Tony Mowbray would be Hibs perfect match after his first words set out stall last time - Tam McManus

Tony Mowbray would tick a lot of boxes for supporters if he were to be the chosen one for next Hibs manager.

He was the man who got rid of me from Easter Road - there’s another box ticked for many fans - but I would never hold a grudge as he was brilliant for the club in his two years in charge.

When Tony came into the club he was fortunate that he inherited the golden generation of players.

But in his first management job he led the club to third and fourth place finishes and that remained their best finish until last season.

His time as manager of Blackburn Rovers is set to end next week and if Hibs had any chance of luring him back to Leith they should grab it.

I will never forget Tony’s first words when he was introduced to us back in the summer of 2004. His appointment took us all by surprise.

We had a young squad and he came into the dressing room and said straight off: “I want to manage in the English Premier League”.

We were all thinking, ‘ooft he’s got a ticket for himself’.

But that showed the ambition he had and he told us if we weren’t the same, if there was anyone who didn’t have that drive or ambition to play at the very top then there was no point being there.

A lot of that team did just that, Broonie, Fletcher, Riordan, Steven Whittaker to name a few.

He set his stall out straight away and, no disrespect to Hibs, knew that if the players did well for Hibs then it would help everyone achieve their bigger objectives. It would also help the club be successful.

Not that I got a big move out of it!

He was straight with me when he took over. I had just signed a new five-year deal under Franck Sauzee and was probably the top paid player at the club.

Tony came in and said straight away ‘we can’t play you’. I’d