Nick Montgomery says Leicester City’s shock Premier League win in 2016 can be the benchmark for his Hibs side as he looks to challenge the “two giants” of Scottish football.
The Easter Road side travel to Glasgow to take on champions and league leaders Celtic in their own back yard after taking a point from the last meeting between the sides.
And the manager believes the rest of the league can take inspiration from Claudio Ranieri’s shock-troops of seven years ago to show that anything is possible.
Under chief executive Ben Kensell, Hibs’ internal mantra is to be the club which dares to do things differently. It is up to Montgomery to ensure it happens on the pitch.
“It’s very hard but you only have to look at Leicester in the Premier League, no-one really expected them to do that (winning in 2016),” the former Sheffield United midfielder tells the PA news agency.
“That is an inspirational story for every club in every league.” Is it long-term? No, it’s difficult to be sustainable because look at where Leicester are today, but that’s an extreme case.
“You can only strive for the best positions every season.” It’s not easy to compete against the division’s two juggernauts, but it’s something that every team strives for.
“I’m not saying we can compete financially with them on any level; budget-wise, that’s never going to happen.”
“What we can do is make sure we have a team competitive enough to make sure we’re competing in every game.”
Kensell has created vital foundations at Easter Road and was instrumental in bringing Montgomery to Edinburgh from the Central Coast Mariners in September following Lee Johnson’s departure.
In May, former Reading manager Brian McDermott was appointed director of football.
Kensell was the driving factor behind Norwich’s commercial and on-field success as chief operating officer before leaving in 2021. As a member of the club’s executive committee, he oversaw two promotions to the Premier League and guided them through the epidemic.
Another of the ten points on Easter Road emphasising the importance of personnel is “enjoy what you do, work hard, play hard, and smile.” It is something that Montgomery understands and applies to his play on the pitch.
“In the time I’ve been here, we’ve made a lot of progress in terms of an identity on the pitch; off the pitch, we want people to enjoy it while also knowing it’s going to be hard work,” he says from his office at Tranent’s snow-covered training ground.
“The first step is to get to know people, their strengths and weaknesses, and to create a team environment in which everyone expects something from each other.”
“The boys are a close-knit group, and we have brought in a couple of speakers and sports psychologists to talk to them about bonding and how you can become stronger.
The boys are a tight-knit group, we have brought in a couple of speakers and sports psychologists to talk to them about bonding and how you can become stronger.
“That’s my job, to make sure that happens, to create an environment where everyone feels they can be themselves.”
Montgomery won Central Coast Mariners’ first A-League title in 10 years last season and has now been joined by wife Josie and daughters Eva, Chloe and Leah, who watched their first game, Sunday’s 2-0 victory over Aberdeen, after flying from Australia.
A third straight win left Hibs two points behind third-placed Hearts and Montgomery believes it is just the beginning.
“Everybody knows there are two massive teams in the league but you want to be up there challenging,” he said.
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