Exclusive:Hibs cast net to Germany and Finland in manager hunt as two interesting new names join race to replace Gray
Inter Turku boss in title race - but former Bielefeld boss free to move immediately
Hibs are weighing up the merits of two previously unnamed candidates in their hunt to replace David Gray, The Evening News can reveal. Both Michel Kniat and Vesa Vasara are understood to be among those being considered as the next Easter Road gaffer.
Gray was sacked just under a week ago, bringing the curtain down on a 12-year association with Hibs that included just over two years as gaffer. The club are still working towards getting a manager in place during the international break, with the first-team squad due to fly out for a warm-weather training camp in Spain on Saturday.
Shamrock Rovers boss and Jon Dahl Tomasson links
And, as reports in Ireland named Shamrock Rovers boss Stephen Bradley as a “leading candidate” amid claims that Hibs had opened talked with Danish icon Jon Dahl Tomasson, the emergence of two very different candidates illustrates just how widely Hibs are casting the net.
Kniat saw his three-year stint as manager of Arminia Bielefeld ended by mutual consent at the end of last season, the German leaving behind a solid record including taking the club – then still in the third tier – to the 2025 DFB Pokal Final, where they lost 4-2 to VfB Stuttgart. He also won promotion back into Bundesliga 2 and comfortably secured their status in the second tier last season.
The 40-year-old has spent virtually his entire playing and coaching career in Germany’s lower leagues. But he’s won a lot of admirers with his high-pressing style that seeks to turn the ball over in the opposition third.
UEFA Conference League record
Inter Turku boss Vasa, meanwhile, is currently locked in a tight title race at the top of Finland’s Veikkausliga, with Inter sitting just a point off the lead with 10 games remaining. The 50-year-old has won the Finnish League Cup in each of the last two seasons with Inter.
He also led Inter into Europe this season. Like Hibs, they made it all the way to the UEFA Conference League play-offs just last month, only to suffer a 4-1 aggregate loss to big-spending Danes FC Copenhagen.
As a player who won 12 caps for Finland, the winger also scored the goal that helped HJK Helsinki become the first Finnish side ever to reach the Champions League, back in 1998.
Vasa, who served seven seasons as manager of Honka until the club went bankrupt, favours an attacking 4-3-3 set-up. But his Inter side still boast the best defensive record in the top division.