Paul Heckingbottom casts doubt on Hibs continuing in reserve league

Manager Paul Heckingbottom says it is not clear if Hibernian will be part of the reserve league next season, claiming that the club is still considering the best way to bridge the gap between academy football and breaking into the Easter Road first team.

Fraser Murray, right, in action for Hibs Reserves against Partick Thistle . Picture: Lisa Ferguson

Following talk of Celtic, Rangers and St Johnstone planning to escape the current reserve set-up in favour of a trans-European league that would also include teams from Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Switzerland, the historical discussion about Premiership clubs being permitted to enter colt teams in the domestic lower division has also resurfaced. However, Heckingbottom says Hibs are still weighing up their options.

Heckingbottom said: “It is constantly being spoken about and the only concern for me is whether we can still get the fixtures [without being in the league] and I think we could, no problem. But I don’t know how easy it would be to do.

“We’d welcome anyone who wants to come and play games here, without a doubt, and we tried to accommodate a Juventus team between now and the end of the season, but we haven’t been able to do it. But there’s one against Middlesbrough and one against Huddersfield so we’re always looking for fixtures. But I’ve not heard anything about a European league. I don’t think there’s scope for it when all the teams who play in Europe carry a 19s team to play in the Champions League that shadows the first team. Beneath that, you don’t have the finance.”

With growing fears that the current unpopular reserve model does not meet the needs of top tier clubs as they seek to prepare players for first team football, almost half of the 18 clubs currently involved have yet to commit themselves to another season. The deadline is less than two weeks away but there remains trepidation that the set-up, which was only implemented last year to replace the under-20 development league as part of the SFA’s Project Brave vision, is failing the clubs.

For much of this season Hibs have fielded development squad players in the reserve league in preference to players from their first-team squad and Heckingbottom added: “My argument is that you need to get control of it yourself. There are young players here so how do we develop a pathway to get them in the team? It might be using the reserve league along with loans, the reserves along with some first team exposure, or the reserve league along with friendlies we fix up. It might be not using the reserve league, but we have to bridge that gap for our younger players.

“The problem is if we send a player out on loan, what job will he be asked to do? What environment is he going into? If we send a midfielder out on loan because we want him to get better at receiving the ball, breaking lines with his passes, making it into the box and scoring goals, how many clubs are there out there who can cater for that and help our particular player?

“If we send him to a direct team or a team that is going to play him as a holding midfielder then we’re actually putting him further away from our first team.

“We have to be sure who the loan is for. If it is to get the boy closer to our first team then we have to put a lot of thought into it and manage it and really scrutinise that loan and what he is getting out of it. Or if it is someone who we have said there is no pathway for here then he can go on loan to try to help his career. We have to be really careful.

“You can’t just say we are coming out of the [reserve] league and throwing everyone out on loan. Then you’re not in control. We have lots of chats about how we get our young players into the first team and how to keep them there.”