Paul Heckingbottom has his say on his new signings at Hibs

Hibs head coach Paul Heckingbottom has insisted he is happy with his summer signings even although six of the ten new arrivals started on the bench against Kilmarnock.
Joe Newell is one of several new signings at Hibs. Pic: SNSJoe Newell is one of several new signings at Hibs. Pic: SNS
Joe Newell is one of several new signings at Hibs. Pic: SNS

While that might have been the case, Heckingbottom pointed out that four of them were on the pitch at Rugby Park with Swedish midfielder Melker Hallberg and on-loan Peterborough United defender Jason Naismith being handed their debuts.

Adamant it wasn’t an issue as far as he was concerned, the Yorkshireman said: “We aren’t going to field a whole team of new signings, there will always be some on the bench. That’s just the way it is because of the turnover in players.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“For me, my issue is getting them to a point where they are taking peoples’ places, that’s what we want. It’s just a fact that in any window not every signing becomes a big success at the club. We are happy with the signings we have made.”

Defeats by Killie and Motherwell followed the loss of a last-minute equaliser against St Johnstone at Easter Road, a moment which, claimed Heckingbottom, had knocked his side.

He explained: “The mood for us changed in that St Johnstone game, we didn’t lose it but it’s like it’s affected everyone.

“I don’t know why, we were three seconds away [from winning] and a linesman’s flag away from being second or third in the league. It just seems to have changed the mood and off the back of that everything has been affected.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“We’ve spoken to the players, telling them to forget it. There will always be thing out of your control but there are certain things in your control that you just take care of and if you do, then more often than not you will get a positive result.”