David Gray remembers vividly how Neil Lennon brought what he calls a winning “aura” to Hibs.
Under the Northern Irishman the current caretaker boss captained the Easter Road side to the Championship title and back into Europe the following season.
Now the former Celtic boss is among the frontrunners for a sensational return to Leith.
And while Gray admits it’s nothing to do with him whether his old manager heads back to the capital, he could sure do with a touch of the winning mentality coursing back into a side that’s won just one of their last 10 league outings.
Next up is a Premiership clash at home to Dundee this evening before managerless Hibs can finally turn their attention to Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup Final against Celtic.
And asked about his time working with Lennon, Gray said: “Neil Lennon brought success to the club.
“When he was here we won the Championship, I was the captain and I had a good relationship with him.
“He was very demanding, the standards he expected were very high.
“He’s managed at a high level and he has an aura about him and he demands respect and rightly so.
“It’s nothing to do with me if he comes back or not, that’s up to the powers-that-be moving forward.
“I’m not getting caught up with anything, it’s just about focusing on the job myself, Eddie May and Craig Samson have to do.”
Hibs chief executive Ben Kensell has been inundated with applications with Record Sport exclusively revealing Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler had thrown his name in the hat.
Lennon is understood to be open to a return and Derek McInnes is also among the frontrunners.
Gray won’t be putting himself in the running for the job full-time, believing it comes too soon after he swapped playing for coaching.
But he is set to take charge for a second game this evening. Saturday’s 1-1 draw at St Mirren extended Hibs’ shocking Premiership run.
But Gray said: “I think initially straight after the game, losing the goal late in the game, brings disappointment. There was definitely a feeling of that after the game in the dressing room.
“But there’s no time to feel sorry for yourself. We can build on what happened the other day.
“We got a point at a difficult venue in difficult conditions.
“Our job is to get a reaction out of them from last Wednesday. I think you saw we got a reaction in how we started that game against St Mirren.
“We need to make sure that we keep them positive and keep them believing in themselves because they are a good team that are slightly underachieving in the league at the minute.
“I know people talk about the cup final but the only thing I am thinking about is Dundee.
“Everyone around the club has to be in the same position at the moment.”
Joe Newell was handed the captaincy for Gray’s first game in charge but with Paul Hanlon and Paul McGinn available again after suspension the armband is likely to be passed back.
Newell savaged his team mates for letting down Jack Ross after the 1-0 defeat to Livingston.
Just hours later the boss was sacked.
And the former Rotherham and Peterborough midfielder said: “We were really shocked. There was just a feeling a sadness.
“I’ve been around a few years now, seen plenty of managers come and go. You do just have to get on with it.
“We got together Thursday morning and just had to concentrate on the next game straight away.
“It’s not nice. The main thing is two blokes have lost their jobs, which is a brutal way to look at it, the fact that they’re out of a job now. It’s a harsh reality.
“But we can’t think about it for too long, with so many games coming up.”
Newell admitted the poor run of results were “on the players” last week - and he’s not changed his mind five days later.
He said: “That message was not a message anyone would have been shocked about.
“That is how we were all feeling. We all know still that our performances are not worthy of playing for this club and the talent we have and the ability we have as a squad.
“Our attention is fully on the Dundee game and hopefully we can win and we can go into the weekend in a bright mood and be buzzing for it.
“But until then we genuinely can’t afford to not be thinking about this game or take it lightly.”
Newell admitted nobody outwih the interim management team had addressed the players over the current situation.
But with the list of names linked with the job growing, the 28-year-old admitted: “I’m not going to lie and say I don’t look at it. You see it everywhere.
“You go on your phone, you’ve got people texting you, you go on Twitter and see all these names.
“I don’t know anything. There’s no point paying attention to it until someone walks through the door.
“But the amount of games we’ve been having, we’re coming in and trying to do as much as we can.
“There’s a short amount of time between games, so all the focus is really on the next game. There’s not really much else to talk about.”
