In a battle between two former captain’s turned head coaches, it was David Gray’s Hibernian who got the better of Barry Ferguson’s Rangers during a 2-0 away win at Ibrox on Saturday afternoon.
Now, former Rangers forward Gordon Dalziel felt that January’s 3-3 draw at Easter Road was the result which announced the Hibs boss as a manager of proven Premiership quality.
But if that six-goal thriller proved that Gray could inspire a Hibernian side to raise their game against one of the division’s Old Firm giants, the manner in which his brilliantly-organised side ended a seven-year wait for a win on Ibrox soil a few months later was perhaps the biggest feather yet to fall into his cap.
As Barry Ferguson was left ‘absolutely raging’, – the red mist descending from a man who has never been afraid to wear his beating, bloody heart on his blue-coloured sleeve, – Gray was a picture of contrasting delight as Hibernian extended their unbeaten run into a 16th game while snapping a long-running curse along the way.
Hibs boss David Gray explains Rangers triumph
Dylan Levitt opened the scoring after Jack Butland committed another ‘bad mistake’, to quote his manager. The latest in a long line of post-Christmas blunders from the previously-reliable goalkeeper.
After Cyriel Dessers squandered a handful of chances and Nedim Bajrami hit the bar, Martin Boyle’s late strike ensured that Hibs would head back to Edinburgh victorious for the first time since the days of Daniel Candeias, Sean Goss, Russell Martin and Wes Foderingham.
“It’s huge. 2018 was the last time a Hibs team came here and won,” Gray beams, the former Hibs skipper showing Ferguson what is required in order to turn a caretaker contract into a permanent arrangement.
“The way we started the game was huge, the composure we showed and getting the goal.”
Rangers, as you might expect, mustered far more possession and a lot more shots than their visitors. The die was cast once Levitt left Butland red faced eight minutes in. Hibs managed only 28 per cent of the ball and less than half of Rangers’ 15 attempts on goal.
But with the likes of Rocky Bushiri and Nectar Triantis providing brick-wall resistance, there would be no way through for the frustrated hopes.
Gray dispels ‘Manager of the Month’ curse with famous Ibrox win
Much to Gray’s delight, his ‘game plan’ worked to perfection.
“You put a game plan in place knowing Rangers are going to have a lot of the ball, so you have to be really disciplined without the ball,” the reigning Scottish Premiership Manager of the Month adds.
“Every time there was a slight mistake, a teammate was there to bail them out. A massive collective performance – the subs came on and impacted the game.
“It’s an incredible run and the players deserve all the credit for it. The big thing was trusting what we were doing. Not being too high when it’s good and not being too low when it wasn’t. I never stopped believing and it’s been a huge collective effort from everyone involved.
“If we keep winning games, nobody can catch us and that’s the mindset moving forwards.”
Manager of the Month curse? What Manager of the Month curse?
