Revealed: Why Hibs fan favourite Allan kept faith despite helping deliver early Hearts shock to former club

Even as he was helping Kelty Hearts lay bare the weaknesses in a Hibs side bound for a campaign of extreme mood swings, Scott Allan could detect a steadying influence. If the former Easter Road favourite might never have envisaged his old club putting together a record-equalling unbeaten run of 17 straight league games, he was never truly worried.

The experienced playmaker, a key influence as Kelty inflicted an ultimately devastating Premier Sports Cup group stage defeat on Hibs back in July, always believed that David Gray – even in his first few weeks of football management – was going to come good for the club he’d skippered to Scottish Cup glory. Everything Allan has seen since, including Gray’s handling of genuine crisis as Hibs won just one of their opening 14 league games, confirms those first impressions.

“I'm absolutely delighted for David Gray because I feel he's the right man in there,” said the former Celtic midfielder. “I think how he handled himself, first of all, as a manager and as a person, under huge, huge pressure.

“Even the pressure of being ‘Sir’ David Gray to the Hibs fans comes with added pressure for a guy like David Gray. I think he deserves all the things that come his way.

“Listen, a manager can come out and slaughter you, but ultimately players know when they're not performing well. I think if you go into the Hibs changing room at that time, when things were going wrong, they would have had conversations as players and they would have been able to admit that they weren’t performing well.

“But when you have a manager who obviously then goes out and he has to face the music, that’s when I go back to what I said about how he handled himself in the moments. That then transfers on to the players - and the players realise: ‘He's properly got our backs and he's taking all the hits while we're sitting in the background getting away with some of it.’

“So I think that's a huge part, but that's just Dave's personality. He's not overly vocal, but it's what he says at the right times which will obviously resonate with that Hibs team.”

Midfield matching up to trio of Allan, John McGinn and Dylan McGeouch

Allan has been particularly impressed with the Hibs midfield during their remarkable turnaround in fortunes. It is, after all, something of an expert subject for the 33-year-old.

“It's a different midfield dynamic from obviously the one with myself, obviously John McGinn and Dylan McGeouch,” he said, adding: “I don't think everybody could agree with that.

“I think what they've found is a nice balance. I think Josh Campbell is a different sort of number 10 to what I was. He's looking obviously to get in the box and get on the end of crosses and score goals, which he has done.

“I think when you then flip that, you put Dylan Levitt in, he's got that lovely feel for the ball and can create chances, which he's shown at times. But I think just when he's rotated them at the right times, it seemed to work for Hibs to keep guys on their toes.

“Nectar Triantis has obviously been coming in and being a massive part of that in terms of getting his foot on the ball and showing that composure. When you have a player in your midfield that can do that, especially when you were coming under pressure, it settles all the boys about you.”

Hibs currently sit three points clear of Aberdeen in third place. With just three rounds of Scottish Premiership fixtures remaining, Gray is virtually guaranteed to be leading his team into some sort of UEFA competition next season, with Europa Conference League group stage football looking very likely.

European expectations heightened by domestic success

That will place extra demands on everyone at the club. And it will raise expectations among supporters, obviously.

Allan said: “I think there's always an expectation. It helps obviously how the club have been progressing off the pitch. They've been trying for years now to try and match that on the pitch.

“It looks like they've got that solidity under David Gray, and I think there's no doubt there will be outgoings come summer. But I think they'll be looking at their recruitment and trying to find a few positions where guys can come in and have a real impact and looking to push on.

“Obviously, boys come to the end of contracts. I think obviously keeping a hold of players who have had good seasons then trying to the next year go and obviously do that again.

“That comes from what David Gray obviously implements come pre-season. That could also look different if they finish in third spot and have that European competition to play in.

“So that could also have a different effect on that. That's how maybe we've seen with Hearts at times why they can't maybe sustain things for a second season.

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“So there's a lot of things that obviously go into the following season trying to maintain that sort of thing. But I feel that Hibs are in the upward trajectory - and David Gray is a massive part of that

“I think if you remember the interview I did after we beat Hibs with Kelty, I was generally quite positive about Hibs and what I could see in terms of the template for what David Gray was wanting to do. Maybe just personnel would change within that.

“Would I have envisaged them going on and having that long a run without losing a game? No. But I always thought they would be fine, in the long run.”

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