Hibs investor's four-word success mantra revealed as Hearts-supporting deal maker hails Black Knight kingpin

As a lifelong Hearts supporter, Les Allan is quick to stress that he had NOTHING to do with billionaire investor Bill Foley dropping £6 million into the Easter Road coffers in exchange for a minority stake in Hibs. Even if a previous discussion with the Bournemouth owner DID prove crucial in making a strong case for buying into a Scottish club.

But club rivalry doesn’t blind Allan to the qualities of a Hibs powerbroker enjoying a greater influence than ever on the Edinburgh arm of his multi-club empire. And the investment banker, enjoying fresh fame as the man who introduced the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers owners to the idea of buying a controlling stake in Rangers, even names Foley’s purchase of Bournemouth as the best deal – in football or any other business – he’s ever helped over the line.

Speaking on The Warm-Up podcast, the experienced deal maker singled out Foley as an investor of rare vision. And, in a verdict that will encourage Hibs supporters eager to see the American back up his promise to make their club the undisputed third force in Scottish football, Allan said: “I can tell you that from my experience, everything he's said, he's done, and more. But that's the level of detail.

“And you can see it in his other sporting assets and the other teams that he's worked with, the success of the Auckland club that he took on the A-league franchise. Lorient's riding high in Ligue 2 right now. Hibs are obviously riding fairly high in the Scottish Premiership.

“So professional sport is fickle. And it's trying to eliminate the simple errors and then being as competitive as you can. Because we know that you don't win every year by just being as competitive as you can.

“And I think Bill says: ‘Always advance, never retreat.’ I think it's a pretty good model."

Black Knight group more hands on with appointment of recruitment guru

Just over a year on from their investment getting the green light, Foley’s Black Knight group is taking a more hands-on role at Hibs, with the appointment of former Bournemouth analytics guru Garvan Stewart as head of recruitment at East Mains seen as strengthening the ties between the Edinburgh club and the rest of the group. While Hibs have yet to sign a player from within the group, Black Knight president Tim Bezbatchenko – who sits on the Easter Road board alongside Foley – has spoken about loan deals and other mechanisms intended to improve recruitment.

Allan isn’t surprised to find Foley paying close attention to detail, saying: “There's an investor who is beyond thorough on the work they do. You have no idea how much work these guys do on making sure that they're approaching the potential investment in the right way, that they fully understand the history, the culture, the personalities involved, you know?

“How they're going to execute the business plan. When day one someone says: ‘Here's the keys to Bournemouth …’ how are you going to run it?

“We spend, at our bank, a lot of time, probably more time doing this than anything else, which is interviewing and discovering through conversations from the potential buyers that they are indeed the right person or people to be introduced into this conversation. The last thing you want to be is associated with a deal where a guy buys a club and then the club just falls apart. That would be awful, awful for everybody.

“For me as a professional, you want to make sure that, in this instance, Bill Foley and his organisation is the right organisation. They were absolutely the right buyer.

‘Bill Foley has done everything he said he would at Bournemouth ...’

“It took a long time. It took eight, nine months with Bill and the Bournemouth transaction. I think, we do non-football transactions at the bank, but I have to say that the Bournemouth transaction might turn out to be possibly the best deal I've ever done, bar none, not just in football.

"It was the way that Bill has absolutely executed what he said he would do. To this point, everything he said he would do day one, that's what's been happening. He might be a little ahead of schedule, I think, but I have to say that that's the result of excruciatingly hard work and detail.

"Just in terms of, one, what's your operating plan? What's your management team plan?

“First of all, you start off with proof of funds. Nobody gets in the front door unless they can prove to us that they've got a financial wherewithal.

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“In terms of what's your organisational plan, how are you looking at the next one year, two years, three years? With Bill and Bournemouth, it was what's the plan for promotion? What's the plan for staying in the Championship? What's the plan for promotion, then a quick relegation? All of that was covered. I mean, they were incredibly detailed.”

Despite some rough patches early in the relationship, with Foley publicly complaining that Hibs weren’t “listening” to the Black Knights, it looks as if the partnership will reap on-field benefits in the summer transfer window. Which might inspire a few mixed emotions for the Mr Fixit with allegiances on the other side of the city.

"I'm a lifelong Jambo,” said Allan, stressing his minimal involvement in the Hibs investment as he said: “Dad went to Tynie (Tynecastle) High School, everything else. And I had nothing to do with the Hibs deal - except I had several conversations with Bill and his team about Scottish football.”

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