‘It was like stepping into the light after a spell in the darkness’

Appointing the Teessider with the commitment to attractive football and an attitude that impressed even those beyond Leith was a gamble that paid off for the Hibs board. But are they likely to be so lucky second time around? By Ian Bell

It is a little too soon for Hibs fans to grow misty-eyed over the 28-month tenure of Tony Mowbray. Their chance will come when two events coincide: when they are forced to remember what went before, and when they begin to contemplate what might come next.

“Before” was Bobby Williamson. To say he was unloved at Easter Road is a bit like saying that George Bush has few fans in downtown Baghdad. It wasn’t so much the lack of success that troubled the support, but rather the implied insult. Everything about Williamson’s demeanour, far less his statements, hinted at a certain contempt for the club’s ethos.

Mowbray, the nobody from nowhere, wasn’t like that. He did not set out to ingratiate himself, but arrived with the sort of principles which, lo and behold, the fans could actually recognise. Pass, move, entertain, and don’t be afraid of panache: cliches, perhaps, but it was like stepping into the light after a spell in the darkness.

Mowbray’s teams didn’t actually win anything, of course: that fact is worth remembering before sentiment overwhelms the east of Edinburgh. The aching after the Scottish Cup was not assuaged. A return to European football became the usual sight-seeing trip. The Old Firm were given a fright or several, but it was never going to be enough. Mowbray could not break the old Hibs habit: consistent inconsistency.

He was forgiven for it, partly because he was honest about his situation, partly because his ingenuity in the face of adversity was impressive, and partly because he stuck to his philosophical guns. How could the fans argue when Mowbray stayed true to a style they like to think of – despite mockery in certain quarters an Edinburgh bus ride away – as their own?

The coach had no money to spend. The determination of chairman Rod Petrie to ensure financial security, perfectly rational given the recent history of the Scottish game, meant that Hibs remained a selling club. Mowbray had to trust to youth and to his eye for overlooked journeymen. Then, in the greatest test of his mettle, he would have to see his best prospects lured away and somehow rebuild.

That, for my money, was his singular achievement. As often as not this season Hibs have played as though Derek Riordan and Garry O’Connor, able strikers both, were never on the team sheet. Whether certain Glasgow clubs have a history of asset-stripping simply to blunt an emerging threat we can leave to the realms of paranoia. With Hearts apparently prosperous, and certainly possessed of an impressive squad, Mowbray ensured that Hibs stayed in the hunt. Few believed it possible.

Can it be done again? As the Hibs board picks through the list of possible successors, two thoughts will be uppermost. First, simply by insisting on a certain style Mowbray brought back the customers in numbers not seen at Easter Road for a long while. The manager himself was a cash cow.

Secondly, this astute man knows the squad he schooled inside out. West Brom is the sort of challenge he will relish. He has made no bones about his desire to manage in the Premiership. He will have some money to spend at The Hawthorns, no doubt, if only because promotion is deemed essential by the West Midlands Championship club. Will he resist the temptation to stage a raid on Easter Road? That doesn’t seem likely.

The Hibs support are wearily fatalistic towards this sort of thing. Better to lose players to England, they will conclude, than watch them decamp to Glasgow. Besides, they will not begrudge Mowbray. They owe him.

Still, none of that solves the immediate problem: what comes next? Until very recently, and a falling out involving a referee with a flamboyant attitude towards the rules, John Hughes of Falkirk might have been welcomed back as a prodigal son. In strictly footballing terms he seems the next best thing to Mowbray available, if he is available.

Mixu Paatelainen has undoubtedly done well at Cowdenbeath but, with respect, what does “done well at Cowdenbeath” mean in this context? I’m not convinced, equally, that the present Hibs squad will adapt easily, if at all, to the Finn’s trademark hustle and bustle.

John Collins, another old favourite, would certainly impress young players, with good reason. His management CV is a blank sheet, however. Petrie may be inclined to gamble, but after 69 tumultuous days spent with Franck Sauzee, that admired and honourable man, Hibs fans may not be in the mood for another ride on the big dipper. Collins, equally, might be better off avoiding a debut at the deep end.

Ian McParland, coaching under Colin Calderwood at Notts Forest, is being mentioned. You tell me. Grant him that I, like most people, said the same when a member of the Ipswich Town coaching staff arrived in Edinburgh 28 months ago. McParland has spent a decade working with Nottingham’s players, but has only filled in as a manager. Your guess or mine?

As for a certain Alex McLeish, we can probably file that under “interesting notion”. Stranger things have happened, but that would count as one of the strangest. My hunch is that the former favourite son at Easter Road and Ibrox has other fish to fry.

In an odd way, none of this matters much. Hibs may get lucky or, if history is any guide, may punt and lose.

Either way, Petrie and his board will not break the bank. Such is life for even a moderately successful SPL club. They fight for air beneath a glass ceiling. Do they gamble financial stability against the hope of success, or do they plod along, guarding the purse strings, trusting to the youth academy, and hoping that another Tony Mowbray turns up? No prizes for guessing.

If the man from Teesside needs the compliment, nevertheless, here’s one: there is not a soul in Edinburgh and beyond who does not wish him well. You can’t buy that kind of style.

Taken from the Sunday Herald