Amazing David Gray Hibernian Tactic

David Peter Gray’s story in football is a testament to perseverance, adaptability, and leadership. Born in 1988, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Gray’s career has spanned multiple clubs, leagues, and roles, culminating in his lasting legacy at Hibernian FC as both a celebrated player and a manager.

David Gray began his football journey as a youth trainee at Heart of Midlothian (of all places), before joining the famed Manchester United academy at 16.

His transfer to Manchester United in 2004 for a reported £50,000 was a significant step, marking him as one of the more promising Scottish talents of his generation.

He made his senior debut for Manchester United in a League Cup tie against Crewe Alexandra in 2006 but found first-team opportunities limited in a squad full with international stars.

Gray’s development continued through a series of loan moves. Between 2007 and 2010, he was loaned out to several clubs, including Royal Antwerp (Belgium), Crewe Alexandra, and Plymouth Argyle.

These spells, though not glittered with personal accolades, exposed him to the rigours of first-team football. He displayed his work ethic and defensive diligence, attributes that would become hallmarks of his playing style.

In 2010, Gray signed a permanent deal with Preston North End in League One. Over two seasons, he made more than 30 appearances, but injuries and managerial changes limited his impact.

Gray’s resilience saw him move on to Stevenage in 2012, where he would find more regular football. At Stevenage, he made over 70 appearances, earning praise for his consistent displays at right-back and his professionalism on and off the pitch.

The pivotal chapter of Gray’s career began in the summer of 2014 when he joined Hibernian. For Gray, a return to Edinburgh was a homecoming, and it would prove to be the defining move of his professional life.

Signed as a free agent, he quickly established himself as a leader in a squad in transition and was appointed club captain in his first season.

Gray’s tenure at Hibernian is best epitomised by his captaincy during the club’s historic 2015-16 campaign. Hibs had endured a 114-year wait to lift the Scottish Cup, the country’s most prestigious knockout trophy. On May 21, 2016, in the final against Rangers at Hampden Park, Gray wrote his name into club folklore.

With the match level at 2-2 in stoppage time, Gray surged forward from right-back to head home the winning goal, securing a dramatic 3-2 victory. This iconic moment ended over a century of heartbreak for Hibernian and instantly elevated Gray to legendary status among fans.

His leadership, commitment, and ability to rise to the occasion made him both a symbol of the team’s resilience and a role model for young players.

As his playing days wound down due to injuries and the emergence of younger players, Gray began preparing for a future in coaching.

In 2021, after announcing his retirement from professional football, he was immediately offered a coaching role at Hibernian. His deep understanding of the club’s values and his rapport with the squad made this transition a natural one.

Gray has since served as an assistant coach and, on several occasions, as interim manager following managerial changes. The time he spent as caretaker manager have earned him respect for his tactical acumen and ability to steady the ship during turbulent periods.

Over the last two Scottish Premiership campaigns, Hibernian have experienced a period of both challenge and transition. In the 2023-24 season, Hibs finished in sixth place, securing their spot in the league’s top half after the split.

The team managed to collect 48 points from 38 games and although their form was inconsistent at times, Hibernian showed resilience, notably with a 3-0 victory over Hearts and a spirited 2-2 draw against Celtic.

The 2024-25 campaign saw Hibernian aim for greater consistency, but progress remained gradual. By mid-season, they hovered around fifth place, having accumulated 28 points from 20 matches,

Despite injury setbacks to key players, Hibernian remained in contention for European qualification, driven by a blend of youthful promise and seasoned leadership.

Gray’s preferred formation has generally been the 3-5-2, though he has shown flexibility, occasionally shifting to a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1 depending on the opposition.

In matches where more control is needed, Gray is known to instruct one of the double pivots—the two holding midfielders—to drop deeper, forming a back three in build-up phases.

This not only aids in retaining possession under pressure but also liberates the full-backs, who are key to Hibs’ attacking transitions.

Defensively, Hibernian under Gray is well-organised, often defending in a mid block. The team’s pressing is targeted rather than relentless, with triggers set for the wingers and attacking midfielder to press opposition centre-backs or deep-lying playmakers.

On the ball, Gray’s Hibernian are quick to transition, looking to exploit space behind opposition lines. The full-backs are vital in building attacks, overlapping the wingers and delivering crosses into the box.

The midfield is tasked with recycling possession and feeding the creative number 10, who operates between the lines.

Gray encourages fluidity in attack. The attackers are often supported by the midfielders, which helps to drag defenders out of position, creating free space for late runs from midfield.

In the final third, Hibs prioritise quick combinations and overloads in wide areas, leading to a cross-completion rate of 23%—above the league average of 18%.

In game, I went for the 3-5-2 setup. With a sweeper keeper on defend duty in goal. We need the goalkeeper to focus on not conceding goals and occasionally to help recycle the ball, if the opposition’s offside trap is well executed.

The back three is made of two wide centre backs and one central defender on defend duty. The choice of the wide centre backs was made as we need link-up between the defence and the midfield wide areas.

Although these two players are tasked with defending, they will step-up a bit when in possession and distribute the ball to the midfield, keeping the game fluid.

The two wing backs are on attack duty. I debated if they should be on support or attack or a mix. But I chose the attack duty as we need them to take up forward positions as fast possible, when the team is in possession, to help disrupting the opposition’s pressing game and keep the ball progression fluid.

Of course, this setup only works effectively if your team is the dominant one. If this is not the case, maybe a support duty is better or even full backs on support, instead of the wing back roles.

In the midfield we have a holding midfielder, a defensive midfielder on defend duty. The role and duty help the player stay back when the team is in possession and screen the defence and try to stop counterattacks when the team is out of possession.

His midfield teammate was assigned a segundo volante role, on support duty, as we need a more mobile player here, one that would link-up play and arrive late in the opposition’s area.

As the role comes without base player instructions, I assigned the more direct passes, take more risks and get further forward ones.

The central midfielder player was assigned precisely this role, on attack duty. As my team is the dominant one in most matches, I could use this duty. But if this is not the case for your team, a support one can also help. Just make sure to assign player instructions to the support one, as it comes without any.

The reason for choosing this role and duty combination is to move as many players as possible up front, without disrupting the balance of our formation. This way, we have the central midfielder, and the wing backs up the pitch, waiting to receive the ball from their teammates and to link-up play in attack.

And in attack I chose a deep lying forward and an advanced forward on attack. This combination was chosen to keep the ball progression fluid.

In an ideal situation, the ball would start from the goalkeeper, reach one of the wide centre backs, would be passed to the defensive midfielder, who, to avoid the opposition’s pressing game would move it to the flank. And from there, the wing back would pass it to the central midfielder, who would link-up play with one of the strikers and a goalscoring chance would be created.

At least, that’s the idea.

As mentality, I chose positive, to tame the attacking player mentality a bit.

In possession, fairly wide attacking width and play out of defence. Slightly more direct passing directness and a slightly higher tempo. Work the ball into the box and play for set-pieces, to maximise our scoring chances.

In transition, counter and distribute the ball to the centre backs. I let the team decide if counter-press is needed or not.

And out of possession, a mid block and a standard defensive line. And trigger press is slightly more often or balanced.

In my save, managing Bayern Munchen, coming from FCSB in Romania, we won the league title and the German Super cup. We were a bit disappointing in the German Cup. And in Europe, we qualified from the league phase of the Champions League but were knocked out of the round of 16 by PSG.

David Gray has had an eventful playing career and his managerial one looks to be promising as well. He seems to have found a home at Hibernian and I hope he will find further success managing them.