Tony tells Hibs to play fame game

Five decades on from that Rot-Weiss Essen encounter during Hugh Shaw's tenure, the present incumbent of the boss's tracksuit is seeking to re-enact a portion of the prosperity.

And he's making not a bad job of it, is Tony Mowbray. Since the era of playing one-twos with the clouds whilst Bobby Williamson gazed on from the dugout, Leith's footballing aficionados have been consuming an altogether more cultured product.

Now, let's not get too carried away. For all the panache evinced over the last 14 months by Derek Riordan and others, there are deep inroads to be made before the Famous Five are in danger of being usurped in the minds of those supporters who can still recall them in their pomp.

As Lawrie Reilly hirpled out of Easter Road's front door earlier this week after dipping his memory banks for the benefit of Sky Sports, he must have pondered the impact made by the latest generation of Hibees to aspire to the greatness with which he, Gordon Smith, Bobby Johnstone, Eddie Turnbull and Willie Ormond were bestowed all those years ago. Having made a moderate but satisfying impression with a third-place finish and some scintillating football in Mowbray's first season, the modern-day Hibs now climb onto the rather loftier platform of European competition tomorrow evening in the UEFA Cup.

The manager's philosophy will not allow him to deviate from the positive, flowing approach favoured for domestic football despite the necessity for Hibs to maintain their composure, especially defensively, against the Ukrainians of Dnipro.

Perhaps more importantly to Reilly and the rest of the Famous Five, the traditions in place at Easter Road demand that Hibs embrace the UEFA Cup with a certain swagger.

"That generation created the reputation for this football club which stands to this day," said a mindful Mowbray.

"It has transcended generations and our supporters who grew up on that brand of football expect to see it all the time because they have been spoilt in a sense by great players playing entertaining, attacking football.

"We are trying to follow that line of thought, the philosophy of playing and passing the ball. When I came to Hibs the marriage was good for both parties because I had been brought up on that kind of style. Ipswich Town have a reputation for wanting to play good, attacking football and Celtic, obviously, are in the same mould because they feel the need to get the ball down and play.

"So coming here was a good fit for me. I had always hoped to get to a club where there would be players with the technical ability to get down and play."

Not much chance in the future of Mowbray ever accepting the manager's chair at the likes of Wimbledon, then. He seems to have a need to work with the ball on the floor, as his players will attest.

"Here we had a lot of young players who myself and Mark [Venus] could put our thoughts across to and they have taken them on board," continued Mowbray.

"But the players from the past, like the Famous Five, are the ones who have led the way and set the standards that the supporters expect. The players we have are not of the quality of the guys who played in the 1950s and 1970s, but it's down to these young players to make their own piece of history now.

"If they can have a decent run in Europe then maybe people will talk in 20 years time about the team of the early 2000s. The next few weeks is down to the players."

For the moment, there is the considerable force of Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the way, a club who dispatched eight goals past FC Banants of Armenia in the UEFA Cup's second qualifying round for the right to be at Easter Road tomorrow evening.

The Ukrainians triumphed 4-2 away and 4-0 in the home leg, results which arrived on the back of their outstanding entry into the UEFA Cup last season when they not only made the group stages but topped a section that contained Real Zaragoza and Club Brugge before finally succumbing in the last 32 to Partizan Belgrade.

Their efforts in Group C detailed three wins from four games, losing only to Zaragoza in Spain. Clearly, the threat to Hibs' intentions of securing a potential 2million bounty by emulating Hearts last term and making the group stages is a noteworthy one.

Mowbray went on: "Dnipro are a very technical team so I think the night will have that sort of feel, particularly for defenders. They'll have to be clued in because this side are very comfortable on the ball. Nothing they do is hurried.

"European games are a totally different type to what you play week in, week out. A much slower game, much like a game of chess. For defenders like myself it is more a game of concentration. There are long spells when you are just guarding your man and a lot of the play is in front of you as opposed to having to deal with a lot of balls coming in and out of your box."

In returning briefly to the nostalgic theme, Easter Road is one of those grounds which in itself permits a harking back to the old days of neighbourhood stadiums, surrounded by tenement houses and thriving under floodlights on a brisk autumn's evening. Rare these days with so many sprawling, purpose-built constructions sprouting up in suburban areas.

"Evening matches in Europe have something special about them under the floodlights," enthused Mowbray. "Hopefully, we can recreate that special environment tomorrow and the supporters are up for it. Being the first game of a two-legged affair can sometimes take a bit of the edge out of the night. The second leg is usually the exciting one, particularly with the complications an away goal can have. It's great that this night has come along and I hope the fans enjoy it. Hopefully, we can have a run in Europe starting tomorrow. It will certainly stand the players in good stead because where we are now is a product of the hard work and energies they put in last season.

"I don't take anything out of it personally because as a coach I know what will happen if we lose the next couple of games."

It would be nothing like the crisis Mowbray would have experienced after two such results in his Parkhead playing days, but still a sufficient jolt to stir him in his managerial chair.

He has the tools to prevent it with the players at his disposal. The cautious footballing formations of modern football have asserted that there will never be another Famous Five, but there might just be a few famous nights to look back on under Mowbray.