DREY Wright has revealed how he’d almost resigned himself to leaving Hibs under Jack Ross – but is now eyeing a bright new beginning under Shaun Maloney.
Wright admits he’d held talks with former manager Jack after a glaring lack of first-team football saw him drop down the pecking order to the stage where he felt a move away from the Edinburgh club might be the only option to kick-start his career.
The 26-year-old former St Johnstone winger, though, grasped his opportunity in the best possible manner with a fine display during the Hibees 2-1 Boxing Day win over Dundee United at Tannadice where new boss Maloney handed him a long-awaited recall.
Wright didn’t disappoint and now the Englishman is aiming to become a mainstay for former Belgian assistant manager Maloney once competitive Premiership action resumes after the winter break.
When asked if leaving had looked likely, he said: “Yeah. Conversations have been had about it but hopefully, it will change now.
“It goes without saying I found myself out of the picture a little bit. These things happen in football.
“Now it’s about looking forward and enjoying working with the new manager.
“I had talks with Jack Ross a number of times. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but I wish him all the best in the future and it’s just one of those things. It just didn’t work out for us.
“Conversations were had. Under the previous manager, he assured me I was part of his plans which is what I was told.
“Again it was just a case of keeping my head down and trying to get an opportunity which never came about this season.
“I am very busy away from the club and I have three young kids which is the go-to for me.
“It’s been tough and you have to just keep on plugging away.
“I obviously trained as hard as I could every day. I think if you asked the staff, it was one of the things they appreciated because I never gave in.
“It was just one of those things.”
Wright looked rejuvenated throughout his much-awaited return and credits Maloney’s man-management for helping him embrace the Tayside stage last Sunday.
He added: “He just told me to go and enjoy it and play with no pressure. It has been a long time – eight months or so since I last started.
“He just told me to go and enjoy it and implement the work we’ve been doing out there on the training pitch.
“It was good to be out there especially with the style of play we are producing at the moment. It was a joy to play in and be a part of.
“I am finding it really interesting because of the detail and planning that goes into it and how we are going to break teams down and what we are going to do in the game to implement that.
“It’s been really enjoyable and interesting because it’s how I see the game as well.
“Hopefully, it suits and it’s the start of something quite good.
“I spoke to friends and family and never in my career have I come across a manager who goes into as much depth and that much planning into what we are going to do.
“He explains it really well and makes it as simple as it can be. It opens your eyes into the process that we are going to attack teams with. He breaks it down and makes it a lot more simple for us.”
“His coaching credentials speak for themselves. He had a brilliant job being Belgium’s assistant for the amount of time he did.
“I’ve not asked him exactly what he did, but I would imagine it was good because he was working with players at the top level who took to him really well.”
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