The day after losing to Celtic in the League Cup Final, Hibs today confirmed the appointment of former Celtic winger and coach Shaun Maloney as their new manager, replacing Jack Ross who was dismissed earlier this month after a defeat away to Livingston.
Maloney joins from the Belgian National Team, where he was Assistant Manager to Roberto Martínez and helped Belgium rise to number one in the FIFA World Rankings. A statement on the official Hibs website confirms the appointment noting that during his playing career he played in Scotland but failed to mention that he was a Celtic player. Still hurting from yesterday obviously!
“The 38-year-old has put pen-to-paper on a three-and-a-half year deal and is joined by a management team of Gary Caldwell (Assistant Manager), Valerio Zuddas (First Team Coach and Conditioning) and Brian Doogan (Head of Technical Support), alongside David Gray (First Team Coach) and Craig Samson (Goalkeeping Coach).
“He arrives at Easter Road with a strong reputation in football through his coaching background and his playing days. He is one of the brightest young coaches in the game with an attack-minded, dynamic style of football. Hailing from Malaysia, Maloney had an iconic football career playing predominantly in the Scottish and English top-flight, alongside the MLS with Chicago Fire. He also won 47 caps for Scotland, the country he grew up in from the age of two.
“After retiring in 2017, Maloney began to develop his trade in coaching under the guidance of Brendan Rodgers at Celtic, taking a position as B Team coach, helping young players progress into the Club’s first team set-up. Just a year later, he joined up with his former manager Martínez at Belgium and played a key role in their climb to become the top ranked side in the world, developing a style of football that is attacking, free-flowing and creates overloads in crucial areas of the pitch.
“Alongside this, he has undertaken his own football education in the Netherlands, has worked with footballers at the highest-level, and has an extensive knowledge of the Scottish game.
“On the appointment, Hibernian FC Chief Executive Ben Kensell commented: “We are very happy to welcome Shaun as our new manager, in what is undoubtedly a very important appointment for Hibernian FC.
“Our recruitment for a new manager has been thorough, strategic, and centred around the clear vision we have for this football club. We wanted to acquire a manager who has an attacking mentality, who’s progressive, and someone who is hungry for the opportunity to build something here at this big club.
“Shaun has been the standout candidate throughout this process as his idea of football is completely aligned with ours and the history of this football club. He believes in attacking, possession-based football, and has implemented it at the highest level with Roberto Martínez at Belgium.
“He is also a coach that wants to develop the players we have at this football club, as we have assembled a good squad. He’s aligned with our focus on bringing through young talent through our development team and wants to work with young players.
“Shaun’s a young coach and this is a big opportunity for him to show what we can do. We will support him in the upcoming transfer windows to help him achieve our ambitions here. We have real belief in Shaun, and he has huge belief in himself. He is determined to bring success here at Hibernian FC.”
Maloney will be back at Celtic Park on 29 December and as it’s also the first home match since Celtic lifted the League Cup, the trophy will no doubt be on display for the support to see. Maloney is a decent appointment for Hibs and let’s hope that he can do something against theRangers!
