Hibs Show Resilience After Gray Exit Against Aberdeen

The week started with a jolt at Easter Road. Nick Montgomery’s replacement David Gray, popular in the dressing room and respectable in the dugout, was told after just six league games that he would not be the man to take Hibs forward. The decision cut through the squad. You could see the bruise in the opening 45 minutes.

Adam Potter, back for a second spell on the coaching staff, spoke about lifting heads and clinging to positives. Early on, there weren’t many. Callum Wright carried the fight, but around him Hibs were jittery, loose in possession and far too generous to an Aberdeen side that happily snapped up every counter-attacking chance they were offered.

Aberdeen, under Stephen Robinson, looked the more assured outfit. The manager had dismissed talk of systems with his “shape is for pundits” line earlier in the season as his side laboured in a 4-3-3. He has since quietly gone back to what worked so well for him at St Mirren: three centre-backs, two up top, and a platform built on structure and aggression.

The difference is obvious. Aberdeen press with more conviction, they’re harder to play through, and when they break, the pace up front gives them a genuine edge. At the heart of that improvement stand two new pillars: Mats Knoester and Afeez Aremu.

Knoester is already the standout defender at the club, reading danger and attacking the ball with authority. In front of him, Aremu covers huge areas of the pitch, snapping into tackles, regaining possession and then keeping things simple, feeding the more creative players and letting attacks build from his work.

That solidity looked like it would carry Aberdeen to another important win. Kevin Nisbet, in the kind of form every striker craves, produced a moment of real quality – a sharp touch, a swift turn, and a clinical finish – to give Robinson’s side the lead. It was his third goal in as many games, a streak that underlines his importance but also exposes a nagging worry: where are the rest of the goals going to come from this season?

For a while, Hibs had no answer. The first half drifted by with the home side tentative and slow, again raising familiar complaints from the stands. Why do they start so sluggishly? Why can’t they stitch together a full 90 minutes? Is this squad actually good enough?

Then the mood shifted after the interval. Hibs came out with a different edge. They played forward quicker, pressed with more conviction, and stopped treating the ball like a burden. The game tilted. Aberdeen, so composed earlier, were pushed back as the noise rose and the tackles flew in.

The pressure finally told. A rash, needless challenge from Jack Milne undid much of Aberdeen’s disciplined work. Having done the hard part by getting in front, they handed Hibs a route back that Robinson will replay in his mind all international break. From an Aberdeen perspective, it was a cheap way to surrender control, and it cost them two points they had in their grasp.

Hibs, to their credit, earned the equaliser their second-half surge merited. The aggression, the directness, the willingness to take risks – all of it pointed to a team still willing to run for each other despite the upheaval of Gray’s departure. Yet as the final whistle went, the roar carried as many questions as it did relief.

The international break now arrives with a three-week gap and a glaring vacancy. The next Hibs manager inherits a squad that can look transformed within a half, yet rarely complete the job across a full game. The slow starts, the patchy quality, the psychological dips – those problems are not going away on their own.

Aberdeen, by contrast, head into the pause with a clearer sense of direction. The system suits them, the spine looks stronger, and Robinson can justifiably feel he is laying the base for a more promising campaign after a wretched opening spell. The frustration will be that one lapse from Milne turned a statement away win into a missed opportunity.

For Hibs, the search for a new leader begins. For Aberdeen, the structure is finally in place. The next few months will show which of those foundations proves stronger.