MAY is almost upon us and still it can’t be said with any authority whether this can be considered a good or bad season for Hibernian. To date they have endured a mixed league season, competing with Rangers for the Championship title in the first half of the campaign before falling away badly after Christmas. They also reached the League Cup final only to then lose it to Ross County. If the season were to end today then few would be hailing it as an overwhelming success.
Two further opportunities await Alan Stubbs and his players, however, to upgrade the campaign from a mediocre one to an outstanding one. Most pressingly they have the promotion play-offs approaching in which results over two – possibly three - home-and-away ties will decide whether they remain in the Championship for a third season or return to the top tier for the first time since 2014. There is also the small matter of the William Hill Scottish Cup final against Rangers, a chance to bring the club’s miserable 114-year drought in the competition belatedly to an end.
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How Hibs fare on both front will define the club’s reputation but also shape how their manager is viewed both inside the club and beyond. Until his team’s springtime stumble, Stubbs’ name was beginning to crop up as a potential future Celtic manager, the team he represented with some distinction as a gutsy central defender for five seasons. Should this season conclude with Hibs having clinched promotion and won the cup then the clamour for him to replaced Ronny Deila at Parkhead will only continue to grow.
“I think he must be seen as a candidate for that job,” said Pat McGinlay, whose short stint as a Celtic player was bookended by two longer and more successful spells at Easter Road. “I don’t see many others looking good for it. Stubbsy is a great character, a good coach and he’s bringing a lot of young boys through at Hibs as well. If he can win the Scottish Cup and also get them promotion then that would be massive endorsement of his qualities. He talks well, too.
“He has that bit of arrogance about him that you need as a manager. I’ve noticed this season that he and Mark Warburton had a bit of ongoing banter, maybe mind games or whatever, and I liked that. And I think Stubbs has handled himself well on that front. The fact he’s a former Celtic player should help his case, too. When you’ve been there and know the club that gives you a wee step up. If Stubbsy can bring Hibs into the Premiership and also win the cup then that would speak for itself.”
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To achieve either part of that equation, however, Stubbs and Hibs will need to show they have the mettle to rise to the big occasions. Too often in recent years – the 2012 and 2013 Scottish Cup finals, their relegation play-off final against Hamilton Academical in 2014, this year’s League Cup final – the pressure of the big occasion seems to have led to under-par performances. McGinlay, who won the 1991 Skol Cup during his first spell at Easter Road, knows his old club need to demonstrate their resilience in the weeks ahead.
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“I think they need to show their character,” he added. “I saw the League Cup final this season and they didn’t really step up to the mark that day. These are the games where you have to show your temperament and that you can handle the occasion. You have to go into the games knowing you have that belief. The manager has to give you that feeling and get you up for it. Ross County, though, are a top team and in a division higher. So it wasn’t easy. But if they go into this Scottish Cup final with belief and desire then they’ll have a chance.”
Since booking their place in the final by defeating Celtic on penalties, Rangers have not won in their subsequent three league games. That gives McGinlay hope that his old club can prevail come May 21.
“A few weeks ago after the Old Firm game, Rangers were on the stronger footing going into the final,” he added. “But then you look at the last couple of games, and you are only as good as your last couple of games, and they look to have taken their eye of the ball.
“Hibs have been picking up good results and Rangers haven’t been getting good results so it’s now very even for the final. Maybe Hibs are more concentrated than Rangers as they are focused on the play-offs.”
- Pat McGinlay was speaking at a William Hill media event. William Hill is the proud sponsor of the Scottish Cup.
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