Latest news with #SirDavidGray
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'Sad to see the back of a great season for Hibernian'
Hibs brought the curtain down on a great season with a title-winning victory at Ibrox on Sunday. The women's team lifted the title for the first time in 18 years with the win over Rangers – a fantastic Scott's team deserve huge credit for the way that they have come together as a team to defy the odds and win the was a fitting end to what's ended up a great season for Hibernian. The men's team finished third, well clear of fifth-placed Aberdeen and Dundee United in final league standings are a fair reflection of where the teams should be – Hibs' form since November has been stunning, with St Mirren finishing the season as the only top-flight side to have avoided defeat by Sir David Gray's Road was buzzing on Saturday and we were treated to an entertaining match which saw Hibs come back twice to take a share of the points against on Leith played out as the fans acknowledged the players at full-time, although not before the Under-18s had some fun celebrating their own league title win in front of the Rangers support at was controversy and a call for goalline technology (there always is when the Glasgow sides drop points to Hibs) after Rangers thought they'd replays were inconclusive, and as we found out when Celtic complained about a similar decision earlier in the season, Willie Collum has directed his referees to defer to the on-field decision in instances where there's not conclusive proof of the ball crossing the frustrations were no doubt heightened by the fact Hibs' first equaliser was scored less than 30 seconds later. Had the VAR looked back at Rangers' 'goal', there's every chance Nicolas Raskin's two-handed shove on Rocky Bushiri would have been enough to disallow it in any case.I'm sad to see the back of this season, which couldn't come quickly enough back in October/November when we looked odds on to be pulled into a relegation a huge credit to Gray and his team, to Darren McGregor and his staff looking after the youth side, and to Grant Scott and his team on the women's side that Hibernian can look forward to European football now across the club next been great fun, highlights being wins over Rangers, Celtic, Hearts, Aberdeen and Dundee United, with some huge season-defining moments that will live long in the memory. Roll on next season!Matty Fairnie can be found at Longbangers, external
BBC News
06-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Hibs fan voice: 'A great position to be in so close to end of season'
After the disappointment of seeing a fantastic unbeaten run come to an end at Pittodrie, it was essential Hibs got back to winning ways against fellow third-place hopefuls Dundee United. The last game had been dominated by the reaction to VAR's intervention to disallow a United goal after the eagle-eyed operator spotted the ball striking the arm of United's would-be scorer Sam Dalby. Hibs' performance in that 3-1 win was overshadowed by the hard luck stories, so it was great to see a repeat of the scoreline with no controversy around it at Easter Road on Saturday. Hibs were tremendous, doing to United what we had done to their neighbours last time out at Easter Road and seeing them off with the minimum of fuss. We've seen Hibs sides crumble in the past when we've conceded a goal at 2-0 up, but Sir David Gray made sure there was no chance of that when he flexed the quality of his squad with some inspired substitutions. Hibs were well worth the win that tightened their grip on third place. With Aberdeen coming back down to earth with a bump in Paisley, we have third firmly in our hands now, and while we take nothing for granted it's a great position to be in so close to the end of the season. Jack Iredale won the PFA Scotland goal of the season award on Sunday night for his wonder strike against Hearts that decided the last Edinburgh derby of the season. It was a special goal from a player who has enjoyed a great debut season at the club. With Grant Scott winning the SWPL manager of the year award for a great season with Hibs Women, it was a shame to see Gray miss out on the men's award – he's had a brilliant first campaign in charge, and it would have been fitting recognition for the work he's done. Matty Fairnie can be found at Longbangers, external
Daily Mail
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Hibs' homage to Gray was a touch of class at a club in perfect unison
Over the course of Hibs' spectacular rise from bottom feeders to Best of the Rest, for the moment at least, it has been the post-match vibe at Easter Road in the wake of big results that has attracted all the attention. Until now. Home wins over Celtic and Hearts caught the eye and tugged the heartstrings thanks to the rousing renditions of Sunshine On Leith, the players wrapping arms round each other's shoulders and looking on in wonder into the choir in the East Stand. On Saturday, though, it was different. The atmosphere was crackling before kick-off. The crowd was large and expectant and in situ relatively early — by Scottish standards, anyway, where downing the last of your pint at 2.59pm and hotfooting it to the turnstiles is seen as the epitome of good timekeeping. The pre-match tifo display behind the goal — celebrating 'Sir David Gray. Our Leader. Our Legend' — was just terrific. Cap doffed to the organisers. Easter Road had been in the process of establishing itself as something of a fortress anyway. That's the old Cabbage and Ribs on an eight-game winning streak at home. Seven of those have been in the league and that's the best run since 2018. If this kind of atmosphere can be built upon longer-term, though, it really will become a venue any other club will dread visiting. There is a real symbiosis developing between fans and players there at the moment. Gray referred to it in his post-match analysis, that the remarkable run that has propelled Hibs to third spot, three points clear of Aberdeen with just three games left to play, has been fuelled by the sense of everyone pulling together. Listen, the destination of the points in this game was never in doubt. Two goals in the first 14 minutes from home captain Martin Boyle and striker Mykola Kuharevich — gifted, it has to be said, by some absolutely scandalous defending from Dundee United — saw to that. Yet, the hosts did go through something of a sticky spell early in the second 45 with visiting substitute Kristijan Trapanovski putting the ball in the net. What was noticeable, though, was that the home supporters stayed behind their team. Never wavered. Kept pushing them on. That's not always been the case and a late effort from substitute Dwight Gayle made the scoreline more reflective of the 90 minutes. When asked about the tifo display in his honour, Gray was typically self-deprecating. He quickly turned the focus onto the players deserving credit for getting the fanbase behind them and then thanked the punters for their role in the club's ever-improving fortunes. While he may be uneasy with the praise, the 37-year-old deserves every bit of it. Brendan Rodgers is on the brink of a Treble at Celtic while John McGlynn has won back-to-back promotions with Falkirk, but Gray deserves to be up there with them on the shortlists for the Manager of the Year awards. There could be no argument if any of the three came out on top. Gray won't be winning any silverware, but to finish third and secure European football would be a fantastic feat given where Hibs were just over five months ago. Thanks to a 4-1 hosing at Dundee, they were rock bottom of the league after 13 games. Gray looked a dead man walking. He'd been given the job amid reports of friction and disagreement between owner Ian Gordon and Bill Foley's Black Knight investment group. It's in such circumstances that you see the measure of a person, though, and Gray comported himself splendidly throughout that period. He never hid from the team's shortcomings, took everything on the chin, was honest about his own position and belied his own inexperience as a manager by leading the club through the storm. It was impressive and deserves great credit. Not to mention impressive tifo displays. Of course, European football next season remains a target for United as well, despite this hurtful reverse. Hibs were by far the better team on Saturday, but the visitors shot themselves in the foot with some awful errors at the back. There remains a very good chance the top five in the Premiership will be in UEFA competition next term, though, and the Tangerines are five points clear of St Mirren in fifth — not to mention just three behind Aberdeen. They just have to clear this game out of the pipes tout de suite and focus on the fact there's still everything to play for. Goodwin may not have been mentioned for any Manager of the Year gongs, but his work cannot be underplayed. This is the Tannadice club's first season back in the Premiership and they are still competing for third. As he pointed out, they have a relatively small squad and players playing through injuries. They have done terrifically well — and so has Goodwin. United's decision to take him on two years ago was met with surprise, given his disastrous spell as manager of Aberdeen, which ended with a Scottish Cup loss to Darvel and a six-goal hammering at Easter Road. In truth, that period could have finished him, but he has shown real self-belief and backed that up with an impressive body of work on Tayside. Gray's story of redemption has been one of the major plotlines of this season, but Goodwin's is equally worthy of respect and admiration. And if his players do secure a return to European football, maybe even a tifo of his own, United fans.
