Barely three months ago, David Gray and his hibernian players left this Celtic Park at a drift point at the bottom of the PremièreHip after a 3-0 defeat in the hands of the Champions.
Their departure from the east end of Glasgow, however, was certainly not made with their tail between their legs.
Despite the result of this afternoon, Hibs traveled with M8, his head high and with a real feeling of belief that their season was about to take an upward turn.
How much it would become better, none of their supporters could have considered at this stage – whatever their admiration for a performance in Parkhead which denied the final score.
The Hibs return to the same place this afternoon by protecting an undefeated race which made the club historians sharpen the records and raised the team in third place in the table of the League.
When looking for a reference point for the dramatic transformation of their fortune, the 3-3 draw at home in Aberdeen a few weeks earlier is the obvious and understandable landing place.
Having been by the edge, Gray has resuscitated his management career in Hibs
The victory over the hearts the last time made 15 undefeated games for the side of the Easter road
There is certainly no doubt that the equalizer of the 96th minute of Rocky Bushii during this tumultuous evening at Easter Road lit a spark in a team that had lost seven and won only one of their first 14 games from Prime Minister.
However, it was their display against Celtic that provided the model on how they have compiled an undefeated sequence of 15 games now in all competitions since then.
Hibs has played with intelligence and business, regularly and expertly choosing their moments to find shortcomings in Celtic defense.
Their lack of final touch would ultimately be expensive but, by displaying 14 objective attempts – no less than nine that were saved by Kasper Schmeichel – they gave weight to the regularly indicated conviction of Manager Gray that his team would end up well.
If Bushiri had not come to the rescue on what looked like a potential shift in the game against Aberdeen, we may never know how close Gray was to become the last victim of the Hibs.
The legend of the 36-year-old club had received the dreaded vote two weeks earlier after a 2-1 defeat at Home against St Mirren, who saw many fans contain the conclusion that the time of their victorious Idol of the 2016 Scottish Cup in the technical zone was on the rise.
A painful break 4-1 in Dens Park in the first match after receiving the support of the board of directors, Gray barely suggested that Gray was going to justify their faith. Even at these lowest points, however, the way he tackled the situation was impressive.
Gray has never unloaded his responsibility from the perilous position in which Hibs found himself. He spoke in tones measured by his confidence in his own capacities and in the ability of his players to extract the team from their situation.
His approach was spectacularly justified, as is the patience shown towards him by the motorized brokers of Easter during an equally turbulent period of the terrain.
Stability has been insufficient in Hibs in recent years, but there are signs that could change.
Ben Kensell’s departure as director general in January was generally considered with approval by supporters, who had come to consider the former man of Norwich City as a major source of the club’s problems.
In less than four years of work, Kensell supervised the layoffs of four Hibs managers to Jack Ross, Shaun Maloney, Lee Johnson and Nick Montgomery.
Gray greets Bushiri, the defender having provided the goal that sparked a reversal of the Hibs season
Its release intervened two weeks before the club’s last annual accounts revealed an enticing loss of 7.2 million pounds Sterling, which included the costly layoff packages of Johnson and Montgomery.
Executive director Ian Gordon, son of the former owner of the club, Ron, who died in 2023, said at the annual general meeting of last month that his family would absorb the deficit – the Hibs entering a new era mapped by the owner of Bournemouth Bill Foley’s Black Knight, who paid 6 million pounds Sterling for a participation of 25% last year.
Having previously accused Hibs of “not listening” to the contribution of Black Knight, it is clear that Foley and his colleagues now have a word to say much more in the club’s strategy.
Garvan Stewart moved from Bournemouth to Easter Road in December to play the role of recruitment chief, working alongside the sports director Malkky Mackay, who spoke of the need to provide Gray with a more “ balanced ”.
It should be noted that Hibs restricted their business in the January transfer window at the solitary signature of the Gambian midfielder Alasana Manneh of the Danish club Odense.
For Gray, it was another illustration of his confidence in the players already at his disposal and their potential to prove that the difficulties encountered in the first half of the season were not a real indication of their capacities.
A change of training helped underlie their undefeated race and remove basic defensive errors that were so damaging in the first months of the campaign.
The transition to three to the rear has poured dividends, Bushiri being increasingly influential as the central pillar between Warren O’Hora and Jack Iredale.
The same goes for Gray’s decision to replace the Erratic Josef Bursik with Jordan Smith, who seemed a much more reliable goalkeeper.
The absence of Captain of the Joe Newell club with an injury to the groin since December was not as a blow as many would have planned. The central role in the midfield was admirably fulfilled by Nectarios Triantis. The Australian, loaned by Sunderland, has become one of Gray’s most effective artists.
The Hibs also became more powerful in the third party striker, pulling a white one only once in the last 15 games when they drew 0-0 in St Mirren last month.
The Twins Cadden, Chris and Nicky, offer a rhythm and a width on one or the other side. The form of Nicky was particularly catchy and is talked about the potential call in Scotland less than fanciful.
Gray takes a training before the visit of Hibernian at the Celtic Park in the quarterfinals of the Scottish Cup
Josh Campbell thrives in a more advanced role, operating just behind the attackers, as he showed in a style with his double in the superb victory at home 2-1 on Celtic two weeks ago.
With Kieron Bowie now in action after being sidelined since September with an injury to the hamstrings, Gray has the possibility of showing why Hibs was ready to pay high costs of around £ 600,000 to sign the 22-year-old Fulham young person last summer.
The first signs are that Bowie could form a profitable partnership in advance with Martin Boyle, another player who has resumed his optimal form in the last three months.
Boyle scored his 13th goal of the season in the 2-1 victory last Sunday against Hearts at Easter Road, an opportunity and a performance that perfectly summed up the positivity Gray generated at the club.
The post-match celebrations and the emotional interpretation of Sunshine on Leith showed a powerful sense of unity between players and fans, which was in the most striking contrast possible with discord and consternation last fall.
The logic and the odds of the bookmakers suggest that the undefeated race of the Hibs will end in Celtic Park while they will today face assistant holders in a quarter of the intriguing Scottish Cup.
However, it is at Gray’s big credit that a victory for his team would now be considered a slight surprise, rather than a major shock.
Whatever the result, the rise of the Hibs under Gray was one of the remarkable stories of the Scottish season.
