Hibs next manager timeline revealed as transfer process and Ian Gordon's role in it explained

Hibs expect to be holding final interviews with their preferred managerial targets this time next week, as they look to bounce back from a season dogged by coaching upheaval and missed aspirations.

Chief executive Ben Kensell and head of recruitment Ian Gordon have spent the past 10 days dealing with expressions of interest and gauging the response of possible targets, before stepping up the selection process.

Owner Ron Gordon will fly in this weekend and a list of around 10 candidates will be discussed and distilled down to a shortlist of three or four at a board meeting scheduled for Monday.

Roy Keane had been one of the primary names linked with the Easter Road vacancy but he will not be considered according to club insiders, who say the Irishman’s representatives reached out after Shaun Maloney was sacked after just four months at the helm but insist there had been no follow-up.

It had been suggested that the former Manchester United midfielder had withdrawn his interest after learning about the club’s ‘transfer committee’, which he was led to believe that recruitment was decided on a committee vote rather than the manager having the final say.

A common misconception, with a growing number of fans expressing concern about the influence of the chairman’s son on footballing matters, after they were left unimpressed by several of the club’s recent transfer dealings.

Gordon jnr was controversially given the head of recruitment role in October after former sporting director Graeme Mathie left Easter Road. Many questioned his credentials but it has apparently frustrated Hibs that his role in deciding personnel has been vastly exaggerated.

Rather than having a major vote as part of a committee, the process is collaborative.