Aidan Smith's Saturday Interview: Ian Murray on his "extreme disappointment" over Hibs' managerial sackings and why Roy Keane would be "box-office" and "great fun"

The last time I sat down with Ian Murray, to talk Hibernian and the enticements but also the perils of football management, he had daddy day-care duties. His son Lewis came along, but didn’t contribute to the debate. Hardly surprising, really: the lad was not yet three and some sticker-book dinosaurs were in urgent need of affixing.

Lewis is at school today but his views on the current state of the Hibees – managerless, bottom-six, feeling sorry for themselves, talking to Roy Keane who’s viewed by some as a Jurassic choice and an extremely carnivorous one – could well be interesting. His old man hears them at the tea-table most days.

“He’s absolutely fanatical about Hibs,” smiles the former Easter Road captain. Murray, 41, had two spells in Leith, was part of the Alex McLeish side and then the Tony Mowbray team, played for Rangers and in England, represented Scotland and manned dugouts in Dumbarton, Paisley and Norway before his current posting at Airdrie where he’s never been happier. But Lewis, now 11, has got him beat on football factoids.

“He’s stats-obsessed, self-taught and knows so much. And he loves writing letters to clubs all over the country: Arsenal. Manchester City, even Forest Green Rovers who he congratulated for being the first to go carbon-neutral. ‘And can I add,’ his letter went, ‘that I’ve been very impressed by your ‘Matt Attack’.’ I don’t know what that is. A formation? A strategy? … ” [The English League Two leaders’ prolific strike-force of Jamille Matt and Matty Stevens – just looked it up].

“I like that he’s polite but who even writes letters anymore?” The elder of Murray’s two boys is an unofficial super-agent for all football, recommending signings and pairing players with clubs, and his