Fenlon under no illusions as he plots the way ahead

AFTER trying for a couple of years to move from Ireland to the SPL, Pat Fenlon could have been forgiven for asking himself what he had let himself in for last Saturday.

Only a day after his appointment as manager of Hibernian was made official, the Dubliner watched from the stands as his new team succumbed feebly to St Johnstone.

The 3-1 defeat was an example in miniature of what has been wrong with Hibs this season, as they displayed their now customary defensive shortcomings and lack of confidence throughout the team. But, far from being intimidated by what he saw, Fenlon saw it as a useful lesson: a snapshot of where the club are, and a graphic illustration of how far they have to travel.

Now, having seen what base camp looks like, Fenlon hopes the ascent will start tonight, when Hibs visit Motherwell. Undaunted by that defeat at McDiarmid Park, for which assistant manager Billy Brown took the team, he is relishing the challenge of getting to work.

“Last Saturday was pretty much what I expected, having watched a lot of stuff on DVDs and speaking to people in the game,” he said. “I didn’t come away thinking ‘What have I done?’ I came away thinking ‘That’s where we’re at and we’d better get working on it now’.

“In three or four days we’ve been trying to see how each individual approaches matches and then try and combine that as a team. You make sure you have the right people in the right place at the right time.

“I’ll pick a team based on what group I think can get something out of the game. There will be a few changes, but not a massive amount.”

Ian Murray is out with a knock, but otherwise the full squad is available to Fenlon. The ones he does pick will not be asked to do anything too far removed from their usual roles, just encouraged to carry out their usual tasks with more competence and confidence than they have been doing in recent months.

“If you give people too much information you can overload the brain. It’s just getting the message across of how we want them to play.

“We’ve been conceding too many goals – any manager can see that. We’re a bit open at times and we need to work a bit harder when we haven’t got the ball. We’ve got to be more competitive than what we’ve seen. We’ve got to start games well, and when they don’t go for you at certain times, we can’t let that affect us as much as it has.”

Faced with a new squad in a new league, Fenlon might himself have become overloaded with information had he tried to come to terms with it all in his first few days.

Instead, he has wisely retained Brown, whose knowledge of the SPL will be crucial, and has brought in Liam O’Brien, who knows him well, as first-team coach.

“Billy’s been in the game in Scotland a long time and his record is fantastic. He’s been a great help to me over the past few days. I wanted him to stay from the start, but obviously we had to speak to people first and be fair to other people in the club and let them know the situation.

“People might say my knowledge of Scottish football isn’t as good as it should be, but Billy’s knowledge is fantastic. It’s going to take a while to get my know-ledge up to the level it should be, so Billy will be a good help.

“Liam knows the way I work and it was important I have someone here who understands. If I have someone here who understands, it should help me get my message across.

“It’s not something you can change over three or four days. It’s going to take a period of time to do that, but we need to get working on that quickly.

“We’ve only been in a short while, so we’re trying to look at DVDs, but most of them are probably a carbon copy of what went on on Saturday. It’s about changing that. There have been games where we’ve started well but then lost a goal and lost our way. That’s something we’ve got to work on.

“We have some good senior pros here, but what we need is a feeling that we are working together to resolve it. We’ve got some young players and they can be affected in different ways.

“Some have no fear and go and play. Other can be affected if it gets a little bit hot and heavy, and that’s where the senior players have got to pull them through in that regard.”

Tonight’s game at Fir Park begins a run of tough fixtures for Hibs, who are at home to Rangers next week then have visits to Pittodrie and Tannadice before Christmas. It is not the gentlest of introductions to the Scottish game, but it should give Fenlon a good idea of which players are able to rise to the occasion and which ones are not up to it.

“I looked at the fixtures when I came in and thought they could have made it a bit easier. That’s football – you’ve got to play them all at some stage.

“From my point of view it’s exciting to see the fixtures ahead of us and look forward to them. That’s what the players have got to do. They’ve got to be games they want to be involved in and try to get something for the club out of them.

“You need to embrace that and not have any fears. There’s some great games coming up. I’m hoping the players are looking at it in the same way.”

If they don’t, they could be looking at a move in the new year, although Fenlon has already decided that he should give every member of the current squad a chance to demonstrate their worth. “You’re always looking to improve no matter where you are sitting in the league,” he said when asked about his plans for when the transfer window opens.

“You’re always looking to see if there’s anyone who can come in and improve you. All you can do up to then is do the work in the background.

“I think it’s important we see the players here, as we’ve got some good ones. My job is to get the best out of them and bring them on. That would mean maybe in January we might not need to do as much work as people think.”

Whether it is work in the transfer market or work with the players he has, Fenlon has a lot of hard labour ahead of him before Hibs are close to feeling happy with their position. But, nearly two years after a planned move to Dundee United fell through, he is more than happy to be in Scottish football at last, and to be at the head of a coaching team which he is quietly confident will make its mark.

‘For me it’s fabulous to think I’m managing at the level I am at the moment. I’m embracing that. It’s a great night for me personally and for Liam as well.”