Exclusive:Hibs transfer philosophy outlined with January window looming - Easter Road club 'looking at a few positions'
Six summer buys all paying off - so what can Black Knight guru Stewart and Malky Mackay deliver in mid-season?
David Gray has revealed some of the methods behind Hibs’ approach to the looming mid-season transfer window. And he’s explained how everything begins with a review of the club’s summer signings.
Gray and sporting director Malky Mackay, working with former Black Knight data guru Garvan Stewart in a head of recruitment role, brought half a dozen new first-team faces to Easter Road during the close season. All have been hits, to some degree or another, with Jamie McGrath and Josh Mulligan making an immediate impact, while Grant Hanley, Raphael Sallinger, Miguel Chaiwa and £1.5 million record signing Thibault Klidje have all now made eye-catching contributions to the side.
Lyndon Dykes deal fell through on Deadline Day
As soon as the window closed with a minor flurry of late signings, however, attention switched to the next opportunity to strengthen the squad. Hibs do expect to be active in January, with another striker – a Lyndon Dykes type, if not the Scotland international himself, following the collapse of his Deadline Day move to Edinburgh – and one or two other obvious positions in need of strengthening.
Recruitment department looking to ‘add value’ to squad
Asked if every move in the market meant taking a punt, to some degree, Gray admitted: “Yeah, you always are, I think. The biggest thing is to have a process in place, which we have.
“And it's not as simple as: ‘Oh, I quite like that player, the manager wants that player, let's go and get him.’ It never works like that.
“It needs to fit into a number of things. One, the structure within the football club. So financially, that's always the first place. Is it achievable?
“Does it add value to the group, and is it a position we need? And then even there's a longer term looking at it, if it's a younger player, do we see the future in him? What does that look like? Is he an asset?
“There's all different things that come into it now. But I think one thing I would say is the club are very proactive and very supportive of trying to help.
Gordon family backing appreciated
“Every manager I've ever worked under, everyone since the Gordon family came in, they’ve always been very heavily supported. And that's something that I'm certainly very grateful for.”
Providing more detail of his interactions with the recruitment arm of the football department, Gray explained: “Yeah, it never really stops. The conversations around it aren't as frequent, but the message as soon as the window closes is: ‘There's the squad, that's what it looks like, that's not going to change until the first of January.’
“What do we expect? In an ideal world, we start moulding and shaping what we think it looks like moving forward. I think that starts straight away; it does here.
“Then you have a bit of a review on the previous window, reflect on what went right and so on. And we also need to look at our players and be proactive, being ready in case there is interest in them.
“That's where the recruitment department have to work so hard when the window's closed as well, to make sure you're being as proactive as possible. And we certainly have been.
“We’ll be looking at a few positions and asking: ‘If something came up, would you be able to strengthen?’ If it's the right people, then the club have always been very supportive of that.”