Hibs must use Bill Foley £6m cash injection to become third force and 4 point transfer plan is essential – Tam McManus

Hibs fans could not have been handed a better or more exciting Christmas present than Bill Foley has offered them.

The Bournemouth owner’s desire to bring my former club into his stable by taking a 25 percent stake in return for £6m can be an absolute game-changer for major shareholders Ian and Kit Gordon and chief executive Ben Kensell. If the SFA approve the move - and I think they will as there will be guarantees that Foley will have absolutely no say in the running of Hibs - that’s exactly the kind of funding the club has needed in a bid to establish itself as third force in the country.

If manager Nick Montgomery gets his hands on the majority of the cash as a transfer kitty, he can attract better players than some he has at the moment by offering them the kind of deals that Hibs previously couldn’t afford. Some of the money has been earmarked for improving the training ground at Tranent, which is already a good facility. But plans to build a full-sized indoor pitch will also help with recruitment because top players want top standards at Easter Road and where they do the bulk of their work away from the standard.

Long term, the academy kids will also benefit from a big upgrade in facilities and if that helps bring more of them through, a fortune will be saved in the transfer market. But in the here and now, that’s exactly where Montgomery will be going. I just hope this deal can be finalised in time for him to jump through the transfer window and find what he needs to make a real go of finishing third.

For me, he needs to find a goalkeeper who will put real pressure on David Marshall. Don’t get me wrong, big Marsh has been playing well in recent weeks but isn’t getting any younger and I’ve seen nothing to suggest