Hibs doing their bit for Scotland, insists Murray

HIBS 2

DUNDEE UTD 0

HIBS skipper Ian Murray today offered a bit of advice to those bemoaning the lack of emerging talent in Scottish football - spend a bit more time at Easter Road.

Murray has been stung as badly as any of Berti Vogts’ players who featured in the miserable 1-1 draw in Moldova which all but ended Scotland’s World Cup hopes.

But he believes the hysterical reaction which has ensued is well over the top and the charge that Scottish sides are no longer producing promising youngsters is unfounded.

And he believes that those who have been so vocal in their criticism should have a look at what is happening at Easter Road before opening their mouths.

Such is the welter of young talent at what the Hibee fans like to refer to as the Leith San Siro, Murray admits that even at just 23 he feels he’s ageing by the day as he watches the likes of Steven Fletcher, a mere 17, and Jamie McCluskey, 12 months the striker’s junior, pull on a green-and-white first-team shirt.

Injuries, of course, have forced Tony Mowbray to ask more of the club’s young players than he’d have liked but the Hibs boss admits that even he has been astounded by the response from his kids who, against all the odds, today sit proudly in fourth place in the SPL table.

Time after time Mowbray has been forced to pitch in a whole raft of teenagers while Garry O’Connor and Derek Riordan, both just 21, form what is the top flight’s most potent strikeforce at the moment.

Something is certainly stirring at Easter Road, the feelgood factor generated by a run of eight matches without defeat so tangible you can almost reach out and touch it.

A product of the self-same youth system which is producing the latest bunch of precocious kids, Murray knows better than most the challenges which face young players but he, too, feels the excitement they have brought to a club which has wallowed in self-pity for too long.

He said: "There’s one or two guys around my age in the side who would be classed as young players in different teams but here he are the older ones.

"The young lads are good players but it’s up to the older ones like Gary Caldwell [age 22] and Stephen Glass [Saturday’s oldest outfield player at 28] to add that bit of experience.

"It seems no time since we were talking about having a glimpse of the future as Garry and then Derek started making the breakthrough and yet they are now the current first-choice strikers.

And now we’re starting to talk about young Fletcher and McCluskey as first-team players despite the fact they are only 17 and 16 respectively.

"Perhaps those who say Scotland isn’t producing young talent should come to Easter Road a bit more often. I’ve been reading a lot of stuff in the newspapers written by people who don’t know what is happening in the game.

"Yes, it will be a hard job for anyone in the next few years but given time and not too much pressure I can see us having a good squad but at the moment the pressure on people is just too much."

As proof of the talent emerging at Easter Road, Murray pointed out how just this week Hibs had five players away on international duty with Scotland - a figure which could well have been eight had Riordan, Scott Brown and Kevin Thomson been fit.

He said: "We have a lot of good youngsters coming through. There will undoubtedly be times when we play badly but we are a young side in which everyone is trying their hearts out.

"The fans are enjoying the way we are playing and the fact we are scoring good goals."

As good as it has been, though, Murray is as aware as Mowbray that much work still needs to be done although he believes the signs are promising. He said: "There’s been no talk about targets, the boss has never said we have to do this or that in terms of where we finish in the table. He’s more focused on improving each and every one of us as players.

"I think if that as long as he can see us develop and a steady improvement over the next couple of years then he will be happy."

Mowbray was certainly in such a mood, having seen goals from O’Connor and Fletcher at the start of each half complete the perfect week for him following the birth of his first child, Lucas.

But while delighted to see another three points safely pocketed, Mowbray, like Murray, was under no illusions that his task of rebuilding Hibs was anywhere near done.

What gave Mowbray greater satisfaction, though, was that the victory was achieved against a difficult backdrop with so many players having been away on international duty for almost a fortnight while a late injury to David Murphy forced a reshuffle which saw Glass play at left-back with Fletcher taking up an unfamiliar role on the left of the midfield four.

Mowbray said: "I think any win is satisfying but probably more so on this occasion because of the team we had to put out, the players coming back from international matches and young players playing out of position.

"All these factors could have added up to a flat performance and a disappointing showing but we found that bit extra we asked them for and got the three points."

To make his point, Mowbray reflected on the recent contributions of 19-year-old Dean Shiels, signed from Arsenal during the summer. He said: "I remember sitting across the table from him and saying he might get a handful of games, a few subs appearances to see if he could handle it.

"But he’s played in every game and almost every minute of those games. I keep asking him to go back to the well and to give us another performance and he does.

"We have a very, very young team that I would like to protect a little more but the injuries we have means they have to keep going in there and doing the best they can. To their credit they are doing that at the moment."

And if the fans are getting excited at the sight of Fletcher and McCluskey, Mowbray revealed there could be more youngsters on the way in the next few years.

He said: "There are youngsters people at the football club are very excited about. There are young players coming through at different levels, Under-16 and Under-14, players bubbling away underneath that hopefully we can benefit from somewhere down the line.

"It’s credit to our youth academy director John Park and his team of coaches, guys like Alistair Stevenson who takes the Under-19s, for developing football players.

"When they join me I have to try to take that on again and instil the belief and confidence they can become first-team players."

And like many, Mowbray senses something is stirring. He said: "I feel it growing. It’s something we have to build on. I feel the potential is there for us to get the fans back on board to support what is a very young side that needs encouragement.

"Hopefully we can keep fuelling that by picking up results to rekindle the supporters’ enthusiasm and have them coming back in their numbers as they have shown in the past.

"This club is a giant when it comes to supporter base. We have to try and reignite that passion. Young football players need encouragement. I try to give them that but if it’s coming from the terraces all around them that’s a big, big bonus."