Head coach David Gray spoke to the media ahead of Hibs' clash with Dundee in the Scottish Premiership. Here's every word he had to say...

David, you've had a vote of confidence from the board. Tell us how those discussions were a couple of weeks ago, and how difficult they were. 

“Listen, I think the communication from myself, and the club has been very consistent ever since I took over. So that's not really changed. I understand because of the position we're in, the league position, the form, why the questions have been asked and why the club put a statement out. It wasn't a surprise to me at all because of the conversations I've already been having.

“We know the position isn't good enough, but also to come out and show the support that they're still giving me, again, wasn't a surprise to me because of the communication and the situation I inherited, which was the manager will be given time to try and turn things around - and we believe we will. 

Did you have to ask for reassurance from the board? Did you have to explain anything to them?

“I'm constantly explaining decisions, why we do things. I think everyone, myself, everyone involved, constant communications, myself and Malky, with Ben, with Ian, are always about trying to improve, trying to make us better because we know the situation we find ourselves in. It isn't where we need to be at all, the league position, the form, but we know how quickly it can change as well, so it’s about sticking together and believing in what we're doing.

Was there any point during those discussions that you had any fear that it might go the other way? 

“No, I don't think so. I think I was asked that even before the St Mirren game, I was asked the question about fearing for my job. I don't think fear is the right word.

“I fully understand it's not good enough, what I've delivered - and I'm responsible for the results after the number of games I've had. So, as I said after the game and I still stand by, I fully understand why people would ask the question and the noise would be there, 100%, fully accept that.

“But I also believe I can turn it around and I still feel that way, even having the last two weeks on the grass with the players, the feeling I get from them is about how quickly things can change.

“But I also know that you don't just get an endless amount of time. The statement clearly said as well that they've got support in the manager - but things need to improve.”

There have been some strong words from players in the last couple of weeks as well, Joe Newell before the St Mirren game, Chris Cadden today saying the players have let you down. Do you feel the players have let you down or have they let themselves down? 

“No, I think as a collective we need to be better. I think sometimes as a head coach it's not always directly my fault for something but it's 100% my responsibility for the results. So, whatever way we go around that, there's no point in pointing fingers and blaming other people.

“I look at myself first and foremost. I think that's something I've said to the players on numerous occasions about accountability, looking at yourself, asking can you do more. But sticking together through times of adversity when things are tough; there's no point in going in on yourself or feeling sorry for yourself. It's not going to change by doing that.

“So, that's in the message that I've given to the players numerous times about saying they're letting me down. You just need to do your job first and foremost, so go in and do what you're good at, which is to be a professional football player, and do that to the best of your ability, don't worry about letting anybody down.

There's been a lot of negativity off the pitch… how do you cope with that? 

“Just keep going, keep believing in what I'm doing. You have to push it away, though. You have to. I think if you don't it will consume you. Because I understand the noise.

“As I say, I've been here a long time, I understand the expectations, the demands, I've said that numerous times. And even if we were to win the next couple of games, that pressure and demand doesn't go away. It just sounds better for a couple of weeks. But you need to keep progressing, we need to keep moving forward because we know where we are.

“I also take a lot of belief from the fact that how quickly things can change. We've got three games in the next week, and I know the need for points is massive and I'm not looking past the game against Dundee first and foremost, but how quickly things can change because that's how quickly it can in Scotland especially.

You say you know what's needed, have you been told that you need to win a certain number of points between now and Christmas to keep things going the way they are? 

“No, not as a sort of ultimatum so to speak. I think it was pretty self-explanatory for me, which is you need to start winning quickly, we know that; I'm well aware of that.

“It's not a case of one game, two games, three games, how many points it could be over the course of that. The position we find ourselves in at the moment as a football club isn't good enough and we need to change that as quickly as we can and we've got an opportunity to try and do that at the weekend.

“If we win at the weekend, you go one point behind Dundee who are currently 7th in the league, so that's how quickly that can change again. As I say, I'm not looking past that because I know the fine margins we're dealing with at the moment.

You're prepped for my next question, you could be off the bottom of the table by 8.15pm tomorrow night at the time when Hearts kick off against Celtic at Tynecastle? 

“Yes, well all we can worry about is what we're doing. Obviously the results can happen before that as well, the games that have been played before, but my full focus is if we win the game we can go a point behind Dundee. 

How’s the squad looking?

“Well, Mykola Kukharevych missed the last one through suspension, so he'll come back in. All the international boys have come back healthy, which is positive, and we'll just wait and see how everybody recovers after training today because it's the first day they’ve all been back together - a lot of the boys have come from all over the world as usual, so we need to make sure everybody's recovered between now and kick-off.”

Mentally do the players have to switch on now? Because they all know the situation, they all know what's at stake, mentally do they have to be really focused? 

“Yes, I think that's every single game, every week. I think the biggest frustration and disappointment was probably the manner of the first half last week, which makes it feel a lot worse because it's the first time really that we've really let ourselves down on different fronts, which we've addressed this week.

“Obviously a few home truths in certain situations, accountability, I've talked about that already, and the biggest thing for me is just the reaction from that. If I get that reaction and the players play at the level they can, I know we're a real good side and we'll be able to turn things around quickly.”

David, you've already partly answered this, but have the board set you any short-term targets? 

“No, it's just what the statement clearly says, which is they're continuing to support me, they've always said they will, they've said they'll give me time and they've been true to their word.  Because I understand, like I've said, the points return for the number of games we've had for me as a manager is not good enough, so we've been consistent with that, but also been consistent in saying that it needs to turn - and it needs to turn quickly.”

Were you happy with the process that led to the board issuing that statement and the wording of it? 

“Yeah, I think, as I've said, it wasn't a surprise to me, the club coming out and saying what they said, because I'm in constant communication anyway, every day to be fair. So I'm fully aware of my job, my challenges, the challenges at the football club, but I also know that the support's there, I've had it since day one at the football club and continue to have it because everybody's working as hard as they can to turn this around.”

Just what needs to change?

“A bit of everything really, I need a reaction for the first half performance especially, which we got in the second half against St Mirren. I know we didn’t go and score to make it 2-2, but the reaction was then clearly there for the players, players that came onto the pitch made a difference, the togetherness is there, so some of the players that came on hadn't been playing but they're still massively part of it.

“You can see that with the way they performed, so there is a real togetherness still here. I still feel it all the time and they're doing that every day in training, and I know that a lot of the players have come out and said what they've said and how they feel about it, but that also gives me the confidence knowing that there is still a real togetherness there and a desire to change it and I believe that we will.”

The international break came after the vote of confidence; was that a good thing?

“It probably was decent timing, or at least good timing from the point of view that the noise maybe goes away for a wee while because this is what's happening, and here's what's not happening moving forward. 

“I knew it was coming; I wasn't surprised by the situation. But my full focus quickly moved towards Dundee and what I was preparing for, rather than if nothing was said and you’re preparing for something that might never come. 

“I understand why you'd ask the question straight after the game and probably because of the manner of the first-half performance, why people would ask the question again as well. I understand why it happened.”

There are a lot of fans who understand the difficulty, and the situations you were put into. How much of a sense do you get of the board being fully aware of how tough it was when you walked in in the summer? 

“I think everyone's accountable for that. Everyone's been very clear on that message as well and that's why I think everyone's working as hard as they can to change it. There’s been a lot of turnover over recent years. I've been here through all of that, but I still honestly believe everything that's been happening and all the decisions that have been made have always been to try and take the club forward for the right reasons. 

“It was always going to be challenging, It will continue to be, as I've already said, we get a couple of results, it doesn't go away. The pressures and demands at this football club and where we believe it can be, it takes a lot of success to do that. It's what everyone has at the back of their mind, what we’ve been working towards every single day.”

Is that the difficult thing, because it’s not as if you can say, ‘we're having a rebuild season’. You can't write anything off here, can you? 

“No, definitely not. I would never have signed up for that, either, if I'm being honest, because of the demands and expectations I put on myself, what I believe this club can achieve with the squad of players we've got and how we recruited in the summer as well as what was already here. 

“We did a bit of business late on, there were different situations and different scenarios that came at the start of the season, but we're now at the point where the group's been together a long time now - well, I say a long time, but since the start of the season. 

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“They are up to speed, it's starting to take good shape. There will naturally be ins and outs over the course of January and at the end of the season. That looks like moving forward just because of the number of players we've still got at the football club. That'll happen naturally over the coming weeks and months. But as I say, that's probably what gives me the confidence as well  - how close the group is still and how much everybody wants to turn this around and believes that it can turn around.”

Did this game feel like it was taking an age to come round because of the break?

“Yes, it did. But at the same time it gives me a bit of time to reflect on different things as well, rather than just looking in isolation at the last result. I went right back through everything we've been doing, we spent more time on the grass with the players, the ones that have been here and aren't away obviously. 

“I was also able to have a little bit of downtime with my family over the weekend, which was an important thing as well. Would I rather have had the game straight away? 100 per cent, because you don't want to keep waiting for the next game. But it was also probably quite a good thing that last weekend - Saturday, Sunday - I was able to spend some time with my wife and my kids, which is probably a bit refreshing during this kind of period. 

“Off the back of that, you come back into work Monday morning with a full focus on making sure you can turn things around.”

People assume you've had two weeks to work on things, but you've had players coming back from abroad and that underlines the challenges - you've had one training session with them… 

“Yeah, well I think that happens, it's always a sort of a catch-22, you get the players who, me personally, you'd never stop anyone going international duty, it's the pinnacle of a career, it's brilliant for them to go and do that, 

“Would I rather none of them went and stayed when we've got to work on things every day in training? 100 per cent, but I think the reality of having international players at a club, that's just a given. I'm not going to say it's an excuse for not being able to get the work into players, we've been doing things for a number of weeks anyway. 

“But not being all together isn't ideal when you're trying to work on different things for example, or areas in which you need to improve, I think the only thing that's a real positive about it is everybody's come back safely, that's all you can hope for when they go away.”

Do you have direct chats with the Black Knights representatives on the board?

“Yes, although not consistently, I would say. Obviously Malky's in the building with me every single day, so I speak to him all the time, I speak to Ben [Kensell] all the time, and then wider than that you've always got the communication throughout the Black Knights and the Gordon family above as well.

“That's something that I know there's a lot of noise around the club and what's going on. But there is a lot of hard work that's going into trying to make this club successful and everyone's doing it for the right reasons, for Hibernian Football Club to be as good as it can be.”

Are you confident everyone is aligned, and everyone is together?

“Yes, 100 per cent. That's the only thing that's going to make us successful. The one thing that everybody wants is to see a successful team on the pitch. There are a lot of good things happening off the pitch when you look at the stadium and the improvements from when I joined the club to where the club is now. 

“The one part that's not at the level it needs to be is on the pitch. And the performance side on that front. I still believe I'm the man to turn it around and be able to go and do that.  But everyone involved at the football club is desperate for success because that's why they're involved in football - to be successful.”

Have you spoken to the players about the post-match scenes after the St Mirren game, and the importance of not reacting to comments from the crowd or getting too emotional? 

“I’ve not directly spoken to anyone about it. Everybody knows as football players you don't react to anything in the crowd, I think that's pretty much a given. I fully understand the noise when people are frustrated. The message to the players is always to try to react in the best way possible, and just to try to be respectful to everyone around you because you're always in the public eye as well, so it's not just reacting to that person, it's the example you're setting to every single person round about, young kids at the game. The players are role models for some people.

“So you need to bear that in mind, and that's all part of being a professional football player, and that's something I don't really need to remind them of because it's been part of their journey ever since they started playing football.”