Hibs: The game that started decline, clue that manager had been sacked, 'good sign' from club

Hibs defender Paul McGinn revealed that Shaun Maloney told the squad personally that he had been sacked.

A year on and it all feels so different. Now they will see out the remainder of a chaotic season, in which cup ambitions have already been denied, in the bottom half of the table, and with a caretaker boss at the helm after not one, but two managers paid the price for the team’s underachieving.

And, although they are still struggling to pinpoint how it all went wrong, the players have a better idea of when things started to disintegrate.

“We were talking about it recently,” said Paul McGinn, who is one of a number of players who have struggled to recreate last season’s form, partly due to the disruption caused by covid, suspension and injury. “Remember that game at Ibrox when Ryan Porteous was sent off.

“If he doesn’t get sent off we are flying high and it’s bizarre to think it’s the same season, it’s a strange feeling.

“It shows you what happens in football if you don’t get things right.”

Despite their current predicament, Hibs remain the only side outwith the Glasgow pair to lead the league this term. In the opening 13 games of their season, they lost just one. But after that reversal by Rangers, things began to slide as they racked up seven defeats in 10 games and arresting that decline has proved impossible as draws and losses became the norm. “You look back and think: ‘Is that the same season?’ [That Rangers game] wasn’t just three games in, we’d played a decent spell.

“But it’s mostly on us, really, isn’t it? It’s a results business and that’s the sign of a not-so successful season.

“Don’t get me wrong, we got to a final and a semi and the margin of not being in the top six is pretty small. So it’s not a disaster but it’s still not where Hibs want to be. That’s quite clear.”

Ross paid the price for that at the end of last year, and earlier this week they realised Maloney and most of his backroom staff had done likewise.

“We came in here [their East Mains training centre] as normal and a few of the coaches, like Gaz [Caldwell, assistant manager], were in their normal kit, so you kind of think that something is up. Then we went into the dressing room and he [Maloney] told us personally.”

A difficult week, but McGinn said it shows the club’s ambition.

“I suppose it’s a good sign from the club, it shows the level the chairman wants to get to.

“We should be up there as one of the big clubs in the country and staying about there, as Aberdeen had done for so long.

“We can’t yo-yo about and there are negative sides to [the sackings], but I can see where they [the board] are coming from.

“We need to win games. Last year we won most weeks. That becomes a habit but it has become a habit the other way. We know it’s small margins both ways. But we want to get back to winning most weeks.”