Amid gloom, Petrie stands by Calderwood

These fans will be equally deflated when they learn that the reversal of fortunes is traced in the club’s financial accounts, which show Hibs lurching into the red for the first time in seven years. It is yet another worrying development at a club once known for its fiscal prudence and can’t all be explained away by simply pointing to the worldwide recession.

Except for a statement released on the club’s official website yesterday, Hibs would make no further comment on the subject of the financial results.

The cycle of under-performance on the pitch has continued under Colin Calderwood after John Hughes’s sacking 13 months ago. It no longer surprises.

However, what has caused a jolt is the news yesterday that the club have posted a first bottom-line loss since 2004, following the publication of the financial results for the year ended 31 July.

This £900,000 loss might have been massaged slightly had Hibs accepted the reported six-figure compensation sum offered by Nottingham Forest for Calderwood’s services in the summer. Speculation over Calderwood’s future rumbled on throughout July, but Hibs’ wish to retain him was firmly outlined by chairman Rod Petrie, who issued an uncharacteristically indepth and even catty statement.

He talked of Calderwood having “stripped away the unworkable legacy saddled upon the manager by the previous incumbent”, by whom he meant Hughes.

Both Petrie and Hughes, who had himself made some critical remarks about Hibs in the media, later agreed to draw a line under this difference of opinion. However, the chairman has come out strongly once more in support of his current manager. Again, the inference is that Calderwood has done his best having been left with an awkward inheritance by Hughes, although one might now wonder whether Hibs could afford to sack Calderwood, who has two years left of his contract, even if they wanted to.

In a statement released on the club’s website, Petrie points out that Hibs had already been eliminated from two competitions by the time Calderwood came on board, which was one year ago yesterday. He also seeks to absolve Calderwood of blame for a wretched Scottish Cup exit in January. During 180 minutes of play against a team then positioned two divisions below them, Hibs failed to score a goal. Ayr United progressed to the fifth round of the cup after a replay, and though Hibs received their share of the television money – the second match, at Somerset Park, was shown live by Sky – the disappointment was deep indeed, and blew another hole in the finances.

Hibs fans might have their attention caught by Petrie’s explanation for the shock defeat, with the chairman noting that it had come “before new manager Colin Calderwood was able to refresh the squad”.

Having now had a year in situ the supporters might wonder what stage Calderwood is now at with this so-called refreshment plan. The manager himself described Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to Motherwell as the worst performance of his time in charge, and there are more than a few to select from.

Calderwood has seen his side win just five times in 21 home league games, and the absence of fans is becoming just as much of a problem as the lack of victories as far as the finance sheet is concerned. Only 8,513 watched Saturday’s lame performance and, perhaps more worryingly, only 12,523 were present to see the team kick off their season at Easter Road against Celtic in July. It left almost 8,000 spare seats in a recently renovated ground, one now able to seat just over 20,000 spectators.

The team are currently in tenth place in the Premier League, where they were when last season finished. They were in eighth place when Calderwood took over last October, prior to a defeat at Aberdeen.

Hughes was undoubtedly responsible for some of this on-field failure, but Calderwood has so far shown little evidence of being able to reverse the decline, and the large swathes of empty seats against Motherwell on Saturday was simply further evidence of an apathy having fallen over the club following the failure to build on 2007’s League Cup success. In that year the club made a profit of £7.4 million, thanks to a combination of on-pitch success and player sales. Even the club’s previously vibrant youth system has stalled.

All eyes will be on the annual general meeting on 8 November when Petrie and Calderwood can expect to face a tough ride. That is assuming the manager remains in his post for long enough to appear in front of shareholders.

Hughes was sacked on the day of the club’s last agm, meaning the manager was very conspicuous by his absence at the top table later that evening. Hibs, it appears, can ill-afford yet another empty seat at Easter Road, no matter how results play out before then.