Hibs press conference analysis ahead of St Mirren cup test

Still on a high from Saturday's 2-0 victory over St Johnstone in his first match in charge at Easter Road, he hid it rather well as he previewed the next step in his fledgling Hibs career: a Viaplay Cup quarter-final clash with St Mirren. 

The Buddies have enjoyed an impressive start to league business, marking opening day with a late win in a five-goal thriller against Hibs in Leith. But that feels a long time ago, coming in the midst of Hibs' Europa Conference League sojourn and almost certainly kickstarting the beginning of the end for Lee Johnson in EH7. 

It's a new era now, with newly-turned 16-year-olds given a chance in the first team, seemingly ostracised individuals brought back into the fray, and a good old-fashioned four-four-two formation, kind of. Keep it simple, stupid - and work hard. That's all the manager wants. 

His first game in charge was a 2-2 draw with Kilmarnock, the loss of a headed equaliser from a set-piece annoying Montgomery for a little bit, by his own admission. Game two, his first at Easter Road, was a 2-0 win going on 5-0. Twenty attempts on goal, and not a great deal of chances given up at the other end. His third could be sealing a trip to Hampden - Hibs' first since the 2021/22 season when they were edged out by Celtic at the national stadium in the final of the League Cup. 

The occasionally cavalier nature of Montgomery's style of play is borne from the A-League mentality of believing that there's little point in accepting a share of the spoils. Cup duty might be a different beast to league football but the aim remains the same - with the added carrot of a trip to Mount Florida. 

“I’ve been to Hampden a couple of times, although I haven’t played there and haven’t managed there," he said. "To see that stadium packed, the history the place has got, I will obviously do everything I can to experience that. So no, I never trained there, never played there, unfortunately. But it’s great that I have the opportunity to go there as a manager."

To do so he will have to guide Hibs past a St Mirren side that defeated city rivals Hearts at the weekend, and currently sits second in the league table. Asked if the home side can count on their loftier status - in the context of size, rather than divisional placing - making a difference, he was bullish.

"We know that Hibs is a big club, and that comes with a responsibility that players have to take on when they pull on the shirt," he explained. “But the reality is, right now, that St Mirren are a bigger club than us: they’ve had a better start to the season than us, they’ve got more points on the board than us in the league competition, so I’m sure they’ll come here full of confidence.

“There are big clubs like Chelsea all around the world, clubs that spend huge amounts of money, but they’re struggling to get results at the minute. So it doesn’t really matter, what people think outside of the club. We can only concentrate on ourselves – and that’s a pressure, an expectation, that any player has to carry when they play at a so-called big club. We know that we’ve got a good squad. But we know they’ve had a really good start, so I’m sure they won’t be thinking that we’re a bigger club than them," he continued. 

Cast your mind back to last summer, when Lee Johnson made several changes for a League Cup group stage trip to Falkirk, and ended up on the wrong end of a 1-0. The former Hibs boss later admitted he had got it wrong in how he approached the game but Montgomery, perhaps sensing a shot at silverware with Celtic out of the competition, is fully focused on getting past St Mirren by making use of his strongest available squad, with knocks and injuries abating, save for the long-term absentees. 

"We're looking stronger than we did on Saturday. Christian Doidge has had his stitches out which is good - that was quite a horrific injury, so I'm glad we didn't have any setbacks for him at the weekend - and Élie Youan is 100 per cent good to go now," he confirmed. "Looking back on the [St Johnstone] game, you want your strongest players starting but I think with the squad we've got and the strength we've got, it's never about playing the same players every week. If there's any doubt or the player isn't 100 per cent then for me it's no risk because we've got players good enough to come in and replace them. To be able to bring strong subs off the bench as well is always good, especially late on when games are becoming stretched and the opposition is getting tired - to have players coming off the bench like we did at the weekend, and like we will against St Mirren, is what you want as a coach."

For Hibs fans, cautious excitement must be growing at the prospect of what Montgomery could do with this talented squad of players, and how far he could potentially take them. For now though, his initial return to the basics of hard work and team spirit appears to be paying off. Beating the Buddies and getting Hibs back to Hampden will be a stern test, but one he is relishing and at this moment in time, the fans won't mind if he passes with flying colours. All that matters is getting through. It's that simple.