Shaun Maloney admits his relationship with the Hibs hierarchy turned sour before he was sacked after just four months in the job.
Former Celtic and Scotland star Maloney landed his first managerial gig at Easter Road in December 2021 after Jack Ross’ dismissal. Maloney had built up an impressive coaching reputation in the game having worked as Roberto Martinez’s assistant at Belgium. But his Hibees tenure was cut short after winning just six of his 19 games in charge of the Edinburgh club.
The axe fell after back-to-back defeats to rivals Hearts in the Premiership and Scottish Cup, with Hibs also missing out on a top-six place. However, Maloney did lose his top scorer against Australian winger Martin Boyle was sold for £3million to Saudi Arabian club Al-Faisaly.
Now in charge of Wigan Athletic, Maloney admitted the manner of his Hibs departure was a dark period in his career. But the 41-year-old believes Sir Alex Ferguson’s words of wisdom helped him get back on his feet as he refused to give up on his ambition of being a manager.
He told FourFourTwo: “Things started well, but we lost some of our best attacking players in January. My relationship with people behind the scenes became strained and I left after four months in the job.
“I was in a bad place after that and spoke to Sir Alex Ferguson. He told me that it might end up being the best thing to ever happen to me, which I couldn’t comprehend at the time. But he was right- it had been a huge learning curve.”
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