Towell eager to see Brown appointed to manager’s job on permanent basis

RICHIE Towell has become the latest Hibernian player to urge the club’s board to give caretaker manager Billy Brown the job on a full-time basis.

Towell, who is on his second loan spell from Celtic at Easter Road, came on for the second half of Hibs’ 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock on Saturday.

The full-back-cum-midfielder played his part in a significantly improved performance as the home team fought back from a goal down to claim a point, and he said later that the appointment of Brown would guarantee some much-needed stability at the club.

“It’s always nice to have stability, and the way it is just now we do have stability,” he said. “Billy has been here a while and the way he is trying to make us play is rubbing off on all of us.

“The second-half performance showed he wants a high work ethic and that’s what happened. If Billy got the job it would give us the stability we need.

“What Billy has done in the last two weeks has been really good and everyone has been very positive. I think we all need to continue working hard for each other and for Billy,” he added.

“The way he tries to get us to play football and the way he goes about his work is really good, and I could see him here on a permanent basis.”

Brown was appointed assistant to then-manager Colin Calderwood in mid-September, since when the club have won three games, drawn four and lost four.

Saturday’s game was his first as caretaker following Calderwood’s dismissal a fortnight ago. He has been interviewed for the vacancy, but is not yet sure whether he will be in charge – or in what capacity – for Hibs’ next game, at St Johnstone on Saturday.

“Billy has been here since almost the start of the season, so nothing really changed today as we tried to play in the same way,” Towell continued. “The way he spoke to us was the same, but I think we responded better in the second half and worked a lot harder.

“I think we all worked hard as a team in the second half. Obviously, the first half was disappointing, but our work ethic was much improved after the break, and we were better on the ball.

“There was a feeling that we owed everyone a performance. The fans come and watch us every week and it’s been disappointing for them recently. We also owed ourselves a good performance, and hopefully the fans could see how much work we were putting in in the second half.”

Brown reckoned that in the first half his team were “nervous as kittens”, and in those circumstances was happy to take a point from the game.

He had said beforehand that his application should not be judged on one match, and remains convinced he knows how to help the squad improve steadily. “I think the way I go about things is what’s needed here,” he added.