Nick Montgomery believes he left Hibs 'in a better place' at the end of his eight-month tenure.

The 42-year-old was sacked earlier this month following a humiliating 4-0 home defeat to Aberdeen, one that compounded the club's failure to make this season's Premiership top six. Falling short on that front prompted the board to issue a statement making clear that Montgomery was expected to respond with an immediate upturn in results, but despite opening the post-split fixtures with a convincing win at St Johnstone, the manager's reign came crumbling down as the Dons left his team floored at Easter Road a week later.

Montgomery accrued only nine league wins all season, reaching the League Cup semi-final and the Scottish Cup quarter-final as he attempted to overhaul Hibs' style of play. But despite being unable to engineer the required turnaround in results, the former Central Coast Mariners boss feels he has laid solid foundations for whoever follows him into the dugout.

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“When I took over Hibs in September, without a pre season and after a difficult start, we were bottom of the league sitting in the relegation places but reached a Scottish Cup quarter final and a League Cup semi final," Montgomery told FTBL. 

“We were only 20 seconds away from making the top six before conceding a last minute equaliser against Motherwell. I think by giving several young players their chance during my time there I was able to build a bit of depth for the future. I left the club in a better place than I found it.

“I had one window in January which is always a difficult window and brought In Myziane Maolida, who was our top scorer, plus Nathan Moriah Welsh who won young player of the year. We also brought the average age down from around 29 to 26 we were on a good long term path with by bringing about change, which is always uncomfortable.

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Montgomery, alongside coaches Sergio Raimundo and Miguel Miranda, uprooted his family from Australia to take the Hibs job, and says that despite having received notes of interest from other clubs, he will think carefully before deciding his next move.

“I’ve already had some offers but it needs to be the right project and I’m not going to necessarily rush into making any snap decisions," he said. "It needs to be the right opportunity and with a club which has an aligned vision to stick to a process and build something sustainable, which takes time.

“There are the ups and downs and challenges you have to expect along the way because there are so many variables in football you can not control. You’re always learning and growing and and every experience is a chance to grow, I have every faith and belief in myself to bring success and progression wherever I go next.”