Hibs boss in 'not ready' admission as he talks interim stints, stepping into top job and joy of beating Hearts

It was an All or Nothing move that would have won approval from the producers of the Netflix sporting series intended to take viewers behind the scenes of teams. A bold gamble by a club legend who knew that failure would mean the end of his long association with his boyhood team.

Looking back now, of course, David Gray can feel pretty certain that he made the right decision to apply for the job of Hibs manager in the summer. Just as he would have been WRONG to make the leap during one of his previous stints as interim boss.

Funny how things work out, isn’t it? Gray sees the irony in acknowledging that, had he somehow overseen Hibs winning the League Cup when first thrust into the role of stand-in gaffer back in 2021, his own personal narrative might not have included many more highlights.

The former club captain admitted: “I think back to my very first interim period, if we had won the League Cup that day against Celtic, and the club had decided: ‘Well, we can't not give him …’ I'd have missed out on all the learning I've just had in the last three years. And then on reflection, I would be nowhere near the level I feel I'm at just now, in terms of what I've gained and the level of experience I've gained in that three-year period; not just through the games you played and the opportunities I've had in interim periods, but the standard of coaches I was lucky enough to work with and learn from.

“They all had very different ideas and different ways of playing. And I've said many times I fully understand exactly why each one of them were appointed, because of the qualities they had and what they brought and the different ideas they had.

“I was very fortunate, selfishly, for David Gray to probably be the one that really benefited in the last three years, from us not being as successful on the pitch. But then it goes back to my decision to then put myself forward for it, because I believed in myself and could take it forward.

“I was at that point of thinking: ‘You can't always be the bridesmaid.’ You know what I mean? I was always there – but I was never really ready all the times before, so anything could have happened in between.

“The flip side to that is if it didn't go well and I didn’t get the job, clearly, I would have had to have moved on. That would have been the right thing to do for the football club.”

Having grown up a Hibs fan and captained the club to Scottish Cup glory, scoring the winning goal in the final by way of a Boy’s Own bonus, Gray has the sort of connection that would be tough to break. Did that help him when he was under pressure early in his first season as manager? You never know.

Manager has ambitions to reach ‘very top’

Now that he’s flying high, today’s visit of Hearts pending, plenty of fans would love to see him stay in situ for the long haul. It’s a question he’s considered himself.

He said: “I think, naturally, in football, what do you want to do? You want to try and get to the very top. I'm no different from that point of view.

“I'm not naive enough to think they can't change in five minutes' time in any direction. I think that's just the world we live in, and I think that's especially football management. When you think of it, things are going really positively for us right now - but I've seen how quickly things can change the other way as well.

“It is very much about living in the moment and trying to progress all the time and trying to improve the players all the time and keep moving the club forward because that's my job, to try to get performances on the pitch. I've said a lot about the size of the club, the infrastructure that's here, the good work that's going on in the background, where the club is now from when I joined it ten years ago.

“The thing that's missing is being more consistent on the playing side to it, and I've been very fortunate to experience many highs at the club as well, and they're the special days that I'd be delighted if we could try to bring that back more regularly for the football club. Because that's where it needs to be.

“I think back to why I applied for the job when I did. I'd been in the situation, been at the club for a long time, but three years into coaching, worked with so many different managers, I just felt at that time it was the right time for me to apply for the job and back myself to do it.

“A lot of people would say it's a very big job for your first one, and I understand why people would say that, of course. But I was delighted that the club felt I was the right man to take it forward and thankfully we're in a good position at the moment.

“On a personal level, it's like anything you do, as a player, as whatever you're trying to do in any profession, you try and back yourself to be the best you can, and given the opportunity, I'm very grateful for that.”

Celtic beaten - and Hearts up next as gaffer seeks more ‘scenes’

Gray took special pleasure in being on the pitch after full-time at last weekend’s home win over Celtic. The sight and sound of a packed Easter Road – save for the departing away fans – belting out a club anthem saved for special occasions never gets old.

Admitting that he’d love to see the same scenes again today, courtesy of a home win to go with the spectacular victory over Hearts at Tynecastle on Boxing Day, Gray admitted: “Yeah, it's everything you hope to try and achieve when you become the manager of such a big club. You want to be competitive, and you want to win these games. I think the scenes, especially after, when you hear Sunshine on Leith and how special the moments are - families are at the games; that's why you do it, to be successful, to enjoy these moments.

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

“And you need to enjoy the moments because there are always ups and downs within your footballing career. I think we've certainly experienced that already this season. But these are the games that everybody needs to look forward to.

“That’s ten years I've been here and growing up in the city, you know what the derby means to every single person. I've got family and friends on both sides of the fence, but I think having played in derbies, they're special, special games. They're so competitive, how much it means to everybody involved, for both sets of supporters.

“I think the fact that we're very similar in terms of the size of the clubs and what that means, it's not as if you ever go into a game with a clear favourite, ever. You always need to be at the very top of your game to win, which always adds to it, I think.”

Your next Hibs read - Mr Misery putting sleep on back burner in pursuit of happiness