Hibs & Foley relations 'in good place' - Gordon

Malky Mackay (centre) is now in charge of recruitment under owner Ian Gordon (right)

Executive director Ian Gordon insists Hibernian's relationship with Black Knight Group has not been damaged by claims that the club did not listen to the investor when appointing head coach David Gray and sporting director Malky Mackay.

Billionaire Bournemouth owner Bill Foley's consortium became a minority shareholder in the Scottish Premiership club - pledging £6m - earlier this year.

But he told BBC Scotland in July that Hibs' owners were more likely to listen to his output only after their Premier Sports Cup defeat by Kelty Hearts.

Now owner Gordon, in a Sky Sports interview in which he admitted his own previous appointment as head of recruitment was a mistake, said: "There have been discussions since then and the relationship is in a good place.

"I think it's been well reported that, on the hiring of our manager and sporting director, Black Knight was very involved in that process throughout.

"It was a very thorough process. But, when it came down to it, the family and the board felt it was in the best interests to make the appointments that we did."

Gordon, who took control after the death of his father in 2023, explained that they initially tried "a different way of recruitment".

"I think we got that wrong," the 34-year-old said. "And now, through those lessons, it's got us to a point where having someone like Malky, with his Scottish experience, and someone with David, who knows the club inside and out and his Scottish experience, was the direction we needed to get back to.

"I think we wanted to try to shift the direction in terms of the recruitment, the type of players. But I think, as the years have gone on and the more you learn about Scottish football, it's very unique.

"So we need to have a Scottish experience core that then can be filled in with certain types of players."

Foley's multi-club network also includes Lorient and Auckland, but further questions were raised when Hibs did not sign any players from within the Black Knight Group this summer.

"We looked at the network and there was players lined up from the network, but injuries happened and these sort of things come up," Gordon said.

"It was kind of out of our power a bit. We would love to bring in players from the network, but it just didn't work out that way this summer."

Gordon admitted that the sacking of Jack Ross as team boss in December 2021 "was a bit of a knee-jerk reaction and lessons have been learned since then".

He also conceded that the current Hibs squad "is far too bloated" - a situation that should be rectified with so many players out of contract next summer - and that sacking five managers in as many years during the family's tenure contributed to that.

Hibs announced a £3.9m loss up to June 2023 and Gordon admitted that the current cost base is not sustainable but added: "We're committed to that overspend.

"We do feel, going into next year, in years to come, that the club can be in a great position to be very sustainable."