Shaun Maloney: Former Hibs forward says Ron Gordon decision is 'thoughtless'

Former Hibs forward Kris Commons has described club owner Ron Gordon’s decision to sack Shaun Maloney as “panicked” and “thoughtless”.

The 39-year-old former Belgium coach was dismissed on Tuesday after just four months in charge. It followed defeat by Hearts at Hampden in the Scottish Cup semi-final, coming on the back of a failure to reach the top six when losing to their city rivals at Tynecastle Park the week prior.

Gordon said in a short statement that “ultimately it didn't work out”. But Commons, who had a brief spell on loan at Hibs from Celtic in 2016/17, described it a “ridiculous decision” especially on the back of the decision to sack Jack Ross ahead of the Premier Sports Cup final.

"When you appoint a rookie head coach, you surely have to understand that it might take some time for them to get it right,” he wrote in his Daily Mail column. “You are making a commitment to someone and there needs to be a degree of patience.

Kris Commons was a team-mate of Shaun Maloney. Picture: SNS

"Maloney was never going to provide a quick fix. He was never going to walk in and reinvent the wheel from day one. He needed time but Hibs simply weren't willing to give him any.

"Which makes you wonder what on earth the point was in giving him the job in the first place if you're just going to sack him after four months?

Commons added: “He [Gordon] got rid of Jack Ross just a week before the League Cup final back in December. Now he's given Maloney the bullet with just five games to go until the end of the season.

"It just strikes me as a panicked, thoughtless move from Gordon. He's stumbling around in the dark, making one mistake after another. In his mind, the back-to-back defeats to Hearts were the final straw. But constantly chopping and changing the manager is harmful to a club. You end up in this constant cycle of transition.

"The new manager will come in and decide to have a clear-out of players. The squad ends up being ripped up every 12 months or so. There's no continuity or sense of identity when you've got a trigger-happy owner like Gordon in charge."

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