The former Scotland and Celtic player was only in charge of Easter Road for four months.
Shaun Maloney acknowledges that after just four months on the job, his relationship with the Hibs hierarchy soured.
Former Celtic and Scotland star Maloney landed his first managerial gig at Easter Road in December 2021 after Jack Ross’ dismissal. Having assisted Roberto Martinez at Belgium, Maloney had built a strong reputation as a coach in the sport. 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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