HIBS fans looking for some much-needed good news were handed a double dose of it yesterday. A draw for the Co-operative Insurance Cup that could have been much worse was followed by a robust show of public support for under-fire manager Mixu Paatelainen from an established player at Easter Road.
Hibs will host First Division Morton in the second round later this month, and Ian Murray is confident that the team will have stemmed an extended run of poor form by then. Murray, who missed his side's opening day defeat to Kilmarnock due to suspens
ion, knows Paatelainen as well as anyone at Easter Road, and has backed him to turn things around after Hibs clocked up a 12th game without victory on Saturday.
The side have struggled to replace quality players with those of the same standard and Murray has asked fans to take into account the destabilising effect of losing so many high-standard players in a short period of time. Murray himself was one of those attracted by the lure of the Old Firm, but has since returned.
Others such as Derek Riordan, Scott Brown and Kevin Thomson have departed, and Paatelainen, like John Collins before him, has been left to deal with the consequences. Collins had some success, leading his team to CIS Insurance Cup glory in March 2007 and also to the top of the league in the opening weeks of last season. The going has got tougher since then, however, and Hibs' form since the final weeks of last season has done little to lift the gloom.
"We were well beaten by Barcelona and in the Intertoto Cup," admitted Murray.
"There were another couple of results that were not great as well. It's disappointing to lose your first game but Kilmarnock is always a hard place to go, especially on the first day of the season. It's early days in the league and we have a decent run of games coming up, so hopefully we can pick up a few points. I think the reaction by fans has a been a little bit over the top.
"I can see where they are coming from in some ways, and they are looking for investment in the side. We've lost a lot of good players, so it's hard to bring in that quality again. If after seven, eight, nine games into the season we're still in the same position, I would say it's time to worry, but we've only had one game away from home."
Paatelainen has been dogged by rumours that he is on the verge of resigning from his post after only seven months in charge. Murray, however, claimed the Finn did not know the meaning of quit. He stressed all the players were eager to play for Paatelainen, and were conscious of their own responsibility to lift Hibs out of their current predicament.
"We're all behind the gaffer," said Murray. "We've been getting stick as well as him, but sometimes that brings you closer together anyway. The manager is the type you want to play for. Don't get me wrong, he'll give you a rollicking you if you need it but you know it can be for your own good. We don't always agree 100 per cent, but everyone likes the way he works and goes about his business."
"I got one text (saying Paatelainen had resigned] on Saturday night and one the week before as well," he continued. "But I don't think it's happened – a manager resigning after one game? If you knew the manager it's not something he would entertain anyway. He's very much a 100 per center. As a player, he wasn't the type to give up or shirk a challenge so I don't see why he would have changed over the last four or five years. He just rolls the sleeves up."
Meanwhile, Hibs have been dealt a blow with the news that new signing Steven Thicot could be out of action for around a month with a thigh strain.
The French midfielder, who signed a fortnight ago after being released by Nantes, made his competitive debut at Rugby Park on Saturday but only lasted 35 minutes before pulling up.
Paatelainen said: "Steven could be out for three or four weeks."
The full article contains 723 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
