David Gray opens up on Hibs pressure and the message the board understand

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David Gray is not naive to the pressures of the manager’s job at Hibs.

After all, this is a man who has stepped into the role of interim boss on various occasions after four managers he worked closely with were sacked, some after no time at all.

He’s not had it easy in his time so far either with the team sitting bottom of the Premiership. His Hibees team have repeatedly shot themselves in the foot with late goals conceded and not taking chances of their own.

There have also been red cards leaving them short at times.

• READ MORE: Hibs star ‘making himself target’ and could have talked his way out of a start

David Gray knows the pressure of the Hibs job

Gray is under no illusions about the task at hand.

The Easter Road club is one with big demands that currently are not being met and if he fails to get them back to that level his head will be on the chopping block.

He’s well aware of that but is adamant the team have shown enough to suggest they CAN get out of the doldrums.

Gray told the Edinburgh Evening News: “I don’t think to myself: ‘If we don’t win this weekend, that could be the end …’ or whatever. But I’m also not naive enough or deluded to think that just because of my history at the football club that I’ve got any more time than anybody else.

“Absolutely not. The position the football club finds themselves in at the moment is my responsibility. And where we find ourselves just now isn’t good enough. So all I can concentrate on is how quickly I can change that and turn that round

“The pressure’s always there. I’m well aware of that part the job. But I took it at the start well aware of the challenge I faced.

“I knew it was always going to be a challenge. I knew it was always going to be tough. History tells you that, of course. But I honestly believe it will turn because of what we’re doing.

“And the pressure won’t go away if we win two or three games. It’s always going to be there.

“I think that’s something that I think I’ll benefit from in the long term. Having gone through adversity so early in the start of this, sticking together and working on the things we do, I think I’ll benefit from it.”

Asked if the board are aligned with his message, he added: “Very much so. I think everyone understands the position.

“Naturally, the noise and everything that comes around with it, I think the position we find ourselves in is 100% normal and I fully expect that. The biggest thing for me is that the conversations I have are always around how can the team get better and why are we doing what I’m doing and the justification in it. 

“I’m always open and enjoy the conversations when people ask me questions on it, purely because I like people to understand why I’m doing what I’m doing. If anyone else wants to ask me a question on it, I’m quite comfortable in that environment. And it’s something that has obviously happened over a number of weeks.

“I think with Malky being in the role he’s in, there’s regular conversations every single day around about what I’m thinking of doing, probably a lot on reflection, how we see the game, decisions I made in the game, how that goes. That’s something you do as a coach anyway, automatically.

“You look at the result firstly, try not to be too high or too low off the back of that. The emotion straight after the game obviously dictates that but then looking at it calmly and saying: ‘Right, well, did I get that right? Was that bit wrong? In hindsight, would I have done that differently?’ And really assessing myself first. Myself and the staff do that a lot.

How long will Gray get at Hibs?

Hibs have gone through their fair share of managers in recent years.

Jack Ross was in the post for two years but despite having credit in the bank from a third placed finish, was sacked after his first bad run which to be fair was a dismal seven defeats from nine games.

His replacement was Shaun Maloney and the rookie boss lasted just 19 games, of which he won six, drew six and lost seven.

Gray is catching up in terms of games managed with 12, but he does currently have a better win percentage with 41.76 per cent compared to 31.58 per cent.

Lee Johnson was in the job for around a year-and-a-half and had a win rate of 38.46 per cent. He managed a fairly respectable fifth place in his only full season in charge but was binned after losing the first three games the following season.

Then came Nick Montgomery. He lasted a bit longer than Maloney at eight months but lost his job after failing to get the club into the top six.