Former Hibs player reacts to Ian Gordon interview and names the action which must speak louder than words


A former Hibs player insists Ian Gordon must now provide backing to his leaders after lifting the bonnet on talking points at Easter Road.
The executive director has delivered a number of interviews over the last week, tackling various topics including a ‘knee-jerk’ reaction to sack Jack Ross as head coach, his difficult stint as head of recruitment and the relationship with Black Knights Football Group after Bill Foley’s investment into the club. Stephen McGinn played for Hibs under Ross while brothers John and Paul also featured prominently in Leith.
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Hide AdHe has noticed a considerable change since the Gordon family came into the club, and the money spent amid some difficult campaigns like last season’s bottom six finish has left him shocked. While Gordon deserves praise for addressing various issues, former midfielder McGinn now feels backing for head coach David Gray and sporting director Malky Mackay is required.
Speaking to BBC Sport Scotland, he said: “Fair play. As a viewer, you enjoy the honesty. I obviously had an association with Hibs in terms of John being part of the team coming up from the Championship and as the club were moving forward, and moved towards finishing third in the league. It was fluid in the background, it was George Craig and Leeann Dempster.
“Then when George retired it was Graeme Mathie who stepped up. The manager whether it be Alan Stubbs, Neil Lennon and then Jack Ross. I was in with Jack Ross at the time and you are working with Graeme and Leeann, and they were the bosses but the manager ran the football club. Then the crossover from the Gordon family coming in, it shifted, the manager wasn’t fully the manager of the football club anymore.
“There are clubs with that model but it’s just madness what has happened over the last three or four years. It is unrecognisable from the team finishing third and winning Scottish Cups. You look at some of the teams Celtic will face in the Champions League this year, national champions, they won’t have spent the money Hibs will have spent the last few years, in terms of money they’ve spent, the players bringing in.
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Hide Ad“They have to now say it’s not going to get better overnight now we’ve had this interview but give David Gray time, give Malky Mackay time, there’s a lot of players on big money, contracts out at the end of the season.
“The football is not going to get dramatically better. It’s got to get to a point where they are patient and allow it to settle itself and if he does have trust in his people, allow them to build something.”
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