Scotland manager backing Fenlon to work his magic on Hibs

Fenlon is still awaiting his first win as Hibs boss after taking charge of five completed games since making the switch from Bohemians in the Irish top-flight.

Question marks have already been raised by some, with Monday’s 3-1 defeat to Hearts in the New Year Edinburgh derby heaping the pressure on the Dubliner ahead of Saturday’s Scottish Cup clash with Second Division leaders Cowdenbeath. However, Levein is in no doubt that the 42-year-old will be a hit at Easter Road – as long as he is given more time in the dugout than his predecessors. Levein said: “It’s a fantastic record he’s got as manager and people just need to give him time to work away behind the scenes to try to improve the club.

“Hibs have had too many changes in recent years. They’ve had too many managers, too many players changing, for whatever reason, and that hasn’t allowed the club to progress in recent years – not just to build the first team, but also to build the club back up again.

“I believe Pat’s the man to do that. Sometimes when you get a new manager coming into a club you get an upturn, you can get a short period where the results improve. But I think this team’s lacking so much in confidence that Paul Daniels would be lucky to get them to pick up a few points early on.”

Levein is convinced the Easter Road side have the basis of a team that can lift themselves away from trouble if Fenlon spends wisely in this month’s transfer window. He added on BBC Scotland: “He’s going to have to work very, very hard to try and improve the team. I do know he’s looking to bring players in. Just bringing in one or two players, maybe down the spine of the team, might just help Hibs, and help the other players, because they do have players there who are very good players.

“They are just lacking in confidence just now, and maybe lacking in a little bit of leadership as well. I don’t see many people on the park bullying their team-mates and making them work hard and take possession of the ball and close people down, those things that you need to do to be successful in the league.

“Hibs are a fantastic club. They’re going through a difficult period, but I do think Pat Fenlon will turn them round.”