EXC: Black Knights and Hibs still talking business despite billionaire investor Foley 'not listening' comments

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Hibs are still “constantly talking” with the Black Knight group about potential player deals for marquee signings, according to manager David Gray. And the head coach says the tie-in with billionaire investor Bill Foley’s Bournemouth will bear more fruit as the summer window approaches the August 30 deadline.

A deal to bring Kieron Bowie to Easter Road on a four-year contract was being finalised tonight, with the Fulham attacker joining Mykola Kuharevich, Junior Hoilett and Nicky Cadden in a hectic rush of signings.

Foley caused some consternation among Hibs supporters last month when he accused the club, in which he holds a 25 per cent stake, of ignoring his advice. It is understood that the American had put forward alternative candidates for the top two posts of manager and technical director, only to be overruled by the board when they appointed Gray and Malky Mackay, respectively.

Some fans were concerned that the disagreement might lead to a withdrawal of co-operation by Foley’s Black Knight group, which also includes a 40 per cent stake in FC Lorient and control of A-League expansion franchise Auckland FC, when it came to sharing playing talent. The original premise of the Hibs buy-in was to send players from within the wider stable to Scotland for valuable experience – while giving the Easter Road club access to the sort of quality that would virtually guarantee European football.

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Gray believes the model, designed to give Hibs an ability to acquire players well out of their usual price range, is still intact, insisting: “I think it’s something that we’re constantly talking about. That’s the whole point, the benefit, of being under this umbrella, so to speak.

“It’s great that, as you saw it working last year at times, there is that constant conversation of where everybody can help each other. Because everybody wants the same thing - for us all to be successful.”

Hibs are adamant that they will have final say over any incoming transfers, with the Gordon family’s majority stake giving them the right to reject any players not deemed ready for the first team. Gray, already eight signings into a much needed overhaul of the squad, is confident that opportunities to benefit from the Black Knight talent pool have only been delayed, rather than terminated.

“Even if you strip it back directly to Bournemouth, and use them as an example, they’re in a different process to us,” he said. “Because we’ve already started competitive football.  They’re slightly behind, they had a lot of players at international tournaments in the summer.

“So the difference at the moment is probably just a little bit of finding out exactly where everybody is – and the movement will happen naturally as the window comes to a close. But it’s something that we’re working towards, to make every club better, I suppose, within that group.”

On the wider question of getting more business done, Gray said: “I think so. We still want to strengthen. There will be ins and outs.

“The bodies we’ve brought in have made us stronger in forward areas. So the squad is taking shape.

“We’ve been working hard at this for the past six or seven weeks. Ideally, would I have liked it done before now? Yes. But there are reasons why that wasn’t possible. It’s not been through a lack of effort or a lack of identifying targets.

“This isn’t a reaction to results. Not at all. These players have been identified for a long time, and we’ve been working towards getting them.

“It’s a process that has maybe been frustrating at times. But we should get the rewards moving forward.

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“What happens now is it creates competition for places. And you’ll get some players now who may find themselves having to look for other options, if they’re not going to play as much.

“That happens naturally in a window. People from the outside looking in think: ‘Right, maybe he might become available now, when he wasn’t available last week …’ Circumstances change all the time.”

Hibs remain interested in Dundee midfielder Luke McCowan, despite the Dens Park side rejecting a six-figure offer, although Gray said he wouldn’t be drawn into a public debate on negotiations, insisting: “He is a very good player. But he’s a Dundee player. That’s all you can say about that. I would never speak about anybody who is contracted to anybody else.”