Hibs get tough with non-playing squad fillers as training warning issued

Hibs fringe players who knocked back exit opportunities during the summer window may find themselves excluded from first-team training just to keep sessions manageable. And the unwanted outsiders have been warned that, by refusing to move on this year, they risk becoming forgotten men.

New sporting director Malky Mackay managed to usher a number of unsettled or under-used squad members out of the East Mains exit door before last Friday night’s transfer deadline. A number of familiar names were among the departures designed to create room on the wage bill and generate space for the ELEVEN new signings made by David Gray.

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Riley Harbottle, who hasn’t featured under the past two managers since being handed a three-year deal by Lee Johnson just last summer, was off-loaded to AFC Wimbledon through a permanent transfer of undisclosed terms, the central defender signing a two-year contract with the League Two side. Allan Delferriere, another Johnson signing limited to almost zero game time under Nick Montgomery and then Gray, has joined Luxembourg side Racing Union Letzebuerg on a season-long loan.

Jair Tavares, squeezed out of competition for wingers by the arrival of Junior Hoilett, Nicky Cadden and Kieron Bowie, has gone on loan to Motherwell. And even Dylan Vente, just a year on from his £500,000-plus move from Roda, has been allowed to join PEC Zwolle on loan in a bid to rediscover his scoring touch.

But midfielder Nohan Kenneh, who has a year left on his contract, remains in situ. The same applies to winger/forward Harry McKirdy, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Swindon Town, as well as a number of other senior pros – including veteran former QPR midfielder Luke Amos – who may struggle for minutes under the management of new gaffer Gray.

Without naming names, Mackay made it clear that he’d have liked to clear out even more dead wood before the deadline, saying: “There has been an evolution of the squad. But there are players who probably won’t get much game time.

“You can talk to them about their future but, at the end of the day, it’s up to them to decide whether they want to leave. Do they want to take up an option if a club comes in, do a deal and go on loan or leave permanently?

“If they didn’t want to do that, there has been clarity from me – they won’t get much game time this year. And that will affect you in a year’s time.

“I talk to them about having a body of work. If you leave a club without having a recent body of work, I’ve seen it so many times now.

“Players come up, you know their name, you know they’ve played at a reasonable standard. But the first thing a club asks is: ‘What have you done in the last year?’

“And, if a player has zero football in that season, trust me, clubs shy away from that. I’ve tried to explain that to a few here.

“Some have listened to that. Some have decided to stay, and that’s fine.”

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While no-one at Hibs denies a professional’s right to see out their contract rather than accept a move, possibly one involving a financial hit, to a less attractive environment, Mackay made it clear that the refuseniks are likely to find themselves out in the cold when Gray gathers his over-sized first-team squad for training, saying: “They have to realise that they might not always train with the first-team squad, just because of numbers. There will be training for them, obviously, because they’re contracted players, and you respect everyone. But they won’t get as many opportunities.

“I was very clear on that with a number of players this summer. Because we have to evolve.”