Club captain Joe Newell has paid tribute to David Gray after the head coach’s sacking, calling him ‘not just a living legend’ and insisting his time in charge of Hibernian was a ‘massive success.’
Gray’s 12-year stay at Easter Road ended on Wednesday, with Hibs on a run of three successive Scottish Premiership defeats and ninth in the table after six games. Newell, a 33-year-old midfielder who signed for the club in 2019 and was made captain when Gray took charge, said the departure had been difficult to absorb.
‘It’s been a tough week for everyone,’ Newell said. ‘There’s an element of blame for all of us. He always took responsibility, always protected his players, which I thought was noble and kind of summed him up as a man.’
‘Football moves on quickly, but I think it’s important everyone at the club remembers him for what he’s done – and I’m sure they will. He’s not just a living legend. He’ll go down in history.’
Gray’s place in Hibernian history was secured long before his coaching career. He captained the club to Scottish Cup glory in 2016, scoring a stoppage-time winner against Rangers in the final at Hampden. As a rookie head coach, he then led the Edinburgh side to third and fifth-place finishes.
‘His time in charge of the club was a massive success,’ Newell said. ‘The more time goes on, the more people will appreciate that. From the place we were in to where we went under Dave is something he should be proud of. We’ve had some amazing memories over the last couple of years and some really good achievements.’
Newell believes Gray’s replacement has plenty of time to deliver success this season. Hibs face Aberdeen on Saturday hoping to avoid what would be a club record of seven successive home league defeats, and the captain said the immediate focus is on producing a response.
‘The main thing is the reaction, to try and get back on winning terms with a performance the fans can get behind,’ he said.
Hibs will meet city rivals Heart of Midlothian in the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals on 1 November, and Newell is confident the campaign can still be fruitful.
‘All we can do as players is buy into whoever is in charge,’ he added. ‘There’s no crisis in terms of saving the season. It’s still early on. We are in a position where we can turn it round quickly.
‘I’ve said it a few times on record that this squad, and especially over the last 12 months, is the best squad I’ve been involved in, so I’m massively confident that we can still achieve what we’ve set out to achieve.’