John Hughes backs Colin Calderwood as pressures mount at Hibs

FORMER Hibernian manager John Hughes has urged the Easter Road board to give Colin Calderwood transfer money to spend and has appealed to fans to get behind their beleaguered manager who has seen his team win only two games out of 15.

Hughes, who was sacked earlier this season to make way for Calderwood, said: "What the team needs now is stability and continuity. The supporters must get right behind Colin and the team.

"He must be given a chance and he needs investment, too. That was something I never had. When I first arrived I was able to bring in Anthony Stokes, Kevin McBride and Paddy Cregg. I felt I had done well and I can tell you buying Stokesy was a great piece of business.

"And we brought in money for Steven Fletcher and Rob Jones as well as Stokesy, but I still found myself out of a job. I didn't think I got the credit I was due when you consider we finished fourth in the league and got a place in Europe.

"That's success, as far as I'm concerned. And look at John Collins. He pulled in something in the region of 9million in the transfer market, won a cup final, but is no longer there.

"I think it's only fair to let Colin build his own team and put together his own squad. But he will need to be given the opportunity to invest in new players."

Calderwood is optimistic of having at least one new signing in his squad for the visit of Rangers on Wednesday after his team continued their appalling run of form in Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Motherwell by going a tenth game without victory.

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Calderwood is believed to be considering a move for Swindon Town defender Lecsinel Jean-Francois. Only Aberdeen had conceded more goals than Hibs before Saturday's matches and Calderwood is ready to make the 6ft 2 in Haiti international one of several new signings in the next eight days.

Jean-Francois can play at left-back or in the heart of the defence. He made ten appearances for Falkirk in 2006-07 before leaving to join French club Guingamp. He also played in a trial for Aberdeen against Brechin City in 2008 but opted to join Swindon instead.

The Easter Road side have failed to score in 2011 - a run of five games without a goal. The club has, in truth, been in significant decline on the pitch for the best part of a year, but the situation is now at crisis point.

Despite the defeat at Fir Park, Calderwood claimed his players' attitude and performance were "excellent" and said he saw a "tremendous resolve" among his charges to correct their poor run of results.

Despite talking-up the players currently at his disposal, Calderwood is eager to strengthen his squad after his side fell to 11th place in the SPL, three points above Hamilton, who have a game in hand, and hopes to do so before Wednesday.

Calderwood, who is also in the process of finalising a deal for Nottingham Forest midfielder Matt Thornhill, said: "We are quite close to another one.

"We'll take one more and then we'll hopefully take one more after that. We strive to give the boys in the dressing room a lift because they're desperate to make sure that we don't get involved in a relegation battle right to the end of the season."

Thornhill, who Calderwood has described as an "uncomplicated" midfielder who can score goals, has now undergone a medical but will not be involved in the midweek match against Rangers because of injury, which is delaying the announcement of his signing.

"It's a double insurance policy, that the knock he suffered around Christmas is not going to be long term," Calderwood said. "He's had no training for three weeks."

Hibs' run of games without troubling the opposition net includes two Scottish Cup matches against Second Division Ayr United, and Calderwood was questioned on his decision to start top scorer Derek Riordan on the bench.

"I just wanted to freshen it up a wee bit," Calderwood said. "He has been carrying a bit of a knock, he's got a slight problem round about his hip, which is uncomfortable. But it was really just a freshen-up."

As Calderwood continues to cast his net in search of players who will quickly provide what is required to haul the Edinburgh club out of their increasingly perilous situation, Callum Booth, a member of the under-19s squad which won the youth league and cup double two years ago, represents the long-term future for Hibs. However, he is aware that, if that future is to be in the SPL and not the First Division, he will also have to play an important role in the here and now.

Having just returned from a loan spell at Brechin, the 19-year-old defender made his first start on Saturday. It is a tall order for such an inexperienced player to be asked to deal with the relegation battle which faces Hibs, but Booth believes he is ready for the challenge. He also displays a refreshing enthusiasm for the task ahead..

"I'm 19, nearly 20, so I'm not that young," he said when asked how he felt about being thrown in at the deep end. "I'm playing in the SPL now so I'll have to just deal with it. If we get a result on Wednesday then everyone will be confident again and hopefully we could build on that. Until that happens we have to keep working hard and plugging away. We need a win to kick-start our season. Once we get one we can go on a wee run.

"That's going to be the hardest thing, getting our first win, but I'm sure it will come. Confidence is maybe a wee bit low, but I'm sure we'll turn things around and I'm sure we'll be safe by the end of the season. I think we have got good enough players to get out of this."