The former Celtic and Scotland star is now manager of Wigan Athletic, the club where he won the FA Cup while working under Roberto Martinez. He was in charge of Hibs for just 19 matches but took plenty from that stint after replacing Jack Ross.

In an interview with Rob MacLean in the Daily Mail, he spoke of needing to be “more aggressive in terms of attacking numbers” and “lots of things” he needed to learn from with regards to the transfer window and recruitment.

"There were lots of things I was ready for and there were other things I needed to experience," he said. I guess that's what that four months did. I loved the time with the team and my staff.

"There are some things I would have done differently from pretty much the first month onwards. I think that's why I spent the next four or five months (following the sacking) taking stock of what had happened and being better equipped this time around.”

Maloney expressed sympathy for his backroom staff who he brought to the club, while revealing he was ready to challenge Hearts the following season before he parted ways with the club in April.

"For myself, I wasn't too worried about the pain of what happened,” he said. The biggest disappointment I had was for the staff I brought to Hibs and the impression I'd given them about what we were going to create. That was the biggest pain, the staff had left big clubs. They'd come because of the vision and the dream I had for Hibs and it didn't happen for them.

"One of my favourite performances by the team was that gut-wrenching defeat in the semi-final. I knew where the team was going. I was clear on what we needed in terms of recruitment in the summer to give the team an opportunity to fight for the top six and close the gap on Hearts. In reality, our paths went in very different directions."

Ex-Hibs boss Shaun Maloney in 'gut-wrenching' Hearts confession and 'different paths'

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