McLeish talks to
Rangers
Hibs board gives in to the
inevitable - STUART
CROWTHER
HIBERNIAN
HAVE GIVEN PERMISSION to Rangers
to formally approach Alex McLeish, and in the latest twist of this
breaking story the Hibs boss is understood to already be in talks with the
Ibrox club.
The
first signs of more movement in the saga came this morning when McLeish
did not take training as Hibs prepared to face Rangers at Ibrox
tomorrow. And later in the morning, Hibernian cancelled a scheduled
pre-match press briefing with McLeish to discuss the SPL clash, just ahead
of the revelation that McLeish was talking officially to Rangers
representatives. While the Hibs board rejected an initial approach
from Rangers, Hibs.net
understands that McLeish himself made it clear that he wished to talk -
and from that moment there was clearly no point in Hibernian resisting
attempts by Rangers to secure the services of McLeish as a replacement for
the outgoing Dick Advocaat.
There
has been a mixed reaction from Hibs fans as the news has broken, with the
majority it seems resigned to losing a man who was a popular figure around
Easter Road. The very fact that Rangers were able to freely tout
McLeish's name as a target, and then make moves to recruit him just ahead
of the clubs meeting in the SPL, is a matter of concern for Kevin Paterson
of Gilmerton, who said: "It is appalling
that any SPL team can approach another SPL team to recruit a manager
during a Season. Even if this deal falls through McLeish will
have lost the trust and respect of the fans, so sadly his position now is
untenable." Taking a similar line
is Simon Tiernan from Edinburgh, who said: "Alex
McLeish should leave Easter Road immediately. He has made clear that he
sees his future as being elsewhere. I am very suspicious of the timing of
this move by Rangers - it seems to having been planned to cause maximum
disruption to Hibs in the run-up to our game at Ibrox tomorrow."
Sold Out? That's the view of many Hibs fans (hibs.net)
Many
Hibs fans are already turning their attention to a replacement for
McLeish. If as expected the Hibs boss moves to Ibrox and takes his
assistant Andy Watson with him, then Donald Park looks the most likely
candidate to take charge of the side for their trip to Glasgow.
Simon Tiernan has no doubt however who should be the next manager at
Easter Road: "While I'm a great admirer
of Franck Sauzee, his total lack of coaching experience means that he'd
surely be a better as an assistant to a more experienced name like Bobby
Williamson. He has done very well at a club with very limited resources
and I'm sure he could take Hibs forward."
That is not a view shared by Stuart Anderson, who told Hibs.net: "Although
he turned Hibs around the results since January have been very bad.
Had Hibs been in the top 3 it would have been a major blow, but were now
7th in a very ordinary league. Take the money from Greyskull and
give it to Sauzee to build his new team."
Martin
McAvoy from Edinburgh meanwhile believes that Rangers are taking something
of a risk in recruiting McLeish. He told Hibs.net: "Rangers
I feel have taken a gamble. McLeish must be thanked for turning Hibs
around and making them a force in Scottish Football once again but I still
do not think he has been proven to be a successful manager at a higher
level. Rangers I feel are not looking at the bigger picture and happy once
again to just weaken their competitors."
A little more forthright however was London Hibs fan John Watson, who
said: "No great loss. He got
lucky somehow managing to sign Latapy while still at the top of his game.
As soon as he became discontented our purple patch was over. Paw
Broon for the job."
Hibs.net
will be following proceedings carefully throughout the day, with more
viewpoints from the people often forgotten in such matters, the fans.
|
Odds
