Nicol lines up for a Hibee shuffle
Raith youngster trains at Easter
Road
(Stuart Crowther)NO
SOONER HAS HIBS BOSS confirmed the imminent departure of one
midfielder, but this morning he is looking at a replacement - in the form
of highly-rated 19-year-old Kevin Nicol.
Nicol burst on to the
scene in the first division last season with Raith Rovers, but the
youngster was out of contract at the end of last season and has been
signing month-to-month contracts ever since. Kirkcaldy-born Nicol is
training with Hibs this week with a view to a deal being struck, with
Raith boss Peter Hetherston admitting that he will lose his promising
youngster with his club prepared to listen to offers. It is not
clear however if any fee will change hands should Hibernian decide to sign
a player who has proven to be a firm favourite with Raith fans who will
once again despair at losing yet another of their better players.
Kevin Nicol - training at Easter Road (sns)
McLeish meanwhile will
be delighted that the latest round of international games are now over,
and he can concentrate fully on the game against Motherwell at Fir Park on
Saturday. His players are itching to get back into action following
the disappointment of the heavy defeat to Celtic, with the Hibs boss
saying: "Sometimes after a defeat you want to be back playing again
as quickly as possible. But it now seems such a long break and
we're all champing at the bit again. At first, we were glad of the
break because it allowed us to work on some things at training after the
Celtic game, but it's dragging on a bit now!"
Scotland's defeat at the
hands of Belgium last night all but ended the nations World Cup hopes, and
with it set up inevitable speculation on the future of the Scotland boss
Craig Brown. This will likely lead to most of Scotland's best young
managers being linked with the job, and McLeish is bound to be high on
that list - one of the more unwelcome, for Hibs fans at least,
side-effects of the Scots failure to make it to Japan & Korea next
summer.
Special Hibs.net T-Shirts available
Tickets meanwhile went
on sale for the home leg of Hibs UEFA Cup tie against AEK Athens
yesterday, with sales reported to be 'brisk' throughout most of the day as
season ticket holders took advantage of the special deal on offer, a £2
discount an any second ticket purchased. Hibs will take 1,500 fans
to the away leg next week, around half of these travelling from Edinburgh
Airport on Wednesday morning while the remainder will travel independently
to the Greek capital. Hibs.net have commissioned a special T-Shirt
for Hibs return to Europe for the first time in almost ten years, using
the design shown above - orders can be placed to shirts@hibs.net
stating size and quantity required. The shirts, priced at £9.99
plus postage of £1, can be picked up at the Airport on Wednesday or
special delivery arranged via the special e-mail address.
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