Fenlon’s first job is to get Hibs winning

PAT FENLON’S immediate aim after being named Hibernian manager is to transform results and unify the club.

The 42-year-old was yesterday unveiled as Hibs boss on a two-and-a-half-year contract, moving to Edinburgh from Dublin’s Bohemians until the end of the 2013/14 season.

Fenlon won five league titles and three cup competitions during a nine-year managerial career in Ireland and succeeds Colin Calderwood, who was sacked on November 6 after winning just 12 times in 49 matches and 12 months in charge.

The long-term future of Billy Brown, who was in caretaker charge and overlooked for the appointment, is uncertain, but the Scot will take control of the team for today’s Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash at St Johnstone, with Fenlon to watch from the stands at McDiarmid Park.

Fenlon becomes Hibs’ fifth manager in four seasons and ninth in 10 years — following the likes of Alex McLeish, Tony Mowbray, John Collins, Mixu Paatelainen and John Hughes into the Easter Road dugout — but is eager to be a long-term presence in Leith.

Fenlon said: “Results are important and that’s the goal immediately — to try to change that.

“We’ve got to try to get a bit of togetherness back in the club, with the players, everybody else and the supporters. That’s what we’ll try and build in a short period of time.”

Asked whether this is the biggest challenge of his career so far, Fenlon added: “Very much so, it’s a big club and a big club that’s not playing well at the moment and struggling.

“It’s a challenge to take them up the table, definitely. There’s been too many managers and the turnover is too much for a club like Hibs.

“That’s something I’ve got to try to stop. If you keep chopping and changing it’s difficult to get that.”

Hibs finished 10th last season and the lacklustre start to this term sees them ninth entering this weekend’s fixtures.

Top six is clearly the minimum aim and Fenlon accepts if he does not achieve the club’s targets, his position will be brought into question.

Nevertheless, Fenlon, who in January 2010 saw a move to Dundee United blocked over a compensation payment, was unperturbed — intimating he had outgrown Ireland and was attracted by the potential of Hibs.

He said: “It’s a great opportunity to come and manage at a higher level.

“It’s a better league, better players, a fantastic football club.

“The stadium’s fantastic, the training ground’s fantastic but you’ve got to get results on the pitch and that’s what we’ve got to try to do.”

Hibs have one home league win since February — the September defeat of tomorrow’s opponents St Johnstone — and Fenlon is determined to rectify the results at Easter Road.

He added: “Playing at home has become a bit of a problem for them [the players].

“That’s something we’ve got to work on, to give them the confidence to come and play here.

“What better place to come and play football. That’s what they’ve got to get back to, just enjoying their football and playing at home. Getting the people behind you rather than after you.”