Leeann Dempster today told Celtic, and other clubs who might be interested, that they have no intention of losing their manager Alan Stubbs, and that their long-term plan is not only to reach the SPL but to achieve European qualification again.
For the good of the man, and for Celtic and Hibs, he ought to pay heed to that.
Hibs are ambitious, and Stubbs isn’t a bad boss, but this idea that we’re trying to recruit him is more or less a media invention, dreamed up at The Daily Record. But a lot of people are discussing it, in particular because Hibs have done well in the cups and are still challenging for a treble.
“Why not Stubbs?” some of them ask, and I sort of see their point.
But last night, Hibs lost 3-0 at home to Morton in the kind of reversal that would have put Ronny Deila’s job under serious, serious threat if it hadn’t ended his tenure at a stroke.
I’m not saying Stubbs should be sacked, but over the last two weeks his Hibs team has dropped the ball in the title race, and this coupled with their defeat at Sevco at the start of the year shows similar weaknesses in the mental strength of his team and that which we’ve shown all too frequently over the season at Celtic Park.
Hibs have less resources than we do, but a strong mentality is something that a manager can infuse in a team.
Martin O’Neill, Gordon Strachan and Neil Lennon were great at it, which is why their teams frequently rescued impossible situations.
Alan Stubbs could well go on to be a superb boss, but at the moment there’s still nothing in his CV to suggest that he’s of the calibre Celtic requires to develop the club in the way we the supporters would ultimately like. If Ronny Deila is, as some of us contend, the wrong man then where is the evidence which supports the claim Stubbs is the right one?
It’s not there. Not yet, at least.
Leeann Dempster wants to keep him right where he is, and staying put for a couple of years isn’t the worst thing big Alan can do for his career. Yes, it may mean that if the Celtic vacancy becomes available in the summer that he might have to risk that it never comes around again; but we’re not the only job in the world, and things change.
How refreshing would it be, as Celtic fans, to see a man who genuinely loves our club to be approached and then to say, with perfect candour, “Much as I’d love this, I’m just not ready yet and Parkhead is not the place for a developing boss.”
Henrik Larsson did it, and for me that enhanced the respect in which I hold him to a brand new level.
How good would it make you feel about Stubbs if he did the same?
Hibs are also a bigger club than they appear, with a positive plan and realistic goals, the sort that are set by someone with a blueprint for achieving them. Dempster is a breath of fresh air in our sport and she’s not prone to knee jerk reactions or panic.
Hibs appear, like Hearts, to be playing the Long Game.
They are not chasing the dream on a cycle of debt.
They are proposing a share issue at the moment, but they’re not asking for that money to spend on over-priced players or day to day running costs. Like their Edinburgh rivals, who have been seared by pursuing Rangers/Sevco like strategies, Hibs see farther and more clearly than that.
I would hope that Stubbs appreciates that and hangs around to see if it bears fruit.
Because right now he, and Hibs, are right where they need to be and it would serve everyone – and Celtic included, if, indeed, he’s destined to come here one day as manager – very well indeed if he were to see Dempster’s excellent project through to the close.