'No disease' in the dressing-room as Colin Calderwood looks for turnaround

WHEN one or two players in a team lose confidence, there is no reason for a manager to become too concerned. It is a regular occurrence, and one which often coincides with others finding their best form.

When a whole squad becomes drained of self-belief, it is a different matter. Then, a manager has to determine as quickly as possible what is going wrong, and why, as a first step towards finding a solution.

That lack of self-belief was evident in the Hibernian squad some time before Colin Calderwood took charge of them and, in an ideal world, he would have solved the problem in short order.

In reality, the malaise remains some four months after the former Scotland international succeeded John Hughes.

That much was evident at Motherwell on Saturday, when Hibs lost 2-0 to extend their run without a win in the league to eight games.

The uncertainty in defence which had been a feature of previous games was still there, but perhaps the single most glaring error was Merouane Zemmama's penalty miss.

And the disturbing thing about that was the fact that, just weeks earlier, on coming back from injury against Dundee United, the Moroccan had raised the spirits of his team-mates and the Hibs support alike.

The lack of confidence is there for all to see. Calderwood, however, believes that at least some team members are doing a lot of things right, and that talk of some sort of collective ailment afflicting the squad is wide of the mark.

"We've got some good characters in the dressing-room and they're important at present," he said yesterday. "The ones that come in (that is, new signings] will have to add, of course, but we've got to add on the pitch and the dressing-room will look after itself.

"But there's no disease in there that you have to be worried about. They're honest, they're dedicated, they're looking after themselves. What they do on the training ground is good, and they're giving themselves the best opportunity of making a better fist of it than we are at the moment.

"I can see good attributes from quite a few of them, but what we've got to do is find the mix, find the winning formula and a toughness and steeliness about us, which I think I saw bits and pieces of in Saturday's game.

"But, like anything, it's got to be a consistent run of six or seven games. It's got to be a career of being tough professionally and not just a phase." With Hibs just three points off the bottom of the SPL, Calderwood is under pressure to unearth that consistent run sooner rather than later.Last week he said he was confident of remaining in charge even if the club were relegated, as they had a long-term strategy which would they stick to whatever happens this season, but yesterday he elaborated on that remark, saying it would be considerably easier to implement the strategy if Hibs stayed up.

"Staying up is fundamental to it. It would be a massive set-back to have relegation, because it would be a completely different scenario.

"We're thinking we must be in the SPL and we'll strive to do that. The turnaround that will happen - we can turn it around very quickly. But you turn it around the easiest by staying in the division. Everything is based on being in the SPL." And although confident of staying in his post whatever occurs, he added that he had not sought any reassurances.

"I haven't had those types of conversations - because we just haven't. You come in trying to motivate and be motivated for the next game, so those things may be in the back of everybody else's minds, but they're not in the back of my mind, because what I see is going forward."

While praising his players in public, Calderwood remains anxious to add to his squad during this transfer window. So far he has only recruited midfielder Matt Thornhill, and even that signing has yet to be completed as the 22-year-old has been injured and is not yet ready to play.

"Matt is just going through an assessment. He's training today. We have to make sure there's no reaction to his first football session, then it will be three to three-and-a-half weeks. But all signs lead us to believe that he will be okay."

Hibs were linked over the weekend with Haitian international Lescinel Jean-Francois, but Calderwood ruled out an interest in him.

"That is one of those where agents end up in a discussion with you, 14 names are mentioned and he might be one of them. He's probably doing it to help him get a move somewhere else. So he's not the other one, no."