Nick Montgomery

[flash]

Wee link to an interview about his time at Hibs in which he comes across really well.

Hard to argue with anything he says regardless of how things turned out.

https://x.com/Record_Sport/status/19...oJH5Z7-NQ&s=19

[matty_f]

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Wee link to an interview about his time at Hibs in which he comes across really well.

Hard to argue with anything he says regardless of how things turned out.

https://x.com/Record_Sport/status/19...oJH5Z7-NQ&s=19

I think most managers that come to Hibs have had to contend with similar issues - cutting the squad or the wage bill, development signings, injuries or suspensions or international duties taking players out the equation etc.

SDG had to do it as well.

I think he did his best when he was here, and wish him well for the future.

[Heisenberg]

It’s not Monty but this from Scott Burns is a lot of pish

“He inherited a squad that was bottom of the table, was bloated and a wage budget that had been well blown.

'Monty' had to slash the wage bill…”

Monty got Marcondes and Maolida in the January and lost no one of note

[18Craig75]

We were so good that night at Tynecastle, most dominant display there in years. We saw the Emiliano that we all thought we were getting, unplayable.

Bizarre decision by the referee and VAR team.

[JasonC1875]

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We were so good that night at Tynecastle, most dominant display there in years. We saw the Emiliano that we all thought we were getting, unplayable.

Bizarre decision by the referee and VAR team.

VAR done its job that night, Clancy decided to double down on his wrong decision

[bingo70]

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It’s not Monty but this from Scott Burns is a lot of pish

“He inherited a squad that was bottom of the table, was bloated and a wage budget that had been well blown.

'Monty' had to slash the wage bill…”

Monty got Marcondes and Maolida in the January and lost no one of note

Yeah, nothing against Monty as I think he’s probably a really decent guy but I’m not sure that article is really reflective of his time here.

I may be wrong and the article could be right but I don’t think we were bottom of the league when he joined? I thought we were about 8th or 9th and we finished 8th?

You also can’t on one hand talk about the club being skint and having no money and then in the same breath talk about the signings of Marcondes and Maolida.

The final thing that got me was saying not making the top 6 was the final straw, it wasn’t, he got a vote of confidence from the board after that. The final straw was the team totally downing tools after that, compare to the team if this season who fought and scrapped to ensure the manager kept his job.

Good luck to Monty, I hope he gets another job soon and does well, he wasn’t a good fit for us or Scottish football though. I suspect the fact he’s doing this interview and the other Spurs coach leaving to join West Brom means Postecoglu will be on his way soon.

[Stevie Reid]

I’ve nothing against him, but don’t feel any warmth towards Montgomery either. The job was just too big for him and he always looked a bit lost in the media glare.

Not read the article but if the spin is that he was up against it financially, that’s utter nonsense. Ultimately he was an uninspiring figure, and he led an uninspiring team.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Terrible manager and there’s a lot of stuff in that article that’s really stretching things and doing him some enormous favours.

There simply wasn’t any mitigating circumstances that justified how abysmal a side he put out over his time here. Dreadful manager who made watching Hibs a chore and managed to make most players worse.

Don’t wish him any ill but I’m certainly not going to sit here and pretend I’m desperate for him to do well elsewhere either.

[Hibiza]

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I’ve nothing against him, but don’t feel any warmth towards Montgomery either. The job was just too big for him and he always looked a bit lost in the media glare.

Not read the article but if the spin is that he was up against it financially, that’s utter nonsense. Ultimately he was an uninspiring figure, and he led an uninspiring team.

Spot on Stevie .

[blackpoolhibs]

A stubborn manager who continued to play a way that bored people rigid, didnt work, and given 2 players who were way out of our price range, still couldnt get us top 6.

All the best for the future Nick, but i'm glad you are nowhere near our club anymore.

[Centre Hawf]

There's a part in the interview where Scott Burns asks him "You didn't have a lot to work with in transfer did you?" then lists off Triantis, Marcondes and Maolida. Leaving out NMW who we signed permanently, and Mayenda who never kicked a ball but is somehow a Championship promotion wonderkid this year. I'd hardly call they 5 names "not a lot to work with" even if Triantis' best period had been under SDG.

As others have said, I don't really care for Montgomery too much in the negative or positive. I think he wasn't a good fit from the start and he was a bit rabbit in the headlights throughout his time here. Good luck to him for the future but ultimately he was sacked because he wasn't good enough.

[Ribs1875]

Monty has my respect, it didn't work out. Perhaps the club were to quick to pull the trigger, and equally perhaps the club were right to do so. In the article he mentions under LJ we signed a lot of development players who might come good. I agree now looking back that was a shambolic recruitment from the club, which regressed us. That said, he signed players like Triantis, Marcondes and Maolida who all left a lasting impact.

It was the same when Heckinbottom was manager, never worked out signed some good players for us. Still went out to do well after us.

[Paulie Walnuts]

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Monty has my respect, it didn't work out. Perhaps the club were to quick to pull the trigger, and equally perhaps the club were right to do so. In the article he mentions under LJ we signed a lot of development players who might come good. I agree now looking back that was a shambolic recruitment from the club, which regressed us. That said, he signed players like Triantis, Marcondes and Maolida who all left a lasting impact.

It was the same when Heckinbottom was manager, never worked out signed some good players for us. Still went out to do well after us.

We just finished third. There is absolutely nothing to suggest that it was equally possible that we were too quick to pull the trigger. By every possible measure it was the correct decision.

We’d have been bottom 6 again this season under him watching his completely mind numbing ‘style’ of play.

[He's here!]

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Yeah, nothing against Monty as I think he’s probably a really decent guy but I’m not sure that article is really reflective of his time here.

I may be wrong and the article could be right but I don’t think we were bottom of the league when he joined? I thought we were about 8th or 9th and we finished 8th?

You also can’t on one hand talk about the club being skint and having no money and then in the same breath talk about the signings of Marcondes and Maolida.

The final thing that got me was saying not making the top 6 was the final straw, it wasn’t, he got a vote of confidence from the board after that. The final straw was the team totally downing tools after that, compare to the team if this season who fought and scrapped to ensure the manager kept his job.

Good luck to Monty, I hope he gets another job soon and does well, he wasn’t a good fit for us or Scottish football though. I suspect the fact he’s doing this interview and the other Spurs coach leaving to join West Brom means Postecoglu will be on his way soon.

Be surprised if Spurs sack their manager now. Monty should stick in with the assistant role as long as possible. Last couple of years must have been disruptive enough for his family. He could re-emerge Cathro-like a few years down the line with his CV looking more respectable again.

[Jones28]

Didn't see a single thing from NM's Hibs that made me think there was something there to build on.

Boring, stubborn, in-effective manager who was only saved by Maolidas goals.

"Didn't have much to work with" until the board saved his skin by pushing the boat out for Marcondes and Maolida.

Like much of the squad he had at the time he was a failed experiment.

Wish him no ill but couldnt give a flying **** about him or his experiences at Hibs.

[Springbank]

You look back over the comments on here at the time & many bemoaned his rigid devotion to 442 when our squad profile suited 352

SDG got that & reaped rewards

[Jones28]

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You look back over the comments on here at the time & many bemoaned his rigid devotion to 442 when our squad profile suited 352

SDG got that & reaped rewards

It wasn't exactly like that, DG had his hand forced.

[TrinityHFC]

The football was slow and boring.

There were a lot of people on this forum telling some of us that this is how football should be played.

He wasted all our forward thinking players.

It was completely necessary to get rid.

[BILLYHIBS]

Dearie me !

As others have said a stubborn Manager who would not change the way we were playing despite it not working throw in bizarre team selections and formations and playing players out of position and nullifying our goalscoring threat ( Vente )

We were 10th when he arrived but only 4 games in

My memory is of dull boring toothless sideways backwards football and a high press that never came

The opposition were happy for us to have the ball in our own half

Some of his substitutions were unnecessary and just for the sake of making one

We lost too many late goals remember Motherwell just seconds from glory or whatever?

8 x 2-2 draws cost us have sympathy with the phantom penalty chat a shocker but throw in St Mirren 0-3 Aberdeen 0-4 got lucky with Maolida saved us from relegation Marcondes was just a show pony wonder if he has ever been fully fit ?

Triantis even now is still young and inconsistent has his good games and bad games but has potential in abundance

Verdict Monty was a nice guy not the brightest but happy for him

[easty]

Not a good football manager. Didn't have anywhere near enough good experience before coming to us, and it showed.

Got nowhere near enough out of the squad he had.

[DH1875]

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It wasn't exactly like that, DG had his hand forced.

I see this said a lot but I'm pretty sure we started off in a 3-5-2 formation at the start of the season in the league cup.

[Jones28]

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I see this said a lot but I'm pretty sure we started off in a 3-5-2 formation at the start of the season in the league cup.

We did, and in pre-season against PAOK where it looked really good and made sense for the players we had.

Then for some reason we went to a 4-2-3-1 and persisted with it for far too long.

[Danderhall Hibs]

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I see this said a lot but I'm pretty sure we started off in a 3-5-2 formation at the start of the season in the league cup.

We did and then also switched to a 352 for Celtic away in the league cup. I think the “hand forced” line is a bit mythical.

[Brightside]

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Be surprised if Spurs sack their manager now. Monty should stick in with the assistant role as long as possible. Last couple of years must have been disruptive enough for his family. He could re-emerge Cathro-like a few years down the line with his CV looking more respectable again.

It is highly likely that Spurs will be sacking their manager. I imagine Monty will probably head back to Oz and have a lovely life.

[Jones28]

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We did and then also switched to a 352 for Celtic away in the league cup. I think the “hand forced” line is a bit mythical.

And then switched back, used it I think once in the interim - United away for half a game? - and then reverted back to it in the Aberdeen game.

Forced might be stretching it, but it was a formation that better suited the players available at the time.

[The Modfather]

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You look back over the comments on here at the time & many bemoaned his rigid devotion to 442 when our squad profile suited 352

SDG got that & reaped rewards

It was 433 that was the answer to any question asked. We then moved to 433 and were just as poor.

It’s difficult to make a case for Montgomery, so I won’t try. However last season was the first summer we looked to have got our act together and looking to build an actual balanced squad with the right characters. Gray has delivered so stands apart, but in a parallel universe you wonder if the likes of Maloney or Monty had a chance of succeeding if they came into Hibs when we had Mackay and the Black Knights steering the ship.

[matty_f]

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It wasn't exactly like that, DG had his hand forced.

He didn't really - Obita's red card at Dundee was the only enforced change from that match to the Aberdeen game, and we could easily have kept the formation from that game. We'd gone 352 away to Celtic earlier in the season, as well as in the cup games so it was always an option.

To say it's forced does him a disservice though, there's a whole load of alternative options to a 352 that Gray could have used at that point. He chose 352, and chose to bring in Iredale, Smith and Rocky and kept that system despite not winning against Aberdeen.

[matty_f]

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It was 433 that was the answer to any question asked. We then moved to 433 and were just as poor.

It’s difficult to make a case for Montgomery, so I won’t try. However last season was the first summer we looked to have got our act together and looking to build an actual balanced squad with the right characters. Gray has delivered so stands apart, but in a parallel universe you wonder if the likes of Maloney or Monty had a chance of succeeding if they came into Hibs when we had Mackay and the Black Knights steering the ship.

I don't think he would have. Stuff I've heard since - from a player who had the full season under Monty who said they didn't enjoy it because everything they did on the pitch was mandated and robotic, to some of the senior leadership team who were there when Monty was there who cited a toxic and worsening culture at HTC as a key factor in his dismissal, I believe we'd have regressed further the longer he got.

That was the direction of travel after the January window as well, we finished lower in the table that we were going into the window.

[Stevie Reid]

Montgomery also had a fair chunk of the squads that finished 5th and 3rd in the seasons either side of his.

[Centre Hawf]

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It was 433 that was the answer to any question asked. We then moved to 433 and were just as poor.

It’s difficult to make a case for Montgomery, so I won’t try. However last season was the first summer we looked to have got our act together and looking to build an actual balanced squad with the right characters. Gray has delivered so stands apart, but in a parallel universe you wonder if the likes of Maloney or Monty had a chance of succeeding if they came into Hibs when we had Mackay and the Black Knights steering the ship.

I personally don't think his methods or style would have worked regardless of the recruitment. We of course don't know who he would have signed so it's hard to point at those we brought in and say "they wouldn't have worked" but I don't really see a world where Ekpiteta and O'Hora would have played it out from the back in the manner Monty wanted for example. Rocky is probably our best at it and he struggled for large parts carrying it out.

It's probably archaic of me but I think there's only so much style you can try and put into a Scottish football team that isn't Celtic or Rangers before it becomes counter productive. I don't want to over simplify Gray's style too much but there was a lot of times we would be happy to hit someone on the break with a ball to the big man in Myko or in behind for Boyle, even if the general consensus would be that we would be the favourite or should dominate possession. Then other times we could play actually put our foot on the ball and play our way through teams when they allowed us the chance to do so. That flexibility has been so important to our upturn in form imo, whereas under Montgomery it felt like for large chunks of his spell we were sticking to this rigid system of building it up from the back and never can we think outside the box within the game we were actually playing.