Hibs boss shoots down Derek Adams' controversial outburst and potential impact on recruitment

Nick Montgomery talks up Scottish football after rival manager brands standard “shocking”

Hibs manager Nick Montgomery believes that Ross County counterpart Derek Adams may have shot himself in the foot with his stunning evisceration of the Scottish game.

Back for a third spell in charge of the Dingwall club, Adams lambasted his side in the wake of their defeat to Dundee last weekend, and then ripped into the quality of football north of the border. Claiming that despite having the smallest budget in League Two his previous side Morecambe was “100 times better” than his current charges, he described the standard in the Premiership as “shocking”. “I’ve been back here and I see the standard and think: ‘Wow, any chance?”

That outburst has been labelled disrespectful by many in the game who have railed against the controversial assertions and Montgomery, who is hoping to showcase his side’s positive attributes and put on a winning performance at the Global Energy Stadium on Saturday, thinks the rant could come back to bite the Highland side if they attempt to make new signings in January.

Hibs manager Nick Montgomery looks ahead to their weekend match against Ross County. Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group

Mulling over possible reputational damage to the Scottish game caused by the manager of one of the country’s top tier clubs painting such a bleak picture, Montgomery said it was unlikely to impact most clubs’ recruitment but he warned that Ross County might not be so fortunate.

“I don’t think players will look at that unless maybe they were being approached to sign for Derek at Ross County. Maybe that’s not somewhere you would want to go after hearing that.

“But there’s some very good clubs in the league and there’s a lot of players who would definitely want to come and play in Scotland. You only have to look at the teams in this league who are playing in the Champions League and in European competition.

“It’s not an easy league to play in. You have to be physically capable to start with. But it’s a great pathway, a development pathway to go on to the biggest leagues in the world which has been proven time and again.”

Trying to develop an entertaining style of play at Hibs, and thriving on the challenge of managing in a closely-contested league, Montgomery may not agree with Adam’s post-match interview but he does have some sympathy for his managerial peer, even if he does believe there are other ways to get players to buy into any improvement project.

“New managers come in all the time. I was one. And the first thing is you have to get the players onside. It can take a little bit of time to implement what you want.

“Obviously Derek has come in there a few weeks ago. And he was obviously very frustrated at the weekend, suffering a last-minute loss. I’ve been there. It’s not nice. It brings up a lot of emotion.

“I feel for Derek. I’ve been a player and now a manager, it’s not nice, you have a lot of emotion. He’s entitled to his own opinion and it’s probably his opinion only.

“But, sometimes I say stuff then after the game I think maybe I shouldn’t have said this or that. But when the camera is there and you’re asked a question, you answer it honestly then sometimes it reflects well on you and sometimes it doesn’t. Maybe he’ll regret it and maybe he doesn’t. I can’t answer for him but it’s not something I can agree with. I think the standard is very competitive.”

Montgomery did concede that sometimes that can affect the calibre of play but rarely the intensity or the drama.

“Every week, you are playing against different teams with different playing styles. Some weeks games are highly competitive and the quality of football can be diluted but that’s what you have to deal with.”

The Hibs boss was disappointed with his own team’s level of performance against St Johnstone last week. Having elevated themselves with four wins from their previous five league games, defeat to St Johnstone was a setback, dropping them to sixth spot. But, just a couple of points behind third-placed Hearts, they are looking to bounce back quickly.

“We don’t like losing games of football. It was a disappointing loss and performance. The game was really flat. That’s something we’ve discussed internally, because it was a disappointing day – not the standard I expect from the players, and I expect myself.”

The only goal came as a consequence of a slack Dylan Levitt ball out from the back but Montgomery said that they cannot allow that error to derail the work they have been doing.

“It’s important that players stick to the principles you’ve worked on throughout the week, while still being intelligent players. Sometimes they make mistakes, sometimes it doesn’t go to plan, for whatever reason.

“I will always say to players that I want them to be brave. Just because of a bad performance or a bad result, that’s no reason to change and throw out all the effort we’ve put in.

“I was disappointed with the speed of the game at the weekend, it was a slow game, and that’s a reflection on me. But the players also take accountability, they work hard to implement what we’re looking for.”

And, despite facing their fourth away match on the bounce, Montgomery is looking forward rather than back. With three games before the winter break – the final derby of 2023 is sandwiched between the Ross County and Motherwell matches – the hope is they can head into the temporary shutdown with the tails up.

“It would be nice to get nine points but nothing is guaranteed, we have to earn every point in this league, because every team will fight you for every point.”