Meet SPFL signing of season contender, the secrets of coffee club and why he confronted Rangers ace

Hibs' Nicky Cadden was named player of the month for December. | SNS Group

In the spirit of the transfer season, it is fitting to judge the best signings of the previous window.

Rangers may not be top dogs but their striker Hamza Igamane has impressed. Left-back James Penrice has shone at Hearts, Sam Dalby is the Premiership’s top marksman after moving to Dundee United. Aberdeen have unearthed a good one in winger Topi Keskinen, but it’s another wide player who potentially trumps them all.

Step forward Hibs’ unassuming 28-year-old Nicky Cadden, who was named player of the month for December and whose emergence has coincided with the Easter Road’s club six-game unbeaten run.

Hibs' Nicky Cadden was named player of the month for December. | SNS Group

By his own admission, Cadden has flown under the radar for most Scottish football fans. His twin brother Chris, also at Hibs and a Scotland cap, is more recognisable. Nicky left Scotland in 2020 after spells at Airdrieonians, Livingston, Ayr and Morton to try his luck down south, first with Forest Green Rovers and then at Barnsley. His return north was not greeted with much fanfare at all.

Cadden struggled to break into the Hibs team at first due to being behind in pre-season and then injury, but now he is one of the first names on the team sheet. In 16 appearances, he has scored four goals, laid on four assists and has become a strong presence down the left flank. His crosses wreak havoc in the opposition penalty box and he is a danger from set pieces. Hibs fans have taken to him.

A free agent after leaving Barnsley at the end of last season, Cadden had to decide whether to remain in the relative sanctuary of the EFL or try his hand in the top flight of his homeland - something he had only done once before with Livi. He appears to have made the right choice.

“I felt I'd done well down south and I got a lot of goals and a lot of assists,” said Cadden. “I got to a good level down south as well because that’s been the best football I've been playing. Obviously, I've come up here and I've just carried that on really once I've started playing. You kind of go under the radar down south a wee bit, but more in the spotlight up here.”

What of those deliveries, which are a nightmare to defend against. Just ask Hearts, who could not deal with his delicious ball in for Dwight Gayle in a recent derby. “I like to just get the ball at my feet and whip it in the box,” explained Cadden. “I feel like I've got an alright left foot, so I need to use that to the best of my ability.

Nicky Cadden has weighed in with goals and assists since joining Hibs last summer. | SNS Group

“I work on my free kicks and obviously corner deliveries as well. The training here is really good, where we get to do a lot of crossing and finishing, where I can work on different crosses, stand up, whips in the box. I feel like it's worked so far anyway.”

It’s not just style with Cadden. There’s substance too, a leader on the park. That was epitomised in last weekend’s 3-3 draw with Rangers, with the Bellshill-born man setting up Rocky Bushiri’s equaliser and then jumping into to defend one of his teammates in Jack Iredale after some full-time handbags with Mohamed Diomade.

“Jack went to shake his hand and he never looked at him, as if I'm better than you, and I don't like that,” said Cadden. “He just pushed Jack, so I ran in, and that's about it. It's nothing like bad, it's just you need to give your opponent respect as well, I think.”

People should respect Hibs right now. They are one of the form teams in the division and have escaped from bottom place, 11 points clear of it in eighth. It wasn’t always like this. At the start of December, head coach David Gray was under pressure and while performances were not horrific, wins were not forthcoming. The squad had to keep its spirits high. Step forward the coffee club, which Cadden is a fully signed-up member of along with his brother, Josh Campbell, Joe Newell, Warren O’Hora and Iredale. A team that drinks together, wins together, after all.

Addressing how the squad socialises, Cadden continued: “Obviously we have chats, even though not everybody likes to go for a coffee. We just have a chat of what we expect from this year, what we think we could possibly get to. Obviously, I'm not indulging here, but we like to keep it in-house. I don't think it's unrealistic where we think we could go. As I said, the squad in there is really good.

“I think we went for a coffee last week in between Christmas and New Year at some point. We were talking about how well we're doing, but a month ago we were talking about how we need to just turn that around, we need to keep going.

Nicky Cadden spent four years in England with Forest Green Rovers and Barnsley. | Getty Images

“I think the players, the gaffer, the coaching staff have got something, they need to take positives from that because we kept ourselves together. We never listened to anything really [in terms of criticism], we just knew how good we were going to be. Hopefully we can keep pushing.”

Hibs’ next encounter is an important one. Fifth-placed Motherwell are five points clear ahead of their trip to Easter Road on Saturday. In a league of fine margins, a win would allow Cadden and Co to think about an assault on the top six and even higher. But just three points ahead of Hearts in 11th, it only takes a couple of defeats to paint a gloomier picture.

“Every game's massive,” added Cadden. “We talk before every game and we try to see where we'll be after we win the game or we draw the game. It's a big push and hopefully we can push into that top six at the end of the weekend.”