Before a ball had been kicked in Sunday’s match against Aberdeen, Nick Montgomery sounded like a man under pressure.
In a pre-match interview, the Hibs boss spoke about his team’s xG (expected goals) and how they should actually be higher up in the table.
Once a manager starts publishing XG stats it is invariably a sign that he is busy.
What transpired over the next ninety minutes only made things even more exciting as Montgomery’s side suffered a 4-0 defeat.
There was a chorus of boos as the home crowd rightly voiced their disapproval. It would have been a lot louder if most of the fans hadn’t headed for the exits well before full time.
Not for the first time in recent seasons, Easter Road’s sense of crisis has now become impossible to escape as their campaign goes into disarray.
Nick Montgomery reflects on his team’s 4-0 defeat to Aberdeen at Easter Road
Aberdeen showed no mercy when they put the main side to the sword in Leith
Montgomery cut a frustrated figure as he congratulated the Dons players afterwards
Just a few weeks ago, Hibs were a matter of seconds away from securing a place in the top six, only to be denied by the concession of a late goal in a 1-1 draw against Motherwell. But honestly, even if they had finished in the top half, it would have only patched up the cracks and not changed the big picture.
It is expected that Hibs’ squad will undergo the football equivalent of open-heart surgery this summer. It has already been confirmed that club stalwarts Lewis Stevenson and Paul Hanlon will be moving. Many others will certainly follow.
Whether Montgomery will be the man to oversee the rebuild remains to be seen. For now, he seems determined to keep going.
With a home game against Motherwell tomorrow night before heading to Livingston on the final day, he insists nothing has changed regarding his position as manager. But that’s true. Of course that’s true. As soon as Hibs pressed the button on a bizarre club declaration after missing out on the top six, it was clear Montgomery’s jacket was on a shoogly peg.
The statement branded the team’s position in the league as ‘simply unacceptable’ and outlined plans for a major overhaul of their football structure behind the scenes.
Telling the manager publicly that his job is on the line was certainly an interesting approach from a club hierarchy that most punters in Leith probably wouldn’t trust with the weekly shopping list.
A real doozy that could be added to a list of highlights including the club being booted out of the League Cup a few years ago for fielding an ineligible player.
And therein lies the problem. Behind the scenes, Hibs are a mess. People without football expertise or experience make important decisions.
Montgomery could well be to blame if the club decides to pull the trigger, but Hibs’ problems run much deeper than just the manager.
There is a lack of identity and purpose. The Gordon family is still in control, with Bournemouth billionaire owner Bill Foley owning a 25 percent stake. However, it is on the recruitment side where Hibs have failed badly.
Over the past few years, one bad signing has been compounded by another.
Last summer they spent £700,000 to sign Dutch striker Dylan Vente. For Scottish clubs outside the Old Firm, that is serious money. But a return of just five league goals from the player this season is pathetic.
A poor signing who has not offered Hibs value for money, he epitomizes a failed recruitment policy. One in which a succession of managers have tried in vain to make things work over the last few years. Often they work with players they have not signed.
Consoling Hibs players leave after thrashing their visitors
Montgomery, pictured with Emiliano Marcondes at the end of the match, is under intense pressure
Since Neil Lennon’s departure in 2019, Hibs have had five permanent managers; Paul Heckingbottom, Jack Ross, Shaun Maloney, Lee Johnson and Montgomery.
When Montgomery took over from the dismissed Johnson last September, his appointment was generally greeted with optimism among supporters. As a title winner with Central Coast Mariners in Australia, there was plenty of intrigue as to how the former Sheffield United and Scotland youth midfielder would fare.
A record of twelve wins, twelve defeats and thirteen losses is not disastrous, but the nature of Sunday’s capitulation against Aberdeen was the most alarming.
Particularly in the context of the club statement a few weeks ago, it was the kind of performance and result that will significantly shorten a manager’s lifespan.
Some people will be quick to point out that clubs can’t keep firing bosses all the time. But that’s just a cliché.
Hibs continues to fire managers. It’s almost their modus operandi. To the tune of Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart, rival fans often sing about how Hibs Are Falling Apart. A 4-0 home defeat to a poor Aberdeen team is unforgivable and will have pushed Montgomery closer to the abyss.
At a time when the club is trying to sell season books, it feels like there is as much optimism at Easter Road as there was at the foot of the hill when Irvine Welsh wrote Renton’s speech about being Scottish.
Dylan Vente, who walked off after Sunday’s defeat, was a disappointment in Leith
As always with these things, the sense of pain and disillusionment that Hibs fans feel only gets worse when they look at what is happening in the city.
Hearts have risen to third place. They guarantee group stage football in Europe to look forward to next season. They have the best player in the country in Lawrence Shankland.
Right now Hibernian is a million miles away from that.
If the statement a few weeks ago was intended to elicit a response from the players, it clearly didn’t work.
Under heavy scrutiny in the run-up to the post-split games, two defeats in three games since have only led to more pressure on Montgomery.
His job is at stake and he knows it deep down.
There will be a huge clear-out of players at Hibs next summer. If the current decline continues, the manager could be the first out the door.