Shaun Maloney and the Hibs pain he can't shake as 'gut wrenching' Hearts defeat causes ripple effect
The former playmaker is now manager of English Championship side Wigan Athletic.
Shaun Maloney admits not delivering on his Hibs vision is his big bugbear from an ill-fated time at Easter Road - and he wonders what could have been with some derby joy.
The former Scotland midfielder lasted less than 20 games in charge of the Premiership side and his tenure ended with two defeats to Hearts, one which condemned them to the bottom six and another which saw them lose a 2022 Scottish Cup semi-final. Despite the 2-1 loss in Mount Florida, it was a bright spot in terms of performance, but Maloney knows it wasn't enough.
Now manager of Wigan Athletic - the Championship club where he won the FA Cup as a player - the 40-year-old insists not coming up trumps with what he told staff about the Hibs gig is what bothers him most after a bid of closing the gap on third-placed Hearts fell apart. He told the Daily Mail: "There were lots of things I was ready for and there were other things I needed to experience. I guess that's what that four months did. I loved the time with the team and my staff.
"Demanding fans, but I really enjoyed that, I've been at huge clubs where the demands are even more intense, so that never worried me. I enjoyed so much of those four months.
"There are always things, when you look back, that could have worked better. Tactically, we became a very good defensive team, we could have been more aggressive in terms of attacking numbers, but the profile had changed.
"We lost our No 9 (Kevin Nisbet) and our biggest attacking player (Martin Boyle). Maybe I had to get that advantage again by attacking with an extra player. Recruitment in that window was something I had to go really deep into and I think there are lots of things I have to learn from.
"There are some things I would have done differently from pretty much the first month onwards. I think that's why I spent the next four or five months (after being sacked) taking stock of what had happened and being better equipped this time around.
"For myself, I wasn't too worried about the pain of what happened. The biggest disappointment I had was for the staff I brought to Hibs and the impression I'd given them about what we were going to create.
"That was the biggest pain, the staff had left big clubs. They'd come because of the vision and the dream I had for Hibs and it didn't happen for them.
"One of my favourite performances by the team was that gut-wrenching defeat in the semi-final. I knew where the team was going.
"I was clear on what we needed in terms of recruitment in the summer to give the team an opportunity to fight for the top six and close the gap on Hearts. In reality, our paths went in very different directions."