Hibs’ desperation laid bare as army of quick-fix recruits man barricades

The league table broadcasts the fact that Hibs have not been good enough. Fenlon’s decision to sign almost an entire team of new recruits, the majority of them on short-term contracts, doesn’t say much for his faith in those already at his disposal.

A few more, it’s clear, would have followed the likes of Akpo Sodje and Michael Hart out of the door if Fenlon could only have found a way. James McPake, a loan player from Coventry City, had been at the club barely two minutes before he was handed the captain’s armband. It spoke volumes about Fenlon’s trust in others in the first-team dressing room. The further re-invention of Hibs will likely happen in the summer, by which time the fans will fervently hope that the quick-fix arrangement has worked and the club are not having to down-size in preparation for life in the First Division.

You can understand Fenlon’s thinking. The circumstances are such that he can not start thinking about the long-term, something, having signed a two-and-a-half year deal in November, he would clearly like to do. Instead, he is banking on a platoon of temporary signings helping Hibs stave off the threat of relegation. Then the more satisfying part of the job will begin as the Irishman starts to impose his vision on the club. The list of those deemed surplus to requirements is already substantial. It has deposited the club back in a depressing cycle where it is again deemed necessary to unpick the work of a previous manager.

The club’s official website has helpfully provided a “summary of activity” during the latest transfer window. Six players are listed under the “out” column. Significantly, they include three of those brought in this time last year by Colin Calderwood, Fenlon’s predecessor. In addition to Hart and Sodje, Matt Thornhill, Junior Agogo and Victor Palsson all agreed severance packages earlier in January.

This time last year Sodje, Thornhill and Palsson were well received by the supporters, then also gripped by the fear of relegation. The fate of these Calderwood recruits serves as a cautionary tale this time around. The Hibs fans have understandably applauded the arrival of those such as Jorge Claros, who Rangers manager Ally McCoist raved about last month. Then there is Pa Saikou Kujabi, the Gambian full-back who is not shy about comparing himself to Roberto Carlos.

Hibs were in second bottom place when Calderwood burst into action at the end of January last year. The end result was that six players came in and six went out. The scale of the turnaround was a sign of the directors’ trust in Calderwood, though later events proved that it was possibly misguided. Only two of the six – Richie Towell and goalkeeper Jakub Divis – came in on loan deals. Only two, Towell and Martin Scott, have stayed the course, although the former looks to be well down the pecking order.

“I’m delighted with what we have ended up with,” said Calderwood at the time.

Then, addressing the worry which will again be niggling away at the Hibs supporters, he added: “We’ve got to become a team very quickly.” Given the general torpor associated with Calderwood’s reign it is possibly forgotten that Hibs went on a five-match winning run after the closure of last year’s transfer window. It was a period of form which went a long way to securing the club’s stay in the SPL. The points banked during February and March proved critical in view of the side’s poor post-split form, when they lost four times.

What Fenlon would do for another five-game run of victories. He has perhaps acknowledged that the shake-up 12 months ago had an initially positive effect on the side.

Indeed, it might even have ensured the team’s top league survival. But he has elected to avoid the Calderwood pit-fall of handing the majority of his new arrivals permanent deals. For the likes of Matt Doherty, Roy O’Donovan and Tom Soares the brief is clear: help us stay up, then we can talk.

Fenlon’s transfer window activity has stirred the Hibs support. It has given them renewed hope. Each department of the team has been strengthened. O’Donovan provides cover for Garry O’Connor and Leigh Griffiths since Fenlon clearly feels he cannot rely on either being available each week.

Fenlon will hope Eoin Doyle, one of only two players signed on a permanent basis, can repay his faith with a return of goals. No team able to call on the services of O’Connor and Griffiths should be contemplating relegation. But that is the problem – Fenlon cannot rely on being able to call on their services, hence O’Donovan’s arrival as the minutes ticked down towards 11pm on Tuesday night.

Doherty offers another, much- needed option in the centre of defence, and can also fill in at full-back.

Claros, who has signed a 12-month loan deal, and Soares can only help strengthen a talented but lightweight midfield. One Hibs fans’ website yesterday invited readers to try to guess the starting XI for this Saturday’s Scottish Cup clash with Kilmarnock, a fool’s errand if ever there was one.

Fenlon’s reputation at Hibs rests on those he has recruited in this transfer window. Indeed, these newcomers will likely make up the majority of the teams he puts out between now and the end of the season. If so, it will be a remarkable further vote of no-confidence in the players he has inherited from the previous regime. Were someone to offer Fenlon five victories in a row in the coming weeks and months he’d take it, since such a return would go a long way to extinguishing the relegation fears that are currently very much alive.

The Hibs manager knows what has to be achieved before he is able to embark on a more meaningful revolution.