Mowbray and Hibs were a perfect fit

Published on Friday 13 October 2006 01:59

HIBERNIAN supporters are often derided about their romantic yearning for free-flowing, cavalier play, but in Tony Mowbray the Easter Road faithful finally found a manager who allowed them to indulge their passion for stylish football.

True, the trophy cabinet is still bare and two promising Scottish Cup runs under Mowbray failed to break the 104-year curse in that competition, but there can be no denying that the shrewd, intelligent Teessider succeeded in bringing the good times back to Leith.

The arrival of Mowbray in Edinburgh in the summer of 2004 was met with stunned bemusement by a support tormented by frustration and apathy during the reign of the unloved Bobby Williamson.

There had been a clamour to secure a "big name" to revive an under-achieving squad, or at least someone with Hibs in their blood, and the appointment of an unproven member of the Ipswich Town coaching staff, who was remembered as a solid, but unspectacular defender for Middlesbrough and Celtic, provoked mainly consternation among Hibs fans.

But then none of them had sat in on the pivotal interview which persuaded Rod Petrie, then Hibs managing director and now chairman, to take an almighty gamble and put a novice manager in the hot seat.

Cynics would argue that, at that time, Mowbray was simply a cheap option for a board renowned for its financial prudence. On closer inspection, however, he looked a highly promising candidate.

Anyone who leafed through Mowbray's autobiography Kissed By An Angel quickly realised that here was a man of great humility and substance.

His character fleshed out considerably more when he gave a comprehensive interview to the Hibs website during his first days in charge, outlining his football philosophy and embracing the attacking traditions of the Easter Road club.

Mowbray had the misfortune of inheriting an Intertoto Cup campaign, and consequently an unglamorous exit to FK Vetra of Lithuania.

Hardly enough to set alarm bells ringing but this setback made his task of swiftly winning over the Hibs support that little bid harder.

The prophets of doom had more ammunition when he lost his first SPL game 1-0 to Kilmarnock, and later that month when Hibs surrendered a 4-1 lead at home to Dundee, they were openly fretting that Hibs had got the wrong man.

The calmer, more analytical observers of that 4-4 draw against Dundee realised that they had witnessed an exciting glimpse of the brand of football Mowbray was attempting to cultivate through an enthusiastic and receptive squad of young players. Williamson had had the nucleus of the same squad at his disposal, but Mowbray's patient, passing approach to the game was evidently allowing them to express themselves better - Scott Brown being a classic example.

Off the pitch, Mowbray's honest, refreshing views were also winning him admirers, the only exception being Craig Levein who added a sour postscript to Hearts' 2-1 victory in a tousy derby at Tynecastle in October 2004.

While Mowbray pointed out at the post-match press conference that Hearts had been bigger and stronger than his players, Levein responded by accusing his counterpart of unloading a "lorryload of sour grapes" and complained that he was "fed up reading about certain teams who want to play lovely, flowing football."

It was to be Levein's last derby as Hearts manager, as he moved to Leicester days after. It was also the last time a bad word was uttered from within Scottish football against Mowbray, who has proved a breath of fresh air to our league.

An impressive first season ended in a third-place finish and UEFA Cup football, while his second season saw Hibs finish fourth on the back of more swashbuckling displays. All achieved with a limited budget. But perhaps the most accurate method to measure Mowbray's success is the numbers that have flooded back through the turnstiles.

His predecessor infamously suggested that you should try the cinema for entertainment, not the football pitch, but Mowbray has always understood there is an appreciative audience at Easter Road if an attractive product is on offer.

One game last season springs to mind when it became clear how Hibs had progressed. A cold February evening match against Livingston would have struggled to bring in 6,000 during the Williamson era. More than 12,000 were at Easter Road to see Mowbray's Hibs, and were rewarded with a 7-0 success.

Despite the loss of prized strikers Garry O'Connor and Derek Riordan, Hibs have showed enough promise to suggest they will enjoy a good 2006-07 season, and while potential suitors have been warded off before, the West Brom interest has proved to be an offer both Mowbray and Petrie can't refuse.

What Hibs fans are entitled to ask, however, is why Mowbray has been allowed to leave Hibs three days before the crucial first derby of the season. Why did Hibs not fend West Brom off for a few days at least?

Would it not have been a more fitting end to allow Mowbray one final hurrah in front of fans who wish him nothing but good fortune in his new role? But then Hibs supporters shouldn't be entirely surprised at the inopportune timing of his exit, given the club's history of spectacular misjudgments.

This, after all, is the same club that sold Joe Baker to Torino after he had the audacity to ask for a 5 pay rise; let talents such as Alan Hansen, Gordon Strachan and John Robertson walk out the door; packed one favourite son, Pat Stanton, off to Celtic; and hired and fired another, Franck Sauzee, as manager within 69 days.

Without doubt, Mowbray has raised the bar for whoever follows him into the Hibs job, and selecting his successor is one judgment Petrie and his fellow directors must get right.