Recruitment under the new manager

[Northernhibee]

I know it’s the effort of the whole recruitment team but it feels like it’s working at its best since 2015 or so. No marquee signings, nobody who’d have been in the first two or three names on fans lips but each signing fills a gap in the team that was there.

Paul McGinn wasn’t obvious but has been excellent, same with Gogic. Wright did well today, Murphy looks a great replacement for Horgan, Nisbet looks bargain of the century.

None of them appear to be big money signings but are instead really intelligent and well researched acquisitions.

Excited to see who else we discover.

[CMurdoch]

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I know it’s the effort of the whole recruitment team but it feels like it’s working at its best since 2015 or so. No marquee signings, nobody who’d have been in the first two or three names on fans lips but each signing fills a gap in the team that was there.

Paul McGinn wasn’t obvious but has been excellent, same with Gogic. Wright did well today, Murphy looks a great replacement for Horgan, Nisbet looks bargain of the century.

None of them appear to be big money signings but are instead really intelligent and well researched acquisitions.

Excited to see who else we discover.

Paul McGinn was a real clever one that none of us would have come up with. Nominal fee.
Nisbet, we sneaked when Covid had others attention. He was exceptional today. £250-300k is looking great business
Gogic, just what we needed and we managed to get him in out of contract
Wright, a really powerful looking guy. No flimsy winger is Drey. A good quality player. Out of contract
Murphy, I thought he was a good signing but is still to get up to speed. Has scored goals in the past and is an elusive runner with experience at a good level. Fingers crossed.
Stephen McGinn, if he is as good as his brothers we are sorted. No risk, rest of season signing.

All told, 4 sure fire signings out of 4 in the Ross era to date at a cost of circa £350k
Murphy and Stephen McGinn also look to be good business

Ross and the recruitment team have shown they can be trusted with the transfer budget.
Far far better recruitment than during the Lennon era
Heckenbottom era got us the wonderful Doidge and Newell and the not so wonderful Vela and James.

Both McGinns, Marciano, Newell and Stevenson out of contract at the end of the season so need to decide who they want to stay and get working on the deals.

[wookie70]

I'd agree with that. Recruitment was all over the place under Lennon and was mixed under Heck. We seem to have got it back to Stubb's levels now. I would say both Gogic and Nisbet are both, for our level, marquee signings. They were both very well regarded and we did a great job getting both in. We just need to get another striker and another centre mid for me and we will have options and depth

[1van Sprou7e]

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I'd agree with that. Recruitment was all over the place under Lennon and was mixed under Heck. We seem to have got it back to Stubb's levels now. I would say both Gogic and Nisbet are both, for our level, marquee signings. They were both very well regarded and we did a great job getting both in. We just need to get another striker and another centre mid for me and we will have options and depth

Nisbet I can maybe agree with but in no way was Gogic a marquee signing

[Bobby's Cinema]

The last window was the first positive signs for me and things being done slightly differently. Putting down decent money for Nisbet (although ultimately falling short at that time) and making a bold call on an unusual Kamberi deal bringing Docherty in.

One poster made a comment on another thread - comparing our business now with proven experienced players within the league/ players with high potential and sell on value vs the last minute panic loan signings of years gone by.

Experience has shown guys with a a decent amount of first team games under their belt (I include Nisbet in that) counts for a hell of a lot IMO.

Positive signs and long may it continue. Not to mention - Boyle's contract extension.

[B.H.F.C]

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I'd agree with that. Recruitment was all over the place under Lennon and was mixed under Heck. We seem to have got it back to Stubb's levels now. I would say both Gogic and Nisbet are both, for our level, marquee signings. They were both very well regarded and we did a great job getting both in. We just need to get another striker and another centre mid for me and we will have options and depth

Mixed under Heckingbottom is being generous. Only Doidge has been a proper success. Newell is on the right path now, but that’s it from the signings we made last year with quite a few not even lasting a year.

Goigic and Nisbet have really improved us. I don’t think anybody, hand on heart, could say they expected Paul McGinn to be putting in the kind of performances he has this season so that’s a big positive. Murphy will be an upgrade on Horgan. I think Wright probably improves the squad more than the first eleven but signs, today, that he’ll offer something. All in all, can’t complain too much about the business we’ve done.

[Alex Trager]

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I'd agree with that. Recruitment was all over the place under Lennon and was mixed under Heck. We seem to have got it back to Stubb's levels now. I would say both Gogic and Nisbet are both, for our level, marquee signings. They were both very well regarded and we did a great job getting both in. We just need to get another striker and another centre mid for me and we will have options and depth

I wouldn’t say it was mixed under heck but all over the place with NL.

That seems a bit biased. NL had a good few windows and brought in some top quality and some *****. Heck had 2 (?) windows and brought in a mixed bag.

However regards the OP. For me Nisbet was a huge signing. I was buzzing to hear we were getting him
In Jan, it wasn’t to be. After that I resigned myself to the fact he wasn’t ever going to be a hibby. He is and I am delighted about it. A superb signing

[The Captain....]

We seem to be building a squad where there are no stars or prima donnas. Every player seems to know their specific role and understands their part in the overall team ethic. Its been canny recruitment on a strict budget imo.

So far we have been very, very difficult to play against. We are compact defensively and are taking a decent percentage of the chances we create. I still think we can improve and im sure we will..its still relatively early days for Jack and his team. Belief in our ability as a team seems quite high..results like todays will only enhance that. Hopefully we can get another couple of players in before the window closes and really take advantage of our good start to the season.


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[wookie70]

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I wouldn’t say it was mixed under heck but all over the place with NL.

That seems a bit biased. NL had a good few windows and brought in some top quality and some *****. Heck had 2 (?) windows and brought in a mixed bag.

I think Heck only had one window.
I'd say Doidge has been a huge success, Newell very good, Adam Jackson very decent, Hallberg decent and Naismith a very good loan. Maxwell wasn't a disaster imo and the others didn't work out but we did manage to get them off the books quickly so they didn't really do a great deal of harm. I'd say that was mixed. I think we only had two players in today's squad that Lennon signed- Rocky and Mallan. Both have been good signings but there are still more Stubbs players in the squad than Lennon signings. I'll stand by my "all over the place with Lennon by which I meant he signed players with little credence taken to a team system or how they would play together.

[CMurdoch]

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I think Heck only had one window.
I'd say Doidge has been a huge success, Newell very good, Adam Jackson very decent, Hallberg decent and Naismith a very good loan. Maxwell wasn't a disaster imo and the others didn't work out but we did manage to get them off the books quickly so they didn't really do a great deal of harm. I'd say that was mixed. I think we only had two players in today's squad that Lennon signed- Rocky and Mallan. Both have been good signings but there are still more Stubbs players in the squad than Lennon signings. I'll stand by my "all over the place with Lennon by which I meant he signed players with little credence taken to a team system or how they would play together.

I would question whether Mallan has been a good signing at £200k and probably a wage to match.
A shooting specialist but not outstanding at other aspects of the midfield role.
He always does his best but like Allan he needs a bit of carrying in the hope that the magic will appear.

[lord bunberry]

It seems to me that we had a plan to allow the recruitment team to identify players and let the manager have the final say. It was a plan that Stubbs bought into and it was successful, subsequent managers didn’t buy into that plan and the club moved the goalposts to accommodate them. Ross has come in and embraced the system and we’ve thrived. The lesson for us is to stick to our plan no matter who is the manager.

[Magpie]

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I think Heck only had one window.
I'd say Doidge has been a huge success, Newell very good, Adam Jackson very decent, Hallberg decent and Naismith a very good loan. Maxwell wasn't a disaster imo and the others didn't work out but we did manage to get them off the books quickly so they didn't really do a great deal of harm. I'd say that was mixed. I think we only had two players in today's squad that Lennon signed- Rocky and Mallan. Both have been good signings but there are still more Stubbs players in the squad than Lennon signings. I'll stand by my "all over the place with Lennon by which I meant he signed players with little credence taken to a team system or how they would play together.

Wouldn’t really consider Lennon’s signings to be all over the place. The signings he brought in when in the championship such as Holt, Shinnie, Commons, Ambrose and Marciano worked out well.

Stokes was brought back but Lennon wasn’t at fault for the way that ended.

Experienced players like Whittaker, Bell and Milligan were brought in.

His January transfer window in one of our most successful league finishes was very good. Bringing in Allan, Barker, Kamberi and MacLaren.

Horgan, Omeonga, Slivka, Murray and Bogdan weren’t awful. Mallan one of the better signings.

Ryan Gauld was a hyped signing who was injured for most of his stay, same probably goes for Agyepong.

Out of his 33 signings, Nelom, Eardley, Swanson, Rherras, Mavrias, Graham, McLean and Laidlaw were probably players who weren’t up to the mark. Scott Bain didn’t play a game but probably a decent signing on paper.

[wookie70]

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It seems to me that we had a plan to allow the recruitment team to identify players and let the manager have the final say. It was a plan that Stubbs bought into and it was successful, subsequent managers didn’t buy into that plan and the club moved the goalposts to accommodate them. Ross has come in and embraced the system and we’ve thrived. The lesson for us is to stick to our plan no matter who is the manager.

That is my view too.

[HendoDelivered]

Recruitment has been good. Can’t help but feel Ross McCrorie is the one who got away. He would have been a great addition for us.

[hibeejeebies]

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Wouldn’t really consider Lennon’s signings to be all over the place. The signings he brought in when in the championship such as Holt, Shinnie, Commons, Ambrose and Marciano worked out well.

Stokes was brought back but Lennon wasn’t at fault for the way that ended.

Experienced players like Whittaker, Bell and Milligan were brought in.

His January transfer window in one of our most successful league finishes was very good. Bringing in Allan, Barker, Kamberi and MacLaren.

Horgan, Omeonga, Slivka, Murray and Bogdan weren’t awful. Mallan one of the better signings.

Ryan Gauld was a hyped signing who was injured for most of his stay, same probably goes for Agyepong.

Out of his 33 signings, Nelom, Eardley, Swanson, Rherras, Mavrias, Graham, McLean and Laidlaw were probably players who weren’t up to the mark. Scott Bain didn’t play a game but probably a decent signing on paper.

Lest we forget he also tried to sign this guy:

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/sport/football/emile-heskey-turns-down-hibs-648321

[B.H.F.C]

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It seems to me that we had a plan to allow the recruitment team to identify players and let the manager have the final say. It was a plan that Stubbs bought into and it was successful, subsequent managers didn’t buy into that plan and the club moved the goalposts to accommodate them. Ross has come in and embraced the system and we’ve thrived. The lesson for us is to stick to our plan no matter who is the manager.

As always, it’ll be a bit of both. I’m not sure the recruitment team would have identified Paul or Stephen McGinn for example.

[Eyrie]

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Recruitment has been good. Can’t help but feel Ross McCrorie is the one who got away. He would have been a great addition for us.

I'd give the recruitment team credit for identifying him, even if we were gazumped.

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As always, it’ll be a bit of both. I’m not sure the recruitment team would have identified Paul or Stephen McGinn for example.

I'd assume that our structure, when operating correctly, means that any player suggested by the manager is then reviewed by the recruitment team in the same way that they review any other potential targets.

[bigwheel]

McCrorie is indeed the type who would have been a great addition. Tbh though the whole focus of recent targets seems to have been in the right space.

By all accounts McCrorie said he was happy to come to Hibs, but out of respect he wanted to talk to Aberdeen. Hibs were left with a view it was a done deal. He then chose Aberdeen. There is little we can do about that.

I’m sure we will have some decent options on our radar, likely waiting towards the end of the window to see the quality that is available .

[mal]

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Nisbet I can maybe agree with but in no way was Gogic a marquee signing

Only in that a destructive DM is never a glamorous signing that's going to have people champing to watch him. Loads of people round here were desperate for us to sign him so it was certainly a signing that has pleased the fans.

[The Modfather]

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Wouldn’t really consider Lennon’s signings to be all over the place. The signings he brought in when in the championship such as Holt, Shinnie, Commons, Ambrose and Marciano worked out well.

Stokes was brought back but Lennon wasn’t at fault for the way that ended.

Experienced players like Whittaker, Bell and Milligan were brought in.

His January transfer window in one of our most successful league finishes was very good. Bringing in Allan, Barker, Kamberi and MacLaren.

Horgan, Omeonga, Slivka, Murray and Bogdan weren’t awful. Mallan one of the better signings.

Ryan Gauld was a hyped signing who was injured for most of his stay, same probably goes for Agyepong.

Out of his 33 signings, Nelom, Eardley, Swanson, Rherras, Mavrias, Graham, McLean and Laidlaw were probably players who weren’t up to the mark. Scott Bain didn’t play a game but probably a decent signing on paper.

I think that’s an overly generous assessment on a lot of Lennon’s signings. Only Marciano, Allan & Mallan are still at Hibs from his signings, which isn’t a great endorsement IMO, although to be fair some were signed for a specific short term purpose.

[Since452]

Very encouraging that we tried to sign McCrorie and dissapointing we lost out but it happens. I've been very happy with our recruitment and feel like I trust the management and recruitment team

[Northernhibee]

I actually think that recruitment and specialist knowledge of recruitment for a team in this league is one of the most important attributes for a manager - a player needs to have some degree of physicality about them to compete in this league but it's also vital that there's always a succession plan in place as if a player does well, a Championship club will be happy to risk a million quid on them. It's also vital that with the poor TV deals negotiated that we have players who will command a future profit when they move on to help fund development at the club and new signings.

The reason I put "since Stubbs" is that Stubbs is the last manager to have understood all of those things. Both Ross and Stubbs signed experience but not on a high wage but also put the transfer outlays and were willing to take more of a risk on youth. Scott Allan gave us an excellent season under Stubbs then the transfer he got brought us in cash, McGeouch and Henderson. Cummings was developed mostly underneath him and brought us in cash. The signing of John McGinn alone may see us good financially for time to come. Furthermore I genuinely believe that if the team that won the cup was in the top flight that season we'd be challenging for second with the sheer amount of teams who just sat in and hacked away in the Championship. The team was that good as they were young, talented and maliable players who were sculpted into a seriously good team who could compete against anyone and, most importantly, worked together seriously well as a team with very few, if any, egos hanging around the place.

Lennon understood the Scottish league but not the need for compromise re: future planning. Whereas bringing in Stephen McGinn as a defensive midfielder is a player with proven top flight experience on low wages, Mark Milligan had no potential future sell on value with his age, wanted a decent wage and had felt like being unwilling to compromise to find an equally effective player on a lower wage or with more of a future sell on value.

Heckingbottom was willing to invest in players who had a potential sell on value (i.e. James, Vela, Doidge, Jackson, Hallberg) but not the requirements of the Scottish leagues and as such a few of them fell flat, despite them being highly rated and good signings on paper.

Jack Ross is for me the first to understand the needs of the club and the league when it comes to signing players, and that excites me. Hopefully he sticks around for a while and we see the fruits of his labour.

[J-C]

Like most clubs, some signings work, some don't but at times it feels like a scatter gun approach to recruitment and more so under Lennon. Forget players like Mavrias, Nelom etc, the bigger disappointments where players known to us who didn't perform like Gauld, Hyndman, Swanson etc.

[Alex Trager]

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I think Heck only had one window.
I'd say Doidge has been a huge success, Newell very good, Adam Jackson very decent, Hallberg decent and Naismith a very good loan. Maxwell wasn't a disaster imo and the others didn't work out but we did manage to get them off the books quickly so they didn't really do a great deal of harm. I'd say that was mixed. I think we only had two players in today's squad that Lennon signed- Rocky and Mallan. Both have been good signings but there are still more Stubbs players in the squad than Lennon signings. I'll stand by my "all over the place with Lennon by which I meant he signed players with little credence taken to a team system or how they would play together.

I maintain that saying Lennon’s signings were all over the place is unfair.

Not having players remaining from Lennon’s time doesn’t mean they were poor.

That’s not to say there weren’t poor players, because there were.

[The Modfather]

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I maintain that saying Lennon’s signings were all over the place is unfair.

Not having players remaining from Lennon’s time doesn’t mean they were poor.

That’s not to say there weren’t poor players, because there were.

I think it’s only Allan, Mallan and Marciano still here, and Horgan & Kamberi we got fees for. Even allowing for some signings, like Holt, being signed for a short term purpose. That’s a poor indictment out of 33 signings Lennon made IMO.

[JimBHibees]

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Like most clubs, some signings work, some don't but at times it feels like a scatter gun approach to recruitment and more so under Lennon. Forget players like Mavrias, Nelom etc, the bigger disappointments where players known to us who didn't perform like Gauld, Hyndman, Swanson etc.

Agree with they three had high hopes of them but particularly Hyndman who thought was very good player but bar one or two games was very disappointing. Swanson never got a chance was probably motm v Celtic then imo unfairly dropped.

[Andy74]

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I actually think that recruitment and specialist knowledge of recruitment for a team in this league is one of the most important attributes for a manager - a player needs to have some degree of physicality about them to compete in this league but it's also vital that there's always a succession plan in place as if a player does well, a Championship club will be happy to risk a million quid on them. It's also vital that with the poor TV deals negotiated that we have players who will command a future profit when they move on to help fund development at the club and new signings.

The reason I put "since Stubbs" is that Stubbs is the last manager to have understood all of those things. Both Ross and Stubbs signed experience but not on a high wage but also put the transfer outlays and were willing to take more of a risk on youth. Scott Allan gave us an excellent season under Stubbs then the transfer he got brought us in cash, McGeouch and Henderson. Cummings was developed mostly underneath him and brought us in cash. The signing of John McGinn alone may see us good financially for time to come. Furthermore I genuinely believe that if the team that won the cup was in the top flight that season we'd be challenging for second with the sheer amount of teams who just sat in and hacked away in the Championship. The team was that good as they were young, talented and maliable players who were sculpted into a seriously good team who could compete against anyone and, most importantly, worked together seriously well as a team with very few, if any, egos hanging around the place.

Lennon understood the Scottish league but not the need for compromise re: future planning. Whereas bringing in Stephen McGinn as a defensive midfielder is a player with proven top flight experience on low wages, Mark Milligan had no potential future sell on value with his age, wanted a decent wage and had felt like being unwilling to compromise to find an equally effective player on a lower wage or with more of a future sell on value.

Heckingbottom was willing to invest in players who had a potential sell on value (i.e. James, Vela, Doidge, Jackson, Hallberg) but not the requirements of the Scottish leagues and as such a few of them fell flat, despite them being highly rated and good signings on paper.

Jack Ross is for me the first to understand the needs of the club and the league when it comes to signing players, and that excites me. Hopefully he sticks around for a while and we see the fruits of his labour.

All managers think they are bringing in players for the right reasons. Trey all have different starting points and different strength of opposition.

I do take issue with this view that our signings under Stubbs was some sort of golden age. Like all recent managers some were excellent, some alright, some failures. Stubbs signed 31 players I think so he had plenty opportunity. McGinn was an obvious stand out there but not even Stubbs had any real idea that we were getting a player of the standard he turned out to be.

The notion that some managers were buying in to some sort of relationship with the wider recruitment team and others weren’t seems pretty subjective based on how much you like the manager or not.

[jacomo]

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All managers think they are bringing in players for the right reasons. Trey all have different starting points and different strength of opposition.

I do take issue with this view that our signings under Stubbs was some sort of golden age. Like all recent managers some were excellent, some alright, some failures. Stubbs signed 31 players I think so he had plenty opportunity. McGinn was an obvious stand out there but not even Stubbs had any real idea that we were getting a player of the standard he turned out to be.

The notion that some managers were buying in to some sort of relationship with the wider recruitment team and others weren’t seems pretty subjective based on how much you like the manager or not.

I think Stubbs signings are often misunderstood.

He inherited a group of players who could barely form a team, and those that were left were demoralised and in poor form.

That first summer he signed a lot of players who ostensibly were quite similar, but I think this was deliberate - rather than hiding from the ball, our creative midfielders and strikers knew that if they didn’t perform there was someone else who could take their place.

It took a couple of months to click, but the team from October 2014 onwards was unrecognisable... instead of players who looked scared to receive the ball, they looked hungry and motivated.

I think it was deliberate and necessary, in order to reset the culture within the club. So saying ‘not all Stubbs’ signings were successful’ misses the point... it was inevitable. The point was to create competition for places and find a squad that was in love with playing again.

[Andy74]

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I think Stubbs signings are often misunderstood.

He inherited a group of players who could barely form a team, and those that were left were demoralised and in poor form.

That first summer he signed a lot of players who ostensibly were quite similar, but I think this was deliberate - rather than hiding from the ball, our creative midfielders and strikers knew that if they didn’t perform there was someone else who could take their place.

It took a couple of months to click, but the team from October 2014 onwards was unrecognisable... instead of players who looked scared to receive the ball, they looked hungry and motivated.

I think it was deliberate and necessary, in order to reset the culture within the club. So saying ‘not all Stubbs’ signings were successful’ misses the point... it was inevitable. The point was to create competition for places and find a squad that was in love with playing again.

I’m thinking more the decent list of the 31 that were very poor or ultimately pointless. The current narrative seems to be that this is only something that other managers have done and not Stubbs.

He had a core of excellent signings, and he had a pretty blank sheet to start from, but he was certainly not immune to a Sinclair, Feruz, Eckersley, Dagnall, Carmichael, Watson and Djedje type signing either.

[The Modfather]

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I’m thinking more the decent list of the 31 that were very poor or ultimately pointless. The current narrative seems to be that this is only something that other managers have done and not Stubbs.

He had a core of excellent signings, and he had a pretty blank sheet to start from, but he was certainly not immune to a Sinclair, Feruz, Eckersley, Dagnall, Carmichael, Watson and Djedje type signing either.

Without a doubt Stubbs signed a lot of duds. What sets him apart, for me, is the spine he built, which 3 managers later and into our 7th window posts Stubbs we’re only getting close to having a new spine to the team, but still not there yet. The subsequent managers relied upon that spine until it was either broken up or the players simple got too old.