Hibs: Development team plans and lessons learned from Kevin Dabrowski's debut

Hibs, like most clubs, are rightly proud when an academy player “graduates” to playing in the first team.

The most recent example is goalkeeper Kevin Dabrowski, who made his debut in Tuesday night’s goalless draw with Hearts in the Edinburgh derby, while other players to have done likewise in recent memory include Stevie Bradley, Josh Campbell, Josh Doig, and of course Ryan Porteous.

There is a somewhat tiresome debate in Scottish football about what constitutes a “real” academy graduate – for instance, should they have spent a certain amount of time in the academy or have only spent their formative years at the one club etc etc. It doesn’t really matter a great deal if we’re being honest, but it does present us with an interesting discussion when we look at the new development squad being set up at Hibs.

The new B team is a bridge from the academy to the first team, but the players signed for the development squad are different to those who have progressed through the academy. So the development team looks like being a mix of fringe first-teamers, players aiming for the first team, and some of the under-18s.

Hibs Academy Director Steve Kean

There have been questions on social media about the clutch of signings for the development squad (five in the last month), and why money isn’t being spent on the first team (it is).

Some supporters also question why the club’s academy isn’t performing very well, even though five of the matchday squad against Hearts were academy graduates and there have been ten overall who have appeared in matchday squads this season alone.

But there is a wider point here. Think of the benefits of having a crop of players ready to step into the first team knowing the system and their individual tasks. Think of the benefits of 16 and 17-year-old academy players playing alongside older players and against more senior opposition.

What has the club said?

Kevin Dabrowski made his Hibs debut against Hearts after five years at the club

Academy Director Steve Kean wants the development side to be playing as many games as possible. Speaking to the club’s official website he said: “The development team will be a group of lads who are aspiring to be in the first team but aren’t quite there yet.

“The team will compete in a lot of matches in England, against teams from the English under-23 system, to help try and bridge the gap between under-18 football and first-team football, which I have said from day one is a huge jump."

This is one reason why, despite the goalscoring exploits of the likes of under-18 strikers Josh O’Connor and Connor Young, they haven’t been called up to the first team. It’s one thing netting a brace against fellow teenagers, it’s another thing entirely trying to battle the likes of formidable centre-backs such as Carl Starfelt, or Ayo Obileye.

But at the same time, the introduction of the development squad will be a huge boost for those in the under-18s looking to progress and should fast-track their pathway to the first team.

Influence from abroad?

Hibs signed two Norwegians from Bodø/Glimt last month; the relationship between Easter Road CEO Ben Kensell and Glimt’s academy chief Gregg Broughton played a part but the Hibs hierarchy will almost certainly be looking to take inspiration from others clubs in terms of how they organise their own youth system.

Work on improving the product coming out of the academy and making clearer the route to the first team is already under way.

The Dabrowski Conundrum

Five years, 76 unused substitute appearances, and a clutch of loan spells. That’s what it took before Kevin Dabrowski made his first-team competitive debut for Hibs. His post-match reaction, after a man-of-the-match performance against Hearts, was understandably one of pride mixed with relief and joy.

The new development team will likely limit the chance of this happening in the future. Dabrowski was a regular in the previous incarnation of the Easter Road side’s development team but when it was scrapped, he probably suffered a little as a result.

It may be a similar story for players who regularly turned out for the second string but didn’t quite make the grade in the first team. Would things have been different had they spent more time in a development or B team playing the same style as the first team?

Goalkeepers are perhaps a different story but if Dabrowski had been regularly impressing against leading under-23 sides from England, it might have accelerated his promotion to the first team.

Even former Hibs boss Jack Ross appeared to hint during his stint summarising the Edinburgh derby that he should have given Dabrowski more of a chance during his time in charge.

But there is an interesting parallel here. During his time at Hibs Dabrowski has trained alongside Ofir Marciano, Adam Bogdan, Cammy Bell, Scott Bain, Ross Laidlaw, Chris Maxwell, Dillon Barnes, and Matt Macey.

Dabrowski has clearly improved partly as a result of training alongside such goalkeepers. It’s not unthinkable that other players would benefit from similar in the development team.

Not every player in the Hibs development squad will make it in the Easter Road first team. But some might have more of a chance than they would under the existing model.

The future’s bright

There have been jokes made on social media about the development squad being better than the first team, or that Hibs will be league-winners in five years time. But behind the humour is, in a roundabout way, a grain of truth.

For some players, the structure at Hibs will tick many boxes for them in terms of playing overseas, or having a chance to play regularly in a league that might get them international recognition.

For others it may help them make the step from academy to senior squad.

Adding players to the development squad in January didn’t take away from first-team recruitment. But it may very well help the quality of the first team in the near future.

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