HIBERNIAN REMAIN SILENT as intense speculation over the
future of 19-year-old striker Garry O'Connor continues to spread today.
O'Connor burst onto the scene at Easter Road in spectacular fashion when
Bobby Williamson arrived at the club, netting 9 goals and earning
himself a couple of international caps in the process. Such form is
bound to attract the wrong kind of attention from predators, and it
seems that former boss Alex McLeish has his eyes on the young Hibee.
The word is that O'Connor's move to
Ibrox is a done-deal - although you won't yet find anyone at Easter Road
prepared to back that up! A transfer fee of around £1.5m for O'Connor
would go some way to appeasing Hibs bankers, but would do little to
appease fans who have already seen a steady stream of players leave
Easter Road never to return, with the prospect of Ulises de la Cruz also
returning in a couple of weeks to pick up his bags rather than get into
some pre-season training. Hibs rightly refuse to comment on mere
speculation, but the club might have been expected to move to crush talk
of imminent and major departures in the usual manner. The fact that
they have not done so has served only to strengthen the belief among
many Hibs fans that news of outgoing transfers is being held back so as
not to have an adverse affect on season ticket sales.
Hibs.net understands that
O'Connor is indeed expecting to be a Rangers player before the new
season gets underway, and certainly if that does come to pass it will
come as no great surprise to Hibs fans. While there has been no news
from the club in recent weeks, that is expected to change as Hibs
commence pre-season training this week, and the business of getting the
club ready for another campaign starts in earnest. Missing will
certainly be De La Cruz, who has been given permission to report late
following his efforts for Ecuador in the World Cup finals.
Another matter occupying the mind of
Hibs managing director Rod Petrie this weekend will be the ongoing talks
over the future of the SPL. After the very public squabbling towards
the end of last season, little has been said from either the Old Firm or
the 'SPL-10' clubs who stated their intention to give notice of their
resignation from the league. It is now understood that talks have taken
place and the Old Firm have conceded changes to voting rights with an 8
from 12 majority on decisions rather than the current 11 from 12, which
in effect has allowed the Old Firm to veto any moves proposed by the
league. The remaining sticking point it seems is share out of an media
cash, with the Old Firm insisting that no change in their current 40%
cut is acceptable. Further meetings are expected to take place, but if
the 10 non-OF clubs are to carry out their threat they would have to do
so before the league kicks off on August 3rd. At this point that seems
unlikely.
Meanwhile Craig Brewster has become an
instant hit at Dunfermline, the former Hibs striker scoring the only
goal last night as the Pars defeated a New Zealand national side 1-0.
