Hibs Show Resilience After David Gray's Departure Against Aberdeen

The week began with a jolt at Easter Road. Nick Montgomery’s replacement, the popular and relatively successful David Gray, was told after just six league games that he would not be the man to lead Hibs forward. The decision landed hard in a dressing room that had bought into him.

Jon Potter, back for a second spell on the Hibs coaching staff, stepped into the breach and spoke of lifting spirits, of clinging to the positives and pushing through the shock.

For 45 minutes, none of that landed.

Aberdeen sensed the uncertainty and fed off it. Aside from Callum Wright, Hibs looked tight and anxious, repeatedly coughing up possession to a visiting side that welcomed every chance to spring forward on the break. The home crowd saw a team stuck in their heads, not their rhythm.

Then the game flipped.

Hibs came out after the interval with an edge they had completely lacked in the first half. They went more direct, played with greater intensity, and started to impose themselves physically. Suddenly, Aberdeen were the ones being pushed back, their comfort on the counter replaced by long spells without the ball.

The pressure finally told. Hibs’ equaliser felt earned, the product of that higher tempo and a willingness to drive at Aberdeen rather than tiptoe around them. The mood inside Easter Road changed with it.

Yet the applause at full-time won’t drown out the bigger questions. Why can this Hibs team rarely stitch together a complete 90 minutes? Why do they so often drift through the opening spell of matches before waking up? And, most pointedly, does this squad actually have the quality to match the club’s ambitions?

Those are problems the next manager will inherit. With club football on pause for three weeks, the search for that figure now dominates everything around Leith.

While Hibs wrestle with identity, Aberdeen look like a team that has finally found theirs.

At the start of the campaign, Stephen Robinson bristled at tactical talk, famously claiming “shape is for pundits” as his side laboured in a 4-3-3. Aberdeen looked disjointed, easy to play through, and too blunt in attack.

He has quietly rowed back from that. The Northern Irishman has returned to the system that served him so well at St Mirren: three centre-backs, two strikers, and a structure that suits his players. The difference has been stark.

Aberdeen now press with purpose. They look more secure without the ball and far more dangerous when they break, using the pace up front to stretch teams. You can see the clarity in their play.

Two signings have underpinned that shift.

• Mats Knoester has emerged as the standout defender at the club, reading danger early and bringing a calm authority to the back line.
• In front of him, Afeez Aremu has been everywhere in recent games – snapping into tackles, regaining possession, then moving it on quickly and simply to spark attacks.

That platform allowed Aberdeen to strike, and when they did, it was with quality. Kevin Nisbet’s goal – his third in as many matches – was a forward’s finish of the highest order: sharp touch, quick turn, ruthless strike. It put Aberdeen in front and underlined once again who carries their main goal threat.

But the moment that will grate on Robinson came later. A needless challenge from Jack Milne handed Hibs the route back, undoing much of the disciplined work Aberdeen had put in. One lapse, one rash decision, and two points slipped away.

For all Nisbet’s form, the question lingers over who else will share the scoring burden for Aberdeen as the season wears on. That puzzle remains unsolved.

Even so, given the chaos of their early weeks, Robinson can look at the last run of performances and see something more solid taking shape. The foundations, at least, are there.

Hibs, by contrast, head into the break with a vacancy in the dugout and a team that can only play in bursts. Whoever walks into that job won’t just be asked to steady things. They’ll be expected to turn those flickers of fight into a full game, every game, before this season drifts beyond their reach.