Paul Heckingbottom wants to see more anger from Hibs players

Paul Heckingbottom says he can sense disappointment and frustration in the Hibernian dressing room. But, while fans vented their fury after Sunday’s derby defeat, the underfire Hibs manager says he probably hasn’t seen enough of that anger in his players.

Hibernian boss Paul Heckingbottom in the thick of it during training. Picture: Bruce White/SNS

“I would want to see more anger and then see them display that in our performances. They should be disappointed and if they are not as frustrated as I am at the little lapses in concentration that cost them a derby win they should probably not be playing the game. So, there should be frustration, anger and real determination.”

In the wake of the home loss to Hearts, which saw Hibs drop to second bottom, and with this evening’s vital League Cup quarter-final trip to Kilmarnock looming, the frustrated manager allowed the players to lead the post-match debrief, keen to see them step up and take responsibility.

Defender Tom James said it was a “calm and easy” discussion but, with so much at stake, their manager said he would have been happier if there had been a bit more of an edge to the proceedings.

“It’s always important. You have to create an environment which sort of promotes that and is open to challenge,” said Heckingbottom. “You want a bit more tension, friction. It’s good and sometimes, when you are winning, it is overlooked that you might have that among the group. There would be no issues from me if there was a bit more tension.”

At the moment, it seems that players are not making those demands of themselves or each other and, taking last season’s run-in into consideration, Heckingbottom’s men have won just one of the last 11 Premiership games. That has prompted unrest among supporters, many of whom are questioning a recruitment policy which has seen players drafted in from the English lower leagues who are struggling to adjust to the mental and physical intensity of life in the Scottish Premiership.

“It’s a big thing for them to come up here and adapt to the intensity of the league,” acknowledged the Hibs manager. “Regardless of what anyone says, there’s a real intensity. I have spoken about it a helluva a lot, not just about on pitch and how it is played and refereed but also the intensity in the stands, around the ground. The grounds have to be full to feel it. There’s an attachment from every fan with the club up here that you can feel from the terraces even in smaller grounds, with smaller crowds. So you have to be ready for that, to embrace it and use it, use it if it’s against you to drive you, to use it if it’s with you to push you even further on. That’s something these players are getting used to.”

But, by affording them that settling in period, Heckingbottom has left himself under pressure. At the weekend, in a huge game for the club, in terms of bragging rights and league positioning, the bench was packed with his summer signings, including the man he spent over £300,000 on, Chris Doidge, who has yet to score a league goal for Hibs.

“It’s not me holding them back in any shape or form but working with them, getting them to adapt and step up and go beyond the players who are already in the team. If that happens...when that happens... we’ll work with the players who aren’t in the team to get them up and beyond that level. There will be natural chances for them through injuries or suspensions but as I say they have to take responsibility to step up and take a shirt.”

But he denied that relying so heavily on players signed from English lower league sides, who perhaps did not appreciate the unique demands of the Scottish game, was too much of a risk.

“At the clubs I’ve been at already, we’ve recruited players from all over the place. We’ve had players coming from the Conference to try to play in the Championship down south. What a jump that was. Not all of them can do it. Some can. At Leeds, we had a ridiculous size of squad and there was a good 20 or 30 players there who shouldn’t have been at the club. They were never going to adapt. They were from all over the world, all over Europe. You can’t just go and sign players who you know have been there, seen it and done it. One, you generally can’t afford it. And two, there are not too many of them about. So you have to look elsewhere to match your budget.

“With that, there is more of a risk, without a doubt. So you have to be really calculating and then once they are here, help them with the acclimatisation, help with getting them in the team.”

But with or without the newcomers he will have to plot a way past Killie, who defeated them recently in the league, and earn a trip to Hampden.

“I want them to get some reward and realise how hard they have work to get there and also what’s achievable off the back of that. There’s lots of reasons why it’s important. Everybody wants to be there. It might not have the three points attached to it but there’s a potentially bigger prize attached to it.”