Pat delivers warning to Hibs players

Pat FENLON has warned his Hibs stars to make the most of what they have at Easter Road – or it won’t last long.

The new Hibs boss is determined to hit the ground running, reshuffling his backroom staff by announcing Billy Brown will remain as assistant manager while Liam O’Brien, his No. 2 at former club Bohemians, has arrived as first team coach.

But 42-year-old Fenlon admitted time was short as he seeks to turn Hibs fortunes around, he and O’Brien having watched from the stand as he witnessed a “carbon copy” of DVDs he had seen of previous performances as his new side went down 3-1 to St Johnstone at the weekend.

The confirmation of Fenlon’s support team resulted in the sacking of long-time coaches Alistair Stevenson and Gareth Evans, the new manager explaining: “It’s important to have good staff around us. The people that have left have done a great job for the club but you have to move on and try to change at times.

“I’ve known Liam for a long time, I’ve had a good relationship with him. He came in to work with me at Bohemians as a coach and we had a fair bit of success together andhe is an important part of what I wanted to do here.

“Billy doesn’t need too much explanation, he has a vast knowledge of the game, he’s good on the training ground and when we met we hit it off quite well. When you are starting off in a job it’s good to have people around you who know you.

“Sometimes you come in and have a bit of time but I do not think we have that so it is important that Liam came in and with Billy we can hit the ground running.”

Fenlon revealed his first team talk wasn’t too “long-winded,” insisting it is actions rather than words which will count as he attempts to transform his team’s fortunes and to help haul them away from the foot of the SPL table.

He told Hibs TV: “It’s all about hard work, nothing else. You can talk all you want, you can have the best facilities in the world but it counts for nothing if you do not put in the work.

“We are in the position we are in, the league does not lie and what we have to try to do is get a shape, get ourselves winning some games and get some confidence about us.”

Revealing he felt his new charges had “given in a little bit too easy” for his liking against Saints, Fenlon said: “It was a bit of a carbon copy of some of the DVDs I have watched. We started quite well for the first 10, 15, 18 minutes, kept the ball, created a couple of chances and then scored.

“But we then fell away and when they scored you could see the confidence perhaps drain out of the players a bit.

“We have to show signs of improvement quickly, everything is in place here but you can have everything but unless you are willing to work, and that’s not just the players but everyone from top to bottom, then it’s no good.

“You want to stay here. People should be thinking ‘I am at a good club, a big club with fantastic facilities’. But if it is not going right on the park you won’t be here long – and that goes for all of us.”

Fenlon and O’Brien watched Hibs Under-19 side come from behind three times with goals from Jack Verth, Sam Stanton and Jordon Foster to force a 3-3 draw with Motherwell to stretch their unbeaten run to seven matches.

But the new pair were denied the chance to see some fringe players in action as a bounce game against St Mirren was cancelled because of heavy rain.