Hibs boss addresses 'failure' judgement as Gray admits team 'haven't delivered' on key target for season
Easter Road side still six points behind Motherwell in race for European qualification
Hibs boss David Gray has addressed his team’s inability to get in the mix at the top end of the Scottish Premiership during a season of stop-start progress and slip-ups. And he’s insisted that falling short in their ambition to finish third for a second straight season should not represent “failure” for the Easter Road side.
Gray, who admits that performances in the knock-out competitions have been a black mark on the record of a side who finished last season carrying enormous momentum, currently finds himself in a scrap to secure European football for the second consecutive year. Six points adrift of fourth-placed Motherwell, and with fifth place not guaranteed to come with a spot in UEFA competition, Hibs drew 0-0 with the Steelmen at Fir Park on Saturday.
Scottish Cup exit at Dunfermline
Knocked out of the Premier Sports Cup by Rangers and the Scottish Cup by Neil Lennon’s Dunfermline, Hibs could end the domestic campaign relying on a Celtic win at Hampden – assuming they get past their semi-final against St Mirren – to deliver a repeat of this season’s enjoyable European adventure. But Gray, who says his team haven’t given up on catching Motherwell, believes a degree of perspective needs to be applied to the season as a whole.
“Nothing's handed out with seven or eight games to go,” said the former club captain, now in his second season as manager. “That's one thing I would say. So measuring it right now at this point is something.
Easter Road gaffer ‘disappointed’
“But all that really matters is when that final whistle goes in the last game of the season that you reflect on the season. Has there been progression? Have players got better? Has the club gone forward in the right direction?
“It doesn't always result in going and finishing third again. So if we don't finish third, it doesn't mean it's a failure.
“Where I've been extremely disappointed, and I know the players as well, is our performances in the Cups this season. It's something that I speak about often enough. The opportunity to try and win something.
“And the expectation that this football club has, we certainly haven't delivered on that front. So that's something that when we do reflect back, we know we need to be better on that front. So there's always things you're looking at all the time.”
Hibs were still in touch with the leaders at the turn of the season and, in a campaign where they’ve dominated one Edinburgh derby but lost two in agonisingly narrow fashion, they’ve also recorded their first away win over Celtic in 16 years. Yet inconsistency has dogged their attempts to build a sustained challenge, with embarrassing one-off losses – 4-1 at Falkirk, for example – and a series of late goal concessions undermining the best efforts of the coaching staff and players.
Easter Road gaffer Gray is adamant that his ambition hasn’t been diminished by events, saying: “As I said from day one when I took the job, it’s about being more consistent every season – and challenging at the top end of the table.
“I would have liked us to have been closer than we are. Have more points than we do right this second.
“Do we feel like the last few games, with the draws, we’ve maybe missed out on some points? Absolutely.
“But you can't affect that now. We need to make sure we're trying. We still have a real strong opportunity now.”