Rangers made a massive mistake by not signing Josh Mulligan and their loss is Hibs' gain – Tam McManus

From what I have seen from Mulligan so far, he has been an absolute standout at Easter Road

It’s a massive mistake from Rangers not to have signed Josh Mulligan.

Their loss has been very much Hibs’ gain.

Everyone knows that Rangers were in from Mulligan before their American-led takeover.

Russell Martin then came in and didn’t really fancy him

That opened the door for Hibs.

From what I have seen from him so far he has been an absolute standout at Easter Road.

I thought he was brilliant against Livingston and in the European games, especially against Partizan Belgrade.

His engine for 120 minutes against Partizan was outstanding.

He was up and down the whole part of the game and had a real energy. He’s just one of the guys you know what you’re getting.

He’s really, really fit, talented and Scottish, which is great as well.

I’ve liked him for a number of years at Dundee, from when they were down in the Championship and then won promotion back to the Premiership.

He can play in numerous positions and he’s got a great engine.

The only real thing he was lacking was a finished product. But if he scores more goals like he did at the weekend then the Hibs fans will be delighted.

Mulligan has made a brilliant start to his Hibs’ career and hopefully it continues against Legia Warsaw in the Europa Conference League play-off.

The first leg is at Easter Road on Thursday and that could be key.

When you look at who Hibs have faced in Europe this season already, in Midtjylland and Partizan Belgrade, then I wouldn’t imagine Legia Warsaw would be much better.

It is probably a 50/50 tie although I would have the Poles as slight favourites because they have had more recent European experience.

I certainly wouldn’t like to go over to Legia needing to win the game.

In saying that, I still fancy Hibs to go through.

If they do, it would be a great achievement because they would have done it the hard way, getting into the group stages of European football for the first time.

Obviously, Aberdeen winning the Scottish Cup was a spanner in the works for a lot of Hibs fans, in terms of getting guaranteed group stages.

But if they go and do it this way then they would probably take more satisfaction from doing it this way, winning three big European ties and getting into the Conference League.

It would be massive for the supporters and massive for the club.

It’s no secret that they’ve lost a few quid. I think the financial figures that are going to come out are not going to be great either, similar to last year.

So qualification would give the club more of a sound financial footing as well as getting some money back in, depending on who they got in the group sections.

Hibs will need to try and get a lead over there to take to Poland, but confidence is so high in the squad at the minute.

David Gray changed half his team against Livingston and still won comfortably.

It shows there is real confidence for places.

The manager also managed to give his record signing, Thibault Klidje, a run out and he also scored.

So everything is so positive at Hibs at the minute.

Martin Boyle has been a real talisman for Hibs. You’ve seen it over in Belgrade, scoring a couple of goals in a really intimidating atmosphere.

He seems to thrive in the bigger games.

As I said, I was also impressed with Klidje against Livi.

There’s been a lot of screaming and shouting for him to be playing more minutes. But I just don’t think he’s been ready.

Listen, it can be an instant judgment. Look at the boy Kusini Yengi at Aberdeen who was written off as a dud after two games.

It would be similar if they put the boy Klidje in and if he wasn’t very good at the start, people would make their minds up.

So I think he’s managed him well, he’s let him get up to speed and he’s let him settle in.

There is competition up front but I would go with Kieron Bowie , who has been outstanding and Boyle.

You could then bring Klidje on. The only really interesting selection for me is in the goalkeeping position.

Raphael Sallinger came in against Livi.

He looks great with the ball at his feet although he didn’t have too much to do otherwise.

Does the manager stay loyal to Jordan Smith or does he bring the boy Salinger in?

I think he’ll probably stay loyal to Smith, but I would probably change it.

I would play the boy Salinger, but I think David Gray is big on loyalty and the boy Smith has done really well for him over the piece.

For me, that is the only real decision that the manager has to make.