and going to Ibrox and Celtic Park, playing against Rangers and Celtic. It's culturally different in terms of the way the teams play. There's still synthetic pitches up in Scotland. Hopefully, they're going to sort of move them on. So a lot of challenges up there.
“But look, some good memories there. The biggest reason I went was to sort of rebuild the tea but we never sort of got the opportunity to do that, but I wish them well. It's good to see that they've sort of rebuilt since I was there and going to Tottenham and winning that Europa League was, yeah, I think it was the pathway for me. Like I said, I think everything happens for a reason.”