Inside the Hibs rebuild - how homework gave new boss a head start

How much did Hibs coaches know about their new squad?

New Hibs manager Nick Montgomery believes the current squad is capable of success in the Premiership.

With the average airline journey from Australia to the UK usually clocking in somewhere around the 23-hour mark, we can safely assume that Nick Montgomery had plenty of time to kill on his long trek from Tuggerah to East Mains.

Judging by some of the chat emerging from the first team dressing room at the Hibernian Training Centre, it’s clear that the former Central Coast Mariners head coach – jetting halfway round the world to fill the vacancy left by Lee Johnson’s departure – used the trip to do something more productive than binge-watching Succession on the in-flight entertainment.

Like all proper football folk, Montgomery knows that there is no substitute for preparation. No shortcuts when it comes to studying the tiny details that might make an enormous difference in this early phase of the new gig.

Joe Newell revealed a bit about the gaffer’s approach to homework when, in passing, he was asked if Montgomery and his backroom staff – assistant Sergio Raimundo and goalie coach Miguel de Oliveira Miranda – might have been surprised to see nearly 2000 Hibs fans making the trip to Kilmarnock for his first game as head coach.

“Maybe,’ said Newell, the Englishman quickly adding: “But what I would say is, so far, it wouldn’t surprise me if they knew all about the history of the club.

“They’ve really done their homework. They have dug really deep into all of us individually, as well as a team.

“They’ve watched all our games, watched all our training sessions, they knew all about Kilmarnock, so we had a really strong game plan for that match.

“It was impressive, that they knew so much about us as individuals and had all the information there, all the instructions were clear and based on good homework.”

If the first week of training under the new regime was intense, with players asked to absorb a lot of new ideas, starting positions, individual roles and specific responsibilities, the work done between full-time at Rugby Park and this Saturday’s visit of St Johnstone couldn’t be any less in-depth.

Everything Montgomery does – on the grass and in the lecture theatre at East Mains – will be about progression. Starting with a simple concept and then adding layers as soon as players begin to look comfortable with the basics.

The league game against St Johnstone is the first leg of a home triple-header for Hibs, of course, with next Wednesday night’s Viaplay Cup quarter-final against over-achieving St Mirren followed by a Premiership fixture against Dundee.

Despite the team squandering a 2-0 lead in Ayrshire, there is definitely an air of excitement among Hibs supporters, many of whom had long since tired of Johnson. Their eager to see their heroes, under new management, back on home soil. And the feeling is mutual.

“We can’t wait for three home games in a week,” said Newell. “Three big games.

“It’s a chance for us to showcase the new style. The gaffer has had one game, we’ve played in a completely new way, a new style, a new era, if you like, without getting too deep.

“It can definitely be mentally tiring, more than physically, having to process a lot of information being drilled into us.

“But that’s part of the job, isn’t it? It’s not just kicking a ball about. There are so many different aspects to the game that you have to work on.

“You also have to be invested in that and be willing to learn. We’ve definitely got a group who fall into that category.

“You saw it in the first half against Kilmarnock, we played in a completely different style and everyone has bought into it.

“Yeah, he did go straight for the 4-4-2, didn’t he? Me and Jimmy Jeggo on the edge of the box from goal kicks …

“But that’s the way he wants to do it, the way he wants to play.

“There’s been a lot of information and a lot of work put in every day, they’ve been drilling a lot of info into us, initially just focusing on Kilmarnock.

“But we know there will be plenty of more meetings about how he sees the game, how he sees the club moving forward. The first week was just about Kilmarnock.

“It was a near perfect day, I would say, at Rugby Park. Aspects of the game were really good and we looked a really top side – fluent, attractive football.

“But there are obviously areas where we can improve, especially in the last 20 minutes when we feel that pressure.

“It’s just about how we cope with conceding a goal and the opponents maybe changing a bit, moving a bit higher up the pitch, the crowd comes into it, we don’t hold things up as well, don’t play out as well …

“Our decision making on the ball changed, so we have to learn from that and improve.”