Recruitment role has Hibs boss learning new lessons as squad issues addressed

Gray is learning to do the heavy lifting away from the training ground, as well as on it. | SNS Group

Hibs boss David Gray expects his squad to evolve “naturally” over the course of the summer transfer window. And he says he’s enjoying the extra responsibility of working on recruitment – with help from new sporting director Malky Mackay.

The rookie manager, handed the job of succeeding Nick Montgomery on a more permanent footing after serving four stints as caretaker head coach, admits Hibs are still “light” in certain areas of the park. And he fully expects a number of players – either saleable assets like Elie Youan or squad fillers unlikely to get game time in the season ahead – to move on before the transfer deadline.

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Gray, likely to add at least one striker to the group in the weeks ahead, says he’s adapting to the new experience of being at the heart of first team recruitment, saying: “Yeah, but it’s not just that. It’s the everyday stuff. I’ve went from being really hands-on with the training sessions, only really needing to worry about that, to being manager and dealing with all the stuff going on in the background.

“The current structure we have in place really helps that. With Malky Mackay coming in as sporting director and the structure beyond that, I feel the club is in a really good place, in terms of the knowledge and the experience we have around me.

“We’re slowly working out the best way to take it forward. It’s changing all the time. And I’m learning every day, because there are new challenges I’ve not experienced before – and I’m enjoying that side of it. We’re in a good place at the moment.

 “The squad still has to take shape, because there are still positions where we’re a little bit light. Obviously in the background we’re working to try to improve the squad.

“But it’s not about a certain number. It’s the type of people we can get to enhance the squad, to make us better. I’ve been pretty clear in my messaging on that. It’s about the type of people we can recruit – and we’ve demonstrated that with the players we’ve already brought into the building. We need to make sure we keep getting it right – because we’re not far away from where we need to be.

“We’re getting there. The week in the Netherlands really helped because the players are with you the whole time and you have the opportunity to work with them every day.

“A lot of the players who I coached during the interim spells had seen me in a different way, but I couldn’t change that much; it was always just two or three days on the training pitch, sometimes only one day before a game, so there’s only so much you can get into them.

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“Now there’s a new staff, a new way of working and I think even the players who were already here are getting an idea of exactly what we want and what we expect. The Netherlands was really good for that. The new players came in and really integrated into the squad. But we’re constantly moving forward, and we need to keep working because there’s a lot still to do.

“I’m delighted with where everybody is - but we need to keep pushing forward and keep improving as a group. The squad will change and with the window being open things will constantly develop. Everything’s geared up to keep pushing forward.”