Hibs hero wants ex side to ask daring question of Rangers and Celtic as summer window proves one trope wrong
The former Hibee has dispelled the myth that ‘there’s not enough money in Scottish football’
Following a strong start to the season for Hibs, questions are being asked whether they can split the Old Firm in this year’s SPFL Premiership.
With Celtic fans in disarray about their board’s lack of transfer movement, while Rangers remain winless in the league under their new manager, it’s the first time in recent memory where both Glasgow clubs are undergoing some form of crisis at the same time. This could give scope to the likes of Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen to compete with them this season.
During the summer, Hearts’ £9.86m investor, Tony Bloom documented his ambitions to lock horns with the Old Firm. Months later, Hibs icon Paul Hanlon believes the Leith side can do the same. The Raith Rovers defender believes his former club are in a good position to challenge, with the ongoing turmoil in Glasgow.
Hanlon claims Old Firm are ‘at their weakest’
Speaking on PLZ Soccer’s The Football Show, Hanlon said: “I think first and foremost you look at spending, which has definitely went up, when I was coming through it was always ‘there’s not enough money in Scottish Football, there’s never enough to compete with Celtic and Rangers, there’s never enough to compete in Europe’, whereas nowwhereas now there is money, there's money being spent and to a high level and it's only going to bring the quality of the league up, so that's a positive.
“And I think when you look at Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen, they are definitely the three that are pushing at a time where arguably they (Old Firm) are ultimately at their weakest, or maybe not weakest in terms of football wise, but in terms of the pressure that's on the two at the minute and it's not normal that all the pressure on both of them, normally one's got the pressure and one's doing well. So, I'm sure if you're the board of the Hibs, Hearts or Aberdeen then you're looking at that and thinking, can we compete?”
Gray ‘knows what he’s doing - Hanlon
Hanlon, who spent 17 years at Easter Road has praised his former teammate and current manager, David Gray on the fantastic job he’s doing at the moment, despite his early rough patch. He said: “He's a club legend already as well, so the fans were always going to stick by him and no matter how hard it was at the start of that period, it never looked to me like anyone was losing belief in him.
“There was a lot of kind of talk from outside in terms of how poorly the team had started, but it didn't seem like that from anyone I'd spoke to inside the club. He had that support right away from the start, so it's a great kind of platform to go into his job, but he's just went from strength to strength. He's got himself in a position where he's had to change the system, so he's obviously showing he knows what he's doing.”
Hibs face Dundee United at Easter Road on Saturday in the slightly later kick off time of 5:45pm. Gray will be hoping to continue his unbeaten start to the domestic season.