Monty's 'three targets' for Hibs when season resumes

His introduction to Scottish football management hasn't been without its pitfalls. A clutch of long-term injured players only just coming back into contention during the mid-season break. Over-reliance on a player frozen out by the previous regime. Regular tussles with VAR. A threadbare squad that perhaps unsurprisingly ran out of juice towards the end of December and limped into the winter break relying on a last-minute equaliser to avoid a fourth defeat in five games. Perhaps that pre-Christmas call-off against Ross County was a blessing in disguise. 

The hope is that a week of double, or even triple sessions as has been rumoured, in Dubai will allow the team to come back in better shape than it was at the start of the month. There have been welcome sights such as Chris Cadden barrelling into a tackle, Adam Le Fondre in the thick of things, Jake Doyle-Hayes lifting weights and picking out passes, and Harry McKirdy participating in shooting drills. 

READ MORE - Montgomery hails return of Hibs 'maverick' McKirdy

But the gruelling sessions in the Dubai heat will mean nothing if Hibs are unable to come back and turn draws into wins - something with which they struggled during the first half of the season, with three matches finishing level when Hibs had been in a winning position. They did manage it twice themselves; earning a 2-2 draw against Hearts after being 2-0 down and again against Motherwell on January 2 with Élie Youan the key man on both occasions, but you'd imagine Montgomery would prefer late winners rather than equalisers. And it's a cliché, but how many of those dropped points could make a difference come the end of the season? Not that Montgomery is particularly focused on that; it's all about the here and now with the Hibs head coach.

Turning draws into wins

"What I’m trying to achieve is winning the next game of football. We take each game as it comes. Of course, we want to finish in the top five positions. That’s not changed. But yes, it’s easy to sit here and look back on the first half of the season and say we maybe could have had another ten points. I think we threw a lot of points away in games," he agreed, speaking from the club's winter training camp in Jebel Ali.

"Look at the Hearts game - I’ve lost one game at Easter Road in my time at the club and it was down to a 94th-minute goal. That was a game we shouldn’t have lost because I thought we were probably the better team on the night. We had double the goal attempts on the night and we missed a penalty from a position I felt we should have scored.

"Away form, we’ve dropped a few points. I would have liked more points on the board. That’s something we can reflect on but can't change. We need to turn draws into wins. Draws only get you a point. There have been plenty of games where our performance has deserved more, but it’s the result that gets you points and I’ve been speaking to the boys about that. It’s about small margins and the little things that turn draws into wins. That’s what we are focusing on doing. It will be a team effort but what will help is when we have strength in depth, and we're capable of making changes and keeping the game at a high intensity."

One-on-one chats

TIme away from the constant hurly-burly of Scottish football has allowed Montgomery to conduct in-depth chats with his players in a bid to kickstart Hibs' season. It's also been a chance for the head coach to implement a 'mini pre-season'. 

"Dubai has been a really good opportunity to get double sessions and gym sessions, and a lot of video work,"he continued. "It’s allowed me to sit down with a lot of players one-on-one to discuss where we feel the team can go. We are confident we can finish strongly in the second half of the season."

Up for discussion has been Montgomery's style of play. While not a conventional 442, it is reliant on hard-working midfielders, a flexible front four, energetic full-backs, and centre-backs comfortable at playing out from the back. It hasn't always worked well with the players at his disposal. Towards the end of the first chunk of Scottish Premiership games, some of the games were a tough watch - but then the first half-hour or so against Motherwell looked more like how Montgomery wants Hibs to play on his watch. But regardless of returning players or potential arrivals, don't expect a departure from 'Monty-ball'. 

"In terms of the identity of the team and the way that we play, that’s not going to change. In terms of the players that we have; if we don’t have a big squad and we don't have that impact off the bench, then it is very hard to play at high intensity for 90 minutes. That is where we were short in the first part of the season," he explained. 

"Look at Jair Tavares. The kid didn't play for 14 months, he was completely frozen out of the squad. He's come back in and I've been relying on him for 90 minutes week in, week out. Élie Youan, Martin Boyle, Dylan Vente... we’ve had Adam Le Fondre out injured, and that’s left us light. We’ve had a couple of kids, Josh Landers and Rudi Molotnikov, and it’s a big ask for them to come in and make an impact at this level when they are coming in from under-18s football."

READ MORE - Hibs transfer update on Adryan, Moore, Toure and Megwa

Full focus is now on the transfer window and, ideally, supplementing his squad with a couple of players who can not only boost the squad depth but also help Hibs achieve their aims on the park. Returning players should also make a difference given the lengthy period in which Hibs had very little in the way of game-changing players on the bench, and the impact that had on the training camp in terms of what individuals were medically cleared to do. 

Two academy-age goalkeepers were part of the group in Dubai just so Hibs had a full complement of shot-stoppers for training sessions and as mentioned, plans for a second bounce game during the week away were shelved on the basis that there weren't enough players available. 

More energy and more bodies

"What I am hoping is that we can bring in a couple of players, and get a couple of players back fit and pushing for places," Montgomery continued. "Over the first part of the season, there were quite a few games when we were in a winning position and we conceded late goals and drew because we did not have the bodies or the energy to put on when we needed it to finish games off.

"I am hoping to see a more energetic team with more strength in depth and players that come off the bench and make an impact. That is what I am hoping for in the second part of the season."

First, though, is a Scottish Cup trip to face Forfar Athletic. It is Montgomery's first foray into the grand old tournament - 'we've started to work on that while we've been out in Dubai' - and while it might be too early for new signings, barring an extremely busy end to the working week, we could get some indication of what Hibs worked on during the break. And while it might be hard to gauge against League Two opposition, it shouldn't be hard to identify improvement.