Shaun Maloney wants Hibernian’s former players to play a part in bringing success to the club.
The recently-installed boss believes it is crucial that the Hibees tap into the passion and knowledge of those who have worn the green and white shirt with distinction in the past.
In an effort to “embrace the club’s history”, he has been inviting ex-Easter Road favourites to the training ground, with Paul Kane – who made almost 300 appearances for Hibs in the 1980s – and 13-year club veteran Pat Stanton both present on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s Edinburgh derby at home to Hearts.
“We’ve had some ex-players in today – I try and have as many as I can at the training ground,” he explained. “We had Paul Kane and Pat Stanton today and they’ve got a lot of experience of the fixture, so it was really good hearing their stories.
“The history of the club is something I really want to embrace. I want as many of the ex-players that can give us their experiences as possible, not just for this game.
“They’re always welcome and I hope to have as many of them at the training ground and watching our games as possible. I want to involve them more. I invited Pat to one of my first days of training and I got speaking to him about the ex-players and their connection with the club, and how it had maybe been lost a little bit in the last few years. I want to change that.
“The history of the club and the history of the players has to be embraced and celebrated and we have to show our players exactly what levels can be achieved here so the more ex-players we have, hopefully they’ll feel more welcome at training and matches.
“It’s been amazing for me to listen to someone like Pat about all his experiences and the different managers he’s had at the club I now work for, I could have stayed all afternoon listening to him. These ex-players have done great things for the club so they’ll always be welcome.”
Maloney is delighted to have a modern-day Hibs favourite on his coaching staff, with 33-year-old David Gray – who scored the winning goal in the 2016 Scottish Cup final – already in place as a coach when he took the reins in December.
“David’s been excellent,” said Maloney. “Coming in, I didn’t know him but I was really keen to work with him because of the history and connection he has with the club. Having him has been a really big bonus for me as a manager.
“He’s been excellent on the training pitch and he’s been a really good person to have off the pitch as a sounding board in terms of different things about the club, such as games like the derby. He’s been vital.”
