Former striker blasts Hibs achievement as he calls on club to make themselves Scotland's third force

Ex-Hibs star Tam McManus believes his former employers have underachieved for decades as he urged the Easter Road side to make themselves Scottish football’s most dominant club outside of the Old Firm.

Former Hibs striker Tam McManus. Picture: SNS

Jack Ross’ men are favourites to finish the current Scottish Premiership campaign in third place, which would be their highest league finish since the 2004/05 campaign under Tony Mowbray.

Though it’s been a successful season overhaul, there have still been major disappointment in both cup competitions with blown opportunities to make it to the final of both the League Cup and last season’s Scottish Cup, losing to St Johnstone and rivals Hearts, respectively.

McManus, who spent eight years at the club and now works as a Hibs TV analyst, reckons Hibs are a big enough club that they should be finishing in the top four of Scottish football every season and bringing silverware back to Easter Road with greater regularity than the three cup competitions they’ve won in the past 30 years.

Writing in his column for the Daily Record, he said: "As a club Hibs should always be in the top six never mind being relegated, it should be season after season of third places and fourth. The position they are in just now is where they should be every year.

“There needs to be a renewed sense of pressure to go and deliver. It’s a positive pressure which players should embrace.

“I was at the club for seven years, the pressure was always on from the Hibs fans when I was there and they’ve always been a demanding support but now is the time to demand more.

“They believe they are the third-biggest club in the country and so they should.

“The problem is that Aberdeen and Hearts fans will also argue the same thing but talk means nothing in football.

“It needs to be backed by substance and when you see more than 100,000 fans celebrating in Leith when Hibs won the Scottish Cup then that’s when you see a genuinely big club. What a party but the fact is these occasions have been too few and far between.

“One trophy parade every couple of decades or so is nowhere near often enough.”

Message from the editor

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our sports coverage with a digital sports subscription.