Jair Tavares forced me into a Hibs U-turn as redemption reminds of my dark Dundee days – Tam McManus

Our columnist thought the former Benfica man was in the wrong movie at Easter Road but starring role has columnist eating his words.

I've got to hold my hands up here. In the summer, I was hoping against hope that Hibs would cut their losses on Jair Tavares and let him go because he had shown absolutely nothing in a green and white shirt.

But boy, was I wrong. And if most Hibs fans are honest, they’ll admit they were too. He was brought from Benfica on a long-term deal, and at no little cost, but Tavares looked like he’d walked into the wrong movie right from the start. “He’s an incredibly talented winger that’ll not only improve our first team squad, but is someone that has a lot of potential to develop into a top player in this league,” Lee Johnson said on the day the Portuguese kid signed.

But something clearly didn’t click between the manager at the time and the boy from Benfica. He hardly kicked a ball for Hibs under Johnson and stories began to emerge that Tavares was training away from the first team and with the kids.

I don’t know why. I’ve no idea if something happened between the pair of them, but it was blatantly obvious that the player had no future at the club for as long as Johnson was picking the team. And that must have been hell for a young boy in a strange country, learning a new culture and trying to adapt to a different way of playing the game.

He would still be training, so physically he’d have been fine but mentally, it would have been torture. Believe me, having been in that situation, I can vouch for that. I had a spell at Dundee where I was sent to play and train with the Under 18s and reserves, after having played more than 100 games for Hibs. Lee Wilkie, a Scotland international at the time, got the same treatment.

Our crime? Refusing to take a 65 per cent pay cut with Dundee locked out of the top flight. Alex Rae came in as manager and I don’t know if he was acting under instruction from above, but big Lee and I were bombed out.

I was in a car pool with some of my mates, travelling up from Glasgow every day, and it was really hard being with them for the journey but then going to a different changing room and training pitch every day, with no prospect of doing what we all love - playing first team football on the Saturday.

It went on for months before I finally got a move to Falkirk and was able to pick up my career again, but it was hard and I can only imagine it was just as difficult for Tavares at the time. But look at him now. He’s absolutely flying for Hibs. The change of manager, with Nick Montgomery coming in, has changed the lads career and they both deserve enormous credit for that.

Jair must have really knuckled down to convince the new gaffer that he was a shot in the first team. And Nick, who would have spoken to guys like David Gray about every member of the squad when he came in, for being open minded enough to give him the chance.

Montgomery has impressed me. I love his 4-4-2 approach and Tavares’ speed, skill and physicality in the wide areas is perfect for the system. He’s got a goal in him as well and is one of the reasons why Hibs are on a great run at the moment and within one point off third spot.

I think they will be battling it out with Hearts for that position come the end of the season and they might have the chance to put some daylight between their Edinburgh rivals if Monty’s men can win their next two games, away to St Johnstone and Ross County, before Hearts come to Easter Road on December 27.

Story SavedYou can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.