Hibs fans call for end to speculation

The Easter Road manager is in demand with Chris Hughton, to whom he was assistant at Newcastle United, wanting him to take up a similar role now he is in charge of Birmingham City.

The Championship club have asked for permission to speak to Calderwood, who was also being sought by new former England boss Steve McClaren as his right-hand man at Nottingham Forest, but it would seem that if the Hibs manager was to leave, the Midlands will be his destination.

Hughton has insisted he wants his coaching team in place before his squad report back for pre-season training on Monday which would suggest matters will now move apace should Hibs give Calderwood the go-ahead to enter negotiations although the question of compensation, given he still has more than two years of the contract he signed barely nine months ago, would arise.

Today, Hibs refused to comment but Mike Riley, chairman of the Supporters' Association, urged that the situation be resolved as quickly as possible.

He said: "This couldn't have come at a worse time, we are only four weeks away from the start of the new season and our first pre-season friendly is only two days away.

"No-one wants this to drag on. Every fan I have spoken to has concluded he's leaving. I don't want to jump the gun, but if he wants to go then let him and that will give us a chance to get someone else in," Riley went on. "At the moment the club is in limbo, no-one knows what is happening and it makes it very difficult to attract any further signings when players we might want at Easter Road are unclear as to who is going to be the manager."

Although Calderwood endured a torrid first season in charge of Hibs, taking over from John Hughes last October only to see the side finish tenth in the SPL table, Riley insisted most fans were willing to give him the opportunity to prove himself in the coming campaign.

He said: "If he wants to stay then I'd wish him all the best. But it is an absolute nightmare, Calderwood has only just cleared the decks to build his own squad by allowing so many players to leave at the end of their contracts but now we could find a new manager coming in and not fancying the players he's signed.

"We've had so many managers over recent years when what we are crying out for is stability. No doubt Hibs believed they had got the right man when they appointed him but it's really depressing to think we could be looking for another so soon."

Riley admitted, that like most Hibs fans, he couldn't understand why Calderwood would want to become an assistant again, having arrived in Edinburgh determined to be a manager in his own right having enjoyed a measure of success with Northampton Town and Forest in the past.