MOWBRAY STARTED WITH A BUNCH OF KIDS AND TURNED THEM INTO MEN SAYS DAVID MURPHY

HIBS ace David Murphy reckons Tony Mowbray inherited a promising bunch of kids at Easter Road - and turned them into battle-hardened stars.

The full-back was gutted to see his gaffer leave for pastures new last week when the lure of West Bromwich Albion proved too hard to resist.

But Murphy believes Mogga's legacy will be the way he moulded raw talent into a team of mature footballers in just two years.

Kevin Thomson is now club captain, Scott Brown and Steven Whittaker were included in last week's Scotland squad and Garry O'Connor, Gary Caldwell and Derek Riordan earned big-money moves.

And then there's the likes of Murphy who was plucked from Middlesbrough's reserves and transformed into arguably the best left-back in the SPL.

The Englishman said: "When the gaffer came here Scott, Kevin, Derek and Garry were all young boys.

"But look at them now - they're MEN.

"They're fantastic players who have progressed so much. Gary Caldwell is getting into the Scotland team now and has moved to Celtic as has Derek."

But Murphy insists Mowbray's influence off the park was just as important in helping the Hibs kids realise their potential.

And he hopes the good work continues under a new gaffer.

David said: "The boss introduced a way of life for us - how we should live our lives if we were to perform on the pitch.

"He didn't mind you going out and having a drink as long as you trained and ate properly.

"I'm sure the ideas he introduced will live on. People will always take on board what he says.

"Tony's man-management was fantastic. If there were any problems he'd be there for you.

"He has been a massive influence on my career.

"I had some really bad times with injuries at Boro but he had faith and has turned me into a player.

"Sometimes I wonder where I'd be if it wasn't for him but I'm a big believer in fate."

Murphy and his team-mates will try to shrug off the pain of losing Mogga and concentrate on the small matter of a derby clash with Hearts at Easter Road this afternoon.

He said: "It's not nice to lose any member of staff especially the manager.

"But it's the same bunch of lads and we'll stick together and face Hearts as normal.

"It hasn't been an unsettling week - we've been getting on with training.

"The gaffer has done a fantastic job here and there was always going to be speculation.

"Last week was nothing new although this time something actually happened. But we weren't resigned to losing him because so many of our players have been linked with moves and they're still here.

"Tony is a great man-manager and on the training pitch he's second to none. But whether he'll get to the Premiership I don't know.

"We CAN'T let his departure affect us or we're going on to the pitch already beaten men.

"We're at home for the derby and have the fans behind us.

"Last season we were undefeated at home to Hearts so can take that as a positive.

"All we can do is keep striving to be better. If we can do that we'll see where we end up.

"But we can't set targets. All we can do is keep improving."

Taken from the Sunday Mail