Marc McNulty: I feared for my Hibs move when Neil Lennon left club

Frozen out at Reading despite being a £1million signing for the Royals only last summer, McNulty had been talking to Lennon about a transfer back to Edinburgh.

But he was left shocked when he learned of the surprise departure of Lennon and his assistant Garry Parker and, for a brief spell, worried that the proposed move would fall through.

However, he was quickly reassured by others that Hibs would continue to pursue a deal which was finally completed on transfer deadline day when he signed on loan until the end of the season.

McNulty – who has spent nearly five years in English football after leaving Livingston for Sheffield United – said: “There have been a few times over the past couple of years when there has been the chance for me to move on and go somewhere and Hibs have always been a club in the background trying to make it possible.

“It came up again in this window and I had a brief conversation with the old manager and there were other people at the club working hard to make it happen and, for me, it was a good feeling to know that they wanted me here.”

Even so, admitted McNulty, a slight concern remained not only as to whether the deal would go ahead but also as to whether Lennon’s successor might not fancy him, as had proved to be the case when Jose Gomes replaced Paul Clement at Reading in early December.

He said: “Being local a lot of my mates are Hibs fans and they put it on the group chat that Neil was away. To be honest, I hadn’t really told any of them that Hibs were interested because it wasn’t 100 per cent.

“So it was a bit of a shock but the feeling was short-lived because straight away it was made clear they still wanted me.”

But to sign when he didn’t know who the new manager might be? “There is obviously a slight concern,” agreed McNulty, “But at the same time you have got to believe that you will be good enough in training to prove to the manager that you should be playing.

“It’s the same with every payer here and with the new manager coming in, it’s a clean slate for every one of us.”

McNulty admitted it felt a little strange to be walking back through the doors of Hibs East Mains training centre having been released at the age of 16, a decision which left the Portobello High School pupil devastated.

He said: “I’d come here for work experience for a week while I was at school. It was great, gave me a little taste of what might be at the end of the tunnel.

“It wasn’t as if I was in the first team, but I don’t like to go to a club and come away feeling that I haven’t done very well. So you could say this is a second chance to do well here. I’ve obviously not played in the top league up here, so it will be great to get out on the pitch and do well.”

Although he initially felt as if his world had fallen apart all those years ago, McNulty moved to Livingston, his performances and goals earning him a move to Sheffield where, after loan spells with Portsmouth and Bradford, he joined Coventry City where 23 goals in 42 games persuaded Reading to fork out that seven-figure sum for his signature.

“It was difficult,” he said. “At the time you think it’s the end of the world. The manager and the head of youth a the time took the decision that I wasn’t ready at that time for full-time football.

“These things happen and looking back it was probably a blessing. At the time I thought it was the end of the world, I was 15 or 16 and I wanted to leave school and be a professional footballer.

“It can go one of two ways, but I was lucky I had good people round about me and kept pushing me the right way. It would be very easy to say ‘that’s me done, I’m not going to make it’. I was lucky there were a couple of other things that came up straight away.

“What I have learned over the years is that everyone progresses at different rates. There are players who are probably the best in their age group when they are younger but give it a few years when everyone is fully developed and grown, it changes quickly.

“For any young player to be told early doors when it doesn’t work out for them doesn’t mean they are not good enough, they might just have to wait a few years until their quality shows.”

McNulty got a brief run out as a second-half substitute against Aberdeen at the weekend, but has his fingers crossed he’ll be on from the start in tonight’s match with Premiership leaders Celtic in Glasgow, a game in which Hibs, with only three league wins in 16 outings, will be heavy second favourites.

Howeverm McNulty insisted they’ll travel in a positive frame of mind. He said: “It’s a good thing sometimes because you can go out and play with a bit of freedom. You know you’ve not got much to lose so you can go for it. Celtic are a very good team, but we have got to look after ourselves and feel we can come away with something.”