Hibs owner Ron Gordon insists sacked boss Shaun Maloney had ‘plenty of time’

Hibernian owner Ron Gordon claimed he believes in continuity despite insisting that four months was ample time for Shaun Maloney to prove himself as manager.

The former Celtic midfielder left his role as Belgium assistant boss after being head-hunted by Hibs in December but was sacked on Tuesday after a double defeat by Hearts ended hopes of silverware and European football.

Gordon argued the first team were heading in the wrong direction under Maloney after being consigned to a bottom-six finish after winning only once in the cinch Premiership in 2022.

Hibs will now look for a more experienced replacement to take charge ahead of next season.

In an online media conference, Gordon said: “We have been concerned about performances over the past couple of months.

“We have had lots of conversations with people at the club, including board members, and we had a special board meeting on Monday. We came to the conclusion, fairly decisively, that we needed to make a change.

“It was a collective decision. We have a lot of people on the board who are experienced and have been around the game a long time.

“When you look at the results, it’s just really not acceptable for a club like Hibs.

“I have absolutely no doubt that we gave him enough time for us to see the kind of performance. The 19 games he managed, we saw some good, some not so good. I think we gave him plenty of time.

“There was risk and I expected bumps but I didn’t quite expect the slide. We are not headed in the right direction.

“We considered the possibility of giving him more time and I think there was a very insightful perception from one of the board members, if you could see the team progressing week to week, or individual players were getting better under his