Why Hibs must stick with Nick Montgomery even though season has been s*** - Tam McManus

Hibs’ top-six hopes are in the last chance saloon and that just sums up a season best described by a word that rhymes with split.

Assuming Dundee do not stun Rangers at Dens tonight, it’s a three-way Saturday shoot-out for that last spot in the top half of the table. And with Hibs off to the other side in the mix, Motherwell, I’m hardly bursting with confidence. It’s a sorry state of affairs. Losing to St Johnstone at home last weekend said it all. That side had won just twice on their travels in the Premiership all season.

Hibs had plenty of chances, dominated possession, were denied a stonewall penalty when goalie Dimitar Mitov cleaned out Emiliano Marcondes and Saints scored with their only two shots on target. If all that wasn’t frustrating enough, the sight of Craig Levein cavorting around Easter Road at full-time put the tin lid on a sickening afternoon for fans. These are the results that kill you as a manager at a club like Hibs. The boos ringing around the ground just sums up what has been a rotten campaign.

There have been so many lows – being 3-0 down at half-time against St Mirren at home, losing home and away to St Johnstone, being hammered by Rangers and losing the League Cup semi-final to 10-man Aberdeen.

The only bright spots I can remember were the home and away results against Luzern in Europe before Nick Montgomery arrived last September. Since the manager came in, his league record reads eight wins, nine defeats and 11 draws – bang average at best.

Fans are scunnered with the team after two years of absolutely nothing. I bump into them all the time and they don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. I get that. Questions are being asked about whether Montgomery has the personality for the job.

But I have to stick to my guns here. I’m still convinced the manager needs to be given the summer window to get it right – and that’s whether Hibs make the top six or not.

You can’t keep changing managers after a year or less. That’s just a cycle of failure you can never escape from. Maybe Montgomery has been fortunate the last couple have been fired pretty quickly and he’s getting some leeway because of that.

But managers should always get two windows at least to shape their squad. Short-term pain for long-term gain... that has to be the hope for Hibs.

When the window comes, Montgomery’s priorities are obvious – sort out the defence. You fancy Hibs to score in every game but defensively they are so poor. Fifty goals conceded after 32 league games is not good enough.

And if that continues next season, it will get Nick the sack. That’s got to be the priority – a couple of centre-halves and a keeper in the summer. I’ve never been convinced by Rocky Bushiri, both defensively and on the ball. There are too many mistakes in him.

Montgomery wants to keep Will Fish and I do think the Manchester United youngster is a good footballer. But he needs to improve on some aspects of his defending, so the summer budget needs to go towards sorting out the leaky backline.

And Montgomery – already looking forward to a cash boost from Bill Foley’s injection – would no doubt find himself with a few extra pennies towards that end if Hibs managed to sneak into the top half.

Listen, I’ve been involved in the top six and the bottom six as a player. The contrast couldn’t be starker. Top six, you’re playing teams going for the title, you’re fighting for Europe, there are big crowds and excitement. Bottom six is flat, empty stands and you’re going through the motions against teams battling relegation – if you’re lucky enough not to be one of them.

Hibs will hopefully still have an opportunity on Saturday when running out at Fir Park. If they can sneak into the top half, then suddenly the chance to grab that last European spot would still be there. Doing so with a late salvo would be the only way to get rid of the stench of a s**t season.