Hibs reveal 'there were attitude and mentality shifts that did need to be changed'

There have been several tangible differences to Hibs on the pitch under Nick Montgomery’s tutelage. Take, for example, the team’s ability to create more chances in the final third. Hibs also appear more solid in defence under their new head coach.

Hibs' Lewis Stevenson tries to get past Dundee's Lyall Cameron during the 0-0 draw at Easter Road.

Despite failing to score in Saturday’s frustrating goal-less with Dundee, the Hibs fans could at least appreciate the team’s endeavour in racking up some 23 attempts at goal. However, club stalwart Lewis Stevenson admits the alterations behind the scenes have been just as important as Montgomery aims to make Hibs a ‘big club’. Most of it comes down to improvements in the players’ mentality, just do not expect Stevenson to reveal the secrets of Montgomery’s plan to overhaul their mindset.

“There’s been tactical changes but it’s not just that, off the pitch there’s been a mentality and attitude shift that the manager has really pushed,” said Stevenson. “I think that will stand us in good stead for times to come. He came and saw a few issues, which he has sorted early doors. We’ve all bought into it, and even for me at 35 it’s good to keep things fresh. I’ve really enjoyed it since he’s come in. I don’t want to give too much away, some things we need to keep in-house! But he wants us to act like a big club, things that might not seem big.

“There were attitude and mentality shifts that did need to be changed, and he spotted that early doors and put it right. It’s raising standards, if we want to be a big club we need to act like a big club. It’s little things that go a long way. We had a motivational speaker come in during the week and give a really good speech. It was really interesting, he spoke for ages and it was enjoyable. Everyone bought into it and that’s the way we need to go – young and old, we need to have that growth mindset. I’m getting a bit deep here, but we’re trying to evolve all the time. Hopefully, the fans can see that on the pitch.”

Montgomery is the 14th boss Stevenson has worked under at Easter Road so you could forgive the left-back if he felt apathetic to yet more change. This is not the case, however. “I’ve been surprised,” added Stevenson. It’s only been a short period of time but you can notice a difference in the team already. He wants us to be a big club and to win every single game. We’ve been playing the same formation but there’s little tactical changes we can make in-game, I’ve been really impressed by how switched on it’s been.”

While Hibs created enough chances to win this game, Dundee looked lively on the counter and could have sneaked a win at the end when Owen Beck had a stinging volley repelled by David Marshall. “The confidence has been there throughout the team but one thing we have not been great at is keeping clean sheets apart from the first home game against Hearts,” said Dark Blues goalkeeper Trevor Carson. “With the attacking threat we’ve got we usually will score goals and you saw against Hibs that we created numerous chances. If we keep clean sheets every week it’s a great foundation to build so it’s on to next week.”