Former Rangers forward Gordon Dalziel now believes that the Hibs manager’s 3-3 draw at Easter Road in January established him as a Premiership-caliber manager.
However, the way Gray’s incredibly well-organised team ended a seven-year wait for a victory on Ibrox soil a few months later was possibly the greatest feather in his cap to date, if that six-goal thriller demonstrated that he could motivate a Hibernian team to step up their game against one of the division’s Old Firm giants.
Grey was a picture of contrasting delight as Hibernian extended their unbeaten run into a 16th game while breaking a long-standing curse. Barry Ferguson was left “absolutely raging,” the red mist descending from a man who has never been afraid to wear his beating, bloody heart on his blue-colored sleeve.
Hibs boss David Gray explains Rangers triumph
Dylan Levitt opened the scoring after Jack Butland committed another ‘bad mistake’, to quote his manager. The latest in a long line of post-Christmas blunders from the previously-reliable goalkeeper.
After Cyriel Dessers squandered a handful of chances and Nedim Bajrami hit the bar, Martin Boyle’s late strike ensured that Hibs would head back to Edinburgh victorious for the first time since the days of Daniel Candeias, Sean Goss, Russell Martin and Wes Foderingham.
“It’s huge. 2018 was the last time a Hibs team came here and won,” Gray beams, the former Hibs skipper showing Ferguson what is required in order to turn a caretaker contract into a permanent arrangement.
“The way we started the game was huge, the composure we showed and getting the goal.
Rangers, as you might expect, mustered far more possession and a lot more shots than their visitors. The die was cast once Levitt left Butland red faced eight minutes in. Hibs managed only 28 per cent of the ball and less than half of Rangers’ 15 attempts on goal.
But with the likes of Rocky Bushiri and Nectar Triantis providing brick-wall resistance, there would be no way through for the frustrated hopes.
Gray dispels ‘Manager of the Month’ curse with famous Ibrox win
Much to Gray’s delight, his ‘game plan’ worked to perfection.
The current Scottish Premiership Manager of the Month continues, “You set up a strategy knowing Rangers will have a lot of the ball, so you have to be really disciplined without the ball.”
“A teammate was always there to help them out when they made a small error. A tremendous team effort—the substitutes entered the game and had an impact.
“The players should take all the credit for this outstanding run. The most important thing was having faith in our actions. avoiding being too high when things are going well and too down when they aren’t. I never stopped believing, and everyone’s combined efforts have been tremendous.
“We’re thinking that if we keep winning games, no one will be able to catch us.”
Is the Manager of the Month curse real? Which curse does Manager of the Month have?
