Hibs fans round on Petrie at lively agm then Farmer takes sting out of protest

OUTSIDE Easter Road, no more than a dozen supporters staged an impromptu demonstration and chanted “Sack the board”. Inside, at Hibernian’s annual general meeting, an audience of around 250 shareholders listened intently and questioned the directors politely.

Several suggested that the board should consider their positions after yet another managerial appointment had gone wrong. But, again, they did so politely. If Hibs are a club in crisis – and a look at the league table suggests they are – either their supporters are maintaining their composure rather well, or they have become so inured to disappointment that they cannot rouse themselves to protest angrily.

Sir Tom Farmer’s speech at the end of the 90-minute meeting was the most emotional oration of the night, urging the audience to give their backing to club chairman Rod Petrie and his fellow directors, including the two who will lead the search for the new manager, Fife Hyland and Scott Lindsay. But, in an impromptu address which lasted no more than three or four minutes, Sir Tom did not directly answer any of the substantive criticisms which had been directed at the board over the preceding hour and a half.

Those criticisms fell into two main categories: the board – or, more specifically, Petrie – was blamed for a series of unsuccessful managerial appointments, and the current Hibs squad were lambasted for unprofessional behaviour off the park.

In his own address to the meeting after the accounts for the previous year had been formally adopted, Petrie looked back briefly on the previous manager’s reign, and offered a qualified defence of his appointment. “This year we have to be better,” he said. “We are in a results-driven business. We decided Colin Calderwood was no longer the right man for the job.

“The club gave him every chance to succeed. I am sorry this appointment was not a success. We backed him as we had backed previous managers.

“There had been over 40 applicants for the job as of five o’clock this evening. It is right we take our time and look afresh at the recruitment process. We will meet as a board tomorrow as our next step.”

Then, in the closest he got to any kind of populist oratory, Petrie went off on a diversion, criticising the City of Edinburgh Council for its involvement in a consultative study on a new community stadium to be home to Hearts. “Meanwhile, we have the craziness of the council wanting to spend money on building a stadium for Hearts, whose ground is not Uefa-compliant and is said to be not fit for purpose. It may have escaped the council’s attention that Easter Road is already Uefa-compliant. The council did not assist Hibs [in redeveloping Easter Road].”

Attempting to lighten the mood a little, Petrie then mentioned Hibs’ successful defence of Garry O’Connor when he faced an SFA panel charged with diving. The chairman said that the striker, who has a court case pending, liked the sound of a “not guilty” verdict.

It was a moment of levity which did not find favour with one shareholder, who criticised O’Connor and other players for their behaviour. “We’re getting a bad press about Garry O’Connor, Victor Palsson, Martin Scott and Graham Stack,” he said, referring to reports of off-field activity. “Rod made a joke of it: it’s not funny.

“Can I ask Sir Tom: if Kwik-Fit was run like that, would you not change the board?”

Petrie responded by saying that the active case involving O’Connor had occurred before the player returned to Hibs, who were now looking after him.

Referring to speculation linking two former Hearts managers with the Hibs vacancy, the same speaker offered pointed advice to the directors. “Under no circumstances should Jim Jefferies or Csaba Laszlo come in. If these guys come in, god knows what will happen to the fan base.”

Returning to Calderwood’s performance, another speaker bemoaned the ex-manager’s behaviour, particularly in the summer when he was the subject of interest from two English clubs, Nottingham Forest and Birmingham City. “I’ve never felt so embarrassed to have the manager speaking like a blithering idiot,” he said. “When Tony Mowbray was manager he captured our imagination. We’ve had to watch dull, unimaginative dross for the last three seasons. The football is absolutely murder.”

Another questioner said that Petrie had cost the club off the park as well as on by refusing to accept Forest’s reported offer of £300,000 for Calderwood and then paying the manager off. “He was probably the wrong choice of manager – that’s down to Mr Petrie. You’ve cost the club half a million pounds by hanging on to Calderwood. As a chair with that record, you really have to look at your own position.”

Unmoved, Petrie inisted the longer-term record had been better than the club’s recent form.

He said: “We’ve been in the top six for six of the past seven years. We won a cup, and we’ve been in Europe.

“The next appointment will not just be my pick. The previous ones were not just my picks either.

“Colin Calderwood alienated some people with the way he spoke, but I cannot fault his commitment.”

Several speakers claimed that the club’s run of bad results was worsened by what they saw as the uncaring attitude of the players.

“The player culture is broken at Easter Road,” said one. “We’ve got an epidemic of big-time Charlies in our squad,” said another. “We want to know from the club what’s happening [when players are disciplined for misdemeanours], not ‘This will be dealt with in-house’.”

The dissatisfaction, such as it was, was partly assuaged by Sir Tom’s closing speech and the board now have another chance to make a successful managerial appointment.

If they get that one wrong, there will be more than a few polite voices inviting them to fall on their swords.