End of line for Hibs and top target Triantis? Gray in 'if it's not here' admission on Sunderland star
Australian midfielder hailed as ‘humble’ example
Hibs boss David Gray insists he will continue to take an interest in Sunderland prospect Nectar Triantis – even if one of last season’s stand-out performers ultimately snubs an Easter Road return. And he says the Australian’s development during his second loan spell with Hibs is an example of how the system can work to everyone’s benefit.
With a Triantis return looking increasingly unlikely, Gray – not quite ready to give up on a footballer who garnered individual honours and an international call-up last season – said: “He was a pleasure to work with, that was one of the reasons why we wanted to bring him back in the first place. He's a real humble, hardworking boy who is constantly trying to improve all the time
“As a coach that's what you want as a dream to work with, and he's said a few times now how grateful he is for the opportunity he had. Because you're only as good as your teammates round about you.
“He had such a good season last year but the strength of the group and the coaches around that as well - a lot of coaches have done a lot of hard work with him to get him progressing all the time. He's got a lot of progressing still to be done and he's someone that I've worked closely with.
“And I'll be definitely keeping an eye on him to see how he gets on and wish him all the very best - if it's not here.”
Award winner back with Premier League parent club
Triantis won Young Player of the Year at Hibs last season, as well as finding himself on the shortlist for the Scottish Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year award. Despite Hibs being willing to break their own transfer record to land the 22-year-old on a permanent basis, it looks increasingly unlikely that he’ll return to Edinburgh.
Insisting that everyone at Hibs should be proud of their role in developing Triantis, Gray added: “Yeah, I think that's every coach's job. Obviously I'm the head coach, so I’m judged every week at five o'clock on what the result is, that's the immediate job is to win games of football.
“But my job title and my first thing is to do is to make sure I improve every single player every day if you can, and make sure every player feels like they're improving all the time. And the more players you can improve and go on to bigger and better things if it can benefit the football club then fantastic.
“Everyone's been in football long enough, some people move on, different situations. Nectar's a positive example of someone who came in, found a new position and has certainly improved over 12 months - and that's a lot of hard work from everybody involved and the group of players he's working with.”