Former Hibs star believes board must be 'patient' with David Gray due to one key factor as pressure mounts
The ex Hibs and Rangers man doesn’t want any rash decisions to be made on the current boss’ future.
After Hibs’ 4-1 defeat away to Falkirk on Saturday, the pressure is building on gaffer David Gray.
The Hibees looked to have changed their fortunes at the turn of the year after their Edinburgh Derby heroics, but have since descended back into the abyss. In their last two they’ve lost to Championship opposition in Dunfermline Athletic and been hammered by The Bairns.
A loss to John McGlynn’s side at their own patch is no disgrace given their recent performances, however it was the manner of it that will frustrate the Hibs support. 21-year old Barney Stewart won’t score an easier hat trick in his life, as the Hibs defence was split open on three occasions for the striker to tap-in.
The post-Derby feel-good factor has well and truly vanished from Easter Road with some fans turning on Gray, however former Hibee, Kevin Thomson thinks that the board should be ‘patient’ with the manager, who is no stranger to being in this position.
‘I wouldn’t like to see him get sacked’
It is because Gray has been under pressure before and came out the other side that Thomson says he deserves more time in the Easter Road hot-seat. Speaking alongside Charlie Mulgrew on their podcast, The Breakdown, he has faith that the Hibs board will stick with their man.
He said: “I know a lot of my mates that go every week, the narrative's starting to turn a wee bit for him. But I think he's been through every twist and turn he probably could have had as a young manager and he's managed to come out the other side when you think back to the Aberdeen game.”
“I do think the hierarchy, the Gordons, will be patient. He's got a good sounding board in Malky MacKay, who has seen everything in the game as well, so he's got a great bit of experience to lean on, Eddie May, part of his staff. They've been patient before and it's worked for them? Aye, I'd hate to see him get sacked, not just because he's a friend, just because I wouldn't like to see anyone get sacked.”
Falkirk result ‘a real sore one’
He continued: “Obviously it’s a sore one for Dave, who's a friend of mine, so we all want to see him do well. I think it's horrible, isn't it? It's hard not to get away from the fact that he'd be under a bit of pressure. I don't think the Dunfermline game last week helped. Then, I think if you end up getting beat off, Falkirk and it's 2-1 or it's a close game or whatever and you maybe perform well, it’s ok but I think to get beat 4-1 in the end was a real sore one for him.”
Thomson also acknowledged the performance of Stewart against Hibs, who is emerging as a great Scottish Football story. The striker is in the midst of completing his Sports Science degree at Heriot Watt, and was playing for his University team just over a year ago. The 21-year old was previously on loan at Neil Lennon’s Dunfermline. He said: “the flip side of that is what an unbelievable job John McGlynn's doing.
“They played great football. They recalled Barney Stewart from Dunfermline, who was doing a good job for them. Dunfermline fans were gutted to see him go and I think Lenny was a bit gutted to see him go as well. But Barney Stewart, what a story. I think somebody told me he was playing for Heriot-Watt. He was playing for a seventh tier team not that long ago and now he’s scoring hat-tricks against Hibs.”