David Gray spoke to the media for the first time since being appointed Hibernian head coach. Here's everything he had to say...
Can you tell us where you were when you found out you'd got the job?
“I got a phone call when I was in Florida. My missus was a very happy and unhappy person for the last month! We had pre-planned to take the kids because it was the last chance really to do the Magic Kingdom and all that stuff. My youngest is at the perfect age where she is Princess and Barbie daft. For the last two years we’d planned to go to Florida. My mum and dad were coming and so was my mother in law because they’d retired this year. I ended up not going with them at the start. I stayed behind for obvious reasons. I went two or three days late and was probably the most uninterested man the whole time I was there because I was too busy thinking about other things, which my missus was not delighted about. I was six hours behind all the time. I was constantly looking at my phone looking to see if it was going to ring and go about my business. I was up for breakfast in the morning and the phone went, it was Ian, Malky and Ben on one call. The signal wasn’t great. So when I got asked the question I maybe didn’t sound over-enthusiastic! But I was delighted. More importantly everyone that was there with me at the time was delighted. I was nice and calm but my missus and my mum were crying."
READ MORE: Why Warren O'Hora chose Hibs - and why club wanted him
It must have been a great moment for your family and especially your dad, given how proud he was of you as a player...
“I go back to when I retired at 33 with time on my playing contract and with opportunities, I think if the manager is asking you to be his first team coach then it’s pretty clear I’m not going to play for him. The ability to keep playing retire or make the transition to coaching, my dad was always asking if I’d made the right direction saying you want to play as long as you can. But I firmly believe everything was geared up towards this moment. Everything I have been doing in the past three years has been about learning as much as I can. The people, I have worked under, the qualities they’ve got, the way they saw the game, selfishly it was fantastic to pick up all that knowledge and hopefully I can put that together to make a successful Hibs team.”
You say you weren't ready for the permanent job in those other periods as interim, it's an interesting point because if you'd won the League Cup final there'd have been a clamour for you to get it...
“Absolutely. Every time you’re put in that position, in every interim period I did reasonably well because you’re dealing with adversity and picking players up but also it’s never easy when you’re working closely with people who have lost their job but you also feel partly responsible. I think back to every time when a manager was appointed. Never at any point did I show an interest in the job or say I was ready for it. I was delighted to be doing what I was doing and privileged to be working for such a great club at such a good level. This time there was a clearer shift towards the end of it, not in any way other than the fact the time for me is now to take this next step. If the club didn’t believe it was the right time for me I knew I was putting that on the line by applying for the job. The next manager then has to put up with someone in his staff who potentially was looking to have that job. That was never going to work. I knew that at the time and I was prepared to put my head in that position to back myself because I firmly believe I can do this.”
READ MORE: David Gray speaks on Martin Boyle future and Hibs ambitions
Malky has said you 'nailed' the interview - how did you feel coming away from it?
“I’ve got nothing to compare it to. My first ever interview. I didn’t come out thinking ‘I really wish I’d said that’. I probably never got everything out. But if I reflect on it, my wife was asking how I thought I did, I had done all I could do. The club was fantastic and made me aware I was in a process and wasn’t going to hear anything for a week or 10 days. If I didn’t have that I’d have been sitting thinking I’d made a mess of it. I had no regrets which is great.”
READ MORE: Hibs 2024/25 fixtures in full including Hearts derbies
Are you confident you will get time and backing to put plans in place?
“Absolutely. Every time a manager takes the opportunity they are well aware of the risks involved and the need for results. The football club always appoint someone and try and give them as much time as possible to be successful because they believe that’s the right person. I’m not going into it with the mindset of ‘if I don’t win a few games I might get sacked’. Results and performances will dictate whether I’m doing a good enough job to keep the job. Anyone who sits in this position are fully aware of that. The club is craving success. They are ready for it. Everything is in place, the infrastructure with Malky coming in. It really excites me. Add to that the generosity of the Gordon family that’s been there for a number of years now and the structure that’s in there at the moment then I really feel being head coach is a real chance to really be successful and get the club back to where it needs to be.”
Was someone with Malky's experience being involved an attractive factor?
“That was a big part in the appeal to apply for the job. Having someone who has been in the game as long as he has, managed at the level he has, worked with the SFA in terms of restructuring and all the things he can do from a recruitment point of view. And the fact he has just come out of management is a real positive for me. I’m someone that’s desperate to learn, I don’t know everything. To have someone like that who I can lean on and bounce things off, I’m wiling to be mentored on things as well. So to have someone who has just come out it will be a massive benefit.”
Read more from David Gray's first Hibs press conference on www.hibsobserver.co.uk tomorrow!
Read the rules here