Hibs legend accuses players of not doing enough

But Stanton, like Hughes a former captain and manager of the Edinburgh club, insisted no-one could query Hughes' enthusiasm and love for Hibs, but questioned whether some of his players had given the same of themselves.

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He said: "I know the argument will be made that John brought some of these players to the club but when that happens you expect players to take the chance to give 100 per cent enthusiasm and, to be honest, I don't think we were getting that from some of them.

"I know John is carrying the can but one or two should, if they are being honest, be looking at themselves in a mirror and asking 'Could I have contributed a bit more than I did?' Who could say: 'I tried my hardest'.

"John kept saying how well the lads were doing in training, but was he protecting them a bit?

"John was the type of player who always gave 100 per cent, he never shirked anything and came from the type of game where no-one gives you anything, you have to go and take it. His attitude to the game didn't quite match up with some of the players there at the moment."

Stanton was unwilling to name names, but added, tellingly: "When I was playing you didn't need anyone when you came off to tell you how you'd done.

"They don't have to be the greatest player in the world. You expect a player to have that will to win, that enthusiasm, that's the least the people sitting in the stands expect and, to be quite honest, I don't know if we've quite got that from some.

"People talk about the Old Firm and their ability to dig out results but no-one has a monopoly on that will to win, I don't think it is exclusive to certain clubs."

Stanton agreed poor results proved, ultimately, to be the downfall of Hughes, but argued that today's managers are rarely given enough time to realise their vision, pointing out how close Sir Alex Ferguson, the most successful boss in the history of British football, came to being ousted by Manchester United before bringing unrelenting success to Old Trafford.

A close friend of Fergie, to whom he was assistant manager at Aberdeen, Stanton said: "When he went to United it was a very difficult time, such a big club needed a lot of sorting out and I think Alex came very close to getting the bullet.

"But they persevered with him and I think he was there three years before he got things going.

"In this day and age managers are not given any time to settle things down, to bring in their own ideas and players although you could spend 2 million on a player and still be taking a chance as he might not fit in.

"It does take time for things to gel. John said he had his vision of where he wanted to take the club, the style he wanted the team to play and 16 months doesn't seem enough to bring success. But John knows it is all about results, you need results and they didn't seem to be coming.

"The board had that problem of how long do you want to wait. I'm sure it wasn't an easy decision and I am sorry about the whole thing. Maybe given a bit longer and a bit of luck he might just have made a big change. But it was not to be I'm afraid."

Stanton also insisted Hughes was right to suggest that luck had deserted his side in recent times while conceding Hibs' shortcomings couldn't be put down to fate alone.

He said: "No matter what anyone says, you do need that break of the ball.

I think there were two or three games where it didn't quite go for him, Derek Riordan hitting the post with a penalty against Inverness Caley when we were leading 1-0 for instance.

"You do need that bit of luck at times to turn the game, something I don't think John enjoyed much of recently but on the other hand you have to go out there and make it happen because the one thing this game guarantees you is disappointment."

Hughes' departure "by mutual consent" leaves Hibs searching for their ninth manager in 11 years following Jim Duffy, Alex McLeish, Franck Sauzee, Bobby Williamson, Tony Mowbray, John Collins and Mixu Paatelainen, but, as Stanton pointed out, the next boss will face many similar difficulties as he'll be left to work with the squad of players the 46-year-old has left behind, at least until the opening of the transfer window in January.

Hibs chairman Rod Petrie and his fellow directors, of course, will have a little time to spare with the club's next match not being, ironically, until Paatelainen brings Kilmarnock to Easter Road a week on Saturday, although their past record suggests they won't be rushed into making an appointment.

As to who that might be, Stanton professed to be no wiser than the rest of us. He said: "I'm sure there won't be a shortage of takers. Names are already being bandied about but whoever it is will have the same problems in that he'll inherit the current squad and have to work with them over the coming months."

But will the new manager be able to live up to the expectations of a Hibs support which had made it clear to Hughes they felt he was letting them down?

Stanton said: "Do Hibs fans expect too much? They are like anyone else, they have their aspirations and want to see the club in Europe. Maybe they are demanding but at the same time that's not a bad thing, to set your sights a bit on the high side because if you set them low you end up lower.

"However, they also need to be level-headed. The game has changed completely. People talk about the gap between the Old Firm and the rest closing but that's not what seems to be happening at the moment the way things are going.

"But if any team is going to close that gap then people will be looking at the likes of Hibs, along with Hearts, Aberdeen and Dundee United, to be doing so."

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