With his astounding dissection of the Scottish game, Hibs manager Nick Montgomery thinks Ross County opponent Derek Adams may have wounded himself in the foot.
Returning to lead the Dingwall club for a third stint, Adams criticized his team harshly after they lost to Dundee the previous weekend before going on to discuss the caliber of football played north of the border. He called the Premiership quality “shocking,” claiming that his former team Morecambe was “100 times better” than his current charges despite having the lowest budget in League Two. “I came back here and thought, ‘Wow, any chance?'” after seeing the standard.
Many in the game have denounced the contentious claims, calling Montgomery’s outburst disrespectful. Montgomery, who hopes to highlight his team’s strengths and win at the Global Energy Stadium on Saturday, believes the outburst could come back to haunt the Highland team if they try to add players in January.
Although Montgomery said it was unlikely to affect most clubs’ recruitment, he cautioned that Ross County might not be so lucky. Montgomery was thinking about the potential reputational harm to the Scottish game caused by the manager of one of the nation’s top tier clubs portraying such a dismal picture.
“I doubt athletes will consider it unless they receive an offer to sign with Derek at Ross County. After hearing that, perhaps you wouldn’t want to go there.
“However, the league contains some excellent teams, and many players would undoubtedly want to travel to Scotland to play.” All you have to do is take a look at the teams in this league that participate in European competition and the Champions League.
“Playing in this league is not simple. To begin with, you must be physically capable. However, it’s a fantastic route that has been repeatedly demonstrated to go to the world’s top leagues.
Though he believes there are better ways to persuade players to support any improvement project, Montgomery, who is working to establish an entertaining style of play at Hibs and enjoying the challenge of managing in a hotly contested league, may not agree with Adam’s post-match interview.
Every day, new managers are hired. One was me. Getting the players on board is the first step. Getting what you desire implemented may take some time.
“Derek had obviously visited there a few weeks ago. And after losing at the last minute over the weekend, it was clear that he was quite unhappy. I have experienced that. It isn’t polite. It evokes strong feelings.
“My heart goes out to Derek. It’s not pleasant; you have a lot of feeling. I was a player and am now a manager. He has the right to his own viewpoint, which is most likely the only one he has.
However, there are instances when I say something and then, after the game, I realize that maybe I shouldn’t have said it. However, if you answer questions honestly while the camera is rolling, sometimes it will reflect positively on you and other times it won’t. It’s possible that he won’t regret it. Although I can’t speak for him, I disagree with what he said. The standard is really competitive, in my opinion.
Montgomery acknowledged that occasionally, but rarely, such could have an impact on the play’s caliber, drama or intensity.
You play against several teams with various playing philosophies each week. Football can be of lower quality during some weeks’ highly contested games, but it is something you have to cope with.
The Hibs manager was not pleased with his own team’s performance the previous week against St Johnstone. After winning four of their previous five league games, the loss against St Johnstone was a blow, since it dropped them to sixth place. But they need to recover fast because they are only a few points behind Hearts, who are in third position.
“We dislike losing football games. Both the performance and the loss were disappointing. The game was incredibly boring. We’ve talked about it internally since it was a disappointing day and the players didn’t live up to the level I set for myself.
A careless Dylan Levitt ball out from the back resulted in the lone goal, but Montgomery insisted that they must let that mistake undermine the effort they have been putting in.
It’s critical that players maintain their intelligence as players while adhering to the concepts you’ve worked on all week. They occasionally make mistakes and, for various reasons, things don’t always go as planned.
“I want players to be brave, and I will always say that.” It is not appropriate to alter course and discard all of our previous work simply because we had a poor performance or outcome.
“The weekend’s game was slow, which made me unhappy with its pace. That says something about me. However, the players also accept responsibility and put up a lot of effort to achieve our goals.
And even though this is Montgomery’s fourth straight away game, they are focused on the future rather than the past. With three games remaining before the winter break—the Motherwell and Ross County games and the 2023 final derby are positioned between them—it is hoped they can go into the brief shutdown with a positive attitude.
Nine points would be fantastic, but nothing in this league is assured; you have to work hard for every point since every team will strive for it.
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