Venus rising amid heat of Derby fever

HIBS assistant manager Mark Venus admitted today the players were in a state of "shock" when Tony Mowbray revealed he was quitting the club - but insisted Sunday's Edinburgh derby is the best fixture to help them bounce back.

Days of speculation that Mowbray was poised to quit Easter Road and be installed as the new boss of English Championship side West Bromwich Albion came to a head yesterday when he called a meeting with his playing staff to confirm their worst fears.

Despite desperate attempts by chairman Rod Petrie to persuade him to extend his two-and-a-half-year stay in Edinburgh, Mowbray decided that the lure of managing in the higher echelons of England was too strong to turn down.

A hushed Easter Road dressing room heard the manager thank his players for their efforts during his time in charge before he shook them by the hand one by one and said his goodbyes.

The former Middlesbrough defender then drove for talks with the Midlands outfit to put pen-to-paper on the final details of his switch to the Hawthorns.

Venus will take charge of team affairs this Sunday although he is widely expected to follow Mowbray south to try to plot West Brom's promotion to the English Premiership.

Before then, he will be hoping to help the Hibees end a traumatic week for all associated with the club on a high with victory over their Capital rivals.

And he believes the frenetic atmosphere of the much-anticipated fixture can provide the perfect tonic for his young players.

"It's come as a shock to the players. There's no point trying to pretend otherwise," said Venus.

"I don't think anybody expected it but by Sunday they will be fine. It's a great game to come into. It's a big match and I'm sure there will be big crowd who'll do their best to get behind the team and will really cheer them on.

"The players will give their best and hopefully everything will come out rosy."

But, while Venus insisted that his players are more than capable of taking all three points this weekend, he admitted that it was impossible to disguise the fact that Mowbray's departure is a major blow to the club.

And he revealed his belief that it's important for Rod Petrie and the rest of the Hibs board to appoint a successor to Mowbray as soon as possible if their ambitions of challenging at the top end of the SPL aren't to falter.

"It's not good for any football club when you get disruption because the manager is going somewhere else," he mused.

"Footballers need someone to look to. They need a manager to act as a figurehead for when they have problems and, no matter what anyone says, it doesn't help when you don't have someone doing that.

"But the fact remains that this has happened for the right reasons - because Hibs have been doing well.

"It's far better to lose a manager because he has done something good as it means the players have been part of a successful team.

"They have all contributed to the manager's success and have got him where he is because of their performances week in, week out.

"It's much worse when a manager leaves because he has been doing badly and in that case it's even more important to get someone in quickly.

"In the meantime, it's up to these players to show that they can still perform.

"The main thing now is that we want to win this weekend to try to stay up the top of the league where we want to be.

"We know we have a decent squad of players and we need to try and put a run of results together to try and stay up towards the top of the table."

Win, lose or draw on Sunday, Venus was keen to point out that, just as it was during Mowbray's time at the club, the result would be achieved as a result of the whole coaching staff. While the manager may have gone Venus, recently-recruited assistant coach Mark Proctor, goalkeeping coach Gordon Marshall, academy director John Park, youth coach Alistair Stevenson and fitness coach Dougie Fowler all remain.

And Venus says they all have a crucial part to play at this difficult time.

"I'm looking after the team on Sunday but I'd like to make clear that it won't just be me. There are other members of staff at this club, guys that put in a lot of unseen work that will be playing a big part too.

"I don't mind figure-heading that just now as the best interests of Hibernian Football Club are what I have at heart.

"Hopefully we can give the fans something to cheer about by getting the right result this weekend."

And Park, who will be assisting Venus with team affairs in the interim, believes that the values and abilities that Mowbray has helped instil in the players will still be there for all to see on Sunday despite the notable absence of the Englishman in the dug-out.

"I'm sure the players will take on his game intelligence and put that into practice when Sunday comes around," he said. "He has done a fantastic job at the club and has really left an indelible mark. His man management skills, his leadership and his organisational skills were really second to none.

"He's changed the way that a lot of us look at the game in terms of analysing teams and players.

"I didn't know a great deal about him when he first came here but I certainly do now.

"And you can see the effect he's had with the sort of football that's been played over the last couple of years and the supporters have started rolling up to games again.

"There's no getting away from the fact that he'll be a sad loss and it would be great if we could get a result for him this weekend."