Hibs boss breaks silence over 'five games to save job' demand

Monty responds to board statement warning that ‘results need to improve’

Montgomery is under pressure heading into home straight of calamitous season

Defiant Hibs boss Nick Montgomery says he has “no doubt” that he’s the right man to lead the Easter Road club into next season. And he says last week’s “emotional” statement by the board of directors hasn’t changed his long-term plan to rebuild a squad left in disarray by constant managerial changes.

Responding to the board statement branding failure to reach the top six “unacceptable” and insisting that “results need to improve”, Montgomery said: “I’ve got no doubt that I’m the man to lead this club forward. I’m really excited for the future, even while I’m hurting and disappointed now.

“I apologise to the fans. And the players apologise for not making the top six. But we now have to move forward.

“Look, it’s a big club with big expectations. I understood the pressure when I came here. I had played under pressure, and you are under pressure as a manager.

“But I’ve never wavered in my belief over where I can take this team. The stats, the metrics, everything around the season, there are a lot of positives. Ultimately, people will always reflect on the negative – and that was us missing the top six.

“I’ve got no doubt over where I can take the club. Some fans have doubt, but I’ve also had support from fans, because they understand it’s a process, we have to be patient, and building something takes a bit of time.”

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Last week’s statement revealed that there had been “detailed discussions” between directors and the gaffer, leaving many to decide that Montgomery had effectively been given five games to save his job. The Yorkshireman, speaking ahead of tomorrow’s trip to face St Johnstone in Perth, said he didn’t feel under any extra pressure, insisting: “Not really. You can look at a statement and read it in different ways.

“I think it was emotional from the club, everyone was disappointed, and they wanted to apologise to the fans – because we, as a club, didn’t meet their expectation and get into the top six.

“But it’s easy for people to criticise when they don’t know exactly what is going on internally, don’t know the full picture. You have to accept that.

“But there are a lot of positives moving forward. It’s just about sticking with the belief – and having the patience now.

“I’ve got a really good relationship with the board, good communication with them. At times it's going to be emotional, and that was an emotional time because there was a lot of noise around the club. There's always a lot of noise around a club like Hibs because there's big expectation and pressure from the fans who demand certain standards.

“When I came into the role, one of the targets was to get into the top six. I accept responsibility for that, as a manager I know we should have done better. We were 20 seconds' difference from the top six but, even if we'd got there, I would still have looked at this season as not enough points, too many points dropped from winning positions, so it wouldn't have changed the review that we did. A lot of the stats and metrics in my time at the club have been really positive but ultimately results paper over a lot of those good stats because it's about the result at the end of the day.”