Why Hibs are proud of academy as club chief talks games programme, Europe, and trusting Lee Johnson

A raft of new contracts, an impressive run in the UEFA Youth League, and players being included in first-team squads.

Things certainly seem to be heading in the right direction for the talented crop of youngsters at Hibs. Murray Johnson, not long turned 18, has been promoted to David Marshall’s understudy; Ethan Laidlaw, Oscar MacIntyre, and Josh O’Connor have been in recent matchday squads; and four of last season’s under-18 league-winners have headed out on loan to SPFL clubs.

On top of that there have been a raft of new contracts agreed over the past season including brothers Oscar and Jacob MacIntyre; Kanayo Megwa, who this week joined Kelty Hearts on loan, and Jacob Blaney, who moved to Stenhousemuir on a temporary basis after signing a new deal in the wake of two goals in the Youth League campaign. Hibs lost just twice in five UYL games, coming from a 1-0 aggregate deficit to draw 2-2 with Molde of Norway, eventually beating them on penalties, while they defeated French side Nantes at home and away, before suffering late heartbreak against Borussia Dortmund at Easter Road last month.

The progress made with the academy is, according to chief executive Ben Kensell, one of the things Hibs are most proud of as a club in recent years.

Hibs under-19s line up ahead of the UEFA Youth League play-off round clash with Borussia Dortmund

“Following Covid-19 we were at quite a low ebb, and had to effectively repopulate the academy, bring back coaches, and create a structure under [academy director] Steve Kean. Our 18s then won the league last year and embarked on the UEFA Youth League campaign and at the same time they were trying to infiltrate the first team. They have had a competitive games programme and you can see the development and the improvement they’re making,” he told the Evening News.

That games programme hasn’t perhaps gone exactly as was forecast – academy chief Steve Kean revealed plans for a friendly tournament dubbed the 1875 Invitational involving Hibs and several clubs from England but the revival of the SPFL Reserve League, and the run in Europe put paid to that being staged as such. But despite that, the academy players have still been able to test themselves against players from the likes of Arsenal and Newcastle, among others.

"We didn’t go ahead with the friendly tournament matches but they didn’t fall through as such – we’ve got relationships with Huddersfield, Brentford, Middlesbrough, Norwich, they’ve all been up this year and played us, and whether it’s bounce games, or closed-doors games, they’re all competitive matches,” Kensell continued.

‘We haven’t travelled down to England a lot and that’s not because of budget, it’s more about the creation of the Reserve League and then the UEFA Youth League run. It becomes easier having bounce games that are local – playing someone like Civil Service Strollers on a Thursday at 2pm becomes the easiest option.”

Under-19s captain Murray Aiken in action against Dortmund

This year, many of the academy players have got gametime in the Reserve League and Cup matches, as well as in summer friendlies and bounce games and in some cases, CAS Elite Under-18 league matches and youth international fixtures. Filling their schedule with matches is the best way of harnessing their potential – and give them a wide range of opponents.

“Players need 25 games a season to really show development and our boys are getting that. We want them to experience different levels of opposition and stretch them, we are still keen to give them the experience of going down south,” Kensell added.

But the Hibs CEO has a warning for fans hoping to see a first team made up of homegrown players in the near future, even if he does feel that there are a number of players who have shown real promise. He understands the clamour to see academy youngsters force their way into the first-team plans but believes times have changed and it is not simply a case of players ‘being old enough if they’re good enough’, for want of a better description.

“I still don’t think you can ever see the type of numbers that people are expecting to get through to the first team because there is traffic in the pathway. For me, we’ve got a really great crop of young players that will be given the opportunity if we keep a level of stability at the club,” he explains.

Manager Lee Johnson speaks to Josh O'Connor after the 6-0 win against Aberdeen in January

"I think people will soon see the fruits of the last two years of work. It’s the players who have made it happen, and the staff, but predominantly the players. They have to be good enough to start off with and then you have to give them the opportunity to get in. The likes of Oscar MacIntyre, Murray Johnson, Robbie Hamilton, Malik Zaid, Ethan Laidlaw – all of these lads deserve to be knocking on the door but in my opinion, people shouldn’t be questioning Lee Johnson’s view.”

Johnson often includes the elder academy players – those at the upper age limit of the under-19s – in training with his first-team squad, and has seen them first hand in matches as well as how they train. That, Kensell feels, should be enough for supporters to trust his judgement when it comes to making a call on bringing youngsters into the senior group.

"He trains with them every single day and understands their maturation, whether they are fully ready, if they need to come in and then go out a bit. He has managed a lot of games at a really competitive level in the English Championship and now the Scottish Premiership and has done well playing a style that is attack-minded so I think we should trust the process on this.

“Steve is also a really experienced manager and coach and developer of players. We’ve got good people at the club, and we shouldn’t get too hung up on this player getting a chance ahead of that player.”