GRANT HOLT has revealed he would be open to a return to Hibs as he eyes a career in the dugout.
The retired marksman notched seven goals in 36 appearances during the 2016/17 campaign and helped the capital club win promotion from the Championship at the third time of asking.
Holt, 39, also aided Grant Murray with the coaching of the Hibees’ under-20 side and, having left Easter Road after just one season, has gone on to hold backroom roles at Norwich City.
And the former Rochdale, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest man told the Well Done Michael, He’s 13 Podcast that he could see himself back in Scotland in the future.
He said: “I would love to go back [to Hibs] in some capacity.
“I’ve done all my badges and have my ‘A’ License’. That’s all done. I was fortunate enough to take the under-20s with Grant Murray when I was up there, which was a good learning curve for me.
“I’ve coached at Norwich and am now doing first-team scouting there, and some TV work. So I’ve got a little bit of everything going on.
“The aim is to eventually get into coaching and get into management. That’s where I see myself. Could I come back to Hibs? You never know, but they seem to be doing alright at the moment!”
While Holt has nothing but positive memories of his 12 months north of the border, he confesses to a sense of regret regarding how long it took for the club to confirm they wouldn’t be extending his deal for a crack at the top-flight.
He continued: “I said to Hibs about four weeks before the end of the season that I wanted to know ‘yes or no’, and they wouldn’t tell me.
“That sort of signalled that I was leaving and I wished they had just said that. I was playing the last games of the season and although I kind of knew, you can’t tell anyone.
“I would have stayed but the football club made a decision to get rid of me and that’s that.
“I still see Graeme [Mathie, sporting director], Leeann Dempster [CEO] and have been back to the club. I’ve got no animosity at all. I had a great time and achieved what the club had been aiming for by getting them back to the Premiership.”
Meanwhile, Holt has defended what some critics saw as a modest return in Scotland’s second tier, especially given his impressive goal-scoring pedigree south of the border – by insisting it was because he was doing all of Jason Cummings’ running.
Although Holt didn’t manage to hit double-figures, Cummings found the net 23 times in a breakout campaign for the ex-Rangers and Forest front-man.
CUMMINGS
Holt added: “You always get judged on goals when you are a forward – ‘oh, he only scored this many in the Scottish Championship’.
“But I had a guy next to me [Jason Cummings] who I did all the work for and he was scoring goals left, right and centre.
“You need to change your game when you are playing with someone like Jason. I had to do the things that Jason didn’t do.
“There were times, especially in that division, where there was a need for Brian Graham and I to play up front and knock people about a bit – and then bring other guys on later.
“I had to go backwards, change and be different again. It took me a while to figure out what Cummy was like, but I think we were pretty important by the end.”
