Top line summary:

  • Context and timing key - 'marked improvement' in next set of accounts
  • Club overspent in a bid to achieve success i.e. European football
  • Sporting performance to 'blame' for alarming figures
  • Player trading model is vitally important

Hibs chief executive Ben Kensell spoke to Sky Sports ahead of the cinch Premiership clash with Celtic to provide some background to the club's latest accounts, which were made public earlier this week.

Here's what the CEO had to say...

The accounts didn't make great reading if you're a Hibs fan...

"It's a lot to do with context and timing. No one wants to make a loss in football full stop, we want a sustainable football club moving forward. We've grown our club-controlled income off the pitch by over a million pounds, people will see that. But ultimately, we spent on the footballing side in order to achieve success. And some would say, 'well, what has been achieved as a result of that success?' As a result of our overspend, we achieved three rounds of European football that aren't shown in these accounts. So the accounts for next year are a marked improvement - much, much better on the numbers of this year's accounts, but ultimately it comes down to sporting performance.

"We got knocked out of both cup competitions early on. We don't budget for that, which is a severe dent in our funding, and our income. We've spent on players, we've overspent from a budget perspective, and that's in the pursuit of trying to put the best team on the park so we can be competitive and successful in trying to deliver against our objectives."

Some will say speculating to accumulate doesn't work and that no success and a big loss show those in charge need to spend the money better...

"I think you're absolutely right. Ultimately, we are responsible for making sure that the monies that we do have spending on the right players, and we bring success. So I think that's a very, very fair comment. I think it's fair across football, that those in responsible positions in football clubs, make sure that they make the right decisions the majority of the time.

"It's not easy. There aren't many clubs that get it spot on, I think what you'll find is that a lot of the things that we've put in place this year that we're talking about, the current year, our numbers are a fantastic reflection on the efforts of the work that we did in that year. So I think timing and context need to be put into it.

"If I'm sat here talking about this in a year's time, I think you'll see some very healthy numbers coupled with sporting success. Despite the tricky period that we're in at the moment, I know what I can see on our balance sheets, and it looks a lot better than what has been reported in the accounts."

The wages-to-turnover ratio stands at 81%. Would it be fair to say that looks quite unhealthy?

"What you're looking at there is your income effectively being hit through a lack of sort of sporting success, and an overspend in your footballing activities, which results in a higher percentage. We've corrected that, and it's significantly lower this year, in the set of accounts that we're currently dealing with right now."

So the cost base wasn't sustainable and it needs to be rectified moving forward?

"Cost base is sustainable if you hit your targets from a sporting perspective, and you generate the club-controlled income that you need to generate, and ultimately, sporting success is reflected on financial success and commercial success.

"In this set of accounts, we've grown our club-controlled income by a million pounds off the pitch. But if you're not delivering on the pitch, it hurts you significantly. And that's the result of the accounts."

What gives you the confidence that sporting success under Nick Montgomery is on the way?

"We're continuing with the club-controlled income growth, I think everyone in the club can see that. What we've also got is that continued growth off the pitch.

"On the pitch, what we have to make sure is that we continue to hit against our targets and deliver against what we've all agreed is an acceptable kind of sporting achievement, and that has to be European football. It has to be going into the latter stages of cup competitions, which is something we didn't do last year, and that has a severe impact on your ability to run a sustainable football club."

How key is the player trading model?

"We've been very successful in terms of player sales, which I'm personally very pleased with. We have to make sure that we bring in the right players to have an impact right now on the pitch. We have to ensure that we have now the right people in place in order to do that.

"I do believe that the player trading that we've done, especially in the last two-and-a-half years, has really put us in good stead from a sales perspective: It's well-documented but Josh Doig, Kevin Nisbet, Elias Melkersen, even Martin Boyle.

"We've done a lot of player sales, we've done a lot of player activity. What we probably need to do is make sure that the activity that we do in bringing players in, reflects on our sporting performance so our fans have a team that they can be proud of, and that wins more games than it loses.

"That's the biggest challenge that any football manager has. The pressure they're under is to get results, and that is the nature of the job."

Do you need to get the balance better with more hits than misses? Because there's been a lot of players...
 

"It has been a lot of players. We would like a little bit more stability with the squad. It's certainly something that I know Brian McDermott, Ian Gordon, and myself would like.

"Ultimately you need that stability with managers. What you can't have is the turnover of managers that we've had, which has been well documented."

The AGM is soon. What can you say to fans who might be concerned about Bill Foley's investment?

"There should be no fears, and the reason there should be no fears is because the Gordon family have complete control, they have majority control, and therefore really nothing changes.

"What we have is a partner that can support, a partner that we believe can work with us in trying to achieve our sporting objectives. And they have clubs that can help us from a best-practice perspective. So I see this only as a positive.

"Ultimately, the fans - it's their club, and the Gordon family are custodians of their club. And they're very, very, very good owners who think very deeply and care very, very much about the success of the club. And I think that's been proven since they first came in. But we've got to do is we've got to make sure that we make sure that the fans are proud of their club and not apprehensive about any changes that may be around the corner. I don't think this is something that anyone needs to be concerned about."

If it gets the go-ahead, where do you expect Hibs to be on and off the pitch this time next year?

"Off the pitch, you'll certainly see a big upswing in financial results. I can guarantee people that.

"I think on the pitch, I'd like to see steady progress towards our sporting goals, which are very clear internally and everyone's bought into them; I'd like to see some stability, and I'd like to see a club that fans can genuinely look at and see progress on and off the pitch, and be really proud of moving forward. I don't know any chief exec that wouldn't want that. That's everything that we're trying to work for, on and off the pitch."