CHRISTMAS TIME, MISTLETOE AND WINE …….. hang on, that’s a Cliff Richard song isn’t it? May be some subliminal thought going on here because I’ve long forgiven Cliff for being totally naff whereas some of my fellow Hibbies will probably never find it in their heart to forgive Eck for jumping ship and taking the age old advice of "Go West young man" - although as each day goes by it seems to be getting easier!!!

Like they say, Football Management is a job like any other. If somebody comes along and says "We’ll triple your wages and we’ll give you better working conditions and tools to do the job" you don’t, unless you have some weird incomprehensible reason for doing so, say "No thanks, I’ll just hang about here because if I leave I’ll be accused of having no loyalty to our customers."

Stand back from your Hibbyness and think this through. Eck was on what; say £125,000 a year at Hibs. Despite the best efforts of the Board he is limited as to what he can spend to strengthen the thing upon which his future at the Club depends – the playing staff.  He’s sitting in a fast developing stadium but it still has a way to go and his customer base, the fans, has levelled off at around 12,000. He’s ambitious and wants to win things but it’s a hard slog with the tools at his disposal.

Suddenly, along comes a mega rich man who wants to offer him a new job. The pay is in excess of £375,000, he can spend pretty well what he likes on strengthening the player pool and the stadium is ultra modern with a customer base in excess of 50,000 every week. I don’t understand how folk find it difficult to believe he took up the offer of that new job.

Look at football Clubs and ask yourself this. As far as loyalty is concerned where can we reasonably expect it to lie? Amongst the support, most certainly; although I was alarmed to read postings on the messageboard which said things like "If they appoint so and so I will never come back." What IS that all about? Surely it’s the players on the park who deserve support? I know folk who lived through and hated most of the Alex Miller era but did they stop going because they didn’t like him? No way.

Happy days are here again (sns)

So, in the main, the supporters remain loyal no matter what. What then of the Board? They are made up of supporters and although Rod Petrie is alleged to care more about balancing the books than he is anything else I think you’ll find he is giving a silent cheer in the Directors box every time we score a goal.  As owner, Sir Tom Farmer has often said he has no real interest in the game and yet he is increasingly seen in the Directors box at games and I’m pretty sure his loyalty goes without question!

Then there are the players, Manager and Coaches? Ian Murray and Grant Brebner are examples of Hibs fans who also play for the team and there have been plenty of others in the past. Of course they are loyal but playing football is their job and if an opportunity to get a better job comes along they are virtually certain to take it. God Mark One – Pat Stanton (Franck is my God Mark Two) even left Hibs although I know he didn’t really want to but at that time he was faced with being frozen out of things by Eddie Turnbull or moving to Celtic where his pay and working conditions were greatly improved.  Would you criticise him for that?  I think not!

So now God Mark 2 is in the hot seat and if you can find a Hibby with a bigger grin than me I'll give you a fiver!  Time will tell whether is Godliness follows him into the Managers Office but one thing is for sure, the Board's step in appointing him must have the support at its closest ever to being unified on choice!