Former Hibernian manager Lee Johnson was sacked by the board last week following the club's disastrous start to the 2023/24 campaign.
The tone was perhaps set when the club lost their opening European tie against Andorran minnows Inter d'Escaldes 2-1 and despite winning the return leg while also defeating Luzern to set up a match against Aston Villa, Johnson has paid the price for their poor domestic form.
The Easter Road side have lost all three of their Premiership clashes so far while currently occupying bottom of the table and change is clearly needed if they are to reach the top four – which will secure European football next term.
Hibs will need to take a gamble with their next choice of boss and while there are several candidates looking like they will throw their hat in the ring, a rather surprising name has been touted of late…
Who will be the next Hibs manager?
According to The Daily Record, Central Coast Mariners manager Nick Montgomery is being eyed up for the managerial role, and it isn’t the first time he has been approached by a Scottish club.
The belief is that Motherwell had previously tried to convince him to move to the Premiership but nothing materialised.
Journalist Sacha Pisani lauded him when discussing names who could replace Ange Postecoglou at Celtic in June, saying:
“There’s also Nick Montgomery. Former Sheffield Utd midfielder just won A-Leagues on smallest budget, playing exciting football with youngsters.”
With Hibs hardly working with a budget compared to the likes of Rangers or Celtic, could the role be ideally suited to the 41-year-old?
Could Nick Montgomery take the Hibs role?
During his 15-month tenure at Hibs, Johnson won just 20 matches from 54 while winning just 1.31 points per game, hardly the statistics of a progressive coach who looked to improve the club.
Montgomery in comparison, operated under a small budget while still claiming glory, leading the Central Coast Mariners to the A-League title after stepping up from his assistant manager role in 2021.
The former Sheffield United midfielder has impressed during his relatively short stint in charge of the Australian side, winning 50% of his matches while losing just 19 and averaging 1.68 points per game, which is an upgrade on Johnson.
One of the most important things that the board will take into consideration is the type of football the new manager will play.
Montgomery tends to deploy a 4-4-2, which could suit the current Hibs players well and across his 60 matches in charge of the Mariners, his team have scored 139 goals while conceding 94 and although work needs to be done defensively, they obviously outscore their opponents on a regular basis.
The Edinburgh club need to take a risk in order to become the third force in Scotland, and they have finished third in the league only twice since the 2003/04 campaign.
Montgomery has shown he can lead his team to glory despite being overshadowed by bigger teams and this clearly demonstrates that he is potentially the perfect choice to take over Hibs in the coming weeks.