EASTER ROAD legend Pat Stanton insisted today that Hibs don't need a team of superstars to claim a European spot next season.
The former Hibs manager has been amazed by the way that his old side have bounced back from the departure of several key players in recent seasons.
Stanton is still a regular at Easter Road and has seen the likes of Scott Brown, Kevin Thomson, Ste
ven Whittaker, Derek Riordan and Garry O'Connor head for pastures new over the last two years.
However, Hibs have continued to produce and source enough talent to fill the voids left by players, whose departures at the time left supporters gutted.
Steven Fletcher is the latest Hibee to be linked with a move away from the club having come through the youth ranks, with both Real Madrid reported to be keeping an eye on his progress along with a number of English clubs.
But Stanton maintained that the club will continue to flourish, no matter who is given the responsibility of running out in green and white.
Hibs missed out on a place in the UEFA Cup last season when their results floundered in the final few games of the season, giving up European football to Motherwell.
The Easter Road side can, of course, still make it into that competition through the InterToto Cup route, if they can win their next two ties.
Stanton though, believes that they are more than capable of earning a place in the UEFA Cup by the more traditional route of league placing next season if they continue to progress under manager Mixu Paatelainen, pictured.
And he feels that Paatelainen has added some much-needed steel to his side – just as he did himself as a powerful striker for Hibs, Bolton, Aberdeen and Dundee United amongst others.
Stanton said: "It would be good to see Hibs right in there challenging for third place in the league next season.
"What I admire about the side right now is that they have lost a lot of good players but they still managed to maintain their level of football.
"It would be nice if we didn't lose them but that has been the way for a number of years now and every time it happens the team just seems to bounce back from it.
"Mixu has his own idea of how the game should be played. He played a certain way himself was he was a striker – you certainly knew he was on the pitch when you came up against him.
"I think that he is being realistic as well. If you look at Dundee United and how well Craig Levein has done up there.
"When United lose the ball, everybody comes back and helps out and Hibs do the same now.
"A lot of people think that you should leave someone up the park – but the main aim is not to lose a goal.
"He came into the club when it was going through a difficult time in terms of results and we had maybe taken a bit of a step back in that sense.
"But I think that, given time, he will be a great success for Hibs."
While Stanton concedes that players are always going to believe that the grass is greener on the other side when it comes to making the move down south or abroad, he feels that the club's younger players would be better served by staying a season or two longer and learning their trade.
However, he admitted that, these days, money is the deciding factor in many players' and agents' decisions.
He continued: "I think at times that there are one or two players who leave clubs to go to the English Leagues and they are not ready. The advice they should be getting is that they should stay a bit longer and learn their trade fully before they think about going anywhere else.
"But money comes into it, especially when you are being offered three or four times the wages that you are already on.
"When you look at what players down south are earning, they are so far away from the ordinary working man. How can you even spend that kind of money?"
Aside from being keen to see Hibs' stars commit their future to the club, Stanton hopes against hope that this new season will finally see Hibs lift the Scottish Cup.
Hibs haven't won the trophy since 1902 and Stanton admits that it's about time they broke their cup hoodoo. The Easter Road outfit had one of their best chances of winning the trophy snatched away from them two seasons ago when they lost out to Dunfermline in a semi-final replay.
A relegated Pars side then went on to lose to an under-performing Celtic in the final and Stanton admits that still hurts: "I really felt that we had a real chance in that final.
"We had lost to Dunfermline in the semi-final replay and, when it came to the final, Celtic had been playing poorly.
"I think that if we had made it through to the final then we would have had a great chance of winning it because it wasn't a good game and both sides struggled to get going.
"But, hopefully, our time will come sooner rather than later.
"Teams from lower divisions have made their mark in the competition in recent years and when you even consider that Gretna, who had just been promoted, were just a penalty kick away from winning the Scottish Cup against Hearts, it just shows you what can be done.
"Hibs have not won the cup for 106 years and it has been a real disappointment for me that they have never been able to do it, despite some of the great teams that we have had at Easter Road.
"But I suppose that you've got to look on the bright side of things. The team have been performing well in recent season and it's got to happen some time.
"If we won it, I think that the whole of Leith would have to shut down because there would be the biggest party the place has ever seen.
"And at least it gives us something to look forward to!"
The full article contains 1047 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
