Hibernian appoint Pat Fenlon as new manager

Pat Fenlon is the new manager of Hibernian, having signed a two-and-a-half year contract at Easter Road.

The 42-year-old arrives from Bohemians and succeeds Colin Calderwood, who was sacked earlier this month and has since joined Birmingham.

Fenlon has won five League of Ireland titles and three cup competitions during a nine-year managerial career in his homeland.

"I'm really excited by the prospect," Fenlon told the club website.

"Hibernian are a club with a rich history and proud traditions."

The Edinburgh outfit finished a disappointing 10th in the Scottish Premier League last season and currently sit ninth in the table with 14 points from 15 games.

"In order to move Hibernian forward there will need to be a lot of hard work and a clear change in mindset shown collectively by the team," added Fenlon.

"There are a lot of quality players on Hibernian's playing staff and it is now my job to make sure they function as a team.

"The primary goal is to provide winning football to the Hibernian supporters, who have gone through some hard times recently."

Fenlon, who was in charge of Bohemians since late 2007 and was close to becoming Dundee United manager in January 2010.

However, compensation could not be agreed between the clubs.

There was a similar obstacle when Kilmarnock expressed an interest in Fenlon that summer and he was quoted in December as being interested in becoming Motherwell manager, the position eventually going to Stuart McCall.

Apart from his spell as a youth player with Chelsea, Dublin-born Fenlon has spent his career in Ireland.

He played for St Patrick's Athletic, Bohemians, Linfield, Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne, where he first turned to management in 2002 before spells with Derry City and Republic of Ireland Under-23s and then returning to the Gypsies.

Having won three championships in his five seasons at Shelbourne, Fenlon led Bohemians to the League of Ireland and FAI Cup double in his first full term and retained the title the following year.

However, Bohemians finished the most recent campaign in fifth place as Shamrock Rovers won the title for a second year running.

"Put simply, Pat Fenlon is a winner," said Easter Road chairman Rod Petrie.

"He has a record of winning championships and cups at different clubs and his teams have competed regularly in Europe.

"This pedigree is matched by the ambition Hibernian has for sporting success."

Billy Brown, who was brought in to assist Calderwood in mid-September, was in charge for last weekend's 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock and was interviewed for the manager's post.

The 60-year-old former Hearts assistant manager will again oversee team selection for Saturday's visit to St Johnstone.

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