Stubbs – We’ll Bounce Back Stronger

Head coach Alan Stubbs has said Hibernian will bounce back stronger following the Play Off disappointment against Rangers.

Speaking to the press following the Play Off defeat, Stubbs said that Hibernian’s aim would be to emulate Hearts in 2015-16 and go all out for securing the title and automatic promotion.

In quotes carried by the Daily Record Stubbs was obviously disappointed but he vowed we’d be better for the experience in the coming years.

‘If we keep the team together, we`ll go up automatically. You know me, I`m not one to make predictions I don`t believe in. I want do it the way Hearts have done this year.’

Stubbs was obviously asked who he’d prefer to face next season now, Motherwell or Rangers who will fight it out in the Play Off Final, and he admitted he couldn’t ‘care less’ what happens now.

‘If it`s Rangers you`d think they would strengthen – they have the 
biggest budget. I`d like that budget. I believe in my players though. They`re good enough and have their best years ahead of them. I`m quite excited by that. We`ve proved over the season we`re capable of beating anyone. If Rangers are still in the division 
it will be between us and them – and I`ll relish the challenge.’

Looking back on a whole, Stubbs knew the key point in our season had been early on, losing four of the opening seven as that really set us back, so if he had his time again he admits he’d like longer to prepare for the season – but of course that’s what he has now ahead of next campaign.

‘If you offered me one thing it would have been be more time to get the team ready. We lost out on being a competitive force from the beginning of the
 season. We didn`t give ourselves enough preparation time to get 
close to Hearts.’

As for the Rangers game itself, he went on to say that he didn’t feel there was a lot between the sides on the day, but he wasn’t happy with the time wasting that went on during the game.

‘I don`t think anyone could have argued had it been us who went through. There wasn`t much between the two teams. It was closely contested and we just needed a goal. We completely dominated the first 25 minutes and put some flashing balls across the six-yard box. But you need to get on the end of them. If we`d scored at that time it would have been interesting.’

He did go on to praise the opposition though for their performance, especially defensively on the day.

‘You have to give Rangers credit. They stay in good areas – when they block crosses it`s not by accident, it`s by habit. They have experience in there. A lot of things have been written about them but Stuart McCall has turned Rangers around. He has them organised and they have some international players – they know how to win games.’

With promotion this season now over, it is all eyes to the future and Stubbs had to be content with the progress we have made, but now we must build on that if we are to achieve the aim of taking the title next year.

‘Analyse the season from the day I walked in to the last minute of the last game and if you do that, you`ll see we`ve made progress. I`m not going to say we`ve done a brilliant job because we`re not going up. But we`ve done reasonably well. The fans appreciate that. You saw the reaction they gave the players – and the players haven`t seen that for quite a bit. It`s an indicator.’

Having referenced keeping the squad together as being key, Stubbs confirmed the budget wouldn’t change so he was confident but it ultimately comes down to what players want to do and how tempting an offer is from another club.

‘I don`t seen any reason why staying down should affect our ability to keep them together. The budget will still be the same next year so I`m hopeful I can keep all these players. The one thing I can`t stop is if someone likes one of my players, I can`t stop them from making a bid. I can only really stop it if it`s not enough. When you have good players, there will always 
be interest. I`m glad of that because it means I`m signing some good players. We`ll do everything we can to hold on to our best players. Most are still under contract, a few aren`t but we`re making progress behind the scenes with that.’