Nick Montgomery's first days at Hibs: Jason Cummings text deluge, 48 hours in Dubai with board, the criteria he has been set

New Hibs manager Nick Montgomery believes the current squad is capable of success in the Premiership.

But, Nick Montgomery, the new Easter Road boss who helped to breathe fresh life into the self-styled Cumdog’s career after giving him a chance to prove himself with Aussie side Central Coast Mariners, believes that the former Hibs striker will be delighted he has signed a three-year deal to take the helm in Leith. Now rumoured to be the highest-paid player in India, the Socceroos and Mohun Bagan forward bombarded his former gaffer with texts as rumours began to link him with the switch to the Scottish Premiership.

“He sent me plenty of messages when he heard about this!” revealed Montgomery. “I tried to not give too much away because the reality was it wasn’t all agreed. He is a good character and he really loves this club. He told me when the interest first came that if I get the opportunity it’s a fantastic club. It’s a real family club. He loves Edinburgh and it was full backing from Jason.

“I keep in touch with him a lot. I try to have a good relationship with the players and support them and what Jason did for Australian football was fantastic. He’s an inspiration and shows that sometimes you can be down and out and just need someone to believe in you and give you a bit of love. That’s all Jason needed. I don’t think anyone doubted his ability.”

Ex-Hibs forward Jason Cummings had great success under Montgomery at Central Coast Mariners.

That ability to get the best out of players and budgets – he defied the fact that the Mariners’ budget was one of the smallest in the country to win last season’s A-League – is what piqued the interest of Hibs’ recruitment team as they looked for Lee Johnson’s replacement, and after a successful zoom meeting and then a more detailed football discussion with director of football Brian McDermott last week, he met with co-owner and executive director Ian Gordon and chief executive Ben Kensell in person, in Dubai, to seal the deal.

“It was important to meet face-to-face and it told me a lot about Ian and the way he wants to do business,” said the Englishman, who spent the majority of his playing career at Sheffield United before moving Down Under, where he spent five years playing for Central Coast Mariners before going on to manage them. We spent about 48 hours looking at the club, discussing things and talking about the structures, the fans, the community … everything. Ian and Ben told me their vision. I loved their energy and ambition. So, that visit to Dubai was the chance to close things and make sure everyone was happy.”

Gordon had his say on it all. “The criteria was very straightforward, a winning mentality and ability to bring young players on. Nick has shown that,” he explained. “He’s over-achieved with a small budget. Yes, he might not have the Scottish experience. But his knowledge of the Scottish game is good. We’ve struggled to figure out the real vision and identity we want. But we have that in place now. Nick fits that, in terms of how we move forward.”

“Identity is a word that can be used quite flippantly,” added Montgomery. “But you want people to see that the team has an identity. A very, very basic part of that is non-negotiable – that the team works hard. If you want to be a team that plays attacking football or defensive football then everybody should be able to see that and the supporters should feel they are going to turn up for games and know that it’s not off the cuff, it’s a style of play that’s easy for them to identify every week, home or away.”

Montgomery will be joined at Easter Road by his assistant at the Mariners, Sergio Raimundo (pictured right).

Not keen on ‘philosophies’, he was happy to offer some insight into how his teams play. Hard working topped the list but he also wants his men to create chances and take them, but recognises there needs to be a balance. “Defensively I like to be resolute,” said Montgomery. “That has to be part of the way you play because you can’t just be a team that attacks. But goals win games!”

Arriving in Edinburgh on Sunday evening, Montgomery, who brings Portuguese duo Sergio Raimundo and Miguel de Oliveira Miranda in as his assistant head coach and goalkeeping coach respectively, met with interim boss David Gray, who will be kept on the coaching staff for extra insight.

The 41-year-old Scotland Under-21 and Futures cap (where he played alongside current Hibs goalkeeper David Marshall) was a managerial target for Motherwell in the past, and says his preparations have involved more than picking the brains of two Hibs legends but, having got the best out of Cummings and the rest of his cut-price Mariners squad, he is confident he can do likewise in the capital.

“I did research on the squad,” said Montgomery. “I know some players here and I watched a lot of games. I really believe there’s a lot of quality in the squad. There’s strength in depth – mainly two players in every position which is important for competition for places. But right now I just want to get on the grass and when the time comes I know Ian and Brian will back me [in the transfer market]. We’ve had some good football conversations, but right now I believe the squad is more than capable of competing with everybody in the competition. So I’m not really thinking about anything other than the current squad and the young players at the club.”

He has already worked with and competed with or against Marshall, Lewis Miller, James Jeggo and Adam Le Fondre, while Martin Boyle is another he is familiar with. “He’s a fantastic player,” Montgomery said of the forward. “I have watched him closely. I bumped into him in the airport last year when he had just come back from injury. He was travelling over as the ‘vibe manager’ to the World Cup. It’s great to see him back playing. He’s great friends with Jason Cummings and a big character. You need big characters and I enjoy working with big characters. I’m really looking forward to getting the best out of him because he’s a fantastic player.

“I would like to challenge everybody in the league and be competitive. In terms of where Hibs should be, I think everybody sees Hibs as one of the biggest clubs in the SPL but you have to earn the right [to win trophies], you have to compete and you have to win games. I’m no different from anybody else. I want to win games of football but that’s not easy so you have to work hard every day.”

Montgomery is excited about the work that lies ahead, and the fact he will be doing it in Scotland. “I have a lot of family ties to Scotland and used to come up from Leeds every summer on the coach to my uncle’s farm in between Aberdeen and Arbroath. My grandmother was born in Scotland so our roots are here. Sadly a lot of my Scottish family have passed away now but I always hoped an opportunity to come to Scotland and work would come up, so I’m glad it has. My wife is really keen on coming here too, which is important. I’m a family man. I have three girls, twins who are 12 and a four-year-old. I had been to Edinburgh quite a few times when I was younger and really liked it. This is a real family club in a great city.”