So, the Petrie Out camp have been pretty vocal with meetings at the Hibs Club etc but are they really speaking for the 95% of supporters they claim want rid of the now non executive Chairman of the club?
To be frank, I’m not sure. Many fans are critical of the way he handles things which turns out to be everything if the anti Petrie camp are to be believed.
Don’t get me wrong, there are certainly things he’s got wrong, but in general terms has he got that much wrong that folk are baying for his head?
If you look at the positives to start with then his much vaunted ‘infrastructure’ is fairly impressive. The club has a top stadium, terrific corporate facilities and a fancy training ground.
All achieved with Rod at the helm, steering the ship.
With him running the club, it’s financial security will never waver. The last available accounts actually saw a drop in the wages to turnover ratio despite coming on the back of a playing squad which saw Colin Calderwood squander relatively big money on the likes of Isiah Osbourne and Junior Agogo.
Everyone associated with the club is disappointed with how the season past panned out. It was abysmal, no mistaking that fact but is Petrie honestly the one who should take all the fans fury?
Things have been pretty poor on the pitch for the best part of his tenure perhaps barring the Alex McLeish and Tony Mowbray era’s so Hibs supporters may feel it’s he who is the root cause of the current malaise and there is an argument to be made.
A succession of managers have failed at Easter Road. Probably barring Colin Calderwood though, all have been, in the most, welcomed by the fans when their appointments were announced.
Few have been a success. John Hughes returned a European spot through a fourth place league finish, John Collins gave a memorable day out at Hampden but signed a bunch of second rate nobodies which gets forgotten about amongst the misty eyed, Mixu Paatelainen was hounded out for a poor playing style, Colin Calderwood just about got everything wrong whilst Pat Fenlon led the club to two Scottish Cup Finals and also the two most embarrassing results in Hibernian history.
Now Terry Butcher is at the helm and he managed to turn an average mid table Premiership outfit into relegation fodder which is no mean feat in anyone’s book but again, the majority of the fans saw him as a man who could lead the club back to glory when he was announced as Fenlon’s successor.
So with Petrie as the power broker during all these times it’s easy to see why he’s being fingered as culprit in chief.
Has his accountancy background led to him being too frugal on the park whilst spending greatly on fixtures and fittings? It’s a convenient argument made when things aren’t going well on the park however there has never been more than 4 or 5 clubs in the top flight who’ve spent more on the playing budget than Hibs under Petrie’s watch.
It’s also argued money received from the sales of Scott Brown, Kevin Thomson and Steven Whittaker should have been re-invested on the park.
Again the facts remain the club were still in debt at the time but let’s not have facts in the way of arguments.
The sale of these allowed Hibs to restructure in such a manner they could afford to build a badly needed training complex rather than have the players traipse around various public parks.
There is definitely a problem around the place – of course there is or this discussion wouldn’t be being undertaken at the moment however results happen on the field and that’s the one area Petrie can’t take the blame for.
A rash of poor quality signings by successive managers seems to leave the next incumbent with a severe squad restructuring job on their hands yet it seems none have done so until this summer when all is too late.
This is where the under-lying problems have risen – since 2007, when Hibs lifted the CIS Cup.
Leeann Dempster has taken over from Petrie as CEO, Petrie has promised a summer of change like no other with her at the helm.
The club certainly needs it but simply shouting ‘Petrie Out’ isn’t helping matters, neither is withholding money from the club via season tickets.
Hibbies everywhere are hurting, let’s let the dust settle over the next month, see the actions of the board and then come up with a proper plan to help rather than antagonise.
Petrie has done right, he’s done wrong but remember – Hibs could be a Rangers or Hearts.
Staying as a non executive Chairman does no-one any harm – if he gives a pinky promise not to interfere with Leeann’s new role lets at least give him the benefit of the doubt.
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