SPL: Hibernian; Wheel of fortune shines on Leith

JOHN LESLIE once harboured ambitions of becoming goalkeeper at Hibs, but even he must have been shocked by the way the wheel of fortune seems to be continually intervening in his favourite team's season. After six defeats in their first seven matches, Bobby Williamson's side have strung five consecutive league victories together, and only narrowly failed to extend that record with a win in the CIS Cup against Rangers in midweek.

Just quite how the equilibrium of the Edinburgh side will be affected by the trauma of Thursday evening will be evident at Pittodrie this afternoon.

Malcolm McPherson has a point to make. The club had started their recovery by the time he resigned as chairman, to be replaced by Ken Lewandowski. McPherson spends a lot of time on company business in London, but still travels to every game. He never wavered in his belief that Williamson would turn the club around. Indeed, McPherson believes his role in signing the manager may result in his legacy to the club being re-evaluated.

"I was never in any doubt about that at all," McPherson said. "Bobby has got a great track record and that alone told me he was going to be successful at Hibs. He just needed to settle in. It was sad to leave as chairman but I still think it was the right thing to do. There were aspects of the club that the board of directors had to be at one for and it wasn't the case. There was no cloud over the place as such when I went away but I think in the five years I was there we achieved quite a lot."

Matters on the field may be progressing smoothly at last, but McPherson was also heartened by news that the sale of the East Stand car park - which could generate (pounds) 10 million in revenue - may go towards the club, and not just the holding company set up by owner Sir Tom Farmer.

With the club's debt thought to be some (pounds) 12-(pounds) 14 million, it will not be for transfers. The former chairman, still a shareholder, bears no grudges. "I'll more than happily go and sit with them [the rest of the board] during the game. But I was delighted to hear that funds from the sale of the car park would be available to the football club."

Having lost Ulises de la Cruz and Ulrik Laursen already this season, other means of raising funds may present themselves to the new chairman and chief executive Rod Petrie soon enough. Garry O'Connor and stand-in captain Ian Murray have been winning admirers and the transfer window opens soon.

The final member of the Edinburgh-born triumvirate who have been the driving force behind the team's recovery, midfielder Grant Brebner, was present at another of those pivotal moments of shifting momentum, but quite how clearly he remembers it is another matter.

With Hibs leading Aberdeen 1-0 in the season's opening game at Easter Road, the former Manchester United player sustained concussion. It wasn't as horrifying as Alen Orman's mid-game seizure on Thursday, but by the time Brebner had fully recovered his senses, the home side had lost their shape and Aberdeen had taken all three points back home.

On the eve of the return fixture, Brebner can reflect it wasn't the worst thing that could happen to him, or his side. "I got it after about 25 minutes, then it took maybe another 15 minutes to fully come on," Brebner recalled. "It was a wee blackout thing, and it was just a precaution to come off. We were in the lead at the time, but it was one of those things. We were best in the first half, and Aberdeen scored two late goals, but a draw might have been a fair result that day. But that is behind us now. We are still high in confidence even after losing against Rangers.

"Sometimes when you start the season quite badly you come together as a team and say to yourself 'is this how we want to go on?'," Brebner added. "It gives you the wee kick up the backside that you need. If you look at last season, I think we had quite a good start and then it tailed off from there. We will take another look at the Rangers game, and take what we can from it, because the Aberdeen game is another big one for us. It is funny really, because in the first six games we probably played better than we have in the last five games."

The upturn in Hibs' fortunes has coincided with Brebner's most prolonged run of first-team games for some time. If it has seen him start to recapture some of the form that saw him earning Scotland under-21 caps, in the absence of John O'Neill it has also seen him playing minder to Murray, whose five goals have been one of the season's biggest plus points. "Ian gives us a different dimension in the middle of the park," Brebner said, "He's brought goals into his game and that is the biggest thing you can have as a midfielder."

Murray's star may be still rising, but Hibs' quest to be the next big thing may yet have as many twists as the saga of one of Leith's favourite sons.

Copyright 2002
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