Hibs relying on team behind the team to inspire recovery from rare loss as Gray leans on backroom staff
New head coach assembled brains trust from familiar faces able to bring ‘calmness amid chaos’ - but still took a gamble
As David Gray looks to nurse, guide and cajole his team back to winning ways after a first league defeat in 18 games, he won’t be tackling the task alone. The team he’s built around him, in this first season as a head coach, will bring as much influence on the task as the gaffer himself.
Yet Gray admits that, in pulling together his first proper backroom staff, familiarity with Eddie May, Liam Craig and goalie coach Craig Samson only offered some degree of certainty. Knowing that group chemistry would evolve over the course of the season, the new Hibs boss was still taking something of a gamble.
“Yes, we’ve worked together,” said Gray. “But we've never worked in this direct sort of line in terms of how things work.
“I've never been the full-time manager. I've obviously had spells with Eddie, knowing what I was going to get with Eddie and how beneficial he's been to me, especially during the interim periods initially. I hadn't done it before.
“There's someone beside you who's a calming influence and a bit of experience in being the coach before, which was a massive help to me and was always very relaxed at the side of the pitch. That calmness amid the chaos, which was important to me.
“And then I've never worked with Liam except as a player. He was my captain when I first joined the club.
“And then I've been friends with him for a number of years previous to that, going back to when we were younger, players trying to find their way in the game. So I've known him for a very long time - but you never know exactly how it's going to work until you actually get on the grass and how you're moving.
“And I've worked with Sammy (Samson) before, so I knew exactly what I was getting with Sammy, which was not just from the goalkeeping point of view, but how he is every single day around the building, the culture that he sets, and the togetherness that he helps bring together. That's a massive part of it.”
Put together any coaching group, at any level, and you’ll usually find that people define their own roles. Natural strengths emerge and relationships develop. Get it all right and, in this instance, everyone gets a new three-year deal as a reward for a job well done.
The over-riding priority for a good assistant, of course, is to make the manager’s life easier. That could be jumping to the front of the technical area to take the booking for complaining to the fourth official, just to save the boss from a suspension, or dealing with any one of a thousand man management issues that needn’t trouble the gaffer.
“There's a lot of things that all my staff really help with, stuff that doesn’t get to my door because they're able to nip it earlier, which is brilliant,” admitted Gray. “And the fact that the players are able to go to them as well is a big thing, and that really drives the togetherness and the culture.
“As long as everyone's driving that standard, I believe that's a good recipe for success in itself. I've been delighted with all my staff, very grateful for all their hard work and effort, but that's not just the immediate staff that I've mentioned there.
“It goes right through the club from the very top to the bottom. The amount of hard work and effort that goes in here, the ones that you don't think you see them all the time, but they're all playing a massive part in what we're doing at the minute. Everyone deserves recognition for that.”
Characters drive standards and create a culture at football club
Given the hellfire they went through early in the season, an ability to keep working amid the mayhem was always going to be an important quality. That strength of character is something Gray sees in his players every day, which bodes well for the challenge ahead. And it’s a quality he prioritised when making a dozen signings in his first transfer window as boss.
“Definitely,” he said, the former captain adding: “I think the character and the personalities, if you're trying to drive a standard or create a culture within your football club, having the personalities that buy into it is key.
“I also think even during difficult times is when you really find out about people. The more good characters you've got in that environment, the better.
“Everybody thinks about themselves. They have to because it's a very short career - but understanding the importance of the team and the importance of sometimes accepting when you're not playing.
“Not accepting in terms of being happy with it, but trying to react in the right possible way and making sure that we're all sticking together. I think that's been demonstrated numerous times this season. That has been down to the type of people you recruit.
“I think that gives you a real good starting point that during the good times. It's very easy to manage a group, but during the difficult times is when you really find out about people and that's where I've massively benefited from a lot of real strong, good professional people in the building at the minute.”