Hyldgaard delivered, Murdock today
Hibs boss delight as his squad takes shape

A PUBLIC PARK BY INVERLEITH provided a small band of lucky Hibees with a first glimpse of Morten Hyldgaard last night as Bobby Williamson put his first team squad through a final bounce match against Stirling Albion before travelling down to Preston tomorrow.  These are busy times for Williamson as he shapes his squad for the new season, the next three weekends providing various tests for his side against Preston, Sunderland and Hearts, and by all accounts the work out at the Edinburgh Academy grounds gave plenty more cause for optimism.  As well as the impressive Hyldgaard, Andy McLaren and Steven Dobbie showed up well for Hibs in their 3-1 win, although missing from the action was Stephen Glass who is reported to be suffering from a slight strain.

Williamson earlier in the day unveiled his latest recruit, Hyldgaard looming high over his new boss as they entered the Easter Road press room. "He is a big boy, but I like a goalkeeper with a bit of stature," was Williamson's opening understatement, the Hibs boss adding:  "That is no disrespect to goalkeepers who are smaller than him, they have their own qualities but I do think that it takes a bit of pressure of the defence if they know that they have a guy who can take the higher balls.  I think if every manager had a preference then I think it would be their choice to have a commanding presence in goal, and as I say that is no disrespect to goalkeepers who are slightly smaller, who have their own capabilities and qualities that help the team out as well.  It seems though that the bigger they are down south the better it is for them, they have a lot of big lads down there."

Until last week, few Hibs fans had even heard of Hyldgaard, the Dane having only broken into the Coventry first team last season and even then being unceremoniously dumped when it emerged that Coventry would have had to play his former club another £100,000 had he continued to play.  For cash-strapped Coventry that was a problem, but in the end it would seem to be to the benefit of cash-strapped Hibs!  While Hibs fans may not have been aware of Hyldgaard, Bobby Williamson has been having tracked the player for some months.  He said: "I've been aware of Morten for a while, I just kept an eye on his progress or rather lack of it as far as Coventry were concerned, and I felt the time was right to try and have a go to get him.  Both Morten and Stephen Glass are quality players but they have to go out and prove that now, that is the thinking behind it.  The will have to adapt to Scottish football quickly and give themselves a chance and that is all I can ask.  I'm pleased though that the board have shown the initiative to try and go out and get players of this quality, I've lost a lot of quality players in recent times so it's good to bring in a bit of quality as well."

Morten Hyldgaard - commanding presence in the Hibs penalty area (hibs.net)

One of the problems that has haunted Hibs in signing players from overseas has been the language barrier, something that continues to plague Williamson with such as Yannick Zambernardi, and important part of his defence, still not fully commanding the English language.  That will not be a problem with Hyldgaard however, Williamson saying: "There is no language barrier at all with Morten, there is no problem as his English is better than ours, he does not struggle even to understand me so that's a plus!  It is very important for a goalkeeper to be able to communicate with his defenders and I don't think Morten will ever have a problem with that.  He has a very good work ethic, I've spoken to a few people who have worked with him and they have said that he is a glutton for punishment, he wants to work hard and to progress and become a top goalkeeper.  We are now giving him that opportunity and it's up to him to grasp it."

The Hibs boss is well aware of the frustrations suffered by Easter Road fans, in particular over recent times when all news seems to carry a negative meaning - even on hearing good news it seems Hibs supporters are waiting for the 'bad news' kick that comes with it!  "I can understand the frustration of the fans, a lot of things that have been written in the last couple of seasons has been negative, but that is just the nature," Williamson said, adding:  "Things are changing in football, and we are trying to change along with it.  We are still trying to put a team on the park, and as I've said it is pleasing that the Board are showing this initiative and willingness to help strengthen the team, and hopefully the players we have brought in can do that.  It is good for the fans to see some positive stuff being written and to see new faces coming in, it is the same old story though as new faces come in old ones have to move on.  We will be working with a squad of 24, and if we get a young guy who is playing Under-18 football coming out showing the willingness or capability to come through then they will be added to the 24 and unfortunately someone will have to move out of the squad to make that place available for him.

But I know it has been difficult for the fans.  I feel the way to conduct business is in private, but unfortunately the press guys have a job to do and are always seeking to have first bight at it.  But we have to do our job properly, and that is why that as soon as we do conclude we let the fans know.  We have been working on this for a few months now, Stephen Glass and Colin Murdock we have been working on for a while, and there are a couple of other players I'm interested in but these things take time.  Unfortunately we are running out of that between now and the start of the season but that is just the way business is conducted and we try to do it to the best of our ability."

Hibs will add further to the squad today when they unveil former Reading and Manchester United defender Colin Murdock, the formalities over his move to Easter Road having been completed last night.  It is then down to Preston for Hibs and the first real test of the pre-season build up, a mini-army of Hibs fans will follow the M6 route on Saturday morning in what is a much anticipated encounter.