Hibs being 'judged every day' during major squad rebuild as Gray makes 'no excuses' vow

Hibs fans are entitled to expect wins from a work in progress, according to gaffer | SNS Group

Hibs boss David Gray says he’s comfortable in being judged on a rocky start to the Scottish Premiership season – even though his team remain a work in progress. And he’s adamant that his focus remains on getting his side competing “at the top end of the table.”

Gray is still assembling his squad ahead of Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup last-16 tie against Celtic in Glasgow, just a week on from losing 2-0 at home to the champions. That defeat followed a 3-0 away loss to St Mirren on the opening weekend of league action.

Despite a signing blitz over the past week, with five new recruits adding to the four already secured by Gray in his first transfer window as gaffer, Hibs won’t be at full strength for this weekend’s game. Veteran winger Junior Hoilett is still working his way back to full fitness because of injury, while new attacking options Kieron Bowie and Nicky Cadden remain short of match time – and midfielder Hyeokkyu Kwon is ineligible to play against parent club Celtic under the terms of the loan agreement struck this week.

Gray, responding to the idea that he would ask fans to judge him and his team once all transfer business is done, insisted: “No, I think you're judged every day. I'm not shying away from that at all. I'm definitely not going to make excuses.

“I mentioned it after the game on Sunday, I do feel there's a little bit of short-term pain at the moment. Players are getting stronger every single day. The competition for places definitely helps.

“You see that even with the players that are already here, the level goes up straight away. So that's definitely a healthier environment to be in.

“But there's still a responsibility and an emphasis on making sure we get the best out of the group between now and the next game. It starts with a real difficult test at the weekend, but we've got an opportunity to make a much better account of ourselves than we did at the weekend.”

Welcoming the addition of South Korean midfielder Kwon, Gray said: “I think we've seen it straight away. The last two days on the grass, he's got real good quality, real technical ability, but also his physicality as well.

“He's a real good athlete, covers the ground well. He was someone I was really impressed by when he went on loan last season at St Mirren. 

“I spoke to a number of people about him, and they had a lot of good references and I've seen that straight away. He's someone that we're delighted to bring in and I'm delighted with how he's started already.

“I've seen him playing in the league, playing against us last season. I thought he was excellent against us directly as well. So that's all part of it.

“Ideally, you would like your own players, of course, but at the same time it's not always the option to do that. In that situation there was an opportunity to bring him here and we're delighted with that.”

Admitting that Hibs had been playing catch-up because of the time it took to appoint first Malky Mackay as sporting director and then Gray himself as manager, the new boss said: “I'm fresh in the job. Malky just came in. It has been a turnover again.

“With losing the manager at the back end of last season, we are a little bit behind. But we have recognised that - and we've recruited really well.

“I've said it many times, I think the level of support that's been shown straight away, you've seen that with the signings we've made, it's been there right from day one, there's been an emphasis on trying to improve the squad and we're continuing to do that. We've already touched on the fact that there will be outs as well and I think that's the work that's going on every single day.

GET THE LATEST HIBS NEWS DIRECTLY TO YOUR EMAIL INBOX DAILY WITH OUR FREE NEWSLETTER SERVICE

“It's already been mentioned that we would have liked it quicker, everybody involved would have liked that. But we are part of a situation where you're restricted to things you can do - and it's about just trying to work as effectively as possible. Identifying the targets when we can and if we can do it, the support's always been there - and I'm delighted with that.”

Asked if he’d been set targets by the Hibs hierarchy, Gray said: “We need to firstly improve on last season. That's a given for the level of the football club, the expectation of the football club, the demands, the fan base, everything that comes from it. I've never shied away from that.

“The football club massively underachieved, I was part of that. As a group we need to be miles better - but I firmly believe we will be so. We need to be looking at the top end of the table rather than the bottom end.”