Hibs gaffer: 'The only time I got a guaranteed long-term contract was for scoring Cup winner at Hampden!'
Gray addresses out-of-contract players exploring options at home and abroad
David Gray insists he can sympathise with players looking for “security” as they enter the final weeks of their Hibs contracts – because he regularly found himself in that position as a player. But the gaffer says where his team finish in the Scottish Premiership will not impact on the club’s ability to reward star performers with suitable new deals.
With Martin Boyle, Chris Cadden, Rocky Bushiri, Lewis Miller and almost a dozen others all out of contract in the summer, Hibs expect to see a major squad overhaul at the end of the season. Partly because, as Gray admits, some of the players will have ambitions to test themselves in a new – and more financially rewarding – environment.
Admitting that the ability to enter into negotiations on long-term commitment often comes down to whether or not the player is eager to stay at Easter Road, the Scottish Cup-winning skipper said: “It is very much individual. I don't think I was ever good enough to have a cemented long term contract apart from right at the very end where they just gave me a long term one because I think I scored one goal in a cup final!
"I think all players want security, especially players with families and things like that, but then you've also got players at very different stages in their career, younger players that have aspirations to move on to bigger and better things. They'll have advisors that are advising them to hold out, to see what that looks like because nowadays you can go anywhere in the world.
“Naturally the ambition when I was growing up was can you get to England, that's what everybody wants to try and do. Now you see even players in the Premier League that are moving from the Premier League and going over to Italy and doing incredibly well over there.
"So the players that are playing in this league are very good players. It's a very good level.
‘A privilege to play for Hibs’
“The flip side to that is it's a very good club to be playing for and a very privileged position to be playing for a club like Hibs. So there is always that balance there's always that decision to be made - and it's very much on an individual basis to exactly what's the right thing for everybody involved, because it's not always just about what the player would want, what works for the club and everything that moves with that.”
Asked if the new deals on the table would be dependent on how Hibs finish the season, with each place gained in the Scottish Premiership bringing its own financial reward, quite apart from the potential European windfall to be landed, Gray stressed: "One hundred per cent it's not a case of that. There's conversations already being had.
“It's not always a case of exactly what the club wants because sometimes if the players have the contract ... the minute you run the risk of allowing players to go towards the end of the contract, you have the risk of them potentially moving on. That's why at times you see players signing contracts early.
“There's a lot of moving parts within it that need to work for everybody involved. We try to be as open and honest with every player that's running towards their end of the contract, but even players that are under contract and doing well seeking things about their future.
"There's all different ways and different pathways to where they need to get to. They've all got aspirations and motivations at different levels of their career, wo so we always address them all on an individual basis to try and work out a solution that's best for everyone
“This season was always going to be a bit of a transitional one with the number of players that were naturally out of contract. A few have already moved on in the January window because they weren't getting enough game time, were out of contract and it worked for both parties. But it's not always as simple as what I would like to do.
“The hard work that's constantly going on in that department never stops, always trying to identify new targets and alternatives for different positions.
Squad will evolve - Gray
“Because you can have the best laid plans in the world. You can see a player under contract, think he's going to be here next season - and then all of a sudden, he finishes the season really well and a bigger club, financially, come in and decide they want to try and take the player off you. Or try and give other opportunities to other players.
“So you need to be always reactive and always proactive in terms of being able to be ready if anything comes up. That's something that department works really hard at doing, working with myself to see what the best laid plans are.
“We're always looking at the squad and how it can evolve. I think that's the challenge between now and the start of next season, to be in a position where we know where we're going.
“We feel we’re doing that at the moment. The conversations are always happening.
“But I feel focused now that the window is closed because I can't do anything on that front; we can't bring anybody in until the season ends. So I have to get the best out of the group of players I've got.”
Leaving finances aside, Gray says finishing the season strongly can definitely strengthen his hand in negotiations, explaining: “That also helps with recruiting players and players wanting to stay or whatever. All the benefits that come with success definitely helps that anyway.
“If you're going on that football pitch, you're being judged every single time and it's everyone's best interest to try and do as well as they can every time they play. And if that's fighting for a contract here, if it's trying to move away, whatever it might be, personal game, whatever their motivation is. Every player's got their own motivations; maybe it's money, maybe it's family. It could be anything.”
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