David Gray is out as Hibernian head coach, leaving the club after just six league games into his third season at the helm. It’s a gut-wrenching exit, more about collective relief than any fan euphoria, despite the man being an absolute club icon for over a decade. Nobody wanted to call for his head, nobody wanted to boo “Sir David Gray” after that legendary Scottish Cup-winning goal back in 2016, but man, this was a painful endgame for everyone involved.
The Icon Who Just Couldn’t Spark The Fire
Gray wasn’t just another manager getting the boot. This guy was different, a true Hibs lifer: a player for twelve years, a goal-scoring legend, a coach, and an interim manager before taking the top job. He brought them to third in the league in his first season and fifth last season. He was the first manager since the legendary Eddie Turnbull in the early 1970s to qualify for European football in back-to-back seasons. Gray also snagged wins at Ibrox in three straight seasons and even beat Celtic at their own park last season. That’s a resume. He was driven, passionate, and brutally honest about what was going wrong, which, let’s be real, he’d been doing way too much of lately. All those historic highs, and still, the club couldn’t escape the slump.
A Stale Ship Drifting Off Course
But here’s the flip side, and it’s ugly: Hibs just equaled a grim club record from 1920 with six successive home league defeats. They blew two shots at European Conference League play-offs, along with all that sweet financial upside. Six points from six league games? Ninth in the table? That awful loss to lowly Kilmarnock on Tuesday? It all added up. Making the League Cup semi-final against Hearts wasn’t enough to save him. The style of play was brutal, not easy on the eye, and the energy was just gone. The team looked stale, rudderless, only occasionally sparking to life. There’s a feeling around Easter Road that this squad has decent players, but they’re seriously under-performing. Some of these same players have to take a chunk of the blame for Gray’s demise, but it seems they’re a protected species, even the weak-willed and unreliable ones. You can’t sack a dressing room in a day, but you can sack a manager.
So, Gray’s gone, but others definitely need to look in the mirror, including sporting director Malky Mackay, chairman Ian Gordon, and chief executive Dan Barnett. Now, the search for a new gaffer is on, with Gordon leading the charge. Hibs fans are left to wonder what kind of leader can bring zest and enjoyment back to this club. We’re all just waiting to see if they can land the right person to create something compelling, something that will get the support back on board and truly looking forward to the next game.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by BBC Sport.
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