Hibernian

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Hibs' sporting director Malky Mackay presented new head coach David Gray to the media in a news conference on Thursday afternoon.

Here are the key points:

• Gray says it's a "proud moment" to be the club's permanent head coach and he wants to bring "good times" back to Easter Road.

• Admits it wouldn't have been "right" for him to take on the role previously but he feels he has learned enough from his predecessors to make his mark in the top job.

• Gray says he doesn't fear tarnishing his legacy at the club, adding there is separation between him as a footballer and a head coach.

• The 36-year-old "fully understands" the expectations of Hibs supporters and insists their fortunes must improve compared to recent seasons.

• Believes winning a trophy is a "realistic target" and says the fans "crave" and "demand" success at Easter Road.

• Expects incomings and outgoings to take place in the next few weeks.

• Mackay confirms there were 50 "credible candidates" who applied for the role, saying Gray's final interview was two-and-a-half hours long but the sporting director knew with 15 minutes to go that Gray had "nailed it".

• Asked about the reaction to his appointment, Mackay insists he wants the best for the club, just as the supporters do.

• On rumours around Martin Boyle's potential departure, both Gray and Mackay praise the Australia international, with the head coach calling him a "big asset" to the side.

Now the fixtures are out, how are you feeling about your side's start to the season?

Where do you think Hibs will be after the first 10 games of the campaign? Can David Gray make a positive start to life in the dugout on a permanent basis?

Give us your thoughts. , external

For many Hibs fans on fixture release day, attention immediately turns to the dates of this season's Edinburgh derbies.

The first meeting of the capital rivals will take place at Easter Road on the weekend of Saturday, 26 August, while Tynecastle will be the venue for a Boxing Day clash at 12:30 BST.

New head coach David Gray's men host Hearts in Leith before the split on the weekend of Saturday, 1 March.

After their opening-day trip to St Mirren, Hibs' first home game of the campaign sees champions Celtic make the trip to Easter Road on Sunday, 11 August.

Their first fixture against a side that finished outside the top six last season comes on matchday five when St Johnstone are the visitors.

Hibs complete their pre-split fixtures in April with a trip to face Rangers followed by a home game against Dundee.

Hibernian are keen on Marvin Ekpiteta, the 28-year-old defender who has left Blackpool. (Daily Record), external

Read Thursday's Scottish Gossip in full here.

Fixtures for the 2024-25 Scottish Premiership season have been released.

The campaign will kick off with Hearts hosting Rangers at Tynecastle, a repeat of the sides' final league game of last season which ended in a 3-3 draw.

Newly-promoted Dundee United entertain derby rivals Dundee, while Celtic begin their title defence with the visit of Kilmarnock.

Jimmy Thelin's first Premiership game as Aberdeen boss is a trip to Perth to face St Johnstone.

David Gray starts his reign as permanent Hibs head coach away to St Mirren, while Motherwell are to home to Ross County.

The opening round of fixtures will be played from 3-5 August.

Hibs begin their 2024/25 Scottish Premiership season with a trip to St Mirren on the opening weekend.

Due to the Paisley side's involvement in Europe, the match will take place on Sunday, 4 August at 15:00 BST.

You can find all of Hibs' fixtures here

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Hibs have signed Warren O'Hora on a three-year deal, with the defender becoming the first permanent signing under sporting director Malky Mackay and head coach David Gray.

The 25-year-old started his career with Bohemians before signing for Premier League side Brighton.

From there, he moved to MK Dons where he made 177 appearances before his contract expired earlier this summer.

"I’m delighted that we’ve been able to bring Warren to the club," Gray said.

"As a defender, he’s a brave, aggressive organiser, with great leadership qualities. He’s very comfortable on the ball and confident playing out from the back. We look forward to working with him."

Mackay added: "When I came to the club, it was clear that we needed to strengthen at centre-half and introduce more leaders into the first team group."

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The 2024-25 SPFL schedule will be unveiled at 09:00 BST on Thursday, and we've got all the information you need before the return of domestic football.

The action in all four leagues kicks off on the weekend of 3 August.

Eight months later, the Premiership split happens on the weekend of 12 and 13 April and the top-flight season concludes on the weekend of 17 and 18 May.

And while it might be too painful to be thinking about the national team, there are international periods in September, October, November and March to bear in mind.

There will not, however, be a winter break this season.

The expansion of Uefa's club competitions - with the new league phase of the Champions League and Europa League running until the end of January - is the reason for that.

The SPFL said the format change "exerts additional pressure on the domestic calendar" and means no mid-season trips to the sunshine for Premiership clubs.

Jojo Wollacott could be on his way out of Hibernian following the arrival of Josef Bursik as the 27-year-old seeks more game time. The Edinburgh club have been made aware of interest in the Ghana player. (Edinburgh Evening News)

Read the rest of Wednesday's gossip.

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Former Hibernian boss Nick Montgomery has joined Tottenham as part of Ange Postecoglou's coaching staff.

Montgomery will be one of the ex-Celtic manager's assistant coaches, as will Sergio Raimundo, who worked alongside Montgomery at Hibs before their departures in May.

"Both Nick and Sergio have a wealth of coaching experience over a number of years," said Postecoglou.

"They have already demonstrated a strong desire to both develop young talent and implement a football style that I believe will further strengthen the environment we have established. I'm looking forward to working with them."

Meanwhile, Matt Wells has been promoted to senior assistant coach, replacing Chris Davies.

Davies, who was Celtic assistant during Brendan Rodgers' first spell in charge, was recently appointed manager of League One Birmingham City.

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Winger Daniel MacKay has left Hibernian to join Partick Thistle on a free transfer.

The 23-year-old joined Hibs from Inverness Caledonian Thistle in 2021 but only made seven appearances.

He spent most of his time out out on loan, most recently with relegated Livingston after stints back at his former club and Kilmarnock.

Meanwhile, 19-year-old midfielder Murray Aiken has also departed for the Championship, rejoining Airdrieonians on a six-month loan.

Aiken made 18 appearances last season for the Diamonds, who also have goalkeeper Murray Johnson on loan from Hibs for the new campaign.

Hibs sporting director Malky Mackay said: "Murray [Aiken] impressed during his first loan spell last season and this is a good chance for him to build on that."

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Newly-signed Hibs goalkeeper Josek Bursik was "adamant I wanted to come" as soon as he heard of the club's interest.

The former England Under-21 international has joined on a season-long loan from Club Bruges where he has been unable to make the breakthrough since joining 18 months ago.

Bursik recovered from torn knee ligaments to make five appearances for the club's B team in Belgium's second tier last season.

The Wimbledon youth academy graduate previously played 53 games for Stoke City and had loan spells at clubs including Peterborough and Doncaster.

Bursik, 23, told Hibs TV: "I’m really happy to be here. It took a couple of weeks to get it done, but as soon as I heard of the interest, I was adamant I wanted to come.

"I played a lot of games at a young age and really pushed to go out on loan because I knew how important minutes were at that age. Ultimately that helped me get my chance with England and then at Stoke.

"It was a tough decision to leave Stoke, but I went to Belgium and didn’t really feature as much as I’d have liked. I played a load of games for the second team after recovering from my injury, so playing wise I’m in a good place and mentally I’ve learnt a lot.

"Now is a good time for me to come in, kick on, get back playing and enjoying myself; I have missed playing a lot."

Hibs say Bursik rebuffed interest from "several clubs" to become the first signing of new head coach David Gray's tenure.

Bursik added: "I spoke to [sporting director] Malky [Mackay] quite a bit over the last few weeks and he really sold the club to me.

"We spoke about the size of the club, the big games that the club are involved in, and that we want to do better than we did last season; it’s something I wanted to be a part of."

Hibernian are considering signing 25-year-old Irish defender Warren O’Hora, who was released by MK Dons after their 8-1 aggregate defeat by Crawley Town in the League Two play-offs. (Edinburgh Evening News - subscription), external

Read Tuesday's Scottish Gossip in full here.

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Hibs have signed goalkeeper Josef Bursik on loan from Club Bruges until the end of next season.

The 23-year-old made 53 appearances for Stoke City in all competitions before moving to the Belgian side in January 2023.

"I'm delighted we’ve been able to bring Josef to the club," head coach David Gray said.

"He’s someone we’ve been monitoring for a long time due to his technical ability, pedigree, and the positive character references we’ve received.

"My coaching staff and I are looking forward to working with him."

League One club Stevenage are hoping to sign 27-year-old Hibernian goalkeeper Jojo Wollacott on loan. (Alan Nixon), external

Nick Montgomery has rejected the advances of Melbourne Victory as they search for a new team boss, telling the A-League club he wishes to remain in the UK for the foreseeable future, and it is believed that the former Hibernian head coach has already agreed terms with a new club, possibly in the Premier League, in an assistant coaching role amid rival interest from the Championship. (FTBL), external

Brian McDermott, who this month left his role as Hibernian director of football, says it was not easy for him in Edinburgh being apart from his family but is still hungry to continue working in football. (Reading Chronicle), external

Read Monday's Scottish Gossip in full here.

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Defender Clark Robertson, who has joined Dundee from Israeli side MS Ashdod, was not a Hibernian target despite new manager David Gray and sporting director Malky Mackay targeting two new centre-backs. (Edinburgh Evening News), external

Read the rest of today's Scottish football gossip here.

Hibernian are lining up a loan move for Club Brugge goalkeeper Josef Bursik, who moved to Belgium from Stoke City in January. (Alan Nixon, external, subscription required)

Read the rest of Friday's Scottish gossip.

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Paul Hanlon has joined fellow Hibernian legend Lewis Stevenson by sealing a move to Raith Rovers.

The 34-year-old, who has signed a three-year deal with the second-tier side, left Easter Road at the end of last season after making more than 500 appearances for the club.

Left-back Stevenson, who also left Hibs at the end of last term, made the switch to Kirkcaldy in May.

Rovers boss Ian Murray, who played with Hanlon at Hibs, said the centre-back is "an excellent signing" and "brings us real quality in defence".

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Hibs have launched their new home kit, external for the upcoming season - and there's one big difference.

The shorts have switched from white to green for the first time in 16 years.

The shirt sticks with tradition, retaining the "classic, clean design" of emerald green body and white sleeves.

A bespoke collar and thin white stripes around the sleeves contribute to a "subtle, vintage feel". Both the shorts and socks come with white trim.

Will Hibs look the part when they kick off David Gray's tenure next month?

Hibernian and Dundee are interested in former Aberdeen central defender Clark Robertson, while the 30-year-old free agent has been offered a new deal to stay on at Israeli club Ashdod. (Daily Record), external

Read the rest of Thursday's Scottish gossip

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Hibs defender Kyle McClelland has gone out on loan again, this time to Northern Irish top-flight side Coleraine.

McClelland, 22, spent last season with Queen of the South and has also had a spell with Cove Rangers since joining Hibs two years ago following his Rangers exit.

The Northern Irishman will spend next season working with former Hibs forward Dean Shiels, who is Coleraine manager.

Hibs sporting director Malky Mackay said: "Moving to Northern Ireland and competing in a new league will give Kyle different tests and will provide him with a good platform to work on his game. We look forward to seeing how he progresses."

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Hibs will travel to the Netherlands in early July as they continue their preparations for next season.

David Gray's side will play two friendlies during the eight-day training camp. They will face German side MSV Duisburg on 3 July, before taking on Greek champions PAOK on 6 July.

Hibs kick off the new season with a League Cup group stage match against Elgin City on 13 July.

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New Hibs head coach David Gray has confirmed his backroom team for the upcoming season.

Ex-Hibs defender Eddie May, who has been working at the club since 2014 in various roles, will assist Gray along with former captain Liam Craig.

Craig, 37, joins from Queen's Park, where he was assistant to Callum Davidson after being number two at St Johnstone.

Craig Samson returns to Easter Road as goalkeeper coach. Samson, who worked under Jack Ross at Easter Road, moves from fellow Premiership side Aberdeen.

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John McGinn has paid an emotional tribute to former Hibernian kitman and groundsman Tam McCourt, who died recently.

Scotland midfielder McGinn played at Easter Road from 2015 to 2018 and says McCourt was "the first person I saw when I walked through the door at Hibs".

The Aston Villa captain says McCourt's "full of life" character "touched" any player who worked with him.

"Him, his wife Joyce and his son Thomas, they lived and breathed the club," he told BBC Scotland.

"I know he wasn’t involved [at the club] for a while which is maybe part of the reason Hibs has lost its identity a wee bit.

"He was an amazing guy, unless you wanted a pair of socks or a fresh towel. He always gave me the crusty ones because I was winding him up.

"I can’t get Thomas and Joyce out of my head and on behalf of us Hibbies, me and Porto [Ryan Porteous], we’re thinking of you."