Ben Kensell will be judged on Hibs performances on the park and they've been a disaster – Tam McManus
Ben Kensell liked to mingle with the Hibs fans on Euro trips last season but I don’t think you’ll find many too disappointed he’s now jetted out of Edinburgh for good.
The news the chief executive had left the club last week hasn’t really split opinion with the punters - and that says it all. His record off the park during his three-and-a-half years may have been decent. But on it? It’s been a disaster.
Listen, Kensell is right to point to the successes. The hospitality suites at Easter Road are now the best in Scotland, the training ground is fantastic, turnover has grown and there’s been commercial success. He is also credited in getting the link-up with the Black Knights group over the line which has been a massive boost. But supporters will always judge chief executives on success on the park. And it’s been nowhere close to good enough.
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The last two or three seasons have been dreadful. Jack Ross, Shaun Maloney, Lee Johnson, Nick Montgomery all fired on his watch and probably the money that they've brought in commercially has just gone back out to pay managers off.
I know Kensell wasn't happy when I said his head was on the block earlier this season if he sacked another manager with David Gray under pressure. He basically said it wasn't him that was picking the managers. But at the end of the day, as chief executive, he's got to have some say on who's coming in and who's going out.
The fans made their feelings clear with the level of vitriol spilling round Easter Road during the defeat to St Mirren back in November. They wanted him out the door. Ironically the next home game after that saw high-flying Aberdeen visit and Rocky Bushiri’s last gasp equaliser completely turned both teams’ fortunes in the most remarkable sliding doors moment.
Now it’s Aberdeen and Jimmy Thelin that are in the firing line ahead of the Dons returning to Leith this weekend. More on that in a minute.
But Hibs now have a job to find the right person to replace Kensell. The fans appear to want the Black Knights to have more say in the club. They're excited because they see the success of Bournemouth. They've already brought in Garvan Stewart as head of recruitment from Bournemouth and they'll be looking for someone to come in and take the club forward from the very top.
Hibs need someone with experience of running a big football club, someone who's got a track record of going in and doing well at clubs. Maybe that's someone from the Black Knights, or maybe someone who's involved in the Scottish game at the minute, but certainly someone with experience of day-to-day running a club and who can work closely with the manager.
Back in my day we had Rod Petrie in that kind of role as general manager. I liked Rod. You would only come into contact with him when negotiating contracts or if you were in trouble, in my case! I used to go up and see him fairly regularly, for misdemeanours off the park or stuff that I'd said in the press.
He had a dry sense of humour, but when it came to negotiating.. it was like getting blood out a stone! But he and the board ran the club well, made some serious money off the back of selling the likes of Scott Brown, Kevin Thomson, Garry O’Connor and Steven Whittaker. Hibs were reasonably successful at the time too, we got into the cup finals, finished third twice under Alex McLeish and Tony Mowbray. When I left they won the League Cup in 2007.
As long as a team is successful on the park the board and the chief executive get an easy ride, but if it's not going well and you start sacking managers, ultimately they're going to start looking at who's hiring and firing.
Back to the here and now though and what a chance to close the gap on Aberdeen to two points on Saturday. This frazzles my brain but when the Dons scored to make it 3-2 in the 95th minute of that last meeting in Leith just nine weeks ago the live table showed them 26 points ahead of Hibs
Bushiri’s leveller kept that at 23 points but Hibs were still bottom and Aberdeen second. Fast forward eight weeks and 10 games and the gap is now five points. No Hibs fan on the planet would have believed that. It's insane.
There always seems to be a manager’s head on the block in this fixture. Jim Goodwin was bulleted two years ago after the infamous El Sackio. Nick Montgomery suffered the same after a 4-0 defeat last May.
Some reckon Gray would have been a goner had Bushiri not netted that dramatic late equaliser in November. I’m not suggesting Jimmy Thelin will be for the chop if Hibs dump the Dons.
But if he’d started the season the way the last two months have gone then he'd probably be out a job. What a great opportunity Saturday is for Hibs to close the gap on a team that is absolutely devoid of any confidence and look in real trouble.
