Transfer talk music to John Hughes' ears

Published on Thursday 3 December 2009 22:05

JOHN Hughes will not stand in the way of any player seeking to leave Hibs next month but believes his squad would be well advised to stick around and be part of a potentially golden era for the Easter Road club.

Currently unbeaten in their last eight matches in all competitions, Hibs' early-season jockeying for position at the top of the SPL has inevitably seen an increase in the number of scouts attending their fixtures.

Moroccan midfielder Merouane Zemmama has become the latest player to be linked with a January move away from Hibs, his agent claiming he could join Lens or Valenciennes in France. Hughes is optimistic Zemmama, who has 18 months left on his contract, will stay at Hibs but has no problem with transfer speculation surrounding any of his first team.

"I would be worried if they were not coming in for my players," said the Hibs manager. "If there is interest in my players, it tells me they are at the top of their form, keeping us on track for where we want to go.

"I want guys here who are 100 per cent committed to the cause. If they can go and find themselves something else and treble their wages, then I wouldn't stand in their way. I want guys here who have a great pride in the club, who love the city and who want to try and win something here.

"That's my ambition and I need everybody in that dressing room to have that vision. It is when you are up there winning football matches and winning trophies that you attract the attention.

"If you are not ambitious, then I think it's a failure. You have to shoot for the stars. There is a time in your football career, a coming together. If you can seize it and say, 'This is it now', then I think that's when you have the opportunity to win things. That's what we are hoping to breed at this club. Hopefully in the next three or four years we can go out and win something."

Hibs will look to take their undefeated sequence full circle tomorrow when they face Motherwell at Easter Road, having started it off with a 3-1 win over the same opponents at Fir Park back in September. So far, Hibs are the only side to have beaten Jim Gannon's impressive young team in the SPL this season. If the former Stockport County manager arrived in Scotland as a largely unknown quantity, Hughes was already well aware of his qualities.

"I knew Jim before he came up here," said Hughes. "He did a great job at Stockport. So the job he is doing at Motherwell doesn't surprise me one little bit. We are going to have to be at our best to pick up three points on Saturday.

"They have been absolutely fantastic under Jim. He has got them playing some really good football with a great blend of youth and experience. He has brought a lot of new players to the club and to get them gelling as quick as he has tells you they are a right good side. When we went to Fir Park earlier in the season, we had been beaten the week before and so that was the game when we changed it. We went with all the cavalier boys in our team that day and it worked a treat."

Despite their current lofty status in the SPL, just two points behind leaders Celtic, Hughes remains wary of the critical acclaim coming his team's way.

"I don't think we are a success," he said. "What will I consider as success? I can only answer that at the end of the season. I wouldn't put my head on the block and say we are going to do this or that. Ask me at the end of the season and I'll tell you if it is success.

"I don't shout from the rooftops about where we are now. And when we get beat, I just get on with it. Other teams take note of our league position and I think we become a scalp. But the simple fact is we are in front of where I thought we would be at this time of the season. So all credit to the boys for that and long may it continue. But it will turn.

"I expect it, because our run has to come to an end some time. Hopefully it won't be on Saturday, but I will also look for the positives in how we bounce back from it when it does happen.

"We have only been beaten once at Easter Road in the league this season and we are trying to turn it into a fortress."