Bill Foley lashes out at Hibs hierarchy and says 'they will listen to our input now'

Texan billionaire Foley, whose Black Knight stable owns Bournemouth in the English Premier League and also has ties with Lorient in France and Auckland in New Zealand, purchased a 25 per cent shareholding in Hibs back in February. However, the Premiership outfit have made it clear from the outset that the Gordon family retain total control with the 60 per cent shareholding. Moreover, the Gordons, Leslie Robb and the supporters association HSL all reinvested during the summer with a new share issue.

However, in an apparent sign of tension between Foley and the rest of the Easter Road board room, the American business believes his advice on how to run Hibs will be heeded after they lost 1-0 to Kelty Hearts on Saturday - a result that could deny them progress to the last 16 of the competition.

In an interview with the BBC, Foley said on Hibs: "I am absolutely looking out for them. If the other ownership group at Hibernian listens to us, they will do better. So far, they really haven’t been listening to our input. I believe they will listen to our input now.

"We have a very good relationship with Lorient. They are listening and are hiring the right people to develop that club. Our goal is to have similar coaching, similar playing styles and similar players that can progress through our system. It is not just going to be Bournemouth and a bunch of other teams.

"It will be a whole system that allows players to progress from team to team to team. That will be our competitive edge and we will be able to develop a really good team."

Foley is one of two Black Knight members now on the board at Hibs. The club appointed David Gray as head coach and Malky Mackay as sporting director last summer and started the season with a 5-0 win at Elgin City and a 5-1 triumph over Queen's Park before Saturday's surprise loss to Kelty. They face Peterhead on Saturday at home needing a win to have a chance of reaching the knock-out stages.