Ex Hibs duo near Tottenham glory as they go from Easter Road struggle to Europa League final in 12 months

Much can change in football over 12 months - as a former Hibs pair at Tottenham can testify to.

May 14th last year brought an end to Nick Montgomery’s reign as Easter Road head coach after a 4-0 hammering off Aberdeen, having arrived earlier in the 23/24 season. He lasted less than a full term after the club finished in the bottom six with assistant coaches Sergio Raimundo and Miguel Miranda also exiting. Now just shy of a full calendar year on, Montgomery and Raimundo are part of a Tottenham side that have reached the Europa League final.

Aware of their work in the A-League with Central Coast Mariners, former Australia and Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou brought the pair into his Tottenham coaching circle. It’s been a Premier League campaign to forget for Spurs and doubt surrounds Postecoglou’s long-term future, but he and his team are one game away from becoming heroes after beating Bodo Glimt at the semi-final stage over two legs.

Former Hibs pair nearing glory

They will meet Manchester United in the final later this month, taking place in Bilbao. Postecoglou said when hiring the former Hibs pair: “It’s also great to have Nick and Sergio join the Club, and they will add to the talented coaches we already have on the staff here.

“Both Nick and Sergio have a wealth of coaching experience over a number of years. They have already demonstrated a strong desire to both develop young talent and implement a football style that I believe will further strengthen the environment we have established. I’m looking forward to working with them.”

Postecoglou verdict on Tottenham progress to Europa League final

The Spurs boss said on making the major European finale: “It's a great opportunity. It's my fourth year in European football, plenty of people have been in European football for longer than I have, they haven't got to a final. So you understand it's something that you need to appreciate. And I'll certainly do that. I haven't really thought a lot about it, because obviously the focus is on. More importantly, just really pleased for the players and the staff, and particularly our supporters. There were a few hundred here tonight who I'm sure will remember this night. And thousands back home. We've given them some real hope and something to dream about, that we can do something special this year.

“The players were outstanding. They were well-prepared, the staff did a great job of making sure the boys were really clear about what we needed to do. They executed it perfectly. It's been well-chronicled in the last few days it's a difficult place to come through, they've got a really imposing home record, not just with wins but with goals, I thought the lads just handled it really well, as they have throughout this European campaign, particularly the knock-out stages, and credit to them, I thought they did an outstanding job. I love winning. That's what I've done my whole career. People will dismiss it, that's fine. But I love winning, and I love the way the boys, like I said, clearly understood what we needed to do.”