Revealed - how out of contract Hibs stars seeking 'assurances' can earn new deals at Easter Road or beyond
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Now that Deadline Day has passed without serious incident, on to the next potential personnel crisis, right? No point making a drama out of it, though.
With an entire team’s worth of players, plus a few subs, out of contract at the end of this season, Hibs fully understand the demand for what David Gray calls “assurances” from those facing uncertain futures. While some of those heading for free agency are eagerly seeking an alternative adventure for next season and beyond, others would clearly like to re-commit themselves to an extended stint at Easter Road. Today, if not sooner.
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Hide AdAs a manager, Gray is constantly being kept up to speed on latest negotiations between club, agents and players asked to remain focused on the job at hand. And he’s clear that, in this squad, there must be only one focus – playing well enough to earn another deal. Wherever that may be.
With Martin Boyle, Lewis Miller and Chris Cadden among a 15-strong group of players now well into the home straight on their current contracts, Gray knows that the closing of the January window will inevitably prompt more talk on future-proofing his squad, the gaffer admitting: “Well, that's what we're seeing now. This is what the attention will change towards.
“And naturally players will want to seek assurances on the future. There are conversations that are happening all the time.
“The big thing, the positive thing from my point of view as a coach, is this group of players we've got now, they know they're here until the end of the season. This is what we've got to work with.
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Hide Ad“I'm delighted with that. We're all in a really good place, momentum is building, and we've got an opportunity to finish the season as strong as we can.
“And it's in everyone's best interest to do as well as they can. Whether that's for earning a new contract here, whether under contract here next season, or they decide to move on to other things.
“To give yourself the best possible opportunity of what that looks like, the best way to do that is to be as successful as you can this year. And the good thing with that is, from where we were, to where we are now, we've given ourselves an opportunity to end the season really strong.
“We can still reach all the targets we've set at the start of the season, so everything is well within reach. But there's a lot of hard work still to be done, which we all know.”
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Hibs are now well placed to finish in the top six come the split, although the fact that Scottish Premiership table is so tight means nobody is taking anything for granted. And, of course, the immediate focus is on getting past Ayr United in the Scottish Cup.
There’s a reason why the BBC picked this tie for their Friday night live slot. Expectations of a shock at Somerset Park are running high, with the Championship leaders – under the guidance of former Easter Road favourite Scott Brown – representing one of the toughest tests Hibs could have faced at this stage of the competition.
“We definitely can’t take any risks with this one,” acknowledge Gray. “It's a difficult game, it'll be a real tough game, that's what happens in the cup, all the expectation and pressure will be on us to go and win, and rightly so.
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Hide Ad“But it's also a really good game to look forward to, a good game for the players to play in, a big opportunity as well to try and get into the next round of the cup, and that's the full focus of it. Any game you've got in the cup can be really difficult, you know.
“The Clydebank game had its challenges at times, everything that came with that, the expectation that came with that. And this is another game that presents its own challenges, something we need to overcome to keep our run of form going – and make sure we’re in the next round.”
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