There was no time for the press to indulge in its customary orgy of speculation following the sacking of Franck Sauzee. The very next day Bobby Williamson was revealed to have accepted the job, and all that was left was for the clubs to agree compensation. The speed of the operation spoke not of desperation but of forethought, a plan laid immediately after the last dismal draw with Dunfermline, incubated over the ensuing six days and finally hatched once Williamson had tipped them the wink.
Williamson’s name had been muttered in certain quarters in the slightly longer interregnum after McLeish’s departure, but Hibs fans had sighed with relief when Sauzee was appointed. The reason for this is laid out plainly in Stuart Bathgate and Aidan Smith’s articles here: Williamson was a bore. He may have taken Kilmarnock to Europe in four of the last five seasons, but that didn’t make him an exponent of flair football, that touchstone of quintessential Hibbiness. He was also tarnished by association with Rangers. This was particularly unfair when you realise that he played fewer games for Rangers than any of his other clubs, unlike Alex Miller who truly was an Ibrox man, eight games for Morton aside. Many Hibs fans will hold five minutes in a royal blue shirt against you if you don’t cut the mustard at Easter Road.
the hibLOG 