Hibs transfer priority is staring Nick Montgomery in the face and it's closer to home than he might think - Tam McManus

Nick Montgomery should take a look in the mirror over the next few days - and he’ll see the type of player who should be his priority in the January window.

The Hibs boss won’t mind me saying this but he was a right hardy b*****d as a player. A real midfield destroyer. And someone of his own ilk would make a massive difference to this Hibs team who, I’m afraid to say, appear to be slipping towards average again. Put blunty a third place finish is gone already. Unless Hearts sell Lawrence Shankland then I don’t think anyone is catching them never mind Hibs. And it pains me to admit that.

The derby at Easter Road last week was vital and to lose that and be 11 points behind is not a good look at the midway stage. Hibs need a New Year kick because there doesn’t seem to be a lot of excitement about the team at the moment, a bit of apathy is washing over the place.

It’s been two years of mediocrity and it goes back long before Montgomery took over. The manager is rightly getting a bit of leeway from the fact Hibs have punted three managers in quick succession. He needs to get his own players in.

But the jury remains out and he needs to make sure his first transfer window is a good one. They might not have Bill Foley’s cash injection this month but they do have the million pounds from the sale of Elias Melkersen and Montgomery needs to go and add quality.

Tuesday night’s draw with Motherwell showed that the old problems are still there - primarily leaking goals. Add in the missed chances and it’s not a good combination. But one thing that could help both ends of the park for me is the addition of that midfield enforcer cut from the same cloth as the boss himself.

I played with Nick in the Scotland Futures team many moons