I will get this right, vows Colin Calderwood

IT might just have been one small banner, indeed more like a tea towel, but the first plaintive sign calling for Colin Calderwood to quit as manager of Hibs was displayed during Saturday's defeat to Celtic.

• Colin Calderwood: "We're not getting the first goal. We go behind and it's Groundhog Day"

It was not as big as the banner calling on chairman Rod Petrie to 'Splash the Cash or Quit,' but then Petrie's got used to that sort of thing over the years.

Did it upset the manager? Does he fear losing the Easter Road crowd after a run which has seen Hibs fail to win since November 13?

"It would worry me if that were to happen," said Calderwood, speaking ahead of tonight's Scottish Cup fourth round replay against Second Division leaders Ayr United at Somerset Park. "What we've got to do is to prove to them that we can rectify this problem. We can't continue in this vein or there will be more banners, but I am very, very confident of getting it right.

"The first impression hasn't been good enough and that is something I have got to change. To move forward we have got to get results."

As yet, Calderwood has not sought reassurances from the board about his future: "I don't feel I need them. I haven't been given them. I don't even require to ask that question. It's not something that I've thought about."

Nor does he see tonight's match as a season maker or breaker: "There is a lot to play for at the bottom of the league. You could go out and still get relegated, so there is more than the cup tie, but we want to be in the cup."

The ever-impassive Calderwood could not help giving off the slightest air of frustration that his previous managerial success has not continued at Easter Road, and he has not been helped by the bad luck that saw at least three inward transfers halted last week.

"A couple of injuries happened to the two players we were talking to," said Calderwood, "and someone else got injured and that stopped a deal happening.

"It's not a money issue. We have progressed deals a little bit, so hopefully we can get something concluded. A little bit of freshening up will help. We have got to get improvement and we have to get the fans invigorated and this Cup tie might be something that helps to lift everyone."

He will not change his softly, softly attitude and start lambasting players. "I don't particularly think that's the way forward," he said, "because we've got enough people criticising us. And the point of coaching is to coach, educate, manage. You can tell them its wrong, but you've got to tell them what to do to make it right.That's always been my philosophy."

No one will arrive in time to play tonight, so Calderwood must use the same squad that failed to break down Ayr in the first tie, and indeed almost lost the match as United created a couple of decent chances.

Calderwood seems puzzled why his men are underperforming: "They haven't shown their true level of ability. I don't think it's hard to get them to relax and come in and enjoy training, I can see that day after day.

"What is hard for them is that we're not getting the first goal. We go behind and it becomes almost a groundhog day situation but they showed a terrific response against Dundee United, a good response against Aberdeen, going behind at home and getting themselves back into both games, although obviously we lost to Aberdeen.

"If Ayr score first, we have to be ready for that response that we've got to give. But we're fully used to going behind."

Central defender Paul Hanlon confirmed that Calderwood had been a calming beacon in the dressing room: "He's got that presence about him without shouting and bawling, and gets respect from the players. To be honest, there's not too much anxiety and you can't feel it too much in the squad."

A Hibs fan since boyhood, Hanlon knows what the Cup means to his side: "It would be an absolute nightmare for us to go out of the Cup at an early stage, but we're not thinking like that. We have to go there and put on a performance."As for disgruntled fans, Hanlon shares their displeasure. He said: "They're as desperate to win as we are. They pay their money, they come and support us and we're not producing. They are entitled to show their disappointment but we are working hard to put it right."

Before anyone asks, Hibs have practised their penalties, and unless Calderwood's men click as they have threatened to do only occasionally in recent weeks, it could be that kind of drawn-out affair at Somerset Park tonight.