'Tough questions' from Hibs CEO kept gaffer calm in crisis as Gray makes silent treatment admission
Billionaire investor’s Black Knight group heavily involved in search for Kensell replacement
Hibs boss David Gray admits he feared getting the silent treatment when his team couldn’t buy a result at the start of his first season in management. So he’ll forever be grateful to departing CEO Ben Kensell for keeping the lines of communication open.
The Easter Road club announced Kensell’s departure, after three-and-a-half years at the helm, this week. While Gray understands why the chief executive wasn’t always popular with fans, he thanked Kensell for playing a part in his appointment as gaffer – and for asking tough questions as Hibs scuffled along at the foot of the Scottish Premiership.
Gray, who has presided over a recovery that has seen Hibs climb into the top six, explained: “I think the key for me throughout the whole thing was always the communication side to it. Sometimes the conversations aren't what you want to hear, they never are -but somebody needs to ask the difficult questions at times.
“Because we all want the same thing. We all want success; we all knew it needed to be better. I truly believed that given the time we'd be able to turn it round and I was able to demonstrate that on numerous occasions.
“But I think the key throughout all that is the constant communication throughout it. There never was at a time when it went quiet during difficult times.
“That would be the concern if I felt like you don't hear anything from above or the relationship would change in any sort of way. Then I would start to have more concern.
“I know I was always getting asked about my job situation - and rightly so because of where we were in the league, the underachievement of the group and that's 100% my responsibility. I knew that was the case.
“I’d been in the game long enough to know that; it was no different just because I'd been at the club before. I knew that was an area where I had to improve quickly.
“The club showed me real support to back me during the difficult times. And Ben was a massive driver in that - just the constant communication, never going quiet on me. At times having difficult conversations but at the same time always supporting me.”
Asked if having Kensell in his corner had helped him, as a first-year manager, avoid panicking in the midst of a crisis, Gray said: “One hundred per cent. Especially when it’s the first time I’ve been in this situation.
“I was grateful for the support I got from the club Ben personally, for all the things he'd done for me and the support he's shown during the difficult times. I wouldn't say made it feel easier because it was always a difficult moment, but it did give me the belief and support that I knew I could turn it around given the time - and I was grateful for it.”
It’s understood that billionaire investor Bill Foley’s Black Knight group will have a big say in appointing a new CEO, with the Bournemouth owner – having already installed Garvan Stewart as head of recruitment – taking a keener interest in a club where he holds a minority share. Gray, for his part, trusts the board to find the right candidate.
“I think that's obviously a question for the powers that be at the football club to make the right decisions, and I'm sure they will,” he said, adding: “And then it'll be up to myself and everyone else within the football club to make sure that that's a fluent relationship, that everybody moves in the same direction.
“Because we all want the same thing from top to bottom, everybody wants success. And I think if I'm being honest, the Gordon family truly deserve it for the money and support they've put in here over the time they've been here.”