David Gray Eyes Hampden as Hibs Face Ross County
David Gray has been here before. Pressure building, questions flying, noise growing around Easter Road. This time, though, the stakes feel sharper.
Hibernian travel to Dingwall on Saturday knowing a win over League 1 side Ross County will take them into the last four of the Premier Sports Cup – and hand Gray the first semi-final of his tenure as head coach.
It comes at an awkward moment. Back-to-back Premiership defeats to Heart of Midlothian and St Johnstone have darkened the mood, while a gilt-edged chance to reach the Conference League has already slipped away. For a manager in the early phase of his third season in charge, the scrutiny has arrived early and with force.
Gray, though, refuses to flinch.
“That’s the life of a football manager,” he said. “You’re judged on results and that doesn’t change. If I’d won three or four games in a row, I’d still put pressure on myself to be better every day.
If you think you’ve completed it and stand still, football has a way of changing very quickly, both in a positive way and a negative way.”
Those words come from experience. At the start of his managerial career, Hibs won just one of his first 15 league games, a run that would have sunk many a rookie. The Easter Road board held their nerve then, but Gray is the first to admit that period cannot be used as a shield now.
He calls it “a different situation”.
“Malky [Mackay, sporting director] was also just in the door in terms of the structure and the transitional period that the club was in at that time,” he explained.
The club is more settled now. The framework is in place. With that comes expectation, and Gray knows it.
“Would I have expected [criticism] to come on quicker now because we’re a bit more settled and we’ve had time to do things? Naturally. I’m not averse to criticism, I’m not shying away from it.
I’m certainly not put off by it in terms of feeling sorry for myself. If anything, it’s the opposite.”
A clear target: Hampden
For all the chatter around form and tactics, the objective this weekend is brutally simple. Hibs have not reached a semi-final since November 2023, when they lost to Aberdeen in this same competition, with Gray then part of Nick Montgomery’s coaching staff.
That absence from the latter stages has stung.
“When we spoke about challenges and objectives at the start of the season, getting to Hampden was right at the very top of the list,” Gray said.
The noise outside grows louder with every setback, but he has no intention of letting it seep into the dressing room.
“If I allow the noise to affect what we’re doing or distract me in any way then you just go under in that situation.
I’ve been through adversity before and the focus is simply that we need to make sure we win.
The form and everything else doesn’t matter this weekend. It’s about making sure everyone knows the job in hand, which is a real chance to get to Hampden.”
A “League 1” tie in name only
On paper, a trip to a third-tier side for a place in the last four looks like a favourable draw. Gray knows better than to treat it that way.
Ross County, relegated from the Championship, have reset without ripping everything up. They remain full-time, have kept their core together and have started the season with purpose. They are unbeaten in League 1 and carry a clear threat in veteran striker Brian Graham, whose nine goals already include one in a home draw with Dundee during the competition’s group stage.
“They’ve stayed full-time and kept their core together,” Gray said of the Highland club. “It wouldn’t surprise me if they found themselves back in the Premiership again with the infrastructure, players and management team they’ve got.
They’ve started the season really well, they’re used to winning games and they’ll be playing with confidence. That adds to the challenge we’ve got.”
So the equation for Hibs is stark. A struggling Premiership side, under pressure, heading north to face a buoyant team that has forgotten how to lose. A semi-final spot on the line. A manager determined not to bend to the criticism swirling around him.
Gray has set the terms himself: adversity is nothing new, excuses are off the table, and Hampden sits just 90 minutes away.
Now his Hibs players have to match that conviction on the pitch.
